Small Steps, Big Changes
Low Waste Challenge For Beginners
“Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.” - David Attenborough, December 2018, COP24, Conference in Poland.
Are you tired of seeing trash in your neighbourhood, or on the beaches that you’ve planned the week before to relax in only to find (plastic) litter strewn around? Are you frustrated at hikers who tosses their crisp bags and food waste aside, contributing to wild animals scavenging for food that is NOT part of their diet? Then, you’ve come to the right place!
If you’re still new to the low waste movement, you’re more than welcome to the frustrated millennials eco-rebel club! (And, you can still join in whether or not you're a millennial - you, too, live on this planet!)
What is the 'Low Waste / Low Impact Movement'?
The low impact movement (or ‘low waste’) stems from the zero waste movement populated by Béa Johnson and Lauren Singer’s TED Talk and blog ‘Trash is for Tossers’. However, there were frustration of how the ‘zero waste movement’ limited certain accessibility (and affordability) to some people; the low impact movement was created by Sustainably Vegan to allow those who wishes to reduce their waste in a more supporting community where connection is key. It also strives to help show where your individual impact ‘hits’ in different industries, other than reducing your plastic packaging waste, as not many of us are fully aware of our 'invisible impacts' that we're contributing as Earth's citizens.
Why create a challenge for y'all?
Yes, yes, we hear you all. We hear you questioning why would we bother creating a sustainable challenge when people could look up a fair amount on Pinterest alone. Or even YouTube it. But every time we searched for these challenges (out of boredom and procrastination), we became even more frustrated (and thank you to our human non-furry friends for having to deal with our hippy rants) that many of them encouraged ‘new purchases’ to reach the status of 'zero waste Instagram aestheticism'.
It sold the idea that to be sustainable, you HAD to have the money for it. You had to SPEND a sh*te ton of your life savings on expensive ‘eco-friendly’ products. But, doesn't this go against your shop? You ask. Why, yes. Yes, it does. But we will always encourage you to use what you have, and then, replace that old item with more sustainable alternatives with our help! (And to keep the admin cats from being too hangry...)
Some of us has been on a low waste journey for a few years now, and most of us have always been interested in sustainability, we wanted to prove that it was possible to live sustainably by changing simple habits in small incremental steps. From those little first steps, YOU can make a big impact as a citizen on Earth. Together, we can all change for the Greta Good. (S'cuse our puns.)
Making it truly LOCAL
We're from the 852. We love our city: the great blend of west meets east when it comes to culture, people, food, and the architecture. We wanted to create one where locals in our plastic-jungle home city, Hong Kong, could find useful and realise there are many hidden features in this city which will help you to change your lifestyle habits.
How do I start?
We will upload a post on our Instagram for each challenge day. We will suggest lifestyle tips according to what challenge day it is. On top of that, we’ll write a more detailed blog post for each challenge day, suggesting local places to visit and ideas that could help your sustainable journey. If you wish to purchase sustainable alternatives, we will leave a trail of paw prints to our shop link. (And we will love you for supporting us with lots of chin scratches!)
Check out our blog to find the lifestyle hacks or save the Instagram posts for future reference. Feel free to pin the blog and Instagram posts if needed.
Spring is almost here; it's a great time for not only to clean up your place and get rid of things, but to also change your little habits into more sustainable ones. Do this challenge with family and friends and see who can create the most eco-impact! 👊🏽
Tag us at #smallstepsbigchanges or #meowgreenshop 🌱We want to see your journey and cheer you on!! 😻 🤘🏽
"We need to change our human behaviour to fight climate change."