In Yoga the Warrior pose “Virabhadrasana” is dedicated to a powerful hero* and the third warrior pose conveys the harmony, balance and power you get from practising these poses.
I am an eco warrior, I am a warrior for the planet. So many of us are, which is why we can be positive, but we can’t not submissive. We can peacefully protest by living the way we want in order to show that there is a better way! Let’s all be warrior 3 and live in harmony and balance with nature. We have the power together to do great things.
I started my @sustainable_chill Instagram account and this blog to inspire. I’m trying to live as eco conscious, environmentally friendly and sustainably as I can.
We don’t have to constantly join rallies to show we care. Mindless consumerism is the problem, the constant linear system of using virgin sources* in production, getting items to the shops and thrown away by us.
We need a circular system (Circular Economy Basics). In our daily lives this can be as simple as REUSING things. And shopping more eco consciously, because we all have to eat, wear clothes and stay clean…
Here’s some recent examples of how I REUSE in my life.
Kitchen and food shopping
Jars – the less waste / zero waste / minimum lifestyle / sustainable kitchen crowd is crazy about jars. For good reason! Glass jars are brilliant for storing food, and more importantly for reusing again and again for all sorts of food. I take mine to our local organic shop where we can refill our rice, pasta, herbs, spices, beans, cereal, nuts… all sorts. There’s lots of these shops cropping up, and they are so worth it!
It’s as easy as eating jam (all the jam), washing, drying and then reusing the jar!
Garden and House plants
Reuse pots, simple as that. This is so easy when you’re growing annuals* because you can use them year after year. This season I’ve already reused lots of seed trays, because once plants get too big for the seed trays or plugs I pot them up and reuse the tray to sow more plants! But you can do the same with bigger pots too. The most abundant and cheapest plant pots are made from plastic, which doesn’t have to be the end of the world if we reuse them – plastic lasts a long time (we don’t even know how long yet as it’s very new!) s let’s use it for good!
I also reuse compost!! At the end of the growing season (if I’m not keeping the plant to collect seeds) any plants in containers that are done, I chuck the plant on the compost heap but keep the compost IN THE OLD COMPOST BAG and store to use in the spring. So I reuse the compost bag and the compost! WINNING
Then there’s old food containers in the garden. As well as reusing plastic food containers in the kitchen I also use them in the garden A LOT. I use things like hummus pots as cloches over seedlings and cuttings, just like the traditional glass bell jar shape cloche, it works just like a greenhouse, keeping the temperature inside moist and warm – perfect growing conditions for baby plants.
Clothes and shopping
Charity shops/ second hand shops / antique / vintage – however you want to label it these shops are THE best way for us to REUSE what has already been made. The fossil fuel, plant, and minerals have already been mined or cut down to produce the product so the best thing we as consumers can do is buy something someone doesn’t want anymore.
Not just clothes, anything! Furniture, kitchen appliances, tools, homeware, books… etc!
(obviously charity shops have an added bonus that the profits go to charity)
I have also been to a few fun clothes swaps and left with some bargains. Such a perfect idea, to get a group of people together; they bring clothes they don’t wear anymore and swap for other peoples! Perfect.
There are also some sharing libraries for things like tools cropping up, so keep an eye out. For example:
Bath – https://bathlibraryofthings.org.uk/
Frome- https://sharefrome.org/
Bathroom
Just as you can refill containers in the kitchen, you can do the same in the bathroom! They may not be as common and easy to get to as the dreaded supermarket… but there are probably more than you think independent shops that is set up to let you refill your shampoo bottle, your shower gel, toothpaste tabs****, floss, bathroom cleaner, toilet bleach, you name it!
REFILL – REUSE – BORROW – LEND – SHARE – CARE
I’d love to hear about any changes you’ve made in your life. Or anything you’ve done for years that reuses and shows you’re an epic ECO WARRIOR.
Peace and Love
Vicki
Notes
* Virabhadrasana – read more about this story I read in B.K.S. Iyengar’s “Light on Yoga”
** Virgin sources/ materials – “Virgin materials are natural resources that are extracted in their raw form that are traditionally used in industrial or manufacturing processes. Examples of virgin materials are timber, plastic resin derived from petroleum refining process, and mined/processed metals.” (https://sftool.gov/learn/about/43/materials-resources)
*** Annuals are plants with one growing season – “Annuals typically are planted in the spring and summer months, bloom for the season, and then die.” (https://www.proflowers.com/blog/difference-between-perennial-and-annual-flowers)
**** Toothpaste tabs – toothpaste in tablet form! https://www.theplasticfreeshop.co.uk/denttabs
Chillcott's Circular Thoughts 