Put Your Money Where Your Values Are: How to Kaizen Your Purchasing Power + Alignment
PLASTIC = OMNIPRESENT
Plastic oozes and seeps into every aspect of our lives. Without us even knowing, plastic has evolved into an omnipotent force.
For the sake of convenience, plastic brazenly takes the
prize.
Single-use plastics find forever homes nestled in our backyards, parks, and beaches.
Plastic-bottled beverages quench our thirst; ignore the chemicals ingested with
every sip.
What is the price we pay for convenience? Truly?
Our personal health and the world’s well-being.
Plastic contains chemicals that interferes with our bodies’
ability to regulate hormones. Bisphenol
A, dioxins, and phthalates are some common endocrine-disrupting chemicals found
in ordinary, household plastics. Studies show exposure to certain phthalates (found
in food packaging and children’s toys) are linked to higher instances of ADHD-related
behaviors.
These chemicals leach their way into our digestive systems
and increase the risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, etc.
They endanger our children’s metabolism, puberty, and reproduction.
These invisible chemicals haunt our food system from
plankton to produce, from the air we breathe to the meals we eat.
Some of us had had enough.
Maybe that's why you're here.
Put Your Money Where Your Values Are
My mission is to help you improve ease and quality of life
through small, intentional changes that are also good for nature.
Remember, our power is exercised through what we buy and consume. Our purchases empower a company and their vision. The question is, what value are we empowering and enforcing?
Truth is, our values drive our decision making.
The key thing is to know what your values and/or goals are and to actually apply them when making decisions. To know what your current values are, simply review your past bank statements or cash receipts and take stock. Patterns and trends will emerge.
Any discrepancies arising? It's okay. Me too. That's why self-reflection is crucial when it comes to kaizen. Sometimes we think we're doing the thing , but when looking at it from a bird's eye view, we aren't even close.
If your goal is to support local and/or small businesses, try to buy from their website directly or via a marketplace like Etsy or Zero Waste Store instead of Amazon.
Yes, I'm aware some small businesses also distribute on Amazon: On one hand, yay for exposure, but the other hand says thumbs down for Amazon.
Another thing I see is many people around me claim to be broke. If you're buying single-use coffee every (other) day, and you say you're "broke," it might be time to evaluate your budget and spending habits.
Not trying to shame anyone. Just telling it like how I see it. I'm here to help you, but that's only if you're ready to come to terms with your past and present. A chance to practice humility and self-compassion. After all,
The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves. - Bessel A. van der Kolk
START WHERE YOU ARE
Ready to ditch some plastic items in your bathroom?
Make as many or as little changes as your budget allows. Once you've used up what you have at home and need to buy more, buy one or a few different products that speak to your values.
There's no need to throw out what you already have: one pillar behind outer sustainability is to minimize waste as much as possible. That goes for financial waste as well.
Feel free to write down a few values in your planner or journal as a reminder. Then, as you make your purchases, ask yourself: who or what your purchase is empowering? Does it align with your values? Make your choice accordingly.
NYLON SUCKS (NO, NOT THE MAGAZINE)
Finding a 100% sustainable toothbrush would've been unheard of two years ago. Luckily, Brush with Bamboo takes the title for its bio-based bristles. I share this blog post's lamentation: click on the link to read why we should avoid nylon.
TLDR, nylon bristles:- aren't biodegradable
- aren't recyclable
- come from fossil fuels aka petroleum that are FINITE sources
Brush with Bamboo toothbrushes are 100% plastic
free from the bristles to the handle and to the packaging. Their
website boasts about their employee-first culture and safe operation in China.
Having a toothbrush be 100% ecofriendly was more valuable to me than it was to have a product made in US. There's something about US companies who try to become more sustainable but rely heavily on corn.
We'd need a whole weekend to talk about the growing dangers of corn agriculture here in the States. But to give you a break from my voice, I highly recommend reading about regenerative agriculture. Kiss the Ground is a good start.
Weaning ourselves away from corn is one way we can revive our lands that are becoming deserts.
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| Writing the start date on the handle makes it easier to remember to properly dispose & switch at the 3-month mark! |
HORSE HAIR, SILK, & PLASTIC, OH MY!
Yes, all these items were used to create dental floss. Plastic dental floss and especially, plastic toothpicks, take anywhere from 50-80 years to break down.
Remember, plastic doesn't fully decompose because it's not made of natural products.
This is what prompted me to find a sustainable way to floss my pearly whites, mainly because I was flossing daily.
