You can’t always be a perfect human

The last 18 months for me have been super eye-opening in many ways but particularly the environment. I have purposefully tried to educate myself in terms of what I can do as a human to help the planet. I have also seen many people on social media and in my life who have also started to change little things in their lives to help the environment, which I did do a post on if you fancy checking it out here.

 

Vegan Pressure

 

I have been a vegetarian since I was about 8 years old, so for the past 11 years, I haven’t consumed any meat or fish or gelatine. In the last 2 years, I have become more aware of the importance of not consuming animal products in a bid to help the environment. This has led me to eat less dairy and eggs as a result. However, I am not 100% Vegan and don’t claim to be but I do try where I can, for example, my sister bought me a chocolate advent calendar which is a tradition of ours and to be honest I didn’t even think about it. I am not going to punish myself for eating a little chocolate every day for December, and we shouldn’t be making people feel bad if that is what they want to do. I am surrounded by more meat eaters than vegetarians in my life, however, I don’t aim to ‘turn them’ but I do want to educate so if they ask me a question regarding why I am a vegetarian then I will inform them of all the benefits both personally and globally.

I don’t drink cows milk at all and rarely have cheese but if I do it is often with family or friends, like camembert or raclette. Both of these things bring a social aspect to dinner which obviously I could indeed say no to but at this place in my journey, I actually don’t want to.

 

I might buy a bottle of Lucozade

 

I have a reusable cup which I take around, but sometimes I do forget, I am not perfect. I carry around a Chilly’s bottle and refill with water. Sometimes I want a Lucozade and I buy it. It isn’t every day or every week but I do buy them and I am not going to punish myself for doing so. However, I do aim to recycle it as best as I can and if that means bringing it home to make sure it is recycled then so be it.

 

I have bought ‘fast fashion’ clothing

 

Now, this has been something that has come to the main media spotlight in the past year due to high profile people discussing it. During my teens, it was cool to buy vintage and charity shop clothes. So a lot of my clothes are from places like that, however, I have bought clothes from Asos and Topshop and boohoo.com. Yes, these clothes aren’t made ethically or economically or environmentally and they are definitely not sustainable to the planet. However, we live in a world where we consume and where there is consumption of material products then you can’t be sustainable. I would always suggest checking vintage and second-hand stores first before you buy from a high street retailer as there are always great finds in there. Also, a cheeky little tip for you, if you are looking for more high-end brands then go to charity shops in more affluent areas, they often end up with some high priced brands for so much cheaper, and you’re helping the environment, BONUS!

 

The Community

 

I think sometimes the vegan/sustainable online community can be a little intimidating if you’re new to it. It can also come across as very elite and if you aren’t living your life in a certain way then you can’t be in the club. This doesn’t make it look inviting and can turn people away. I think what the message should be is everyone can do better and you all have to start somewhere. Also, we’re not perfect human beings. Human beings are not perfect in the slightest, even if you use non-plastic shampoo and buy all second-hand clothes and grow your own veg in the garden you are still impacting the planet in some way so literally nobody is perfect so don’t feel the pressure to be.

I love being inspired by positive people online who provide advice and tips.

People to follow who I love in this community

• Zanna Van Dijk
• Healthychefsteph
• Everyday Amazing You (Jessica Avey)
• Hayley Carey
• Natalie Glaze

And so many more but check these gals out on Instagram!

If you have any accounts that you love then let me know in the comments…

 

 

 

 

 

 

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