For about a year, I have opened my eyes to the world of being environmentally friendly. I have slowly, but surely created habits to help decrease our carbon footprint that include:

Eating no meat

Decreasing cheese consumption

Trying more and more plant-based recipes

Keeping myself accountable via this Part-Time Plants Blog

Making more conscious choices when shopping, working, and living

Buying more whole foods rather than processed/heavily packaged foods

Saving packages to reuse

Avoiding single-use plastics

Using public transportation

Trying to use our voices across different platforms (in real-time and online) to increase awareness of conscious consuming

 

However, the last one has really been a topic of many of our car ride and dinner table conversations…. how our voices are so small compared to the masses of people that fail to listen to the importance of environmental impact of the human race’s rapid consumption.

Yeah…..

It sucks to think that you are doing so much work.

How I am literally saving every piece of plastic in order to reuse for other purposes. How I will juggle produce and stuff products in my pockets and purses rather than use a plastic bag when I forget my own grocery bags. How I work so hard to buy products without excessive packaging. How I am no longer supporting fast-fashion, and would rather buy sustainably sourced or second-hand goods.

But then I see someone at the grocery store who isn’t educated about the perils of single -use plastics…. and I lose more and more confidence in our generation’s promise to reduce the carbon footprint of the human race. It’s extremely disheartening.

After that, I remind myself that there are others out there working as hard (and lots that are working harder) to combat the effects of global warming as well.

Here are just three of my tips to stay positive in a world of what seems to be incredibly negative:

Surround yourself with like-minded individuals

Whether it be old friends that are willing to listen, or new friends that have aligned values, make sure that the people around you are in the same boat. And also don’t forget to frequently have conversations about your feelings. It assures you that others are out there trying to make a difference.

This is not limited to people sitting next to you. I enjoy following others on social media that are environmentally friendly in aspects other than I am. It can be @embracetheawkward who speaks her mind about environmentalism outside diet. Or @wander.fuel who links together the need for plant-based and the importance of ethical and sustainable products such as her own.

Don’t Be Afraid to Share Your Thoughts

Nowadays, we have so many ways to practice our freedom of speech. Outlets such as social media help our thoughts get to more people that we ever could have imagined. Yes, there are so many varying ideas out there, and it seems like your opinion won’t matter. But in reality, your post could motivate at least one person out there, which is worth it. This blog is just one example. Being able to voice my opinions in something longer than an instagram post has been incredibly reassuring to me. Not only am I venting, but I am also hoping that I can help one person make a mindful choice.

Always Be Learning

There are many ways to post, but there are also so many new ways to consume. Podcasts have quickly become some of the best ways to increase my mood about other’s efforts towards conscious consumption. Recently, I have thoroughly enjoyed to mindset of The Common Stitch podcast. More specifically, her interview in episode Sensi Graves about being an environmentally- conscious business. While this is not directly about what I can do to be help the world, it creates a sense of optimism about others trying to help the world.

 

 

It’s so hard to focus on the good. People share the negative effects of humans all over social media. They share how harsh the world will be if we keep up how we consume. We see the lack of political change towards an environmentally-friendly country. However, we need to also focus on the small changes that will eventually lead to larger changes in our rapidly-changing world.

 

Your part-time plant eater,

 

AJ