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Zero Waste holidays

Planning a low-waste Christmas can be fun for the entire family! Here are some Zero Waste holiday tips to try this season:

Zero Waste and experience gift ideas
Building holiday traditions the whole family will love
Gifting thoughtfully: what does it mean?
Holiday Zero Waste travel tips
Holiday secondhand shopping for kids
What if others aren’t on board?
How to wrap experience gifts
Going to a Christmas market? Tips for low-waste public events
Eco-friendly wrapping tutorial

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I’m Leah, a writer, editor, and mom trying to live an eco-friendly life. I aim to share thoughts on sustainability in a way that inspires.

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Do you give yourself permission to slow down? Here in Vancouver, we’ve been under a rare blanket of snow this week, which effectively means the city grinds to a stressful, frazzled halt. But even with the mess of navigating the roads, there’s something so calm and still about snow. I’ve been taking my cues from the season and trying to slow down too. I’ve written about self-care before, but I’ll keep writing about it because it’s so important for me to remind myself. Some self-care I’m prioritizing this winter: ❄️Making time for restorative yoga and meditation (it appears that I do have the time if I swap out a little bit of screen time!) ❄️Sitting still with a hot cup of tea when my body/mind tells me to. ❄️Listening to audiobooks rather than watching TV with Scott before bed. ❄️Reading actual books, even for 10 minutes, rather than messing around on my phone for 10 minutes. (On the bookshelf lately: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson for @renatebakes’s online book club, The Third Plate by Dan Barber, and Becoming by Michelle Obama.) ❄️Taking my vitamins and supplements. Remember, effective self-care does not mean consumer indulgence or neglecting responsibilities. And it is not selfish. It’s a necessary form of investing in yourself so you can be more capable of taking on the challenges in your life. 🙌🏻 What about you? What are you doing for self-care these days? Do you find that it changes with the seasons? . . . . . . . #wastefreeliving #zerowaste #wasteless #meditate #reducereuserecycle #lowwaste #lowwasteliving #circulareconomy #yogaeverydamnday #zerowastehome #zerowastejourney #zerowasteirl #reducewaste #plasticfreeliving #slowdown #ecoconscious #lesswaste #zerowastelife #theartofslowliving #sustainable #sustainability #sustainableliving #consciousconsumer #ethicalliving #ecoadvocate #zerowastevancouver #eco #ecofriendly #wastefreeplanet

Double tap if you choose to REPAIR rather than REPLACE! This is my husband’s work bag. 💼 It was purchased several years ago as a graduation present, and a few months back it started to show some wear. (My husband is pretty rough on his clothes and things, which means we do a lot of repairing, unfortunately.) So I took it to a specialty shop and had the corners fixed and the zipper redone. Compared to rebuying, it’s extremely cost effective, and it’s a good investment if you want a piece to last. Other things we've had repaired: the zipper on my favourite hoodie, the buckles and heels on my rain boots, the heels on my mom’s shoes from the 80’s (which I wore to my high school prom, and on my wedding day!), and my husband’s work pants. Here are my top tips for repairing: 🧡Befriend your local professionals: research tailors, shoe/bag repair places, and even small appliance repair places near you. Not only can they repair things when broken, but they can even advise which brands are the best quality to invest in if you have a purchasing decision to make in the future. 🧡Research repair policies and warranties on the items you buy (some places are great and will repair it.) 🧡Learn some basic mending skills. I am not great at this but am learning! (PS: Check out @sustainable.suburbs's “visible mending” story highlight!) 🧡For small appliances and electronics, it’s tough because of planned obsolescence. Still, there are very cool people doing very cool things! Look up repair cafes near you. Some libraries host repair sessions too! What about you? Do you try to repair your things? What have you repaired lately? 😊 . . . . . . . #wastefreeliving #zerowaste #wasteless #repairdontreplace #reducereuserecycle #lowwaste #lowwasteliving #circulareconomy #visiblemending #zerowastehome #zerowastejourney #zerowasteirl #reducewaste #plasticfreeliving #choosetoreuse #ecoconscious #lesswaste #zerowastelife #recycle #sustainable #sustainability #sustainableliving #consciousconsumer #ethicalliving #ecoadvocate #zerowastevancouver #eco #ecofriendly #wastefreeplanet

Can you save money going low-waste? Yes! Please don’t be fooled into thinking that you need to buy a lot of fancy new products to live in a low-waste way. That’s greenwashing. No thanks. 🙅🏻‍♀️ So here, I've put together a few ways in which going low-waste can save money. Swipe to read them! For me, one huge area of savings was reusables. No more paper towel. No more tissues. And every time I get my period, I love knowing that I don’t have to buy any new products. Hooray! 🙌🏻 Another expense for me used to be fancy skincare and cosmetics. I was always on the hunt for the perfect product. Guess what? Since switching to simple products and DIYs, my skin looks (wait for it) identical. 💁🏻‍♀️ A few caveats here, as always: not all of these tips will work for every person, and some of these tips require extra time. Some also require a bit of an upfront investment (I’m looking at you, Zero Waste period products). These tips are far from new or novel: people in other cultures and time periods have been using them for ages. It's modern Western society that has decided we need so many disposable things in our daily lives. 🙃 And of course, drinking tap water means having access to clean drinking water, which not everyone has (speaking of which, please contact your local politicians to tell them the importance of cleaning drinking water for everyone, if you haven’t already). 💧Nevertheless, I’m hoping that in general, these are helpful. What are your favourite eco-friendly money-saving tips? Have I forgotten anything? Let me know! 🧡 . . . . . . #lesswaste #reducewaste #zerowastetips #zerowasteblogger #lesswastelifestyle #lowwasteliving #plasticpollution #plasticpollutes #plasticfreeshopping #zerowastejourney #choosetoreuse #earthfriendly #plasticfree #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreetips #reducereuserecycle #lowimpact #endplasticpollution #goingzerowaste #discoverunder10k #noplanetb #ecoadvocate #nontoxic #ecolife #wastefreeliving #wasteless #refillrevolution #zerowasteirl #ditchthedisposables #saynotosingleuse

