The Deliberate Consumer

TL;DR: Psychology, economics, and consumerism all have a key role to play in sustainability. A key reflection from my Plastic Free July experience is that changing how we approach buying in even the smallest of ways can have a significant positive impact for our environment and the species we share it with. Background It started with a personal ban on disposable coffee cups. For half a year, I had been successful in only purchasing hot beverages when I had a reusable cup with me or when I felt comfortable making the time to sit-in and enjoy a cup of coffee without any rush. But once I had mastered that habit, I began looking for another challenge. And then I was told about Plastic Free July. I investigated the movement and made the pledge, swearing off single-use plastics for 31 days. While I do not think it was too difficult to uphold this pledge, the lessons learned as a result of the process have been insightful and - at times - unnerving. When I started down the path of inve...

Our pets. For so many of us, they are an integral part of our families and our lives. A house is not a home without a chosen animal to share affection with. And as of last year, 65% of us felt that way, having at least one pet at home.* Check out my three and I am sure they will elicit some "oooh"s and "aww"s. The daily happiness they bring is incalculable, to both ourselves and those we share them with. However, so too, is the potential amount of plastic and waste they contribute to our households. Well, perhaps not so incalculable. It is estimated that dogs and cats alone are responsible for generating up to 64 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses each year, due to the amount of meat that is required to manufacture their food.** And then there are the food bags themselves, the bags of treats, bags of litter, bags for picking up poop. And these are just some of the common items familiar to dog and cat owners. Once more, we could become overwhelmed even k...

Like disposable coffee cups, the rise of take-out options is a very challenging demand on our planet. It is part of a food service industry that is estimated to surpass $100 billion in sales by 2022*. With this growth in sales comes the potential for growth in waste as well - unless we do what we can to help this industry grow sustainably. And one of the biggest areas in need of change is take-out. Read on for some stats and steps we can take to help minimize the amount of takeout waste and make reusing as easy as to-go food options. Who's ordering take-out anyway? 54% The percentage of Canadians who purchase take-out food at least once/week.** 56% The percentage of dinner orders that are taken to-go.*** 10.8 million The number of Canadians who have used online food delivery options this year alone.*** (That's more than a 1/4 of us, folks). The environmental cost of take-out containers 2025 million The estimated number of take-out containers used each year in the ...