Why go for a green lifestyle and invest in future generations? Perhaps the more important question is, how to go for a green lifestyle. And why for future generations?
The answer to this second question is fairly simple. When we want to go for a green lifestyle, this can only be achieved with major disruptions to our personal lives. This is why we have to start to dream about our green future, and with this dream in mind make small steps to get there. But where do our dreams start?
On a website, I read a very negative story from someone who accused John Lennon of being unrealistic. Imagine no possessions? That person couldn’t imagine life without possessions being possible and “John Lennon was naive anyway to think it was possible”.
Others have an open mind and come up with surprising solutions. Such a person is the German-Dutch architect Thomas Rau.
I first heard about his ideas during a study day at the Mosa ceramic factories in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Mosa is a company that is already advanced in shaping the circular economy. Rau goes one step further than the circular economy. I’ll explain how in this article.
The first time I wanted to order at Amazon I waited until I had 5 items I needed. I could have saved myself the trouble because these items were delivered on several days by 4 different deliverers. And the amount of plastic I had to throw away afterward was HUGE.
Instead of complaining, being wiser after some eye-opening conversations I had with businesses about customer service, I decided on my own strategy to reduce packaging: “I used my feet” and searched for more environmentally aware shops.
The opening sentence of the book Clothing and Health: An Elementary Textbook of Home Making, is: “Our clothes are important for they help to keep us well. … Sewing is an art that all girls should learn. If we know how to sew, we can keep our clothes in order and always be neat and attractive in appearance.”
The book was published in 1920 and exclusively targets girls. In 1920 in the US, women spent over a billion dollars a year on textile materials alone.
To be neat and attractive, are not the only arguments the book introduces to explain why women should know how to sew their own clothes. Arguments that still carry some weight from our perspective: to know how to sew would make women aware of the costs of clothes, and the durability, and whether the clothes are comfortable. Perhaps it’s good to add that this also applies to men.
Is there a risk of using artificial fragrances and how would I notice? Now that we live in Spain, I am good most of the time, unless they burn the wood and plastic waste in the campo. Or when – especially the young – people pass me by with either their cigarettes or their perfumes and deodorants. Oof.
Between age 3 and 6 I had severe bronchitis. One of the recommendations of the lung specialist was to put me on a diet for which I am still grateful because I have hardly experienced the weight problems my mother and sister had all their lives.
What is insomnia and what causes it? Insomnia primarily discourages the recovery we need after a day’s work. For years insomnia has been understood as an unavoidable condition of growing older.
It was considered a matter of fact that a healthy sleep starts to dwindle in late middle age. From then on it should steadily erode.
Fortunately this is not true. Although, this does not mean there is no cause for some concern. There are major threats to our sleep ‘architecture’ and sleep ‘quality’, from inside and outside of our bodies. However, what is insomnia and what causes it?
In How do we Personally Try to have a Sustainable Lifestyle? I listed the 45 sustainable living ideas we practice at the moment. Some still take effort, the rest we have been doing for so long it has become second nature.
Here I am listing other ideas to go even more green. In reality, this article is mainly written for ourselves as a reminder and inspiration – sorry reader – although I do hope I am able to inspire you as well. 🙂
Apart from the ideas I have myself, I have browsed the internet and listened to the tips friends gave. A great source was this article: 100+ Simple Tips To Live A More Sustainable Lifestyle.
Why is eating healthy important? In these days of confinement this question gets far more attention. That is because to sit at home all day comes with the imminent risk of over-eating and under-exercising.
It takes quite some self-discipline to eat healthily and to stay in motion when locked up inside four walls.
But what is ‘to eat healthy’? Does this mean that we have to eat healthy foods and drinks? Most dietary professionals also suggest certain food consumption behaviors. For example, we need: