We have been living in our current apartment now a one year. Those who have followed me on Instagram or this blog know, that we moved last September from Spain to Finland, and we hardly bring anything with us. Instead of buying everything in new, we decided to go zero waste and buy furniture and stuff from flea markets. Some of the furniture we even found on the streets or got free from our friends.
Now we have lived in this so called zero waste home life one year, and I would like to examine a bit closer our decoration project and write about our experiences so far.
So lets start.
I have to admit, that zero waste home hasn’t been that easy project. As an aesthetic person it would be nice, if our furniture goes well together and the decoration would build a harmonic combination. If that would be the case, we would wait even longer to decorate our place.
So the first thing that this zero waste lifestyle has taught me is to be patience. To look for a perfect armchair or sofa can take years, and when you look for those items from flea markets it isn’t that easy task: You need to go hunting often and then I guess, there is a question how lucky you are. I have learned, that if you find something that you fell in love right to way, reserve or buy it – you might not get a second chance. I have learned that lesson well!
Then again, when you find that perfect item after a long hunting period, it is a feeling of pure happiness. We got out kitchen table from free from a friend of mine. It wasn’t in a good condition, but we decided that we would manage for an instant. Then a year later we found that perfect, wooden round table from the 60s, the one, which goes perfectly in our tiny kitchen place. Everyday I am happy to see it! This is also a lesson: you don’t need to get everything ready or the perfect decoration done right away – it is better to wait and see – get to know your place and figure out what will work there.
Also, I have learned to follow the zero waste principle number one: refuse. If we don’t find that beautiful and functional bookshelf, we try to be without and find other, creative solutions. It is better to be without and wait for the right one than get something that you will throw away in a year or so.
The one thing that I have learned too, is to get use to imperfect and in progress situations. Lets face it: decoration a home is a long, long project – in the meanwhile you have to get comfortable with unfinished situations and find peace with that. Of course there are moments that I feel envy of my friends perfect natural white-wooden-decoration, but then I need to remind myself, that as a working mother the decoration project isn’t that high in my list and with time everything will be ready someday.
Yes, there might be a little mix-match-decoration in our place, but when I look around, well, it isn’t that bad. We have found nice things, we have a comfortable armchair, which in my dream life I can sit down to read a book (for instant I just watch the kids play). We have decorate with warm colors to get that cozy atmosphere. Most of all I see life, a family life around me and lots of joy in here – and isn’t those the things that you can’t buy? And lets not forget our carbon footprint and the good we try to do to our planet – with that the decoration goes second.
This weekend we celebrate mothers, so I decided to write about how is life with two children and being a mum.
I am sure many of you parents think about the question “should we have another baby?” And: “when is the good time?”
For us, our second baby came by accident. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I wanted another child. We started to get in that comfortable zone with our first one and we wondered if we had the energy to start all over again.
Well, we didn’t need to think a long time when I got pregnant after beautiful wedding we were adding near Paris, in an old castle. Everything was so perfect in that moment, that no wonder I got pregnant.
And I am so happy, that things went as they did, and we had this beautiful, smiling baby boy.
In general, in life, I have started to believe even more, that things go as they are intented.
Also, I have find out, that the baby year seems much easier than it did with the first one. Of course it depends how the baby is, but for me, the idea that I am already a mother makes everything so much easier. I have that silent confident that effect of course to my baby, too. I also feel more calm and relaxed.
Also, I have made a peace with that, that I am not a perfect mother, but I try to do the best I can.
So to have a second child, for me (so far) it has been a beautiful thing, it is incredible how you can share love, and how the feeling of being a family strengthen.
Of course there are downsides. You are busier than ever. And the relationship time is so limit, that you can only dream of it. I totally understand that many couples separate when the children are small, because it is hard at times, and there a much more fights than there used to have before kids. I have accepted that this is normal, and for us, it is important that we can always kiss and make up, solve things out, love and try to find solution.
The one thing that you should realize is, that mostly the fights start because both of you are tired, or you just need to have quality time together. To this conclusion I have come to.
