A Beginners Guide to Living Sustainably: Resources
I first want to preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert on sustainable living. I, too, struggle with finding ways to reduce waste and be more eco-friendly, while not compromising the things I love to do.
When I began writing this post, I thought a lot about my love for cooking and how much it ties into the issue of food waste in America. When I started to cook more consistently, I was shocked at how much waste accumulated in the process.
Last year, I did a school project on the intersection of food waste and food insecurity. I soon came to learn that food waste in America is like a can of worms, once you open it, you can’t close it. I couldn’t believe at how much food is wasted a year in the US alone. 80 BILLION lbs. 80 BILLION LBS!!!!!!! That is equivalent to not one, not two, but 12,000 Empire State Buildings in size! I was fascinated by the gravity of this issue. Further, I was overwhelmed by the magnitude and how many people this issue affects. As someone who’s passion is cooking and sharing my love for cooking, I felt a connection to this issue and a moral obligation to change habits of mine in order to reduce waste in my home.
I started researching more. I read blogs, articles, and watched tons of documentaries. While at first I was overwhelmed and thought the only way I could make a dent in this problem would be to become a vegan and live a “no-waste lifestyle,” I soon learned the small, yet equally affective changes I can make. My mindset totally shifted and I became inspired and motivated.
There is one website in particular that has informed and inspired me so much. That is, Trash is for Tossers. TIFT is a blog created by Lauren Singer. You might know her as the girl who fit eight years of her personal waste into a SINGLE mason jar. TIFT sheds so much light on what it means to live a sustainable life, while not compromising your daily routines and lifestyle. In addition to the blog, they have a store, Package Free Shop, that sells reusable, all natural, and plastic free products to help live a more sustainable life. I really recommend checking out the website!
Since I am still learning about sustainable living and reducing waste at home, I decided to make this a multiple part post. My hope is that I can show the simple habits you can adopt in order to be nicer to the planet.
I want to dedicate this first post on resources I have collected over time. Some I have turned to for educational purposes, and others I have found to be extremely motivating in turning my desire to be more eco-friendly to actually putting that into action. (Click on the pics to go to each website)
Documentaries:
Chefs Table (Netflix) - Dan Barber (season 1, episode 2)
Lauren Singer Ted Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF72px2R3Hg
Lauren Singer Harper’s BAZAAR - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--f8hjw9Uiw&t=415s
David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet (Netflix)
Places:
Stone Barns: Stone Barns is a farm and educational center in Tarrytown, New York. They believe In ethical agricultural practices, creating organic, delicious, and beautiful food. In addition to farm visits, they have a multitude of educational programs revolving around cooking and farming. At Stone Barns is Blue Hill, a two Michelin Starred farm-to-table restaurant, that sources all of their ingredients from the farm.
Platforms:
Masterclass: If you happen to have a Masterclass subscription, I recommend browsing through the cooking courses. All discuss sustainable living practices and how to cook while being conscious of food waste.
Brands:
Codex Beauty: sustainable skincare
Veja: the cutest shoes made from vegan leather
L. : all organic personal care for women
Reformation: one of my favorite stores. Everything is made from sustainable fabrics and everything produced is 100% carbon neutral since the brand invests in carbon offsets to offset their carbon emissions.
Boyish Jeans: Boyish uses sustainable fabrics to make the cutest jeans (they are really comfy too)!
House of Sunny: i’m obsessed with this brand right now. They intentionally produce limited amounts of their clothing to act against fast fashion.
Pangaia: Pangaia is a super trendy brand right now (for good reason). Their sweats are incredibly comfy. Pangaia uses all organic cotton, dyes and treatments. All of their packaging is biodegradable.
Humanrace: founded by Pharrell, Humanrace is meant for all genders and is dedicated to simplifying beauty routines while creating organic products from clean ingredients. The brand is especially cool because they have a refill system. Instead of buying a new product which wastes packaging, they send you a refill of the product that you pop into your products original bottle.
Services
Zero: an organic grocery delivery service that is completely plastic free.
Imperfect Foods: a grocery delivery service who’s mission is to “Eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone.” They use “imperfect” produce from markets that would otherwise be thrown away because their not “to the market’s standards.”
Precycle: Precycle believes in full transparency when it comes to how their food is made. They have a store in Brooklyn as well as an online delivery service. All of their food, from their store and online, is packaging-free. They work with local farmers to provide their customers with as much information as possible.
Shop: Shop is a package and order tracker. They are similar to Shopify, which is a service that allows you to checkout faster from online stores. However, when you checkout using Shop, they automatically make your order carbon neutral by protecting trees in the Brazilian rainforest. The coolest part is that you can track how many trees you’ve protected in total. It’s such an easy download and it makes checking out of online stores super easy.
