Couple of weeks ago I was celebrating my birthday and as a gift, I asked my husband to take me to Kaunas, because I wanted to visit the M. K. Äiurlionis National Museum of Art. And while I was standing in front of one of his most famous works, "Rex", I started thinking about the pretty grim future that awaits us (perfect illustration would be this sculpture called "Extinction" by Algimantas Kensminas), if we continue to ignore climate change and do nothing. With parts of Australia burning, Venice being flooded and then left almost dry, and the past decade being declared as warmest on record, it's hard to pretend that everything is ok. Heck, even here in Lithuania is pretty obvious that something's not right - we are having an incredibly warm January, with temperatures rising to 8,6 C, and snow is necessary to restore the depleted water sources that are still recovering from record-breaking droughts last year and the year before... So with all this in mind, I started to think how can I change my habits in order to produce less waste, especially plastic, how can I live a comfortable life but also be calm that my actions are not affecting the nature? And that's how my personal 2020 challenge was born.
Lithuania's already performing great with recycling: all households are encouraged to separate their trash to general (mostly food and non-recyclable materials), plastic, paper, glass and textile. It's easy when you get used to put all the wrappings and scraps to certain bins back at home, I've been doing this for quite some time now. Even in villages people get large bags for plastic and glass, and I just love hearing my parents proudly say that they recycle. So the next step that I'm trying to take is to reduce the amount of plastic packaging that I bring back from the shops. I'm not using plastic bags for fruits and vegetables anymore (I have couple of reusable ones for things like potatoes), nor I am taking a plastic shopping bag - I always have my totes for that. This year I am eager to start doing my shopping at one of the eco shops near my work, where you can bring your own bags, glassware to be filled with food and/or liquids. This definitely will help to make things easier.
Another thing that I am determined to start doing this year is to shop exclusively second-hand/vintage. Although I've been going to second-hand shops for years, I still went to fast fashion shops be it sale time or not. So 2020 is the year when I'm aiming to change my shopping habit. And I think I'm off to a good start: this week me and my colleague went to look through the new old stuff at "Humana Vintage" and I found this gorgeous blouse by Kenzo (12 €), as well as this woolen plaid tartan skirt (10 €):
But the hightlight definitely was this inverness coat (22 €), made in UK, that gives off instant Sherlock Holmes vibes:
This same goes for various knick-knacks to decorate our home. Many of them I have already bought in flea markets, because I love things with history, but from this year I am going to buy things only from there. And today, while I was out doing grocery shopping, I went to one of my favorite second-hand shops and found this (brand new) quirky bird feeder (8 €) from "Marks and Spencer":
As I gathered from a short search on the world wide web, this item was sold in 2016, and it's price was around 20 € (my source being this blog post here). So, huzzah, I just saved 12 € and got a lovely decoration for my own garden!
However, if sometimes I would like to acquire something new, I also have a couple conditions for myself: 1) it has to be an accessory or a very small object; 2) the product has to be locally handmade or some sort of limited edition (these might be costly, but let's look at it as an investment). That way it would not be part of the mass production and most of these things are made to last. For example, when my mom asked me what would I like to get for Christmas, I asked for traditional mittens. So when I opened my gift on the festive morning, not only I've found lovely pair of knitted mittens, but also a pair of warm and cute woolen socks!
The best part is that they are made by the locals of Pasvalys region! Each year an exibition/fair takes place at Pasvalys Museum, and last year I also bought some lovely handmade gifts for my friends and family. So now I know where I am going to look for gifts this year too!
However, my goal this year is also buy less. I have a large wardrobe and I could dress for a couple months straight without wearing this same clothes twice. So, bearing this in mind, this year I'll try to be more creative, to compile my outfits from what I already own.
So there you have it! This is my plan (or challenge) for this year as well as my written word that I am going to do my best in fulfilling it!
Photos © aesthastic
Comments