To sneak beak how the life is with little children, I made a list of things that I have noticed so far…
This is how you recognize that you are
mother of small children, when…
You don’t have a boring moment in your
life, or you don’t know what to do next.
There is always someone in your lap.
Someone is always hungry.
The laundry basket fills in a day.
In wintertime (in Finland) dressing up the
children demands tears, negotiation and sweat. (You are lucky if you live in a
warmer country!)
You know if someone is saying that the
family life is easy, that she/he is lying, or the family has a 24/7 extra help.
You have started to forget things.
You have become a talent of multitasking.
You are more effective than ever!
You know that family holidays means a
working camp – not a holiday!
Diseases circulate in the whole family.
You don’t remember when was the last time
you slept seven hours a round.
The only thing that you dream of is a good night sleep and sleeping alone.
A playground is your second living room.
You are sorting small clothes to give away
and updating kids wardrobe all the time.
When you are having girls’ night out, you
don’t want to talk about children.
And after everything, you feel so grateful
of these small wonders, and lucky that you are still married.
Love, it makes everything better.
So congratulations to you, mother. You know you are doing a great job!
Little by little color yellow has entered into my life. From a flea market I bought two yellow cups to drink my evening tea. And then in a grocery shop I have a habit to grab a bouquet of yellow tulips to color up our home. This time of year it feels like yellow is giving more energy and makes everything seem lighter after the heavy winter season. Spring is a wake up call for many of us; it is a promise of new starts and new beginnings. Maybe we don’t know what is coming up yet, but surely the spring brings us some changes in life. Here is my April’s favorite list that includes new scents and relaxing moments on your yoga mat – maybe it helps you to prepare for the new season and new adventures that are waiting in a corner.
Scent: Smoke up a little piece of palo santo “holy wood” to clean up your space. They say that palo santo has a therapeutic healing power. For me, I have a habit to light up palo santo before entering on my yoga mat. It is a ritual and it makes me come into my space.
Organic cosmetics: Spring is a good period to change your perfume for more lighter and summer-like scent. For me, perfume was the last cosmetic that I changed for organic one. I used to love my Yves Saint Laurent fragrance, but now I am a fan of Abel’s perfumes. My favorite at the moment is Abel’s White Vetiver. It scents like grass, lemon and little bit like a vanilla cigar. For me it sends a message that summer is almost here.
Drink: In my yellow Kermansavi mug I drink Yogi tea’s Ginger lemon – it is my favorite at this moment.
What to wear: Light up your outfits by
wearing light blue or white jeans – they change your look completely. Easy
step, big deal!
Asana of the month: Urdha mukha svanasana ”upward-Facing dog pose”
After the pregnancy I am happy to do my sun salutation rounds completely including doing upward-facing dog pose. I have enjoyed to do a pause in this asana and to examine how it is done correctly. I remember in my teacher’s training, that a lot of students had problems with this asana. So I kindly remind you to pay attention to these points:
Check,
that the shoulders are not scrunch up
towards the ears and making pressure to the neck.
that your toes are extended and the top of
the feet is firmly down. When the feet are rooting down, the legs become more
active.
That the tailbone is pressed toward the
heels.
That you press firmly into your hands and
the chest is lifted.
That the wrists are aligned directly beneath
the shoulders. Check also that the index finger is pointed straight forward.
For my Finnish readers I have recorded a
guided meditation practice, in future I try to make one in English too.
I am always been afraid of settling in just one place. In my late twenties when my friends started to buy houses and making kids, I escaped to Paris. I rented a studio from the first arrondissment, and I was happy with my 10 square meters attic apartment where I wash the dishes in the toilet sink. I knew that it was just a temporary thing. Now with family and all, you kind of have to stay and settle in somewhere. You need to enter in the system. You know what I mean, right? But what if, that is the problem.
