My Sustainability Goals for May 2019

I love finding ways to live more sustainably but it’s not always easy.

Your family might sigh or roll their eyes as you talk about another documentary you’ve watched on climate change (you go Attenborough). After your weekly shop, the idea of trying to reduce plastic waste might feel overwhelming, tiring and hopeless. For all the highs that my 24 changes for good challenge bring, there are bad days too where you want a high stret shopping spree, takeaway and screw the rest.So I’m just here to say that it’s okay. If you’re reading this, trying to make the best changes you can and feeling like it’s never enough, then you’re doing a bang up job and mother of God, you should be proud of yourself. Um, too much Line of Duty? You get me though.

Now, let’s dive in and check out my progress in April before we get onto those all important May goals.

New around here? Read the rest of the series:

January sustainability goals
February sustainability goals
March sustainability goals
April sustainability goals

April sustainability round up

Last month was actually pretty great in terms of my sustainability goals – I only went and smashed them both!

Lifestyle: buy all cruelty-free beauty products

I’ve never been overly loyal to any particular brands of toiletries so when a few of my existing products ran out this month, I took the opportunity to switch it up a bit.

First up, I’ve tried shampoo and conditioner bars for the first time and I’m a total convert. It takes a bit of rubbing into the hair but the shampoo actually lathers surprisingly well, leaving my hair feeling soft and shiny after every wash. My hairdresser even commented that my hair was in really good condition the other day which was pretty great (and surprising). However as I bought them from the beautiful Bohol Bee Farm in the Philippines, I sadly won’t be getting my hands on these particular bars anytime soon – without flying halfway across the world anyway! If you happen to be reading this with an upcoming trip there…please get in touch! In the meantime though, I’d love any recommendations for other retailers who sell good ones.

I’ve also made a bit of a radical change on the deodorant front. One of my local farm shops is home to Leaf & Seed, a greengrocer that’s also full of zero waste bits and bobs. While browsing one day, I spotted jars of FitPit solid deodorant – right as my Dove one was on its last legs – and decided to give it a whirl. You just scoop a small pea sized amount on your finger, rub it in and you’re good to go! While I’ve not tested it out with any intense exercise (it’s me we’re talking about here), it’s served me perfectly during weekly Barre classes.

I’ve also made a bit of a radical change on the deodorant front. One of my local farm shops is home to Leaf & Seed, a greengrocer that’s also full of zero waste bits and bobs. While browsing one day, I spotted jars of FitPit solid deodorant – right as my Dove one was on its last legs – and decided to give it a whirl. You just scoop a small pea sized amount on your finger, rub it in and you’re good to go! While I’ve not tested it out with any intense exercise (it’s me we’re talking about here), it’s served me perfectly during weekly Barre classes.

Want to to give it a try? You can buy FitPit online too!

Food: no ready meals

I only went and did it! For an entire month, I cooked all my own meals without once having to resort to a shop bought sandwich or microwave meal. Made slightly easier by the fact I ate out a fair few times, it’s also made me feel super adult for preparing some delicious and relatively healthy meals to eat at lunchtime. Sadly, the abundance of Easter Eggs meant I’ve seen zero benefit from all this home-cooked food but it’s a start.

A new concept I toyed with this month was Simply Cook. This flatmate-influenced (not sponsored) purchase came at the perfect point in April when I’d got bored of all my usual quick ‘n’ easy recipes. It’s a similar concept to other food delivery boxes you might be familiar with but rather than the entire ingredients, you only receive three pots of spice, garnish, sauce etc. All the recipes have just 4-5 other ingredients which you can usually pick up at a few pounds per portion and it’s a brilliant way to experiment with different dishes without the risk of fresh ingredients going off if you can’t use them quick enough..

Obviously, the little disposable pots aren’t ideal as they create plastic waste but the rest of the packaging is cardboard and now that I’ve got a small collection of veggie recipe cards, I’m intending to take my favourites and try to replicate or purchase full size versions of the spices for the recipes I enjoyed. Shout out to the delicious spinach and paneer curry – my mouth’s watering just thinking about it.

Fancy giving it a try? Use this link to get your first Simply Cook box for just £1!

My sustainable goals for May 2019

Two bank holidays, the return of some sunshine (optimistic?) and a whole host of friends birthdays: May’s usually a pretty fun month so I can’t wait to see what it brings!

Food: buy fruit and veg from markets

With each new sustainability challenge, I’ve usually got one easier option and one that’s more of a struggle. This one will definitely be the latter and already, I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stick to this 100%. My local Sainsburys is two minutes from work while by the time I get home after a day in the office, the market stalls in town have closed up for the night. But with a bit of preparation at the weekends, I’m hoping to get into the habit of buying at least part of my weekly shop outside of the supermarkets.

Lifestyle: invest in reusable products

I’ve tackled toiletries so next up, I’m hoping to switch out some of my bathroom products for some more sustainable goodies. FIrst on my list are a bamboo toothbrush, reusable cotton pads and a metal razor so brb – I’m off to have a scout online for some options.

As ever, join me on social media by using the hashtag #24changesforgood or just come and chat to me in the comments – I’d love to know what you’re changing up this month to be live a more sustainable life.

Laura x

Like it? Pin it!