Going through my own list of sustainability practices
Sometime in 2023, I posted my list of 60+ sustainability practices. One can find it here. For a while, I've been wanting to revisit this list, to see whether I was still doing these things and to check how I was feeling about them. I live with my partner (though I also spend time by myself due to his childcare responsibilities), our yet unborn baby, and my stepchild visits us occasionally.
1. Walking and using public transport (no car): I still do it.
2. Ethical banking: I still do it.
3. Local, seasonal, unpackaged food: I still do it as much as I can, but certainly some food that we buy comes in cardboard, glass, paper and metal packaging. Even in plastic packaging! While I was ill in the first trimester of my pregnancy, I was not going to the food market very often.
4. Local holidays (no flying): We still do it. Last summer, we visited Bornholm, a Danish island. This summer we plan to visit Bornholm again. We get there by trains and a ferry from Ystad, a town in Sweden.
5. Natural, local home décor (shells, stones): We still do it.
6. Organic, natural textiles (cotton, linen, wool): We still do it.
7. Reusable cotton bags: I still do it. Having said that, I find that plain, small thin-ish cotton tote bags work best for me. They wash well and dry quickly. I use them as hand bags, to carry my laptop when the weather is nice, for grocery shopping, storage, and so on. Cotton pouches with a string closure also work extremely well for me, too. I use them for bread, storage, as a wallet, for gift wrapping, and when I travel. Very thick canvas bags don't work as well for my lifestyle. They get dirty and dusty, and often change shape in the wash. They take a long time to dry. I don't use net bags for produce anymore. I simply put all fruits and vegetables that I buy together, in the same cotton tote.
8. Reusable water bottle: It was one of the first zero-waste items I invited into my life. I've had several of them over the years, and most of them have been gifts from my friends and family members. Some water bottles were difficult to clean, others rusted, yet others were too heavy or made loud noise (I live with sensory processing sensitivity, so it matters to me). It's been sad to see reusable water bottles become a fashion item, too. Now, my partner and I keep only one reusable water bottle (made from glass) that we share. Most often, I simply take a food jar with a lid with me. Here in Denmark it's relatively easy to refill water containers, especially in cities.
9. Natural cleaning solutions (biodegradable sponges, baking soda, vinegar): We still use them. However, we also use laundry sheets, that are zero-waste but not "natural".
10. Soap bars (natural, locally made, package-free): I still use them, though my partner prefers liquid soap. We buy very large, 10 l containers of natural liquid soap and dish washing liquid and refill small dispensers.
11. Solid shampoo: in our family, I was the only one using it. I've noticed that it doesn't last longer than bottled shampoo, and oftentimes it was not cleaning my wavy but fine hair well here in Copenhagen where we have hard water. Some solid shampoos I've tried had too much fragrance added to them, or heavy plant butters that my skin doesn't tolerate well. Since I don't wash my hair every time I take a shower, I decided to use whichever natural shampoo my partner had in the shower. He buys large bottles of Danish shampoo and they last a long time.
12. Safety razor: I no longer use it. Firstly, it rusted. Secondly, I don't use it due to self-harm. Since I don't shave every day (I do it when I feel like it), I borrow my partner's razor and razor heads.
13. Wood/bamboo toothbrush: I still use such toothbrushes sometimes, but I much prefer ones made from recycled plastic (sold in cardboard boxes). They last longer. Like my fellow humans, I replace my toothbrushes often, but wood/bamboo ones would degrade very quickly even if I stored them away from water.
14. Natural toothpaste: I still use it. When we buy toothpaste, we try to find options that are locally made and suitable for my partner, me and my stepchild.
15. Natural, locally made, basic skincare: My skincare is extremely minimal. These days, it consists of soap. I also use sunscreen. And a multi-purpose balm in winter.
16. Second-hand or old electronics: We still use them.
17. No food waste: We still try to avoid food waste as much as possible. We do create biowaste (e.g., potato peels, apple cores, orange peels) though. Copenhagen Municipality, where we live, provides free bags for such waste and there are dedicated recycling bins for this waste, too.
18. Mindful, careful recycling: We still do it.
19. Supporting small, local, independent businesses: We still do it. Though we visit our local cafes much less often these days due to our new year's resolution (to go out less). And we generally don't like shopping. Oftentimes, even small, local businesses sell many items that we find unnecessary.
20. Certified products (e.g., GOTS, Krav): We still choose certified products.
21. Farmers/food markets when we can: We still do it.
22. Giving away (via a swap shop/byttestation): We still do it, though we don't have many items to give away, as we live with very few items and shop rarely. We also asked our family members to avoid giving gifts to us. Most recently, we gave away some tea cups.