Lately, I got myself thinking of the future. Our contract to our current apartment will end in the end of August. Before that we need to make decisions. Are we going to stay in this apartment and continue pay the rent (not so wise!)? Should we buy our own little apartment? Or should we just get a camping car and have a moving home? Or maybe go to a world tour? Of course it would be wise to buy something, and then, if we decide to do so, we could always rent it – but… there is something that makes me unpleasant about this.
Every time we start to speak about owning something, I start to panic. Also, the experience of owning a house in Spain has opened my eyes for the reality, and the heaviness that owning a big house can bring. Now in Helsinki, we actually made an offer of one apartment. A couple of days I was in panic if the offer would be accepted or not. Luckily, it wasn’t, because obviously we weren’t ready. It wasn’t for us, and that’s ok. I also accepted that right a way.
“Nothing is permanent except change” For
me, the message of this sentence has been difficult to adapt, because I tend to
think, that “oh, now we are here, and we are going to stay here forever, and
this is my life,” and then hits the panic. So when I started to actually adapt
the message of this sentence, I found it really calming, because it is so true.
Even if I would stay in the same place forever, nothing would stay the same in a
long run. Things changes, I will get older and change my mind million times, my
kids will grow up etc. In short terms I might be sad today, but tomorrow I will
laugh and dance and love the world – this is how it goes: it is all changing
all the time – and what a relief this is!
I am also lucky to have a husband who is really open mind about the future. When we bought the house in Alella, he told me, that this doesn’t have to be the rest of the life project. This I found calming, because if we do find something, it doesn’t have to mean that we are going to stay there forever.
Still, I sometimes find it stressful when someone asks “where do you see yourself in five years?” The honest answer is that I don’t know. At times I feel jealous of those who can settle in and stay where they are, and reply this question “right here”. But more I found my answer giving me freedom. I know that I will always fit in where I go, as does my family. The most important thing is that we are together. Still, freedom is also to know that everything will change, not as much, but the change rests in the air. Or it might be that my root chakra is just a little bit gipsy-like, and that my place is a little bit here and there.
It starts to be bright in the morning. Spring is definitely
coming here in Helsinki. This I found out when we came back from our winter
break from North of Finland. Asphalt is exposed under the snow and there is
smell of spring in the air. On the street I see people wearing more light
colors and they have changed their winter shoes to sneakers. I wonder, should I
too? Or just to keep my winter boots on for a couple more weeks just to be sure
not to get cold.
For me, early spring is hard. I start to feel restless and I just want to pack my bags and go for a long holiday. The nature starts to wake up and expose what rests under nead the snow — the same goes with me. After the winter the bright sun exposes all the unperfection in me: dry hair and skin. You can see the lack of the sun on my face. Early spring is a wake up call to start to do something. I started the month by reserving appointments to a hair dresser and to a beauty salon. For me and maybe for you, I recommend this months theme to be to take care of yourself. Give yourself a pampering moment in a spa and color your nails with a bright and inspiring nail polish.
Best of the month:
Drink: Squeeze lemon juice into room temperature water and enjoy the drink first thing in the morning. The health effects of lemon have been known for centuries. In short, lemon protects against disease and enhance the immune system.
Essential oil: I miss nature and walks in a forest. In my diffuser I have been using pine-scented essential oil to get more closer to trees. When I close my eyes, I could imagine being in a forest. This Frantsila’s essential oil energizes and stimulates in this early spring when I still feel tired.
Natural Cosmetics: I have been tasting this old Finnish cosmetic brand XZ, which have launched XZ-natura serie. Its shampoo and conditioner are perfect for winter-dried hair. Also the products are vegan and packed in recycled bottles.
Song of the month: Roisin Murphyn’s Ancora tu — this song makes me dream of a holiday in the sun.
Garment: Start to wear stripe shirt to freshen your
style. Stripes makes the spring! Every year this time light blue jeans and
stripe shirt makes a perfect combo for the season.
Yoga pose: Vrksasana, tree pose
Vrksasana is usually the closing movement of the standing series in Hatha yoga. This yoga pose grounds us in this moment when one foot is firmly rooted on the ground. Wood symbolizes protection and spiritual growth. Vrksasana is a position of calm: it lowers the heart rate and calms the mind. At the same time it is a balancing movement trains and it is a good hip opener.