Here’s a fun little low-waste tip for all the parents/caregivers out there: pack a "Zero Waste restaurant kit" for your little ones! 🖍 When we go out to eat, I try to plan in advance, because I know that many places offer crayons in plastic packaging. Well, we have crayons at home too, so I just bring those with me! No need for the extra plastic. I pack them up in a little cloth bag, and then my son can colour his heart out. I also bring a couple small toys he can play with—nothing noisy or disruptive for other guests, but little wooden spinning tops and a train are perfect! 🚂 The last place we went to didn’t have a children’s menu or colouring sheet, so these little toys (plus some “I spy” and “finger play” rhymes I learned in my library program) did the trick. The server actually loved the spinning tops and insisted on trying them out herself! Finally, I bring my son's water bottle and straw, because some restaurants give kids single-use cups/straws. 🥤 Do you bring an “restaurant kit” for your little ones? How do you keep your kids entertained in public places? Brands shown (not sponsored) @nestpics (spinning tops) @colibricanada (bag) @ilovehape (train) . . . . . . . #lesswaste #reducewaste #zerowastetips #zerowasteblogger #lesswastelifestyle #lowwasteliving #plasticpollution #plasticpollutes #plasticfreeshopping #zerowastejourney #vancouverblogger #zerowastehome #plasticfree #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreetips #reducereuserecycle #lowimpact #endplasticpollution #zerowaste #discoverunder10k #noplanetb #ecoadvocate #nontoxic #ecolife #ecomama #wasteless #refillrevolution #zerowasteirl #ditchthedisposables #saynotosingleuse

Oh happy day when I have a new article in @alivehealth magazine to share with you. ☺️ For January, I wrote a piece on going Zero Waste step by step—in 31 days! 🙌🏻That’s because there are 31 days in January, but of course you can start any time and it can take as long as you need (it definitely takes a long time to use up old products!). I had so much fun writing this article and I hope you enjoy reading it! You can find the link in my bio or on the alive website—or pick up a physical copy for yourself! 💛 . . . . . . . #lesswaste #reducewaste #zerowastetips #zerowasteblogger #lesswastelifestyle #lowwasteliving #plastic pollution #plasticpollutes #plasticfreeshopping #zerowastejourney #vancouverblogger #zerowastehome #plasticfree #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreetips #reducereuserecycle #lowimpact #endplasticpollution #zerowaste #discoverunder10k #noplanetb #ecoadvocate #nontoxic #ecolife #plasticfreejuly #wasteless #refillrevolution #zerowasteirl #ditchthedisposables #saynotosingleuse

Let’s take a minute to talk about some of the waste that we DON’T see. Because as much as we love glass jars and bulk shopping (hey, I love it too!), there’s way more going on behind the scenes than we may realize. Like corporate waste, for example. 📦Did you know that many returns end up shipped to landfills? Companies find it cheaper to trash returned items, so they throw them “away". Just like that. (@adriavasil and @cbc covered this recently.) According to the CBC article, "in Canada alone, we are returning $46 billion worth of goods every year." 📦Many companies burn, trash, or damage unsold stock—even if there’s nothing wrong with it! The clothing brands Burberry and H&M have been found guilty of this in the past (it's common among fashion brands). 📦If a store receives a product slightly damaged (such as the box being broken but the product is fine) it’s often trashed. These products could be donated or used for wonderful causes, but instead, they’ll sit in landfills, essentially forever. So what do we do? 1️⃣Consume less in general. 2️⃣Buy secondhand. 3️⃣Save returns for when you need to: don’t buy things with the intention of returning them. (Try things on in person if you can.) 4️⃣Ask companies how they process returns, and what happens to returned stock. (Not every company has horrible practices—once I had to return a bra that wasn’t right, and the company asked me to donate it to someone!) 5️⃣Learn more. (@thetrashwalker is a very insightful page) 6️⃣Spread the word! . . . . . . . . #lesswaste #reducewaste #zerowastetips #zerowasteblogger #lesswastelifestyle #lowwasteliving #plasticpollution #plasticpollutes #plasticfreeshopping #zerowastejourney #vancouverblogger #zerowastehome #plasticfree #plasticfreeliving #plasticfreetips #reducereuserecycle #lowimpact #endplasticpollution #plasticfreeproduce #discoverunder10k #noplanetb #ecoadvocate #nontoxic #ecolife #plasticfreejuly #wasteless #refillrevolution #zerowasteirl #ditchthedisposables #saynotosingleuse

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