8 Awesome Mindful Boss Ladies Share Their Best Sustainable Living Tips
Practical advice from incredible women
Kira Simpson
Living sustainably and making mindful purchasing choices can be overwhelming and seem impossible at times.
I remember when I first began my ‘eco journey’, I brought a Keepcup, started using eco-friendly cleaning products and signed a few petitions to ban plastic bags and coal mines. I gave myself a little pat on the back for being an awesome ‘greenie’ and thought I’d nailed this green living thing.
Then I discovered most of my clothes were made in sweatshops, my beauty cupboard was full of products tested on animals and my love of plastic packaging was destroying the planet.
It was a real “For Fucks Sake!” moment. Here I was doing the ‘right’ thing and it still wasn’t enough.
Two years on and I still feel that way sometimes. It’s not always easy to ‘go green’ and you will fumble and falter and have you’re own FFS moments as well.
"It was a real “For Fucks Sake!” moment. Here I was doing the ‘right’ thing and it still wasn’t enough."
Fortunately, the green movement in Australia is growing and there are some incredible blogs, businesses, publications and people who have taken the eco journey, made mistakes and have a wealth of knowledge to share. Making life a little easier for anyone wanting to make positive changes in their own lives.
Mindful Boss Ladies
I met each of these wonderful women via the millennials online dating app, aka Instagram, and over the past two years, we’ve bonded over our shared love of sustainable fashion and become a support network for each other.
While we have a lot in common, we’re all very different in our approach to how we make sustainable living work for us. Which very much embodies The Green Hub philosophy of “there is no-one-size-fits-all green lifestyle”.
They are incredibly generous with their time and advice and best of all, they don’t judge if you do things a little differently. Which is why I asked each of them to share their best sustainable living tips.
These ladies inspire me every day and I think they will inspire you too!
Emily Kate Symes – Ekoluv
“To try and make the most of what you already have and get creative.
Whether it be making your own natural beauty product with ingredients you may have in your pantry, transforming an old piece of clothing you already own into something new, making a piece of furniture out of old objects you may have lying around your home or asking yourself If you really need that item before you buy it.
Australians produce about 50 million tonnes of waste per year. Try and think about your own personal impact and footprint before making a choice to buy something and If you really do need to buy something consider shopping second hand.
Live simply and live kindly!”
Katie Roberts – Sustainability In Style
“My best piece of advice is to be a sea sponge.
Some people see a sea sponge and assume it’s not worth a look in. It just sits there- at the bottom of the ocean- looking all useless.
However, a sponge is a complex system that take in the world around it, filters what flows through it, and soaks up what it needs. One little sponge might not look like it’s doing much to clean up an ocean but it’s doing it’s bit in it’s own way.
So be a sea sponge.
Take on board all the sustainability info, soak up what works for you and let the rest flow through- make the world a better place in your own manageable way.“
Nicole Lawrie – Urban Granola
“My advice would be to start small and focus on changing one daily habit at a time.
Like switching to reusable items such as water bottles, coffee cups and shopping bags. Or habits around the home, like remembering to use the small flush button on the loo, keeping showers short, turning off heaters and rugging up instead and line drying clothes rather than using the dryer.
These are easy to implement and are budget friendly (in some cases save you money).
I think most people feel the need to totally overhaul their lifestyle, which can be overwhelming and I believe, completely unachievable for the average person.
Do what you can to start with and go from there.”
Faye De Lanty – Fashion Hound
“STOP BEFORE YOU SHOP
Take a breath and ask yourself could I buy it second hand and support a charity, perhaps an ethical designer has something similar, or maybe I could revive and customise something I already have!
Be curious, ask questions and slow down.
Mother Nature thanks you in advance.”
Sam Leigh – eco|mono
“Pick your battles
Shopping sustainably can often be overwhelming, knowing where to shop, which brands are ethical, what fabrics are environmentally friendly and there’s a minefield of information out there.
So, be true to yourself and know your personal values, whether that’s animal cruelty, fair working conditions, locally made, minimal waste, empowerment to women. If you think about any of these values and think “I just cannot contribute to that” then you know that’s where your value lie.
Everyone is different and just know nothing is 100% Sustainable.
Unless you are naked, living off the earth.”
Nikita Metcalfe – Hungry Wardobe
“It’s all about being more mindful, not being perfect!
Figure out how you can make changes that work for you, challenge yourself to do things and think about things differently. Start by shopping less frequently, be happy with the wardrobe you already have and understand what truly makes you feel great…know and love yourself first! Then look for sustainable alternatives to how you shop, like shopping second hand and researching responsible brands.
But remember it’s not all or nothing, don’t beat yourself up over every purchase you make, as long as you know you’ll love it and wear it for more than one season you’ve made a conscious and intentional addition to your wardrobe.
Never feel like you’re not doing enough, any small changes you can introduce into your daily routine definitely make a difference!”
Shea Wittig – Conversations With My Sister
“My green living advice to someone new to the movement is to set yourself realistic goals when it comes to creating new routines.
Choose three or four new habits, get organised (for example gather your reusable shopping bags) and gradually introduce new challenges as your journey progresses.
‘Green’ burnout and overwhelm isn’t going to help you or our planet!”
Jennifer Nini – Eco Warrior Princess
“Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – it’s inefficient lol! To fast-track your journey, lean on those who have come before you. Read their blogs, watch their videos, absorb their books and research. Learn from others’ experiences, their missteps, their successes, and absorb their knowledge.
Then put what you’ve learned into practice.
Remember though that you’re starting out and changing a lifetime of ‘unconscious’ habits isn’t going to happen overnight. I suggest you consider a couple of key areas to tackle first, implement the habit, see how it fits and then build your sustainable lifestyle ‘muscle’ from there.
And remember, every person’s ‘green’ journey is different so don’t compare, just put one foot forward at a time, each day at a time, making better choices, don’t look over your shoulder it’s not a competition and stay on course.
You’ll find you’ll not only enjoy the journey so much more this way, but you will have travelled much further than when you began and minimised your environmental impact considerably, and seriously, isn’t that what it’s all about?”
