2019 – A Look Back

2020 is almost here! Before I start making new resolutions, I figured I should look back on how I did with last years.

So how did I do in my quest to save the world?

I was definitely not perfect but I really did make some changes!

Reduce my plastic use

My first area of focus was to reduce my plastic use. While it is really difficult to quit cold turkey I did start paying attention to the plastic in my life and made a lot of small changes to reduce the amount I bring home. My bathroom has had the most changes – gone are shampoo bottles, plastic razors, liquid soap in plastic containers and even our plastic toothbrushes. Watch for future blog posts on the changes I made and even some how to’s for our own liquid soap and eye makeup remover.

I plan to work on eliminating plastic from the kitchen next – trips to an actual meat market, farmer’s market and making my own bread are on my agenda!

I wish I could say I reached absolute perfection when it comes to no plastic bags or straws. I’ve been pretty consistent, but there are some days I haven’t said “no straw” fast enough or have forgotten my reuseable bags. I have tested the absolute carrying capacity of a plastic bag as I try to fit everything into one so my impact is at least smaller.

Composting

Composting was probably my biggest challenge. I’ll admit I did not get my composting bins built or my worm composting started. This is an area I always want to do better in, but have not yet been successful. While our horse manure is composted, this coming year I plan to pay much more attention to our food waste. If anyone out there has some composting advice I would love to have it!

Savvy Shopping

Reading the ingredient list in the products you buy seems like a pretty easy thing to do. Of course a lot of times we buy the same products over and over so if you’ve checked it once you shouldn’t need to check it every time. I have come across squalane in a few beauty products, my research states that it is “unlikely” that squalane from shark liver would be found in the US. There is another version derived from olive oil or sugar cane – I have found it difficult to confirm what the source is though.

Palm oil is found in a variety of products. The World Wildlife Foundation has some excellent information on palm oil and what to look for. In all my ingredient checking though I haven’t come across the RSPO label very often. I thought that was very odd, especially since it seems most major companies are using sustainable palm oil. Eco-Business has a great article outlining the reasons they aren’t using the label – from the way the label looks to the controversy surrounding palm oil.

I would say being a savvy shopper was the most difficult, you really need to do your research and even that might not give you the answers you need.

Less Red Meat

Eating less red meat wasn’t really a stretch for me as I don’t eat a lot of meat in general. I did branch out with some tofu recipes to replace hamburger in my lasagna and chicken in my stir fry.

Does eating less meat really make a difference though? According to the HuffPost, the 19% reduction in red meat consumption of Americans in the last 9 years is the equivalent of 39 million fewer cars.

Green Spaces

Luckily I had a lot of help from my son when it came to green spaces. He has become increasingly interested in botany and our home is filled with plants of varying species. My yard did benefit with the addition of 4 Mountain Mahogany bushes, a Desert Willow and soon my live Pinon Christmas tree.

.

Use My Voice

I’m still a work in progress, I can definitely say I am doing better than I was before and will continue to try and do better every day. I have a new resolution in mind for 2020, but I will continue to work on last year’s as well. I’ll keep sharing my journey and I hope you’ll follow along and also share your journey with me!