New Year, Same me ... SMALL changes

Yes, we’re posting a blog about the New Year nearly 1.5 months after the New Year. Don’t worry, I see the irony too. But Hey: with two moves, a business change from in-store to online and general everyday life mayhem (in January alone), led to some stuff being pushed to the back burner. And that, I need to believe, is OK.

We’re all too familiar with the phrase “New Year, New me”. It instils a feeling of new beginnings, a 'fresh start' one might say. A possibility to wipe the slate clean and start all over. But that is not what life is all about. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m the first person to pre-order the latest self-help book on January 1st whilst starting a new fad diet and yoga all on the same day. But change, big meaningful change, needs to happen slowly and consistently over time.

Ask me if I’ve kept up the Yoga in 2 months and you’ll see what I mean ;).

With an ever-growing trend of environmental activism on social media we can easily find ourselves under new pressures to implement changes in our everyday habits to help fight climate change and the plastic crisis. From Meatless Mondays to Mobility Thursdays, we’re in a new era of wokeness like never before. It's overwhelming to say the least!

In some cases, trends like Veganuary have really managed to stick around and even triggered long lasting positive changes. But in most instances, resolutions on better environmental habits tend to fizzle out after being beaten by our fast paced lifestyles which pushes us more and more towards today’s worst enemy: convenience.

Then what’s the solution you might ask? Sit back and do nothing? No, on the contrary, DO something, but do it in a sustainable manner whilst keeping true to yourself and your busy schedule. The point is to focus on small realistic changes. No one needs hundreds of stressed out self-proclaimed Zero Waste queens to give up EVERY piece of plastic in their lives from yesterday to today. What we need are thousands of people implementing small changes in their everyday habits.

Whether it’s as simple as switching to a reusable coffee cup for your on-the-go double shot oat milk Mocha or turning off the water as you lather shampoo into your hair or even switching your drinking water to filtered water; as long as it works around your lifestyle with a little bit of effort, then it’s a habit that will stick … and from one good habit it can multiply and grow into many (sustainable) habits over time.

You might ask “how do I even get started though?”. Well, that’s where we can suggest a little exercise that is super simple and you can even involve your friends and family: The Infamous Home Waste Audit

*queue intimidating music*.

A home waste audit is a great way to find out where most of your plastic waste is coming from and just how much you are generating. Once you have that information in hand it’s up to you to choose one or two items and think on how you can reduce or better yet eliminate it from your household. Think of it like a waste version of Pac-man, just minus the stress inducing ghosts.

So, what do you need to do:

1. Firstly, collect your recycling waste i.e., the grey bags, for at least 2 weeks

2. Once the bags are full, find a clear surface or floor, lay down some newspapers or a dirty sheet and empty the contents of the bags

3. Now it’s time to channel your inner Marie Kondo and start sorting. Split up all the plastic, paper, and metal contents by room in your house e.g., bathroom, kitchen etc.

4. Once you’re ready, just take a step back and marvel at how much plastic we use as individuals in just 2 weeks

5. After getting over the mini shock, start identifying where the most plastic in either volume or quantity is coming from e.g., plastic water bottles tend to be a common one in Malta and Gozo

After you’ve identified your top 3 contenders what’s left to do is to decide yourself or as a household on how you plan to reduce or eliminate this item over the next weeks. And that’s it. Just from this simple exercise you can already begin identifying where your small realistic changes can start from.

We understand all too well how daunting change can be at times. Trust us, owning a small business is constantly keeping us on our toes. At the end of the day human’s work best by constantly challenging ourselves and we’re currently facing the biggest challenge that we’ve ever had to face as a species. Climate change. If we don’t start from somewhere today, then all the New Year resolutions in the world can’t save us.

Now let me get back to that Yoga class #letsdothis

Not all cleaning products are clean

Cleaning and housework is part of adult life (some love it, some hate it). I particularly hate it when I buy a product only to realise that while it's keeping my apartment spick 'n' span its having a nasty impact on the environment.

Some conventional cleaning products and accessories have a bad rep in the sustainability community - and for good reason. The plastic packaging, the toxic chemicals, the greenhouse gases and the micro-plastics are a recipe for disaster. When the residues from these products reach our oceans - whether its chemical or plastic - they are sadly ingested by marine life causing irreparable damage to the ecosystem.

Not only are they extremely detrimental to the environment they're not great for you either - from hormonal problems to respiratory issues the list goes on and on...

Its not all gloom and doom however. There are green options out there that do as great a cleaning job than their non-eco cousins - if not better. So to help you out we've linked our favourite cleaning accessories and products in store below.

As part of our Plastic Free July initiatives we're also offering 10% discount on the Iron & Velvet and Ecococonut ranges when you come in store this week and deposit 3 pieces of plastic waste you've picked up from the ground for recycling. Let's keep our little island clean.

What are you favourite cleaning swaps and tips?

Links to the above products starting top left:

1. Marseille soap

2. Laundry strips

3. Steel scourers

4. Compostable cleaning cloths

5. Refillable floor cleaner

6. Cleaning pouches

7. Coconut bottle brush

New year… new you?

New year celebrations have come and gone and you’re suddenly feeling the pressure to become a changed person. Your post holiday blues aren’t helping either. You have that long list of resolutions you pulled together in 2019 under a cloud of mince pies and Baileys but all you want to do is sit on the sofa and binge-watch Friends!

We’re not judging; we’re speaking from experience!

Over the last few years we’ve forgone lengthy resolutions and have instead set small goals throughout the year. That’s how we started on our plastic free and zero waste journeys.

... and here are some of our tips and learnings.

It all began with a reusable bottle

Small easy changes such as carrying a reusable bottle to avoid buying plastic bottles or carrying produce bags helped to significantly reduce our plastic waste. These simple changes eventually became habits and no longer line items on our to-do-list.

Don’t make too many changes at once

Once we started making these small changes we wanted to tackle plastic and food waste at home; which got a little overwhelming. My cosmetics cupboard alone sent me running for the hills (or to the sofa and Friends). So we decided to tackle the issue room by room, item by item rather than do it all at once. Starting with the kitchen we set ourselves small milestones to replace current items such as sponges and cleaning products with sustainable, eco solutions over a couple of months. From there we moved to other areas in the house always taking it in our stride. We’re still far from a perfectly sustainable household but we’re not looking for perfect we’re looking to make a difference any little way that we can.

Look at the ingredients

Silicones, sulphates, phthalates, microbeads... oh my! The list of chemicals and harmful ingredients in our products is sadly endless but it is important to educate yourself on the different ingredients we expose ourselves and the environment to everyday.

We’ve gone loopy looking at product ingredient labels, trying to decipher what is good and what is bad for us and the environment. The truth of the matter is that it may be impossible to completely remove these from our lives since most everyday products contain them, however we can consciously start to remove them from our daily routine by looking for alternative products that are completely natural or contain more natural ingredients. Remember, once we rinse off the product or flush it down the toilet it is released into the water system affecting aquatic life so the quality and ingredients of the products is extremely important to consider when shopping around.

Luckily for you, we’ve stocked the shop with products we have tried and tested over the last few years from natural cosmetics, body wash and hair care products to refillable and eco cleaning products. So come on by and check out our growing range of plastic free and cruelty free every day alternatives.