Start in tadasana, place the other leg below or above the knee. Keep hand in prayer’s position in the heart centre, keep the pelvic in neutral position. Keep your gaze steady. Stay calm.
Okay, our son
is only about a month old, but I dare to say that being second time mother feels
so much easier than with the first one. In a way, that’s logical, but I still can’t
help wondering, how much easier it is in this time.
I was, of
course, very happy when our firstborn was born, but horrible uncertain – as many
new mothers are. I dared hardly sleep when I was afraid that the child would
not breathe. I also needed a lot of support from my husband. At that time,
though, we lived in Paris, so all the bureaucratic stuff and the bookings of
medical times were left to my husband. It was also that, I was in a hurry to
recover to be a woman again and get back in shape. I wanted to have a dinner
with my friends, have a glass of wine and go to a yoga class – partly I wanted
my former life back. Also, with the firstborn, it always changes the dynamic of
the relationship. For the first time with my husband, we argued and we were so tired.
Of course, we always made it up. In our relation, mutual trust, a similar
worldview and sense of humor, are the things that have glued us even closer
together. At that time, I was also lucky to have husband who took part in baby
care.
Now, with the second child, I have experienced motherhood easy. Before getting pregnant, I sometimes wondered if I wanted another child after all. Then, when I found out to be pregnant, I wondered: Oh god, are we ready to start all over again? I also thought, how could I share love with this second child? Would I love the second one as I love the first one?
As the pregnancy progressed and me, doing my everyday meditation, I started to feel more certainty and empowering experiences that this child has a purpose to come now. I felt this inside calmness that gave me certainty, that I will be stronger this time; I will be that lion mother who has energy to stay up with the baby.
When our baby
boy was born, I felt a tremendous sense of love that has become stronger and
stronger every day. I enjoy my partial maternity leave and lazy days with my
baby. This time waking up several times during the nights – well it doesn’t
feel that bad, I am not even that tired
that I was with the first one (of course, we kind of have got used to that
during these three years with our fist one the nights are what they are). Also,
I enjoy washing durable nappies and just do normal everyday things at home – I
am kind of modern housewife, I guess, and it doesn’t bother me. This is a short
period of my life, and my intention is to live it fully. I know that somewhere
around two and a half years it will start to get easier again. Or maybe just then
we decide to try to have a baby and start all over again. And no: this is not
an invitation to make babies, but kind of an ode to parenting and motherhood.
And what comes to that feeling of love, it has grown toward my girl and to my husband. It is lovely to kiss with my husband and to realize that I love him even more. Second baby – it is apparently good for your relationship, too.
It is that time of the year again: it is
time to look back before the New Year hits. How was your year 2018? What made
you happy? What are you grateful at? What have you learned?
I definitely had a full ride this year! We
started the year by moving to Barcelona region. In the end of January we took a
car from Paris and drive it to Barcelona. It was a big transition in our life.
For me, at first, it wasn’t easy at all. Anyway we made one dream came true: we
experienced the life in South of Europe. We met some lovely people that we
still stay contact, but at the same time we did experience the reality under
the lemon tree. Afterwards I have to say, that this six months period in Alella
has shaped me more than any other experience (if motherhood doesn’t account).
It gave me so much perspective in life, and in the end I have liberated myself
from dreaming of life elsewhere.
Also, big movements in life have changed me not to get attach material things. When we were moving all our stuff from Alella to Bretagne it really opened my eyes: I don’t want to fill our new place with stuff. The cleaning process went through me inside out: We have sold a lot of things and with that money only we have decorated our new place. We wanted our life to be simpler. I wanted to decorate our home more zero waste principles in mind than matching decoration colors. In Finland we have this big thing to decorate our home with design sofas and lamps and matching everything with white, white and white. For inside, my cleaning process has been my every morning meditation ritual. I have left behind many things, cleaned my mind, and I do feel so much better. I have found my path that I am now walking, but at the same time I have accepted that if something doesn’t happen now, it is meant to be like that. I don’t want to force things to happen.
