I have always had a passion for the environment - ever since I was a little kid. Having had the realization at a young age that there’s only one planet Earth and everyone needs to do their part in honoring and protecting it, I was always interested in what I could do to help the planet. As I grew older, I began to do more and more research into the waste human beings create on a daily basis, and what mechanisms government and municipalities had in place to mitigate the effects it had. I quickly became aware that what was in place (city recycling and waste services, lenient laws for pollution to both air and water, etc.) were not enough to deflect the changes that were, and still are, happening to the planet. I thought all a long I had been doing my part by recycling and using a majority of natural household products to lessen my impact. When I really took inventory of the things my family and I were doing on a daily basis, I noticed it was pretty small.
I found that there were incredibly simple things I could introduce into our lives that would lessen our carbon footprint even further, and hopefully that would instill the mindset into our children that everyone has a role in the effect on the planet. There is power in numbers. Even the smallest changes, if done on a daily basis by more and more people, can have a positive effect. So, we began to shop more consciously each time we went to the store, buying less items in plastic or non-recyclable packaging. We looked at the things we’d normally purchase and thought about our need for each, beginning to take a more minimalist approach to living - less is more. We repurposed more, and reused things we normally would’ve thrown out. We started composting. My husband will attest to this - he was not on board at first, but we both soon realized the amount of waste our food alone was creating, and how easy it was to avoid it. This didn’t mean we were throwing out leftovers, or buying highly packaged foods, but as a plant-based family, the majority of our waste each week was from fruits and vegetables. All things that could easily be put back into the Earth as a closed loop cycle.
I’m not saying that this lifestyle is for everyone, but I do think it is attainable for everyone. It takes looking closely at the life you are living and assessing if it’s simply convenience that is stopping you from taking that extra step. Sometimes the more rewarding option takes one extra step, but I can promise you from experience, it is completely worth it. My family and I have been living a more eco-conscious, sustainable lifestyle for quite a while now and it’s become second nature. As a family of 4, we put out an average half a trash bag worth of waste each week; sometimes less. We are by no means a completely “zero-waste” family. For us, it just not something that is realistic right now. Sometimes we have a compromise a bit to make a situation work, and that’s okay. We do our best every day, and I hope that by sharing my experience and passion for sustainable living through Basic Shop, that others will be more inclined to do so as well. Basic Shop stemmed from my love and care for the environment and everything in it, and I hope to help others on their sustainable journey through this venture.
Together, let’s get back to the basics.
-Andrea
Owner | Basic Shop
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