Sustainable & Creative Living
I always do my best to recycle or reuse as much as possible, in hopes that maybe I can make a difference in the way that our society consumes and discards resources, materials, and objects. I’m a firm believer that waste doesn’t always have to be wasted. Recycling and reusing the products we consume not only helps the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also helps save money, energy, and natural resources.
My favorite things to save and reuse are [Read more…]
Lately, I have been all about DIY – I’m planning my wedding and it seems like there’s always something to DIY. This week, it’s a picture frame that’s part of a larger project (more info to come later). But you don’t have to be planning a wedding to appreciate this DIY.
You can easily buy a distressed picture frame from TJMAXX or Ross but where’s the fun in that? This simple DIY takes any old wooden frame and gives it a rustic, coastal feel.
Thrifting is one of my all time favorite pastimes. I love shopping – probably more than most people. Even if I’m just looking around, I’m enjoying myself. But thrift shopping takes that enjoyment to a whole other level.
I love when I can go to a thrift store and just see what different or interesting pieces I can pick up. Whether it’s a cool vintage item or something that can be repurposed, I love it.
Buying anything used and reusing it is also another way to keep from contributing to more waste in the world. When you reuse something it’s one less thing in a land fill. It doesn’t seem like much but it adds up.
Plastic-free July is coming to an end, and I’m happy to report that I did pretty well at eliminating single-use plastic products from my life. I slipped a few times by using plastic shopping bags, and a couple of times I didn’t use my reusable cup when I went for coffee.
I’ve been wanting to try making my own DIY makeup remover wipes for a while now. Meagan has used DIY baby wipes for little J since he was a baby and I always thought that DIY Makeup remover wipes would be a great idea. Not only are they beneficial for the environment, but they also save a lot of money.
Plastic-free July finally got me motivated to make the switch to these wipes. The other day I was pulling out a makeup wipe from its packaging, and I realized I’d cut down on a lot of plastic use if I eliminated that package from my life (not to mention the wipes themselves, of course).
I came up with this easy to make DIY makeup remover wipe because, if you’ve read any of my other posts, you know I’m all about simple and easy.
We here at From Under a Palm Tree always strive to be more eco-friendly in our personal and professional lives. We have made it our mission to decrease our footprint by living more sustainable lives, reducing waste, and conserving resources.
In efforts to improve the quality of our Earth, I have signed the Plastic Free July Challenge and committed myself to Reduce Household Plastic Waste. Single-use plastic bags and bottles can take up to 500 years to decompose in landfills, however, most don’t even reach them. A large number of throw-away plastics end up in our oceans, leaving behind chemicals and toxic particles, destroying marine life all over the world. [Read more…]
Meagan, Christina, and I decided to take the Plastic Free July Challenge. The goal of the Plastic Free July Challenge is to encourage people to stop single-use plastic product consumption and reduce plastic packaging (at least for the month of July). It’s also to help people become more aware of issues surrounding plastic use in our lives and to encourage new consumption habits moving forward.
Everyone likes to save money, right? What if I told you, you can save money by saving energy? There are so many things we can do to save energy in our homes that actually translates into money savings!
This past Earth Day, we here at From Under a Palm Tree attended a local Eco-Fest. We were able to meet with all kinds of organizations and vendors, with the intent to live more sustainable lives. In the second of a 4-part series, I want to share some of the energy-saving, money-saving tips we learned from Eco-Fest!
April is the month of spring and Earth Day! This Earth Day we here at From Under a Palm Tree attended the 8th Annual Eco-fest in Tampa! Just like most local festivals, it had everything from local organizations and companies, food trucks, to vendors selling homemade goods. Everything was geared toward spreading awareness of eco-friendly practices. This was by far my favorite local festival I’ve ever attended.
There were booths specifically about recycling, water treatment and conservation, veganism, and Florida plants; the list goes on and on.
The best part was getting to talk to all of those vendors and learn about the environment. As with anything, it is important to continue to educate ourselves, especially about an ever-changing entity like the environment.
In the first of a 4 part series, I want to share some of the interesting information I learned at Eco-fest this year. This first post is all about eco-friendly landscaping practices courtesy of Southwest Florida Water Management District.
In honor of spring and Earth Day, now is a time to reflect on the patterns we’ve created in our lives and how they affect our environmental footprint.
This week I’m taking a closer look at shopping, something we all do. Whether you’re school shopping, clothes shopping, or just grocery shopping – at some point you will find yourself in a store.
In honor of Earth Day this year, I have compiled a list of tips for eco-friendly pet owners. They’re all simple things we can do to keep our pets and the environment healthy.
Every small action has a ripple effect on the environment so if you have a pet or looking to adopt a pet, here are some tips to reduce some of those effects.
The year 2016 is over, and let’s face it, it was not pretty. Everywhere I turned – Facebook and Twitter – they all were counting down the seconds until 2017, hoping that the New Year would be different.
While we might hope that a new year will bring a new us, we have to recognize that years are just marked days on a calendar. Nothing really changes in those final seconds, nothing instantly transforms us. We still have to make conscious decisions to move forward and change. Entering 2017 does not erase 2016. We still have to remember the choices we made to get to 2017.
Without getting political or anything, it’s time to recognize that the world is changing. It’s time to do our part of working with it or against it. Resolutions don’t have to be about getting fit or quitting smoking. They can be about making a difference in the world. Because whether you believe it or not – one person can make a difference, and when we work together we change the world.
