Ok, a little about me...
I am dangerously close to 40. I have a wonderful husband, a wonderful toddler and a wonderful old dog. I love them all. I love to worry about our life and if we are doing it right!
I worry about our planet and if we are living in it right and I worry about the people around me, both family and friends too... just so they don't feel left out! 'Cause, well, I'd worry if I thought they were feeling left out...
You may be picking up on this already but I am a worrier.
If there is anything you need me to worry about; I can do it. No problem. I've been doing it for years so I have plenty of experience. I take it very seriously! And I have plenty of good, solid referees you could talk to, to confirm the dedication I take in my worrying :)
When my son was born, two years ago, I went on a crusade making sure the house was clean and germs were at a minimum to keep us all healthy. I was a marketer’s dream when it came to the cleaning aisle in big supermarkets – I would get giddy at the idea of all the colourful, sparkly "throw away" this and fancy "lemon scented single use" that.
To me, it meant I could keep everywhere clean and then bin the evidence. Once the bin closed, my mind/worry could move on to the next thing... But when you have a young baby and you are feeding during the night you can get caught up in all sorts of crazy, social media trails...
I started seeing the horror of where this "single use" life was going.
I suppose I never really thought about it much before...
We have always recycled what we can and binned the rest. I have carried a water bottle for years and felt I was doing good by not buying plastic bottles. We have had long life bags for years too... so, you know, we are practically hippies!
However, I never really thought further than that. I thought that was all ok because, well, that is what everyone else around us was doing too.
But now, I can see that this is simply not enough.
In the last eight months, I have started to take this a little more seriously. We started slowly - when a harmful product ran out we didn't replace it. Instead we looked for a safer more sustainable alternative. We have gone back to basics. I use things like lemon oil and other pure essential (doterra) oils and white vinegar to clean, and use diluted castile soap for dish and hand washing! I use eco coconut scours and only use microfiber cloths now instead of the single use wipes.
We don't use any harmful, synthetic scents. I use beeswax wraps where possible and do not use cling film or tinfoil anymore. I carry my Keep Cup everywhere (along with our water bottles) and we say no to plastic straws and cutlery. I have incorporated more plants in our home to keep the air clean, especially coming in to the colder months. We now have a food waste bin so less is going to landfill, and if I absolutely cannot reuse something anywhere else in the house then, and _only_ then, it goes in the bin.
My mind has woken up to this and we will continue to research to find more changes we can incorporate to help heal the world, and make it a better place!
There are so many hashtags to follow on Instagram like #sustainable and #nowaste and accounts like @30daysgreener. And, of course, there is the wonderful @reuzie for amazing eye openers and the reuzi online shop!
Follow Karina's adventures on Instagram @karinafeefee
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