About a week ago, my good friend and I decided to host a IG livestream to share with our audiences about ourselves, our blog, our blogging journey, and much more! As two Filipina blogging gals, we wanted to show the world a glimpse about why we decided to blog, our passions, and life as a Filipina-American.
If you don't know yet, my good friend Megan, is the owner of the blog, EcoFilipinaShares, where she shares her passion for sustainability and taking care of the planet. She covers a multitude of topics, ranging from sustainability, environmental justice, climate change, and much more! What I love about Megan's blog is the genuine perspective she gives and the message she conveys. She shares that there's no such thing as perfection when it comes to sustainability. But what's important is the small contributions that make a difference.
To follow up with our IG livestream talk, we wanted to collab with our blogs and what better way to do that than to put us into each other shoes! We wanted to get to know each other and our passions. So, we came up with the idea of doing a week of challenges, with a list of things we should do related to our passions. I love photography and so I challenged Megan on a, "photo-a-day" challenge. And Megan, challenged me to go green this week! Below is a list that Megan created for me for each day of this week:
I'm excited for the challenges Megan created and to see what I'll learn and discover! Read more on my progress/reflections through the week:
Monday: "meatless monday"
As part of Megan's passion to achieve a plant-based diet to help the planet, she challenged me to eat NO meat for the day. Did you know that that the top 3 livestock that we consume (cows, pigs & chicken), generates as much greenhouse gases as driving vehicles combined? That fact BLOWS MY MIND. Today, I decided to document what I eat during the day and here are the results... I failed (kinda). For breakfast, I had some yummy pandesal (filipino bread rolls) that I made from scratch and a cup of coffee (pandesal recipe). Lunch is where I failed because I ate chicken adobo! It was still good nonetheless but wanted to redeem myself for dinnertime. For dinner, I made a Korean bibimbap with brown rice and lots of yummy veggies!
Tuesday: "do a closet audit/declutter my closet"
Today's challenge was to do an assessment on my closet and declutter! Megan challenged me to sort my closet thoroughly, and find some key pointers. For example, she encouraged me to track the brands of the clothing and know where they are made. Another idea that I have is to track which clothes I own are thrifted and which ones are not.
Results: Wow, I didn't realize that I owned so many brands! From Free People, Old Navy, Universal Thread, Uniqlo, Nike... there's so many big brands I own that contribute to mass consumerism worldwide! Did you know that the fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world? From fast fashion, to the environmental impact, to the harsh working conditions the fast fashion industry entails.
What shocked me was the extensive list of countries my different pieces of clothing was made at. To name a few: China, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India and much more. And so, I wanted to do some research and found this website on fashion & sustainability. What's causing the rise of greenhouse gases in our planet, is partly the fashion industry due to the energy used during the production, manufacturing, and transporting of clothing. I also noticed that many of the clothing I owned is made in China, Bangladesh or India and I've come to find out that these countries are essentially produced in factories powered by coal. As you know, coal is bad. Also, have you noticed that most of the clothes that we own are not made in the United States? That's because it is cheaper to mass produce clothing overseas. But unfortunately it poses consequences like modern slavery, poor working conditions, unequal pay for workers... just to name a few.
This is my favorite challenge because my goal is to curate a closet. I want to be more mindful of the clothes that I wear, making sure that they would be long-term instead of fast fashion. I look for key pieces that would be used for the long-run, rather than what's currently in style. What I discovered is that almost half of my closet was shopped from a thrift store. Woo! I'm pretty proud of myself after tracking my clothes. I do want to decrease my clothing shopping habits and opt for more versatile pieces. Remember, quality over quantity my friends. And that's it for day two!
Wednesday: "watch a documentary"
Megan gave me the option to either watch a documentary or listen to a podcast about sustainability and I decided to watch a documentary! She gives me some suggestions, but eventually I decided to watch the documentary on Netflix called, "Minimalism."
Thoughts after watching: Powerful. This documentary shows the drastic impact that mass consumerism has on the world. Why are are constantly seeking for more? Chasing for the next thing? A lot of the documentary shows b-roll clips of people panic buying and the viral Black Friday videos of people fighting over getting the best deals. I was shocked. The media plays a huge role in influencing the constant need for materialistic things. When we look at a celebrity and the glitz and glamour, we want the same thing as well. And it doesn't help that the media is readily and easily accessible.
