Before holidays
There are some sustainability related practices that I do before holidays.
I use this time to step into holidays, to slow down my pace of life even more, to engage more in down to earth activities rather than in my academic work.
Cleaning. It's very easy to clean a space with very few furniture pieces and very few things in general. In our home, we have a table, 4 chairs, 1 bed frame (for my partner's child), our mattress, a chest, and a bench. We have some built-in storage too. That's all. No shelves, no bed frame for us, no separate desk. No home décor. As I stepped into my adulthood and saw how fellow humans in my social circle were walking through life, I began to notice that hiring someone to clean their homes was one of the most popular things they did. They wanted to use their time for more productive or more enjoyable activities. I have never hired anyone to help me with cleaning, and I would never do this for several reasons. There are surely situations when help is required, e.g., if one's health does not allow one to clean their home. My health conditions do not prevent me from cleaning. I feel responsible for my home and I feel gratitude towards my space. I want to honour it and express that gratitude via my actions. For this reason, I clean the floor by hand after using a hoover to remove the dust. When I lived on my own, I did not own a hoover at all. Cleaning the floor by hand is a meditative activity. I relax when I do it. I feel oneness with my space. Another reason, apart my personal joy that I experience when I clean the floor, is that I do not think that cleaning is a lesser activity for me, that I am "too good" for it (and some fellow human is just right to clean my home). My home is my responsibility.
Washing. I also take my time to wash kitchen towels and bedding. More recently, I invited several kitchen towels into my life. I find that they last much longer when I don't let them get too dirty and wash them well. I keep a bioplastic bag (the ones we get for free here in Denmark) in my kitchen and put used towels and cleaning cloths in there. When enough of them accumulate, I wash them in the washing machine (oftentimes with other things).
Post and emails. I check the letters I've received to see if anything is urgent. I keep some envelopes for notes. For example, sometimes I go to a supermarket without my phone, and I write a shopping list on a piece of paper. I don't want to buy paper. After having lived in Sweden, it seems that Skatteverket will be supplying me with paper forever :)
Food. I do my best to avoid food waste. I try to use up food by making something with the food I have left. I also freeze the food that can be frozen (e.g., some vegetables).
Recycling. I take the packaging and bio waste to the recycling place. I like to think of these objects as packaging and other items rather than rubbish. Rubbish sounds dismissive to me.
Upcycling. I keep many of the glass jars that come with food. I always remove labels from them to avoid signalling brands (even if I like some company, e.g., if it's small and local). To remove the labels, I soak the jars in the sink with hot water for an hour or so. Some labels can be easily removed with just water, and they separate very easily. Others have a different glue. In this case, I remove the paper part of the label (it becomes soft after being soaked). Then I use a home-made paste to remove the glue. The paste is a mixture of baking soda and any oil from the kitchen. I don't follow any recipe, just mix those ingredients in a glass jar to form a somewhat thick, not runny, paste. If it's too thin, it's too difficult to apply. Recently, I used some melted coconut oil and canola oil. I apply the paste with my hands. I put the jars covered in this paste on a plate and leave them be. The following day, I remove to paste with a piece of toilet paper. I don't think it's a good idea to wash this paste off. Oils can clog the pipes.
I use glass jars for my partner's child's snacks, my snacks, to give snacks to friends, to store small items, as vases, for foraging smaller things (such as spruce tips and birch leaves), and to store food (tea, pieces of vegetables etc.). Glass is my favourite material. It doesn't have a taste, it lasts a long time, can be recycled, and I find it incredibly beautiful. When I feel I have too many jars, I give them away via our local byttestationer (swap shops).
Giving. If there are some objects that I think fellow humans can benefit from and that do not serve me, I give them away.
Plants. I live with an orchid that was a gift and a mint plant. I make sure I water them before I leave. When I used to live with more plants and travel for extended periods of time, I would make arrangements with fellow humans so they could come to my home and water the plants.
Setting intentions. During my holidays, I plan to connect with nature, be with the sun and the sea, feel oneness with them.
Informing fellow humans. I let my close colleagues, friends and family know that I will be away. I think it's so important that academics highlight the need to relax and regenerate. I don't force myself to avoid writing down ideas and notes when I'm on holidays. After all, academic work is creative, and creativity doesn't disappear when I'm on holidays. But I don't emphasise work.
Plan what to take with me. Because I live with so few possessions, every time I go away, it looks like I take everything with me, even though it all fits in one cotton tote bag. I still plan what I take with me because it is an opportunity to reflect on what I genuinely need, what makes my life comfortable. It is wonderful to know that I need so few things to live a comfortable, meaningful and fulfilling life. Just a few objects are enough.
