Let's Get Real: 3 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Plastic Waste & Adapt a More Climate-Conscious Lifestyle

If you are reading this post you have already accomplished step one of every necessary climate action: you care! Changing our lifestyles towards sustainability and climate-conscioussness oftentimes feels like we are facing a big mountain (similar to the one these two ladies in the picture have created with their coffee-cup waste - for those of you who wondered: this was part of a Berlin based campaign for reusable coffee cups). Without much further introduction I want to present you 3 easy (I promise!) changes (& areas in your life) you can make in your everyday life to adapt a more climate-conscious lifestyle.

1. For some of you, this might be a no-brainer but we cannot stop advocating for it: Get yourself a reusable water bottle!! There's literally no excuse to keep using those one-time little plastic water bottles. Do you want to guess how many water bottles the U.S. population consumes every year? 50 BILLION! And they don't just come out of nowhere: more than 17 million barrels of oil are required to produce enough plastic water bottles to meet America's annual demand. Over 86% of these water bottles used in the U.S. end up becoming garbage or litter. And to make it worse: 32% of plastic produced each years ends up in our oceans. That's the same as dumping one garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every single minute - and the number has been steadily growing. And yet, this would be so so easy to avoid. Go get yourself a reusable water bottle and ban plastic water bottles from your life!

1b. Get yourself a reusable coffee mug! Similar to plastic bottles, you have no idea how many plastic coffee cups we waste every single year. My reusable coffee mug has become my best friend & has travelled so many places and can tell so many stories by now!

1c. Get yourself a tote & ban plastic bags from your life. Totes can be such pretty accessories and they make plastic bags at grocery stores or other places simply un-necessary! Importantly, simply owning a tote doesn't cut it - you have to remember to bring them when grocery shopping & going places! ;)

2. Have you ever considered the amount of plastic waste you produce in the bathroom? Over our lifetime, each of us creates 512 kgs of bathroom waste on average. May it be shampoo bottles, plastic razor blades or make-up remover pads - they create a ton of waste. But there are easy & high-quality products that can heavily reduce your waste-number: The easiest of the all: soap bars. Nowadays you can get shampoo, conditioner and body cleaning products in super pretty & good-smelling soap & solid shampoo bars which do not come in plastic containers you have to throw away once the shampoo is empty. In addition, soap bars tend to last way longer and are oftentimes cheaper than fancy plastic packaged shampoos. There are so many amazing sustainable shops out there that sell tons of products. One of my personal favorites is L'Occitane. One product that has changed my climate-conscious bathroom is a chrome razor. I personally use the MÜHLE Traditional Chrome Safety Razor - Closed Comb (this post is not sponsored by any company - I personally simply think that it is always helpful to know of products that work well for other people and are worth it). Trust me, it is super easy to use - actually works way better & comfortable than the cheap plastic razors you probably use and it is soo cheap when used regularly since the blades last super long and are way cheaper than plasti ones. And you avoid tons of plastic waste. And lastly: have you ever considered re-usable make-up remover pads? I highly encourage you to get yourself some (or even make them yourself - there are tons of DIY vides & ideas out there) and easily cross some of your previously created waste off your list! We don't all have to be perfect at zero-waste - but if we all reduce our waste as good as we can, we can already change so much!

3. Last but not least: Clothes! If you are interested in this topic in more depth, I encourage you to take a look at my last blog post that dealt with fast fashion and its effect on the planet, the climate as well as people. Here are three easy steps that you can take right now to make your closet more climate-friendly:

1. Buy better and mend more, because Loved Clothes Last. Invest in high-quality items that you will actually wear for a long time (you usually do not find those at Primark of forever21). If your favorite jeans rip, either bring them to a tailor or upcycle them by turning them into a pair of shorts.

2. Buy second-hand or organize clothes-swapping parties (these can be so so fun). Also, Vintage is pretty in right now - there are so many stores such as GoodWill or hip stores in New York City where you can find true treasures for little money.

3. Are you wearing an endangered forest? Be conscious about the fabrics you were! Polyester not only has a high environmental impact since making it process as much emissions as 185 coal-fired power plants, but it is as the same time responsible for micro-plastic that we find in our oceans. Do you know how many liters of water are needed to produce a cotton-t-shirt? If no, you'll find the answer in my last blog post ;) Viscose is the third most popular fashion fabric behind cotton and polyester. Over 150 million trees disappear into clothing every year, and up to 30% of viscous is sourced from endangered and ancient forests. Forests are similarly destroyed to make space for industrialized agriculture, with land continuously cleared in the Amazon rainforest to raise cattle for the leather industry. You clearly do not have to compromise on style to help save the planet. But we should all be hyper-aware of influential our fashion choices can be for the planet and people.

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