We received a lot of positive comments on a IG story we shared yesterday in response to a post Bea Johnson where she suggested that we all can get by on the same few reusable items she uses. We think it is important to stress that everyone’s lives are different and there is not a one size fits all formula to reducing your waste
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Don’t get us wrong, we think Bea is an inspiration. We love her comment in that post about shopping your own home first. But our concern was that suggesting that there is only one way can alienate people in a time where we need buy in from the general population
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To us, the message should not be that consumerism is bad and you can only be
#zerowaste by replicating the lifestyle of a seasoned “zerowaster”. Even full time sustainability influencers rely on our consumerism to sell books or promote products. Hey, we all need to make a living, right?
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We think the focus should instead be on
#consciousconsumerism - everyone’s lives are different and there are some reusables which make our lives easier or even simply just make us happy ▫️
To us, conscious consumerism means deciding whether or not you need (or really want) the item, doing your best to find the item second hand and when that is not possible or practical, researching the business you are going to purchase from to ensure it aligns with your values
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Our first
#betterhumantoolkit purchase was a stainless steel straw from
@wanderlightly - it was well researched and we felt (and still feel) really good about the (small) business we supported. It
#sparks joy. We feel the same about our
@frankgreen_official reusable cup, our
@onyalife produce bags and a few other reusables from
@biomestores. Sure some of the items are plastic, but they work for us
#notsponsored ▫️
Anyone that starts posting about a low waste lifestyle will probably be hit up by people selling things like reusable straws asking them to check out their page or collaborate. But for us, it’s important that the businesses we support have a story behind them
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Anyway, our point is to say find what works for you and don’t let anyone else’s views deter you from your end goal. It’s your sustainability journey...