In my professional life the biggest invest
was to participate in a yoga and meditation teacher trainings – so far I think
they have been the best investments for years! Also, I am thankful all the
writing and styling projects that I have had chance to do this year, and all
the new people that have entered in my life.
New year 2019 – you can come now! It is time to cut old magazines and make a dream map for the next year. As you might know, this is my New Year’s Eve tradition: to make a dream map. I have been doing this since 2014, and find it very clarifying tradition. I totally recommend start to do this. When you visualize your dreams and write them down, it is most likely that you are actually reaching them, than if you just leave it in your head. Also, it is nice to look at old dream maps and see which dream came true or how the dreams change. For me doing a dream map is really a therapeutic experience in a same way than cleaning a wardrobe – you go through all the old stuff, get rid of them and make room for new ones.
Before you start to do your first dream map, I recommend to do a little meditation where you visualize your dreams and think also, how is the life when you reach your goal. Keep that image in your mind when you start cutting inspiring pictures from magazines. Think also, what meaningful life means to you? What is your ideal everyday life like? What you want to reach in your professional life?
Christmas spirit starts to be everywhere, but can we really get into the mood, when we need to do so much?
Christmas time is definitely not that easy for everyone, not at least for us, adults. Before the end of the year you maybe want to finish all the unfinished projects, prepare your house for Christmas, do all the delicious bakings and run around all the cool pre-Christmas parties. You feel tires already?
Relax. This year: don’t make all this pressure for yourself. Try to do less and be more present.
Maybe my good will list for December will help you. Here it is:
In my diffuser: Fresh Kapha from Finnish Frantsila’s essential oil. This is meant to be for Kapha dosha from Ayurvedic medical system, but I found this fresh and energetic essential oil and it is perfect for this darkest season of the year to fresh your home and yourself. Add a bit to a carpet to give good scent to your home.
Drink of the month: YogiTea’s Christmas Tea that tastes like Christmas: a bit cinnamon, liquorice, anise and cardamom. Love it. As a non-alcoholic drink I serve Belvoir Fruit Farms Spiced Ginger Punch. With this punch I offer from my cookie box Organic Health’s gluten free tattar gingerbreads which are sweeten with honey.
Asana of the month:Malasana. This is a good asana to calm down and to connect with the earth, to be more grounded. It is a good asana to practice when you need to calm down. Benefits: Malasana strengthens the lower back and core. Plus, it works the quadriceps, hamstring, calf muscles of the leg and gluteal. Also, it activated the digestive system and tones the belly.
How to do it:
Start with standing pose Tadasana. Spread your legs a side of your yoga mat. Exhale and lean forward such that your torso fits snugly in between your tights. Place your hands in Anjali Mudra and press with your elbows against the inner tights. Close your eyes, if you want to and stay in asana 5–10 inhale and exhales. Modify: If your need, add tower to your heel, if it doesn’t touch the ground.
I recently wrote about our decoration philosophy, and that our new apartment we are going to buy everything we can on second hand markets. So, now we are in our new place. It is time for a little analyze what did we buy and how did we succeed in our project.
Our budget for home décor was 1300 euros. This is the money we got when we sold our old stuff in our home in Spain before we moved to Finland. What did we get with this money? A lot, in the end we didn’t even use all. Before going through the list, I have to say that some of the home decoration stuff we brought from Spain to Finland by car, for example lamps, home textiles and some of the most important kitchen devices.
So here is the list:
This is what we got for free from our friends or found from dumpster:
rattan sofa + baskets
ktchen table and chairs
mattresses
two bureau
rack for shoes
stool
three chairs
pot
coffee machine
Bought as used:
child’s bed 40 e
couch 50 e
terrace sofa and cushions 165 e
plates 20 e
other moving expense 30 e
rocking chair 65 e
cottage table 70 e
bureau 50 e
children’s armchair 30 e
bedcover 2 e
in total 522 e
Purchased as new:
Kitchen’s side table 99 e
Junior chair 50 e
Wooden step 10 e
Slatted bed place 60 e
Two houseplants and pots 30 e
Two floor pillows 32 e
In total 271 e
All together 793 e
How did it go?