While watching this documentary, I thought a lot about my own consuming habits because it provided a powerful message on the importance between things you need and things you want. I have a habit impulsive buying, especially online. And so after watching this documentary helps me reassess if the things i'm buying is something that I really need. I HIGHLY recommend watching this documentary, I think the more people watch this, the better our planet would be.
To learn more about the documentary and minimalism, check out this website.
Thursday: "learn something new + reflect"
For today's challenge, I was encouraged to dive deeper into a topic around sustainability that I am interested in and want to know more about. I've heard about the Zero-Waste Movement and wanted to learn more about why it matters and what I can do. To get started, I listened to a podcast called, "Green Dreamer" by Kamea Chayne. I listened to episode 2 about Bea Johnson who started the Zero-Waste Movement. After listening, I delve deeper into this topic and this is what I found out...
The Zero-Waste Movement is when people choose to eliminate their trash out completely. This means cutting out disposable packaging and opt for reusable products. Did you know that the average American throws out approximately 4.4 pounds per day? What's caused this to become a massive movement is because a lot of the waste that we produce end up in landfills. This poses a threat to the environment because the landfills contaminate the soil and release greenhouse gases that are harmful and contribute to global warming. !!!!!
I learned that starting out is not going to be perfect, nothing is. With the current situation that I'm in, it's difficult to reduce the waste when you're living in a big household. But I definitely want to do better.
So what are some things that I can do?
buying secondhand
using reusable containers/objects
composting
get bills done on the computer
"vote with your dollars"
evaluate lifestyle habits
Websites:
Friday: "digital detox/go outside!"
Today was spent not going on social media! Did you know that the use of digital devices and social media impacts the climate footprint? Now's the time to unwind and take a break from scrolling on social media feeds. This challenge is no biggie for me because I tend to take a break every once in a while just as a breather. But I've learned a lot of things about myself today, who knew?
Here are some things that I did today:
went to work
read a book outside
did some yardwork
walked miloboy!
baked pan-de-sal (filipino bread rolls)
As I am writing this post at the end of today, I am reminded of how freeing life is without the digital devices. Don't get me wrong, having my phone is essential to me, but it's nice to unplug every once in a while to practice being present. I noticed that I have a habit to unconsciously opening a social media app, but I quickly exited before I went down that rabbit hole. I also noticed that I tend to be more productive when I'm off social media. I was able to work on things that I've set aside, so I'm pretty proud of myself today!
Saturday: "simple switches"
You probably have heard about buying reusable straws to help the planet. But there are many more ways to help fight climate change. And many of these are simple switches! For today's challenge, Megan challenged me to choose a eco-friendly switch to commit to! And so, I decided to wash my clothes using cold water instead!
A majority of us wash our laundry with warm water. However, using warm water costs more money and energy. Did you know that approximately 75 percent of the total energy use and greenhouse-gas emissions produced by a single load of laundry come from warming the water itself? That's crazy because it's been said that using cold water for laundry is just as effective as warm water. And I believe that because after doing my laundry using cold water, it's practically the same!
Here are some easy switches that I do:
Drink out of a reusable water bottle
Have reusable straws with a straw pouch
Unplugging switches that I'm not using at the moment
Upcycling DIY projects
Bringing my own shopping bags (I have one in every bag/backpack/purse that I use)
Buy organic and local as much as I can
Shopping secondhand
Borrowing books from the library
Making my own cards
Using clean beauty products
Using reusable cotton pads
Packing light for traveling
Sunday: "wrap up! / reflection"
Time to share what I've learned this week!
Wow, there were some many things that I've learned about myself as a consumer and what I can do about taking care of the world that I live in. From here on out, I want to devote on some goals that I'll set for myself:
Being mindful when it comes to shopping
Wash clothes with cold water
Eat less meat (it's better for you too!)
Use my reusables
Learn how to grow plants
Shoutout to Megan for this awesome challenge! If you want to check out my challenge for Megan, check it out on her website below!
Note: this blog post have links to websites that I'm not sponsored or affiliated with