My Zero Waste Plan

Recently I have been thinking a lot about how I can make small changes to my everyday activities that will help me to reduce my waste production for the planet.  I’m always conscious of recycling, and if I’m out and about I’ll hold onto any plastic bottles until I’m home to make sure they make it into a recycling box.  I keep a hold of receipts so they will be recycling, or where possible I’ll turn them down if they don’t need to be printed at the till.   One of the biggest changes I’ve made recently is making sure that any fresh produce that I buy like fruit and veg are not wrapped in plastic, where it’s possible!  However, despite all this, there are still some things that I can do to make sure that I’m making a greater difference so I thought I would share these ideas with you all in a post, in case this is something you’ve been thinking a lot about too!

Water Bottle

From now on I’m going to make sure that I ALWAYS keep a water bottle on me at all times, and where possible use water fountains when I’m out and about so that I don’t need to purchase a drink in a plastic bottle.  I’m pretty good at this already, however I’m just going to make an extra conscious effort to make sure I follow through with this.  I’ve started taking two water bottles with me to work to 1. Make sure i’m drinking enough throughout those ten hour shifts, and 2. To avoid the need to purchase plastic water bottles because my refillable one is all out.

Lunch Box

Again, I do try and make the effort currently when I know that I’m going to be out during meal times to pack my meals in reusable containers, however sometimes it’s just so easy to chuck something small into a plastic bag to avoid carrying around big chunky containers.  However from now on, I’m going to make sure that I’m only using tuppawear to store my meals and snacks in, and I’m going to ditch the sandwich bags all together.  Even for when I’m making my daily batches of popcorn, it might be annoying carrying around 6 boxes a day to store food, but if it’s better for the environment that I’m willing to do it!  

Bags

From now on I’m carrying a tote bag/old paper bag on me at all times as well as my handbag, so that when I’m out at the shops, be it for food, clothes or whatever, I will be able to say no to the plastic bag.  Typically for me that would be around 3 bags a week, which is 12 a month, and around 144 a year – that’s a lot of plastic bags to reject!

This is where I’m starting for now, I know these are all fairly small and minor changes, however I’m researching everyday how to live a more zero waste lifestyle, and I’m taking it little by little.  If this is something of interest to you, then I’d highly recommend that you check out “A Plastic Ocean” on Netflix, as well as “The Story of Stuff” on Youtube – and let me know what you think!

I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on how I’m coping over the coming months!

Until the next one,

Lauren X

A Crazy Couple of Months

You'll have noticed that I've been very absent over the last couple of months, so I thought I would explain before jumping back into the blogging bandwagon!

First things first, I broke my laptop.  It's still broken, however I will be getting it fixed, or purchasing a new one, very soon.  My point is, I got kinda lazy.  I've been borrowing my brothers one on and off since my last post, but it's so slow and I just couldn't be bothered waiting the 20 minutes to get it up and started each time I wanted to blog.  Lazy, I know!  

                                    

Secondly, I got a new job!  I'm no longer a slave to retail *praise the lord!*  It was a super scary move for me because this job was kind of offered to me randomly, it wasn't something I'd ever consider doing, however, I felt like it was the exact move I needed to make to push me out of my comfort zone completely and to help me find out what it is that I exactly want to do with myself.  It was 100% the best decision for me, I absolutely love my new job, and whilst I still miss some people at my old one, I can safely say that I'll never miss the uncertainty of hours, uncertainty of my job description nor do I miss the bad vibes and atmosphere that so often filled the place.  I'm officially rocking this new work routine - and so now it's so easy for me plan things around my rota and to use my time for effectively.

                                           

Another aspect that I let get in the way of my blogging time was my new business with Arbonne.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE it and everything that it has to offer for me, however during my first couple of months I got super absorbed in it and I kind of let the blog slip whilst I was figuring out what I was doing.  Arbonne is still my safety net, my plan B and a great source of fun - however my blog is taking back the number one focus!

                                        

That's pretty much all I have to say.  Having had this little break has given me the chance to plan a lot of different ideas in my mind for the blog, now it's time to put pen to paper and bring these ideas to life!  I'm on holiday this week, totally milking this birthday week thing, and so I'll be using this time to get organised and ready to go! Expect to see a lot of things popping up over the next couple of months...

Here is to a productive end of the year! 

Until the next one,

Lauren X

Uncommon Goods - Gift Guide

It’s not even half way through the year yet, the kids are still on holiday, the sun is still

shining (on occasion!) and I’ve already started planning my Christmas shopping for this year.  That’s right, I’m one of THOSE people.  Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, because I love buying gifts for lovely people, and spreading the love and Christmas joy with every that I meet!  I could do Christmas all year round, seriously.  I was already in the midst of planning out some of the smaller bits and bobs to put away for the festive season when Rocky from Uncommon Goods approached me and asked for me to take a look at their site for some gifting inspo. 

Uncommon Goods are a US brand who have a focus on making themselves an environmental and sustainable retailer.  All of their goods are handcrafted and sources from individuals, crafters and small manufactures.  What I love the most about this is that they only stock goods that cause no harm to people or animals, meaning that their stock sustainable, mostly made from recycled materials and cruelty free! I'm currently working on becoming more green myself in regards to my waste - blog post to follow soon - and so this was important to me as I'll be looking carefully at where my money is going when I spend it. I love the ethics and everything about this brand, and I’m so delighted to be working on them for this post!

Here is a gift guide that I have personally put together from their fabulous selection of goodies.  These are just some of the bits that really stood out to me as I was browsing the site, although I reckon that I could build up a pretty hefty bill picking out bits for everyone, If my bank balance would allow me!

Lamarama Large Zipper Pouch

Uncommon Goods is one of those sites that no matter what section you land on, you are absolutely going to find something for every single person on your gift list.  I’ve got 6 siblings in total, and as I was scrolling through the Gifts for Her page, I came across this super cute coin pouch.  My sister Eve has a thing for Lamas – don’t ask – and so when I spied this I knew it would be the perfect match for her, as it would go perfectly with her lama hat that she wears during the colder months.  You do you Eve, you’re rocking it!

Elwood the Rainbow Unicorn Mug

Another gift that stood out to me as I was scrolling through the site was this gorgeous unicorn mug,  that I think  certain someone I know would absolutely love!  I don’t know about you, but there is nothing that I enjoy more at Christmas timue than enjoying a nice festive drink in the colder months in some cosy pjs and a nice new mug!  This bad boy is going to make a certain someone smile at Christmas time,

Ceramic Guitar Wall Sculptures

After scrolling for a good while checking out all of the lovely bits that I could grab for my sisters, my mum and my girlfriends – I finally a unique and special little something for my boyfriendthese handcrafted ceramic guitar wall sculptures.  My boyfriend likes to play on occasion when he’s in the mood, however he always keeps his guitars on the wall of his bedroom.  I know that when we have our own place, he’s either going to do the same in his man cave, or put them away somewhere, not to be seen unless he wants to play.  Should it be the latter, these cute sculptures would make the perfect compromise to remind him that he’s got them there, ready to be played when he is ready.

So there you have it, my Christmas shopping is well underway now after having been introduced to this fantastic site - I hope this gives you some gifting inspo too, Christmas or not!

Until the next one,


Lauren X