The holidays are right around the corner! Unfortunately, it has become a highly consumerist time of the year. Before you roll your eyes and contemplate closing this blog because you don’t want me to ruin your holiday spirit, hear me out. I think there’s a solid balance to strike between fun and festive, and opting for ways to reduce the negative environmental impacts. Here are some tips that I am working to incorporate into my holiday festivities. Gift Giving Sometimes it can feel stressful to find the perfect gift for someone. For the past few years, I have had the rule that unless a person specifically requests a material item, I gift an experience. I love this approach because you can easily tailor the experience to any budgetary requirements. Also, the best part is that you get to spend quality time with your loved ones and make memories. However, if you choose to go the material gift route, DIY gifts from recycled materials is a good alternative. There are so many amazing tu...

As a millennial, I have a guilty passion for Instagram. So, when I started my waste reduction journey, it quickly became one of my main sources of information. To me, waste reduction belonged to the broader minimalist movement. Getting rid of unused stuff, stopping buying things you will not use and reuse what you had seemed tinted with good old common sense. You know, the one our grandparents had?  Even though the aesthetics of owning less seemed appealing to me, I soon fell into a pit of despair as I scrolled though kitchens with matching glass containers neatly stacked in a pristine white background. Every room in the house seemed to follow the same pattern: everything matching in a neat neutral background.  Thinking of taking my reusable water bottle is a real achievement, so attaining the zero-waste home was like walking on the moon. As I kept researching, the very idea of buying containers seemed to defeat the purpose of zero waste in the first place. Why would I buy stu...