Earth Day - How Can We Help?

Earth Day - How Can We Help?

Apr 22, 2020sophie nelson

At RED we are committed to changing the habits and limit the use of disposable products, we encourage and advocate for sustainable living for everyone - young and old! We think that it's the little things we do that can make a big difference! Anyone can help.

To celebrate Earth Day we have asked our team to share how they have changed their habits to become more sustainable around the house. We'd love to hear what things you have changed, either at your school or home? Jump onto our social channels and let us know!

  1. Eat your Veg - Sophie, Social Media

I live with my partner and we have been slowly and subconsciously changing our routine to become more sustainable and less wasteful.

-We’ve reduced our meat intake, we were never huge meat eaters, but have found lately that most of our meals are vegetable or pasta based. This was sparked when we introduced ‘Meat Free Mondays’ and realised we weren’t really changing any of our regular ingredients. We still eat a lot of fish and occasionally chicken, but have found when we have red meat now we feel a bit sluggish and bloated.

-We’ve built a herb and veggie garden. Lots of trial and error here, but it’s been fun and I absolutely love going out the back in the evening and picking ingredients for dinner. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment and independence (coming from someone who used to kill every houseplant within weeks of buying them).

  1. Food can be reused - Ali, Marketing Assistant

I live with my family, my siblings have also moved home during lockdown – it’s been…. pretty chaotic but I’m trying to appreciate all the family time. Our family have always been conscious of recycling but recently my brother has taken particular interest in it and built a compost bin and veggie garden. All our food scraps and green waste go in. It’s made us realise how much was going in the bin and into landfill that didn’t need to.

Side note – the bags that your RED ship in can actually go in your compost bin! They are made from 100% biodegradable and compostable material, so you just need to cut them up and put them in, they will break down within 90-120 days – they can even go in worm farms!

We’ve signed up to this great initiative by a Melbourne company called ‘Easy Come, Easy Grow’ it’s like a seed subscription, you sign up and they send you seeds to grow based on the seasons and climate you live in. It’s fantastic!

  1. Get involved with the community - Sara, Brand Manager

My partner and I live in the inner west, Sydney and it’s amazing how environmentally conscious our community is, it’s a great feeling to be a part of something that is making a difference.

-We don’t have space for a veggie garden but there is a community garden at the end of our street that we can go and pick herbs and veggies from.

-Our local cafes are not taking keep cups at the moment due to COVID-19, but have introduced a recycling program, so you can return your take-away cups and they are recycled at the proper facilities.

-Our local shopping centre has numerous different recycling drop offs where you can return old phones, batteries, plastic bags, cardboard, there’s even a book swap to reduce the need to buy new books – there’s always plenty to choose from!

  1. Add a very useful pet to the family - Candice, Creative Lead

We are lucky enough to have a yard so we have decided that it’s a great time to get chickens. Turns out most of Sydney have had the same idea and there is actually a waitlist for chickens now!! They are great for the garden and eating all the bugs in our veggie patch, we can also feed them our food scraps and eat their eggs. I’ve got a toddler and another baby on the way and it’s important for me that they grow up understanding and appreciating where their food comes from.

  1. Do what you can to choose reusable - Nicole, eCommerce & Digital Lead

My first week of Modibodi I was gifted with a ‘welcome pack’, it included lots of different sustainable goodies that I still use today. Amongst some of the things we received was a Keepcup that I use religiously now, a Seed and Sprout pack which means I don’t use plastic bags anymore – this has also made me conscious to use less packaging and plastic.

To be honest I wasn’t too environmentally conscious beforehand, it wasn’t that I was against it – I think I thought it was just a little daunting. But I’ve realised I don’t have to change my life to be 100% sustainable – I can just change small things gradually.

  1. Find solutions in an App - Shadi, PR and Partnerships Manager

My partner and I live in an apartment in a highly populated area, so no chance a veggie garden or compost bin for us. But we have found a few amazing community driven apps that you can share your green waste with. We use Sharewaste - if someone nearby has a compost bin they can simply register and then you can get in contact with them and take your waste over. They are also great for finding your nearby community gardens! So we put all our scraps into a container until the end of the week and walk them across the road – it’s a really great initiative and we love being part of a community.

What are some small (or big) ways you have changed your day to day life to be more sustainable? Have you made the switch to RED? Is your school becoming more sustainable?

The average person that menstruates will use approx. 11,000 disposables items during their lifetime, and because these products are usually made with plastic, they can take 100’s of years to break down in landfill. That means that the first disposable pad that was ever made still exists somewhere on earth! Yuck.

Do you have any advise for us? Come into our social channels and let us know - we'd love to hear from you!



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