intentional living

7 Ways to Reduce Waste

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I am still working on setting intentions/goals for 2019 but one I know for sure is that I want to reduce our waste. The amount of waste that we make as a family is astonishing and I wonder what am I teaching my children? How can I better prepare them to take care of the world around us, create less of an impact and to really be intentional about how we live. So here are a few things I will be doing to help reduce our waste. 

  1. Make a list of things you throw out every week/regularly. Are there items on this list that you could replace with reusable items or reduce packaging by buying in bulk?
  2. Shop with intention. Create a list and stick to it. When grocery shopping shop produce and the bulk section first. Also bring your reusable grocery, bulk and produce bags. 
  3. Compost. If you live in a city that offers composting take advantage of it. If not consider options for renters or homeowners. 
  4. Take advantage of Buy Nothing Groups. Tip: remember that you don’t need to take everything the intention is to offer up working items to others.
  5. Shop second hand stores and fix things rather than toss. 
  6. Create a reusable travel pack. Include items such as cloth napkins, bamboo cutlery, water bottle, coffee mug and  reusable straw.
  7. Go Paperless. Have receipts emailed to you and sign up for online bills. 

What steps have you taken to reduce your waste? 

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What I Packed For 9 Days of Travel + What I Came To Learn About My Extreme Minimalist Wardrobe

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We recently traveled to Seattle and Bellingham for a total of 9 days. When it came to packing I packed up (almost) ALL of my clothes except one dress, a black cropped jumpsuit, my clogs and a few workout clothes items.

This was the first time in the last year that I have worn ‘real’ clothes every day and by day four it was evident that I just don’t have enough clothes. I ended up doing two loads of laundry for my family while at our Airbnb just so that I would have enough clothes to last the entire trip plus I ended up having to purchase one t-shirt so that I would have enough tops to make it through the final day. Now if you don’t have kids one laundry load probably would be enough but the thing is having kids means drops of ice cream, snotty noses and dirty hands are all over my clothes in a matter of minutes.

While I am working towards living a more intentional life, filled with less things my minimalist wardrobe is not one of choice as much as a result of my postpartum weight and struggle to lose the weight, the struggle to define my style, the struggle to find sizes that fit and flatter my body and the struggle to find quality clothes that fit in my tiny wardrobe budget. These are the items I brought with me (aka my entire wardrobe):

  • Black Gap Nursing Dress
  • Black Shorts Romper (didn’t wear)
  • 1 Pair Ankle Jeans
  • 1 Pair Distressed Step-hem Ankle Jeans
  • Grey Tee
  • 2 Black Tee
  • Army Green Tee
  • Black & White Striped Tee
  • Black Blouse Tank
  • Tan Slides
  • Denim Jacket (didn’t wear)
  • 2 Pairs of Cropped Workout Leggings
  • 2 Workout Tees
  • Native Flip Flops
  • Nike Runners

In total I own (shoes + daywear – excludes activewear): 16 items

I’d really like to have more of a capsule wardrobe which generally consists of 30-40 pieces but at this point even that seems like an incredibly expensive and daunting task.

The thing is having 4 of the same t-shirt in different colors (yes they are all exactly the same) to pair with two pairs of pants is boring and slightly depressing. It’s becoming even clearer to me that the way in which I dress and present myself to the world impacts my confidence, my productivity and my overall mood. I am not looking to be some fashionista who sets trends or even someone who completely follows them but rather I want to feel like each day I got dressed with intention and not just to cover my body up.

So share with me how does what you wear impact your day to day life? If you are a plus size women where do you shop?

This post contains affiliate links. Purchases you make through these links will help fund the work I do here at no extra cost to you. Thank you sincerely for your constant support.

Conquering The Junk Drawer | #AYearOfIntentionalLiving

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…err or in our case boxes. 

Our clutter brings me so much anxiety and frustration that I find myself grabbing an empty tote box and filling it with random clutter around the house. Just as it’s filled I have a meal to prepare or a child to console and the now full tote ends up in the living room with an intention to organize it but life gets busy, kids don’t sleep and I find myself shoving the box in the back of our closet. It stays in the closet until I feel motivated to go through it and this happens over and over again. It’s a ridiculous cycle that I have gotten myself into and a lot it has to do with…

  1. having TOO much
  2. having too little space (5 people + 970sq ft)
  3. having terrible storage 
  4. kids.
  5. lack of sleep and time. 

So this next month I am challenging myself to conquer the junk boxes. 

Goal:

  • Eliminate junk.
  • Donate anything we truly don’t use, don’t have a place for or simply don’t need.
  • Create/organize homes for all items 
  • Empty all of our boxes and retire them to the shed until we move someday. 

In the end I hope that we will be one step closer to living more intentionally, living with less and hoping that this will conquer the mess! 

When is the last time you cleaned out your junk drawer? 

Five Easy Ways To Update Your Home Decor

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If you follow me on social media than you know we are doing a big cleaning and de-cluttering of our home. Along with this we are working on giving our home a bit more character by adding more decorative pieces to our home. I’ve come to realize through this process that decorating your home doesn’t have to be complicated if you just keep it simple.

uncommongoods

Five Easy Ways To Update Your Home Decor:

  • Throw Pillows or Blankets.  It’s amazing what tossing a few decorative throw pillows or blankets on your couch does to your room. It gives a level of interest, color, texture and design. I fell in love with these illustrated cat and dog pillows (you can find them here). They are fun and would be great on a neutral or bright colored couch. 
  • Prints & Personalized Items. New art always adds flare to any room, even if it’s the only thing you change in the room. Choose pieces that really speak to you because remember you have to look at it day in and day out. It’s also fun to get fun personalized pieces such as this cameo portrait piece that you could have done of you and your partner, family or even a family pet. See this page for more ideas for prints or personalized pieces. 
  • Upgrade Unsightly Necessities. When I was looking for decorative ideas on UncommonGoods I came across these paper pots. Basically you take a roll of toilet paper or de-box tissues and place them in the paper pots; it really makes a decorative alternative to unsightly issue boxes. 
  • Candles. I used to be anti- candles and for a long time I would only buy them around the holiday season when I wanted to mimic the smell of a fresh Christmas tree but in the past few years I have become hooked on candles. They really make a nice and homey feely to a room. I love woodsy smells in the Fall and Winter and fresh Earthy or herbal smells in the Spring and summer. 
  • Something Unexpected. I think it’s always fun to add a little something unexpected to a room, especially a main living area. For us it is this recycled picnic mat. We keep it rolled up by our book stand and pull it out for living room picnic dates. If you have littles ones it’s a perfect way to keep the mess of your carpet while still having a fun picnic. 

We are trying to be intentional about our choices and we are only adding items that we truly love and/or serve a purpose. Along with being intentional about what we are purchasing we are also looking at where we are making our purchases.

When making socially conscious purchases I like to consider UncommonGoods because they are feature unique products that are ethically created. Many of their items are handmade, made in the USA and/or are made from recycled/upcycled materials. I also love that I can find lots of Oregon made products such as those pillows and the cameo print above. 

Overall decorating your home doesn’t have to be a hassle and you really don’t even need  to leave your house to find fun, unique and ethically made products. 

Disclaimer: This post was created in collaboration with UncommonGoods. This is a paid post however all thoughts are my own.