3 ways to help your mother 🌎 this Earth Day

Your plastic, fashion, and diet choices can have more of an impact than you think

Apr 19, 2024

Earth Day is Monday, April 22, so I wanted to share a few things I’m doing to at least feel like I’m helping mother earth.

“Be the change” … am I right?

Don’t worry, I’m not trying to project any personal tree hugging beliefs on you, nor would I ever tell anyone what I think they “should” be doing.

But from the influences of my travels, lifestyle and life experiences, network, and personal research, I’ve learned about how my choices can impact the environment; this is across everything I do, from what I buy, eat and drink, to what I wear.

No microplastics hopefully in this glacial lake in Whistler, BC

Content entrepreneur | Agency Founder & CEO | Bestselling author Featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bankrate, Cheddar TV, HuffPost | Join more than 3,700 people who follow Shindy’s unconventional lifestyle, travel, and career advice:

My general philosophy is one where the less of a footprint I have, the better.

The less I consume, the greater of an impact I can make.

My attitudes on conservation generally manifest among three key themes: plastic, fashion, and diet.

As a result, here are ways to be more resourceful and environmentally conscious in daily life.

Avoid single-use plastics; cut down overall plastic exposure

Plastic waste is everywhere. It’s slow-degrading and microplastic pollution has seeped into oceans we swim in, the intestines of beloved marine life, and even in our packaged foods. No surprise it’s also been detected in our blood, urine and breast milk.

I get it, its use cases are many and in some cases unavoidable. But I found out that plastic recycling is mostly a ruse and very few plastics, less than 10% in fact, can be totally recycled.

Such pollution has only become omnipresent in the most recent decade, so it's hard to tell what long term effects teeny tiny plastics will have on our bodies in 20 or 30 years’ time.

But it can’t be good! As plastics break down, what else are they releasing into our environment and ourselves?

In the meantime, I'm doing my best to avoid any single-use plastics in the form of reusable canvas or cloth shopping bags, utensils, bottles, makeup and travel containers, and so on.

Avoid fast fashion; cut down textile waste

Earlier this year I wrote about how I'm not buying any new clothes in 2024, with a few exceptions, such as travel souvenirs or protective fitness or UPF clothing, or when I have to replace lost or damaged items.

I’m happy to say this experiment is going well so far.

It’s been freeing to not have the compulsion to buy new clothes, nor anxiety to “need” anything when skipping by sale windows and promotional emails.

Fast fashion is incredibly destructive and takes advantage of cities where the discards go to die.

Remember, a lot of times you'll find that you already have what you need in your closet, and if you don’t, then a used or pre-loved version of it is probably available to borrow, or at a vintage or thrift store, or on Poshmark.

How and what you buy and eat can make a significant impact

Try this fun experiment: Go to your local grocery store and try to buy things that aren’t wrapped or packaged in plastic.

You’d be lucky to come out with even 5 items.

Everything is touched by plastic and if not directly, then it’s likely tagged or embellished with a cellophane wrap or plastic lid or wrap.

Again, in some cases plastics are unavoidable but when possible, your food buying and food choices can help with plastic reduction, for example:

Plastic bags: Try not to use plastic bags for your fruits and vegetables. Bring your own netted bags and reusable canvas or shopping bags.
Coffee: I've written about my coffee ritual, and how I prepare my daily pourover.
@realshindychen My coffee pour over ritual / Subscribe to Left Brain Right Brain for all my tools every Friday #weekly #newsletter #coffee #pourover #rituals #lbrb
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I grind my beans, boil my water with a metal gooseneck tea kettle, and use a ceramic Hario V60 coffee dripper with brown Hario paper filters, that are also compostable.
When I feel like an espresso, I use an aluminum Bialetti Moka.
These methods help me reduce my overall plastic exposure to traditional home coffee machines, where drip filters and water chambers are plastic (not to mention, hard to clean, and over time I don’t want to think about what’s building up internally).
I also avoid single-serve Keurig or K-Cup machines. Not only are you preparing your coffee in a machine that's full of plastic, you’re also contributing to single-use plastic K-cup waste. Though they are working on a solution, I simply prefer the taste of a slower, freshly brewed pourover or espresso.
Water: Remember what I mentioned above about microplastics? Well, in Miami, PFAs and microplastics have already made their way into the tap supply.
So, I purchased reusable BPA-free containers and then refill them at the Whole Foods water dispenser. The cost per fill is way more economical than expensive and horrible plastic water bottles.
The Whole Foods water refill station is a literal lifesaver
When I’m in Charlotte, I utilize my Samsung fridge’s water filter, which claims to filter out 99% of tap water contaminants.
You may also be interested in general about the rise of the plastic bottled water industry.
Buy what you’ll cook, cook what you’ll eat: When I lived in London, it was common to pass through the local village markets each night on your way home and pick up fresh produce or meats that you would prepare that night or the next. In New York, it was as much as you could carry on your walk home, if you didn’t live close to a grocery store, and if you weren’t using Instacart.
In other parts of the U.S., we’re used to driving to the store for one or two massive grocery hauls per week.
This can result in overbuying and stocking, and in turn, a potential for lots of food waste. So be realistic when grocery shopping and buy what you’re actually going to consume or prepare at home before things start expiring.
Food choices: Don’t even get me started on how your food choices and habits can help the environment.
If it interests you, check out what will happen to sushi in 50 years, and how eating just one or two meals per week with less or without meat can help.

Those are my three main pillars and related tactics. Personally, they’ve become habit and I don't find them too hard to live by.

Try them for yourself and let me know how it goes!

Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok

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