I have to say, that most of the home decoration you can find in used and in good conditions, but this demand time and energy to be alert all the time. Also, there are some miscalculations, too. We bought some furniture really upmarket price, like that used terrace table and sofa with pillows. That was actually the most expensive piece of furniture that we bought! We got them from the former tenant. The same goes to the plates that we bought from him. We thought that he would leave in the apartment all the plates that he showed, but when we moved in there were only a half of them, and all the normal plates (that we actually needed) were missing. So that was too a shopping that was annoying afterwards, and I should have trusted my instinct that said no. Luckily, I cancelled all the other furniture that he wanted to sell us.
Otherwise I found really easy to buy home decoration from Facebook’s second hand markets and other online marketplaces. But this I did learn: you need to act immediately, check often what is available, and most of all, picking up the furniture you often needed a car. In many occasion, without a car, we couldn’t have bought the furniture that we wanted and as fast as we needed them. Also, we did face some logistics problems, like how to get that big cottage table from one place to a top of the car and then again to carry it to the sixth floor. Well in the end we found help from the place we bought the table and when we got to our place, I asked help from the street from two teenager boys who wanted to earn ten euros.
However, I found it tiring to hang in Facebook to find that special piece of furniture, but at time that was rewarding. For example I was the first one to book a rocking chair, that 200 people were asking after me. Also, we found two bureaux for free, and when we went to pick them, we found in the same trip, by accident, from a dumpster a bureau for my husband.
I tried to avoid buying new things, but in the end, we needed to buy some necessary things, that were helping every day life. In our new kitchen there is hardly any cooking place, so a little side table was obligatory, the same goes to the junior chair. In our Airbnb place we had one and our daughter got used to it and we found it practical. And lets face it; it wasn’t nice to construct a chair for our girl by adding a carton box on top of the kitchen chair every day.
As you go through my list, you can notice that not all things were so necessary, like those plants or floor pillows, but I found them useful and they give comfortable atmosphere to our home. If we really wanted to go more zero waste what comes to our home, we could have do it, but so far, I found that we did a pretty good job.
I think for me, after packing and moving, I have started to let go on material things. All the ownership and buying new things make me uncomfortable. Our place I wanted to get to together fast, so we could actually start living here. For me, my decoration philosophy was to make a cozy home, and that is what I hope for our friends and family will experience too when they come for a visit.
IPPC published its climate report this week, and this week’s news has been all about it. It is hard and scary to read that we only have like twelve years to stop the global climate warning not reaching to the two degrees. The action needs to be taken now, and we all need to do something. But sometimes I feel hopeless. In the mornings when I have read all the news about climate change, I have been thinking, what I could do more. When walking on the street I look around those busy people passing by with their plastic smoothie cups in their hands and then I saw rubbish on the street, and I feel hopeless. We are the western people and we should know it better. And at the same time I am busy too and hungry, it would be tempting to buy green smoothie, I need energy! Anyway, does it really matter what I do in a big picture? Does it really matter my little sustainable choices that I try to make, when the oceans are full of plastic, in the other side of the world people are working in bad working condition and out planet’s carrying capacity is about to collapse?
Well, does it matter?
As I talk to my husband, he is underlining that if we really wanted to live according to sustainable values, we would be living like his best friend in Brittany. He is living without electricity, in a minimalist way, he doesn’t consume hardly anything, he buys his food from food market and from locals and he is recycling or reusing everything. Only a few of us could live like this. I mean think about: warming your place every day, going to a cold shower and doing your needs to a bucket. Still, I really admire this person, I am proud of that we have chance to call him as a friend. He is a role model, and I don’t know anyone who is living like he does.
