5 Little Sustainable Changes

As much as I enjoy staying in bed re-watching Friends for the billionth time, burrito-ed in blankets no matter the weather, I do quite like the outdoors. I love going to the beach, I love picnics in the park, I love just sitting out the in the garden and soaking up the sun. So it's a really dreadful thought that if I ever have kids, they might not get to enjoy the outdoors even in simple ways like this. Our planet is rotting away. Climate change, plastic pollution, global warming - it all means we could be saying goodbye to the planet we know and love sooner rather than later, and it has already drastically made a turn for the worse in a fairly short space of time. I don't want to be part of that problem. There are things we can all do to lessen our impact on the planet - from tiny little swaps, to bigger life changes - so here are five changes I've made to be kinder to our pal, planet Earth. 

1. going veggie 

The first thing I remember consciously doing out of concern for the planet was changing my diet. Yep, I'm the annoying vegetarian. The new diet may seem fussy or unnecessary, but animal agriculture actually accounts for a fair chunk of global emissions. The EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) has said the within the industry, fossil fuel burning, electricity usage and transportation "comprises the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions", with agriculture causing 9% of emissions and livestock itself causing 4%. Just reducing the amount of meat you eat a week could be beneficial. The Guardian reported in late 2018 that a third of Britons have either stopped or reduced their meat intake - and brands are catching on. There is a great range of meat replacements, like Quorn or Linda McCartney, as well as super scrummy veggie meal options on the market - e.g. highly rate the Beetroot and Spinach Burgers from ASDA, and Nando's' veggie options? Incredible. Veganism is an even better route to explore if you're trying to be more sustainable, as it cancels out any animal by-products from your diet, not just meat. I'm not a vegan myself but have made the swap to soya milk (although the fact cow's milk doesn't really agree with me anymore influenced that decision a lot), and struggle to notice any huge difference. 

2. vegan makeup 

As those who read my blog often may know, I decided to stop buying products from brands that test on animals quite a while ago. However, that doesn't mean the products I was buying were necessarily vegan. Recently, I've been taking a closer look into the makeup I buy, where it comes from and what's actually in it. Finding out that morning after morning I'd been smooshing bat poo, extract of shark liver and ambergris - which is derived from the lining of whale stomachs - into my skin was quite enough to put me off. Also, as BH Cosmetics points out, vegan makeup brands often use recyclable packaging for their products, and they use natural ingredients that are often ethically sourced. BH also rightly says that vegan makeup is better for sensitive skin and often has anti-ageing qualities - what's not to love? Some of my all-time makeup heroes are vegan, with my main man elf Cosmetics still stealing my heart every day, alongside The Balm, one of my new fave skincare lines, B., and Barry M, with their sickeningly beautiful nail polish formulas. Other brands - such as Charlotte Tilbury, Kat Von D and Urban Decay - are not fully vegan, but list their lines that do not use animal products on their websites. Brb while I go and give even more money to these brands. 

3. sustainable toiletries 

My most recent sustainable change has been saying sayonara to disposable plastic razors and hello to Friction Free Shaving, aka my latest obsession. Despite having a really unfortunate acronym, Friction Free Shaving is a great alternative to those disposable razors that clog up landfill and don't always do a brilliant job anyway. They have incredible ethics, like putting a giant middle finger up to the Pink Tax and being 100% cruelty-free, in addition to having a fantastic blade recycling policy to reduce the amount of plastic finding its way into the ocean and killing over one million sea animals every year. Plus, it's rose gold. 

I'm also looking to get some bamboo-based 'cotton' pads when I'm close to running out of my stash. These gems work exactly like cotton pads, only you stick them in the wash in the little bag it comes with, ready to be used 1000 times over. Not only would I be saving a tonne on buying more and more packs on cotton pads, but I'd be reducing the amount of disposable cotton pads that just go and sit in landfill: win-win. 

4. re-usable bottles and flasks

Especially at uni, I'm one of those annoying, "you won't like me before my morning coffee" people. Completely addicted to the stuff. But when I go back in September, I'll be bringing this little guy with me. Gone are the days of disposable coffee cups and their plastic lids: I've got my own flask now, and it has cupcakes on it. Many coffee shops actually take money off your bill if you bring your own flask with you; Costa, for example, will take a lovely 25p off of my daily soya latte, and they also have a fab recycling scheme, in which you can take in any brand's disposable cup to one of their stores and they'll recycle it for free. Aside from the hot beverage, I've also been taking a water bottle to work and into uni instead of buying plastic bottles of whatever while I'm there - a money-saver, and a planet-saver. 

5. reducing how much I spend on fast fashion

This has probably been the hardest change for me to make. I'm always sucked in by the incy-wincy price tags of Boohoo, Missguided, Primark and the like, but Ellie, sweetie, enough is enough. The fashion industry as a whole is a massive contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, with 1.2bn tonnes of carbon emissions produced in 2015. As well as this, 235 million clothes ended up on landfill sites in 2017. Fast fashion is particularly culpable as their items are not made to last; they are manufactured cheaply by exploited workers, sold at low prices, then once they break, you go back for more. To try and combat buying cheap but shoddy fashion all the time, as well as still fuelling my obsession with new clothes, I've come up with a couple of solutions: 

1.) Downloading Depop. Taking unwanted items off of people's hands reduces the amount of clothes going straight to a landfill site. And since they're second-hand, items often work out at a prettier price too, without compromising on quality.

2.) Going to vintage shops, sales and events. My uni city, Southampton, holds vintage kilo sales pretty frequently and I find myself going to a lot of them - it's worth checking if your local city, or any local venues, are holding anything similar. Also, the pair of shorts in the photo above are a recycled pair of Levi's 501s from a vintage shop and I've been wearing them for years - vintage and charity shops are an excellent place to pick up some real bargains. Again, the price point for these second-hand items are great, there's no landfill needed, and who doesn't love a bit of vintage chic?

Keeping our planet safe, happy and healthy is more important than ever before. Making small changes and doing our bit can have a bigger effect than you know - hopefully this has given you some tips and inspiration!