The Ripple Effect

Imagine this. You are the owner of a large, beautiful home that has not been furnished or painted yet. This is your space — a place meant to find solitude, comfort, and memories. For anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to grow up in a house for a prolonged amount of time with their parents, they know there are rules and guidelines to uphold such as the cleanliness of the home. In retrospect, it is a give and take relationship we have with our homes. As we have a personal abode which provides shelter and respite, we in turn should respect the space even though it may not speak or have express emotions like humans do. Everything I’m writing here should be learned innately from childhood.

Let’s zoom out of your home a bit. Regardless of where you end up, these morals should also be obvious in any place we live yet we take a look at our planet and fail to exercise the same principles. We maintain all of our personal spaces whether that be our work desks, our cars, or our bedrooms without question yet we fail to do the same for our earth. Recently, I had a chat with my roommates about the cleanliness of the apartment we share in Seattle, trying my utmost to vocalize it in the most mature yet stern way possible. Of course, I don’t want to cause discord with the people I see every single day. In the text I sent to our group, I said, “I believe that if we all put in a little more effort to maintain our apartment, it has a lot of potential to look good.” They both agreed without question and now our apartment has never looked better. We even set up a cleaning schedule so we can take turns to beautify all parts of our home in a organized and consistent manner. The reason they didn’t hesitate to contribute more of their time and energy to keeping our dingy little apartment clean is because they, like myself, consider it theirs and no one wants to come home to a disgusting, filthy place everyday.

On that note, the same level of consciousness and attitude should be applied to our ultimate home, Planet Earth. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter advocate sustainable practices and eye-catching products for young millennials to consume. Being environmentally-friendly today is cool and many companies have taken onto the bandwagon to sell more products for profit but the crisis is more than just a money-making trend.

The media is over-saturated with stories about trauma happening left and right. Above all, it’s disheartening that news headlines about drastic weather changes, ocean pollution, and the failure for our government to implement laws to improve climate change are normalized. We as a society have turned a blind eye for too long against the home we all share. If this is considered our home and our relationship with this earth is meant to be a compromise, isn’t our turn to give back?

As humans, we are takers. We have relied on nature to give us food, water, shelter, and energy so much yet the favor is never returned. This mentality where we deserve so much more than we give and neglect equality in exchange is part of our privilege as the superior race. It’s odd to think that privilege can be applied in environmentalism but the same concepts ring true. Privilege is defined as believing one has a special right or advantage above others. In this case, we as humans feel privileged over all the other lives whom we share this planet with. As crazy as this may sound because we are programmed to believe we are smarter, better, and more advanced than plants and animals, we still need to accommodate for them too.

My intention writing this blog post for Earth Day was not to grumble about how horrible humans are (although it is true). I would like to celebrate today the small yet extremely effectual changes we are making towards a better future. Adopting zero-waste lifestyle habits and eating less animal products is more normalized than ever thanks to social media and scientific research finally coming to light. Above all, humans are slowly growing more compassionate towards the way we maintain this planet. It began with an earth shattering report from the United Nations in October of last year and sparked an extraordinary revolution. I am so excited to see if and how this positive change unravels in the forthcoming years!

In honor of this year’s Earth Day, I wanted to share a few products of my own that I am proud to own. While my life is definitely not completely waste and plastic-free yet, I have been executing small changes every time I purchase these necessities from the store.

LOLA original all natural dish and vegetable washing brush [$3]

It never occurred to me how many plastic products we have in our households let alone our kitchens. I stumbled upon this little gem at my local market and bought it without hesitation. For the price and low environmental impact, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t opt for an all natural dish washing brush such as Lola’s.

David’s Toothpaste, all-natural fluoride-free toothpaste alternative [$10]

Lush Cosmetics toothy tabs [$10]

Metal tongue scraper [$7]

I’m a sucker for sustainable products so when I found David’s toothpaste, I was quick to splurge. In the future, I will make my own DIY toothpaste but for now I think David’ does the job. The ingredients are all-natural and easy to pronounce which is a strong positive indicator when purchasing any product that goes into the body. The flavor is very refreshing and I have noticed that my mouth doesn’t have that unusual menthol taste afterwards that inhibits your taste buds like regular toothpaste does.

The toothy tabs are fantastic for a kick of fresh breath if you’re going out for the night or have a big day at work. I pop one of these in, chew it, then swish the liquid around my mouth so it soaks between my teeth and into my gums. The result is a clean mouth, whiter teeth, and the peace of mind that I’m not putting harmful chemicals into my body. The cherry on top is Lush’s container recycling program which encourages customers to return their empties to the store. If you bring in five of their empty product containers, they reward you with one of their homemade face masks (which do wonders for your skin).

I recently learned about metal tongue scrapers from the Eco Collective. The main functionality of a tongue scraper is to clean the surface of your tongue from all of the nasty residue by running the tool forward from the back. Dentists rave about this product due to how effective it is at clearing the bacteria from your mouth not to mention the material makes it a recyclable product!

Stainless steel compost bin [$23]

Moving to Washington has completely opened my eyes to the benefits of composting. Constantly cooking with fruits, vegetables, and other natural ingredients everyday used to build up my trash and weigh it down. Since I put this compost bin our kitchen, my roommates and I have cut out dumpster visits in half and we are putting good quality food scraps back into the earth instead of into our garbage. This particular compost bin is wonderful because it’s easy to transport with the built-in handle and it comes with a carbon filter to mask the smell. When I purchase produce from Trader Joes, I take a few extra green biodegradable bags to hold my compost in the bin, keeping the bucket itself spic and span.

Metal straws [$7] and utensils set [$11]

The most essential zero waste products of all are reusable straws are utensils. The value of these go beyond just saying turtles, they also keep plastic out of our oceans and our landfills. It’s mind-blowing to realize those unnecessary items will outlive us and our children on this earth. Busting out your reusable utensils and straws may seem convenient or even odd but like all great ideas, someone had to do it first and the rest will follow. I bought these chopsticks from Daiso and my boba straw was a gift from my sister.

All-natural produce bags [$16 for 6], nut mylk bag [$7 for 2], beeswax wraps [$18 for 3]

Shopping for groceries can be stylish and eco-friendly with these bags. I didn’t photograph all of my produce accessories here but I also own these cute and surprisingly robust cotton string bags to carry my fruits and vegetables from the market. They are extremely versatile doubling as a shopping bag and a bag for the beach or other personal belongings . The beeswax wraps are perfect for covering your food in the refrigerator or at room temperature in place of saran wrap. The nut milk bag serves so many purposes like making your own juice, blending your own nut milk, or skipping the starbucks line and brewing your own iced coffee.

Stasher reusable ziploc bags [$12]

The stasher bags by far are my favorite products. As an avid snacker, I live and swear by this product to keep my food fresh and readily accessible. Aside from the wide assortment of colors and sizes, I love that this bag is sturdy so I know these will last me for a lifetime. I’ve already received many compliments from my family and friends about these!

Miscellaneous up-cycled glass jars [reused or you can find options here]

Last but not least, what’s a zero-waste lifestyle post without up-cycled glass jars for all of your pantry staples? I have accumulated these from old food purchases and goodwill but some are purchased brand new from my local market. You can find used jars on Facebook Marketplace or new ones here on Amazon for all of your kitchen needs.

I hope you found this post informative and eye-opening this Earth Day. The minor changes we put forth in our everyday lives act like a ripple in the water. One drop in the ocean continues to spread further than you can think.