Over the last 5 years, I’ve been actively making more sustainable lifestyle changes— everything from using reusable tote bags and produce bags, bringing reusable tumblers with me, reducing usage of single-use products, altering my buying habits and supporting sustainably-made products. Then Covid hit, and a lot of our lifestyles changed. I was no longer running around the city all day for work, we were having to order groceries for awhile for our safety, and having more things delivered to our home in general. My waste footprint shifted, with more packaging used through deliveries and groceries and single-use items for sanitization protection, so I started thinking about ways I could up my sustainability efforts at home with this new lifestyle. Here are the 5 eco-friendly quarantine trends that showed up in 2020 that I hope to continue (and have other people do the same!) this year:

Every time I share a pourover video or WFH snap on my Instagram (which is indeed, often), I usually get a few DM’s asking where my ceramic mugs are from or what ceramic makers I like— so I’m gathering my current favorites here to share with you!

Why did I switch over to non-toxic, clean beauty? I got slammed with my autoimmune diagnosis and after desperately researching for anything that could help ease the massive load of stressors on and symptoms of my body, I dismayingly realized just how INSANELY toxic some of these ingredients in these products are. The BIGGEST thing is how it affects your endocrine system— aka your hormones. I wanted to make this super comprehensive guide of recommendations and helpful links to help you guys find the best non-toxic, clean beauty products (bodycare, haircare, oral care, everything!) for YOU.

When I found out that I’d be going to the Pacific Northwest to go to see Cascadian Farm for myself in person with The Feedfeed + Cascadian Farm, I knew that it would be beautiful out there— I just wasn’t prepared for how incredibly scenic it all is and also how much I’d learn about farming practices. It’s so important to know how big of a difference companies can make if they make a commitment to it, and what we as informed consumers can also do to support our food and Earth.

It was also personally just fun to see where the berries for my Blueberry Lavender Tonic came from, as well at the mixed berries for this droolworthy, gluten-free + vegan Mixed Berry Oat Crisp recipe…

Chalk it up to getting older and feeling more of a responsibility to this earth we call my home, but my conscious knew it was time to start changing the way I lived. My endocrine (hormonal) issues with my Hashimoto's were the other major catalysts that made me spring to action to be a more conscious consumer and to clean up my lifestyle. But previously? I had eschewed all the ways to reduce my carbon footprint that I had then deemed too "extreme" and impractical to adopt into my life.

When I look back at all the swaps and practices I've adopted over the past few years, I'm proud at my efforts but I continually realize more changes I can and want make moving forward. For the person just starting out, I know this entire list can seem intimidating, but it's really just about starting. It doesn't matter how small, just begin-- and once those become a naturally effortless part of your routine you don't think twice about, think about the next change you can make.

I'm sure my mother is going to be a little shocked somewhere because I'm about to say the word "period" and "menstrual" and "uterus / vagina" about a million times in this blog post, but that's exactly the point. To little fault of her own, but rather the societal culture around us (particularly in our generation), women's reproductive health and menstrual cycles were never something to be talked about openly without some sense of shame and an "ew gross" attitude around it. Because of these stigmas, I felt the same way and I failed to understand my cycle, my hormones, and my reproductive health in a real way until my mid-twenties.

Eating locally has become all the more important to me in the past few years. The more I've gotten educated about nutrition and food practices, the more I've learned what is actually important versus what is just a buzzword. Eating locally has become a bit of a trendy thing, and people lump it into a bunch of healthy buzz words alongside "organic" "all-natural" "plant-based" "non-GMO." Consumers see those words and associate whatever they're buying to be healthy... but that's not exactly true.

Today, I want to share with you guys some things I've learned over the years about eating locally grown produce, and how to navigate those labels so that your dollar actually goes towards what matters and not just marketing speak. My good friend and fellow blogger Jules, of Om and the City, and I teamed up with Gotham Greens to talk about the importance of this and more about their innovative urban farming practices that...