Anyway, I still want to believe, that it does matter what you and I do in every day level. And I do want to write about our sustainable lifestyle that we try to put in practice in our everyday life. You must have notice that this blog is about sustainable lifestyle and good life, right? So tips are coming now too, because we need action. Normally different reports and medias lists three categories that we can start doing changes and minimize our carbon footprint. These categories are: our eating habits, reducing taking a plane and paying attention to our consumer habits. Here are my tips for minimizing carbon footprint in each category. Yes, they are easy on paper, but not so easy put in the action.
Reduce eating meat
It is a meatless October (at least here in Finland), it is a perfect excuse to stop eating meat for a month at least. Participate a challenge and find your support group on Facebook, if you feel like it is easier when you share your results with others.
Start with little steps. For example, if you eat meat three times a week, start replace one meal with vegetarian food. Make it a habit.
Try new vegetarian recipes and try to replace meat with vegetarian substitute. Try to make a lasagna with vegetables only, for example! In the best case you will get excited to try new recipes and learning to make more sustainable meals. This is what happened to me, when I started to be vegetarian three years ago.
Do you have kids? Tell them to about why it is important to reduce eating meat. Do you have little kids? Think about, is it really necessary to start learning them to eat meat in weekly base.
Traveling
This is a hard one! I mean would you say no to a summer holiday in a warm destination or weekend in Rome? Probably not. And I cannot blame you. Discovering new places is broadening and you always learn and experience something new. But you know the truth: taking a plane is a bad for the planet and it is raising our carbon footprint. Of course you can buy yourself better conscience by living more sustainable way in your everyday life, but the best solution is to minimize your flying trips.
My solution: try to think in a new way. Is it really necessary to fly for this city holiday for just a couple of days? Is it really recuperative after all? Think about how tired you will be on Sunday evening when you are returning home after a weekend trip. Think about all the time wasted when getting to an airport, waiting in lines and so on.
If you are traveling a lot, stop to think: why am I doing this? What is it that I am not happy about my every day life where I am? Is it possible to move to another country or start looking your environment with new eyes?
I surely do know what I am writing about. We just moved back to my cold and dark home country from sunny and warm Spain. I could start booking flights to a warmer destination, but instead of doing that, I want to travel near by and get to know my county better.
If you traveling for a work, think if you can replace some of the flying and meetings by just making a Skype connection.
Remember: you can always compensate your carbon footprint by paying an extra flight fee for example here.
Change your consumption habits
This action we can take immediately. Think, what you really need. Try to find other solutions for buying, like borrowing books, tools and clothes from your friends or neighbors. And what goes on fashion and decoration trends, stop following them, and get out to be a fashion victim – it is not fashionable at all! You must know that fashion industry is one of the polluting industry in the world. When a shirt costs ten euros, you can be sure that it hasn’t been made in an ethical or environmental friendly factory.
So what should you do? Buy clothes on occasion, and buy only quality clothes that are made near and with natural fibers. Buy only for the need and ask your self every time: am I going to use this for another ten years? (Or like me: when I am a grandmother.) The best solution would be not to buy at all, and use the clothes that you already have.
Summary: Take care of the clothes you have and try to prolong their lifespan.
What goes on grocery shopping, avoid buying food that are packed in plastic (definitely not easy here in Finland).
Try to buy local and seasonal food and buy food on food markets, if possible.
Buy only food what you need and just a little at time (if you have chance to go to a super market often) and try to minimize food waste.
Carry a fabric bag with you.
Protect and be active!
Protect forests; they are important carbon throat for cleaning the air from carbon dioxide. Stop taking free distributions, read your magazines in your nearest library or if you buy them, change magazines with your friends. This is one way to safe money, too!
Support environmental groups.
Alongside our daily decisions towards sustainable living, we need more rapid action from a political level in global and in local basis to guide us to make better choices that are necessary to take in a long run.
Meanwhile, start doing something today, pick up a trash from the street or avoid buying that smoothie in a plastic cup. The important thing is that you start consciously think about your daily actions and what you could do more, because it does matter.
