5 small ways to be more sustainable.

1. Go “plastic free.”

It’s nearly impossible to go completely plastic free but if you start to find “plastic free” options when purchasing items, you can make a big impact. A couple of ways to do that are to

-buy shampoo bars instead of shampoo bottles.

-buy bars of soap instead of body wash.

-bring mesh produce bags to the grocery store

-carry reusable water bottles, cups and containers for your lunch and coffee

-give up bottled water (did you know that bottled water carries plastic particles that you ingest?)

2. Make your own food and preserves.

Making things like granola bars takes very little time and save on a huge amount of plastic waste and quite a bit of money in the long run. If you are like me, and don’t have a ton of extra time (I had to carve a time in my schedule to write this blog) then you can carve out a time once a week to food prep for the week. I often make savory muffins with loads of veggies, I make jam and other spreadable and food prep meals for the week so I can easily just pop them in the oven on busy work days.

3. Ditch the disposables.

Think of how many single use items you have in your home. Go through each room (most often the bathroom and the kitchen) and peek at your single use items. Try and find alternatives to things like, makeup remover pads. buy make up remover with reusable cotton pads.

4. Support sustainable businesses.

Check out the Vancouver Island green business collective. https://www.vigbc.ca/

You will not only be supporting global sustainability but also local businesses.

5. Buy, donate, and consign gently used items and clothing.

Why do we do this? Affordability and sustainability! When we keep items in use longer, it cuts down on waste. We stop contributing to fast fashion and find better quality items.

By Honey Willow Consignment

www.honeywillowconsignment.com

Why I thrift?

When I first started thrifting in my 20’s it was strictly to save money. I was a starving student, I didn’t have a lot of extra cash to spend on kitchen items, home décor and clothing. As time went on, I found a real appreciation and love of thrifting. It became therapeutic. Finding something for a fraction of the price, that was often better quality than I would find new, was very satisfying.

Now, I live with an environmental scientist, and we often discuss our carbon footprint. We rarely have a single thing that goes into our garbage for collection. We manage to recycle everything. This is what sparked the idea for a business that had the value of sustainability. Did you know that buying second hand clothes reduces your carbon footprint? It aids in water preservation. It reduces chemical pollution and decreases landfill waste.

Almost 2 years ago I had a daughter and at first, I purchased almost everything new. Clothing, toys, furniture, and I was blown away by how expensive children’s items are. 4 weeks after she was born, she grew out of everything and I realized, there was no way I was going to be able to afford to buy her new clothing every couple of months. I started thrifting everything, and I couldn’t believe what great condition most kids items are. They only use them for a very short period, especially in that first year.

Fast forward and my daughter is almost 2 and 90% of what she owns, is second hand. It has saved me a small fortune.

I hear arguments often that you can buy items from $4 at Walmart and then they are new, rather than buying something for $4 used. Here is my rebut to that. I have purchased things at Walmart and the quality is terrible. This is fast fashion. Its low quality and high quantity. I would much rather buy a piece of clothing that has a longer life span. Something I resell or give away and it is still in good used condition. When we extend the life of a garment, we SAVE. Save money and save the environment. Did you know that 10.5 million tonnes of clothing go into landfills in North America a year?