Hello, friends! It has been a few years since I last posted on this blog. To recap, at the beginning of 2020, I made a set of personal sustainability goals based on a book called A Year of Nothing New by my friend, Kristin Skarie, and I wrote about my weekly progress. There have been quite a few updates in my life in the past two years since then, so I wanted to share what has changed during my ongoing sustainability journey.
To quickly list my previous goals from my four months and then five weeks of Naught New, I aimed to buy nothing new except food and gas, grow vegetables, find a local farmers market, be a pescatarian/part-time vegetarian, eat at local restaurants and avoid chains or fast food, turn my computer off earlier than bedtime, only buy products with recyclable packaging, avoid disposable plastic, make my own soap, detox deodorant and laundry detergent, make or get second-hand things as gifts, donate clothes I don’t need, compost, turn off the water in the shower whenever I’m not rinsing, track my car versus public transportation usage, calculate my carbon footprint, and eventually upgrade from a gas vehicle to an electric vehicle.
Since then, I’ve accomplished some of the goals that I wasn’t able to before. In the past few years, I transitioned between multiple jobs, moved to an apartment closer to Orlando, upgraded my technology, and changed my diet. The major changes that I’ve been able to make include composting my food scraps with O-Town Compost, becoming a vegetarian and vegan when possible, shopping at farmers markets for most of my food, reducing my plastic packaging and consumption of processed food, and ordering a new mattress (which was the most recent occurrence). Most of what I’ve changed has to do with food, and little bit has to do with sleep.
Food
During my four months and five weeks of Naught New in 2020, I found it difficult to compost on my own. I started working for O-Town Compost and found that bringing my food scraps to work to be composted on a community scale was much easier and more convenient. I transitioned from working for O-Town Compost to working for the CLEO Institute about two and a half months ago, so I also transitioned from being a driver to being a subscriber with O-Town Compost. Composting food scraps is a climate solution because organic waste that gets sent to the landfill doesn’t break down in the anaerobic conditions and instead releases methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. I highly recommend composting personally or finding a community composter like O-Town Compost to take your food scraps. If you are in the Central Florida area and are thinking of subscribing to O-Town Compost, use this referral code to get $10 off and so will I: https://tinyurl.com/2c8onj26.
Being closer to Orlando and visiting farmers markets each week has also allowed me to start eating much more locally and reduce my plastic packaging. I subscribed to Fleet Farming’s CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture program, which means I receive a share of produce from local gardens every week. I bring my own tote bag and reuse food containers, so I’m not disposing of any packaging. I’m eating healthy, organic, vegan, and hyper-local food that reduces fossil fuel use by avoiding transport and packaging. I’m supporting local, small farming programs and businesses. I’ve done my best to be a vegan, although I tend to still eat cheese and some dairy when I’m not cooking for myself, given that those things are hard to avoid when going out to eat or receiving free food. I also supplement what I get from the farmers market with a few meals from the grocery store each week. I can continue to avoid plastic by buying canned beans and boxed pasta, but it is unavoidable with certain frozen vegetables and other meals.
There are always trade-offs in sustainable eating, and I fully acknowledge that financial privilege and proximity to farmers markets provide me with options. For example, you could be a vegan and buy non-local, processed, pre-made, meat- and cheese-alternative-based meals from Trader Joe’s that all come in plastic packaging, like someone I know. Or, in my case, you could buy local produce from a farmers market that doesn’t come in plastic and is vegan, but still need to supplement with a few items that come in disposable containers from the grocery store. For me, reducing disposable plastic is a bigger deal than being a strict vegan. I initially attempted to minimize my plastic packaging by getting my bread and bagels from the farmers market in addition to my produce, but I couldn’t get them to last more than a few days before becoming rock hard or moldy. Going on a plastic diet at the grocery store without the help of a farmers market is nearly impossible, but I suggest subscribing to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program if you have any in your area and you have the means.
On a side note, I’ve slimmed down five or ten pounds in the past couple of years, so I wonder if it has to do with my transition away from eating meat, given that I’ve always been active with exercise. That’s just another perk of being vegetarian in addition to not having to make so many choices about what to eat.
Sleep
I recently upgraded my phone and laptop from my first smart phone that was five years old and my first laptop that was thirteen years old. For the sake of sustainability (and not wasting money), I used my tech until it stopped working. I did the same with my mattress. My current mattress has got to be at least ten years old, and the dip in the middle is now impacting my ability to fall asleep. I did some research online for sustainable mattresses and found that it is important to get one made out of organic and natural materials rather than foam polyurethane or memory foam, both of which are petroleum-based and not great for health as far as the chemical components that they contain and release. I settled on the brand Saatva and placed an order after calling to confirm that it would be shipped from a factory in Florida and not have to travel from California, for example. I don’t trust them to recycle my old mattress, so I looked into options for that online and found a local organization called The Mustard Seed of Central Florida that does it. I still have to call and confirm that they will take it, which I will do after my new one is delivered. You can look up mattress recycling options in your area on this website.
With that, as my tradition goes, I will leave you with a song (that happens to be a parody that I wrote about composting). The world is both literally and figuratively on fire, and systemic change is vital in fighting the climate crisis, but choosing to live more sustainably on a personal level also helps by signaling to everyone around you that sustainability matters and Earth’s resources are finite. Eat well, sleep well, and may thee use naught new.
Naught New 