Welcome back to Lavendaire.

Today's video is on how to live with less waste.

It's a video for beginners who are looking to get into the zero waste lifestyle,

and it's just a video for anyone who wants to be more conscious of their environmental

footprint.

I am so, so thrilled to be partnering with Ecosia on this video.

Ecosia is a search engine

that plants trees as you search the web, and I think it's just the coolest concept ever.

The way it works is just like any other search engine.

You can use Ecosia

to search something on the web and then search ads will come up with your results.

And with those search ads, they get income, and with their income,

they donate 80% to planting trees.

I think, on average, 45 searches will plant one tree.

And I've been using Ecosia for about three months now, and I have about

five hundred searches.

So if you calculate it, I think I've planted maybe eleven trees

which is so awesome, just knowing that you're doing something good just by doing

what you would normally do with the internet.

So this is something that everybody can apply.

Everybody can start using this now, and you'll truly make an impact.

There are a lot of resources that I'll link down below: videos of Ecosia doing their work,

planting their trees.

And they're really big on transparency which is what I love

and why I support them, so that you know exactly where their money is going to,

so I fully trust them.

Yeah, I love this thing so much.

You can use Ecosia on your computer or on your phone.

They have a mobile app

for iOS and Android.

And what's really cool is they've already planted 10 million trees this June,

and they have a goal to plant one billion trees by 2020, which I think is super inspiring.

So definitely check them out if you're interested in this sort of thing.

As you can tell, I am super behind it.

Alright, so moving onto other ways you can be environmentally-friendly.

Here are ten ways to live with less waste.

First, it's important to know the five R's of waste management: refuse, reduce, reuse,

recycle, and rot, in that order.

Today, we'll start with refuse.

Refusing is the first rule

to living a zero waste lifestyle.

Think before accepting any clutter into your home.

Turn down flyers and junk mail, freebies, party favors, and any other junk

that will most likely go into the trash.

Each year, Americans throw away 100 billion plastic grocery bags which take about

1000 years to break down.

Instead of accepting plastic bags

and creating more demand for them, use reusable cloth bags or even no bag, when possible.

I used to think it was mandatory to use these plastic bags for your fruits and vegetables,

but I recently discovered you can just use your own bag or even no bag,

which is even better because why bring home extra plastic?

You could also bring your own jars to grocery stores to avoid bringing home

any unnecessary plastic containers.

I love when grocery stores sell things in bulk

so that it's really easy to do some zero waste shopping.

You can either weigh your jars

at the front beforehand, or bring an extra of the same jar so you can weight it at checkout.

Next, instead of using a one-time disposable plastic straw, you can either

refuse the straw completely, or use an acrylic or steel straw instead.

I personally like

to drink my smoothies with a straw, so I have this acrylic straw for that specific purpose.

Instead of using this plastic cling wrap in your kitchen to preserve your food and leftovers,

switch to using this sustainable and reusable food wrap.

These are all natural, organic,

and compostable.

I believe they're made out of beeswax, and they actually do

a really good job at keeping your food fresh, even better than plastic in my opinion.

Instead of buying disposable plastic water bottles, opt for a reusable water bottle

that you can fill up again and again.

Glass and steel are probably best for your water bottle,

but I'm using this BPA-free plastic bottle because my boyfriend used to sell them

and we have a ton of them left over.

So if you have them already, reuse what you can.

Do your best to avoid using disposable utensils.

Instead, you can bring silverware

from home or use portable utensils made out of stainless steel or bamboo.

Over 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes that will never biodegrade are dumped in landfills

and oceans each year.

So you can make a huge impact just by switching out

your plastic toothbrush for a sustainable bamboo toothbrush.

Think of all the plastic toothbrushes that you use in one lifetime.

And imagine avoiding that waste completely,

just by switching to something that's biodegradable and compostable.

Disposable period products also create so much waste.

The average woman throws away

up to 300 pounds of pads, tampons, and applicators in her lifetime.

Instead, try using a menstrual cup.

Menstrual cups are made out of medical grade silicone

and one cup can last you up to ten years which is pretty amazing.

Lastly, reduce the amount of paper you bring into your home by switching to paperless

whenever possible.

Do this with your mail, your bills, your notes, and your books.

I personally love reading eBooks on my iPad, but I know some people love traditional books,

so just do whatever works for you.

I hope you liked these tips on how to live with less waste.

I just want to remind you though:

Just take it one step at a time.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

It's a journey.

All that matters is that you're becoming aware, more conscious of the environment

and you're doing your best, okay?

Everyone is at a different point in this journey.

I'm not perfect.

I'm totally not zero waste yet.

But I think the first step is awareness.

And then after that, you'll start to reduce your waste little by little.

So let's create a non-judgmental, welcoming space where we can just open up the discussion

around reducing our waste.

And let's not judge others who aren't aware of this lifestyle.

Let's just understand everyone's at a different point in our journeys.

The best thing you can do is just be a living example of what you want to see in the world,

and let your actions speak louder than your words.

It all begins with awareness

and let this awareness seep into your actions, and then others will see what you're doing

and then they'll be inspired to follow along.

Alright, that's it!

Make sure you subscribe if you haven't already.

I love you so much.

And also: Check out Ecosia for a really easy way to start being more environmentally-friendly,

just by searching the web.

Alright, love you all so, so much.

See you next time.

Bye!