I wanted to kaizen aka improve my oral routine down to the tiniest and seemingly innocuous habit. Though flossing seems like a mundane, minute thing, the impact of using plastic is even more dangerous because we tend to not see the negative effects it has on our earth's well-being.
Need some more convincing? Check out Boston Globe's article here on litter and floss picks or Philly Mag's article here.
Whether you use dental wax string or floss picks, the fact remains that these items create headaches for the city and landfills.
Of course, there's another option called a water flosser.
Because my goal is to reduce waste, electronic waste is a part of that. I know if I got a machine, I would eventually have to dispose and replace it.
Appliance fatigue is real. I'm in a mood to eliminate any unused appliances in our home and replace it with a non-electronic option. If there was a god of electricity, they would be thriving right now with the way our society depends on technology. That's a story for another time.
Here are my criteria for floss:
- Plastic free (that means NO nylon)
- no artificial coating
- no xylitol coating, which is actually sugar even though it is derived from plant material
- refillable (no single-use containers)
- preferably not silk
- has to actually work
This time around, I went with Lucky Teeth. It says on the
Zero Waste Store description
there is a “minimal amount of polymers and when combined with activated
charcoal, is biodegradable and compostable.”
There’s no perfect floss out there yet, but I think this
comes pretty close. The floss breaks down in approx. 60-90 days and is flavored
with organic peppermint and tea tree essential oil.
I didn’t get the one with the container because it was sold
out at the time, but also, it’s not that hard to cut with a pair of scissors.
So far, it’s held up for the actual flossing, and I’m satisfied! The string hasn't broken at all, and I feel good knowing that it's compostable.
Moreover, these two products were found are the
ZeroWasteStore.
That played another factor into my purchase. You can purchase these at their respective origin, but then you'd have to pay shipping for all of them. Cost is still a factor for me as I’m not rolling in the dough right now.
552 MILLION:
- Wet hair with bar in one hand, some hair in the other, and rub together to create a lather
- Bring my hands to the top of my head and begin working the bar + lather into my scalp
- Let gravity do its thing and allow the soap to travel down my hair
- Rinse out soap well
- Rinse scalp & hair in cool-to-cold water (a habit I picked up from when I had purple hair)
KAIZEN TIP: Once every other wash, use an ACV hair rinse (1 tsp Bragg’s ACV
and 8 oz filtered water) after shampooing, and rinse with cool water. Read about the benefits here.
Not sure if it’s the pandemic & I haven’t visited my preferred salon a year ago, but my hair is growing faster and stronger than ever. It’s not as frizzy and doesn’t crimp easily. I typically go 3-5 days without washing and just wash my body every other day.
KEEP IT SIMPLE, SILLY!
In fact, the more complicated "it", the less I’m likely to commit.
The more steps there are, the more I'm likely to abandon my efforts.
It's why I don't wear make-up anymore.
It's also why my face care routine has only 3-4 steps.
Cerave came out with a facial
bar option. The two-pack comes wrapped in plastic, however, the bars
themselves are plastic free. One step at a time, I suppose.
My face care routine:
- wash face with bar soap
- rinse with warm water and pat dry with towel
- pat Thayer’s witch hazel toner on face with clean, bare hands
- use Skinesque moisturizer
* at night, do steps 1-3 and then follow with overnight aloe
vera harvested from a real leaf.
Slowly, piece by piece, we can kaizen our oral and face care habits to reflect our sustainable, low-waste values.
The best part is this isn't over yet!
Transitioning to a sustainable (higher) quality of life takes reflection, time, and dedication. Make a plan to slowly kaizen the rest of your home living to be more sustainable.
My future plans for personal hygiene:
- make my own witch hazel toner (I currently use Thayers, but the bottle lasts me a long time)
- make my own facial moisturizer (I received a few free plastic-bottled ones from my sister)
- plastic-free deodorant
- find a way to recycle, reuse, or repurpose essential oils bottles
CONCLUSION
There you have it: some feel-good changes I’ve made that will yield long-term impact that reflect my values.
Living in alignment feels wonderful and serene. If you're feeling out of sorts, it could mean that you're living out of alignment. As surely as the sun rises and sets, there'll be moments when we forget or make a choice that doesn't align. When that happens, practice self-compassion and get back on the horse so to speak.
Remember your truth north aka your motivation aka your reasons for doing or not doing certain things.
For me, I'm content knowing what my purchases will leave behind or anticipate such as:
Less...
- plastic toothbrushes in the landfill.
- plastic containers from conventional shampoos and face wash.
- chances for chemicals to leach into my body and life.
More...
- support for companies that advocate sustainability.
- thoughtful purchases that align with my values.
- ways for me, and earth, to live long and prosper.
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