23. No makeup: I've been doing it for 15 years or so and will continue to live makeup-free.
24. No fancy clothing/occasion wear/fast fashion: I still do it, and have been doing it for 15 years.
25. Naturism whenever possible: I still do it.
26. Regrowing food: We still do it, though very occasionally. We used to regrow lettuce, but in autumn and winter we usually don't eat lettuce.
27. Zero-waste gifts: We still do it, though more recently we've been trying to give food and drinks instead. In the beginning of my zero-waste journey, I would give things such as bar soaps and cotton produce and bread bags to my fellow humans, but over time I realised that these might not be suitable for everyone. Even I, a long-term practitioner of sustainable living, don't use cotton produce bags very often, if at all (and when I do, it's usually not for their original purpose).
28. Joy in simple activities (walking, reading, writing, contemplating): We still do it.
29. Using inherited items: We still do it. In fact, these days we have even more of them, as my stepmother-in-law gave us some basic items for the baby. These items have been in the family for generations.
30. Very few electric appliances: We still do it. Though some months ago, my partner invited a blender into our home.
31. Durable, simple, minimal furniture: We still do it. We live with only a few items of furniture (a table, 4 chairs, a bench, and a bed in the small bedroom).
32. Minimising electricity use: We still do it.
33. Sharing as many items as possible in our household: We still do it.
34. Natural exercise (e.g., walking): We still do it.
35. No curtains: We still do it.
36. Reusable, organic cotton tea bags: I don't use them anymore. In my experience, a metal tea strainer works better.
37. Avoiding plastic whenever possible: We still do it. Though we don't stress when a plastic bag comes into our life. For example, recently we received an olive tree as a gift from my stepmother-in-law and father-in-law. To carry the tree, they gave us a (used) plastic bag. We keep and reuse such bags.
38. Doing nothing: We still do it.
39. Cooking at home most of the time: We still do it. We cook at home even more now, as we avoid eating out.
40. Danish wine: My partner still does it. I'm pregnant, so I don't drink alcohol.
41. Foraging whenever possible (e.g., herbs, spruce tips, berries): We still do it. In spring, summer and autumn.
42. Upcycling: We still do it. Mostly, it applied to food jars.
43. Borrowing (e.g. books from a library): We still do it.
44. Working from home whenever possible: We still do it. We also work from natural areas (parks, cemeteries, gardens) whenever we can.
45. Buying bread from local bakeries: We do it but more rarely. It's very expensive.
46. Wearing simple, casual clothing always: We still do it, and our baby will do it too.
47. Repairing and fixing things: We still do it.
48. Embracing small imperfections (e.g., stains and holes in home textiles): We still do it. Though I also repair items whenever I can.
49. Do not express love via gifts: We still do it. Though we still give material gifts to each other at times, as a sign of care. For my birthday, my partner gave me a linen shirt that is a size too big for me, to accommodate my changing body. The shirt is the same one I had a while ago (it wore out after some years).
50. Donating money when we can: We still do it.
51. Talking about ecological living with others: We still do it.
52. Using cotton bags for storage: We still do it.
53. Minimising e-waste: We still do it.
54. No pets: We still do it. I love pets and before moving to northern Sweden in 2021, I had always lived with pets. My partner is allergic to cats and dogs though, and we cannot have pets in our home (we rent it).
55. Embracing all kinds of weather: We still do it.
56. Jars as glasses and storage for cutlery: We still do it. I use food jars for so many things (water, tea, coffee, to store small items, for snacks, to store food, etc.).
57. No paper tickets/using apps: We still do it.
58. No meat: We've been doing it for many years, and continue to live without eating meat.
59. Natural remedies whenever possible: We still do it. While I take prescription medication whenever necessary (e.g., I was on medication in my first trimester, as I lived with hyperemesis), I also use natural remedies. For example, in the second trimester I've had rash on my skin, and using aloe vera gel helped me a lot.
60. Renewable energy supplier: We still do it.
61. No own washing machine: We don't do it anymore. The apartment we currently rent came with a washing machine. I like it because we always use unscented laundry sheets. In our previous block of flats, washing machines were shared, and fellow humans would often use scented laundry detergents. In our previous home, we also could not dry our clothes (it was in our renting agreement). In this apartment, even though the washing machine is also a dryer, we line dry all our clothes and other textiles.
62. Small/lagom space/flat: We still do it. Though the apartment where we live now is slightly bigger than the previous one.
63. Using the same item for multiple purposes: We still do it.
