365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge

When traveling, it's very comfortable to buy something to-go. But these days, all these single-use cups and trays cause a lot of waste. That's why I think it is good news that from 2023 onward, it is possible in Germany to choose between a single-use or multi-use cup. That's the way to go.

I came across this escarpment, which was littered with rectangles made of aluminum foil. These glittery things are like confetti and therefore swirl all over the place. So, I took a cup that was destined for the waste bin anyway and cleaned the rock.  

Unfortunately, these days a burnout is rather common. However, what is less well known is the opposite: having too little to do, which in COVID-times has become common too. This has to me the same effect, or even worse, and is called a bore-out. Luckily, with my sustainability work, I manage to find a right balance, so that I don't burn- nor bore-out. 

In the past, I always stuck messages for my neighbors with sticky tape to their door. To save the sticky tape, I decided to clamp the message in the door frame instead. That worked just as well. And as you can see, I used some paper waste, to save paper too.  

My strategy when buying things is that I come up with what I need and then buy it. This as opposed to looking in flyers and leaflets, to look for things that I can use. I believe that I this way buy a lot less stuff, which is more environmentally friendly. One of the things I bought this way were the spikes for my shoes, so that I can go for a winter walk.

I found a place with quite some buried waste. I decided to dig it out to be able to throw it away. It turned to be an awful lot (e.g., shoes, pots)! Afterwards, I felt really pleased having done this; I also felt sad that there are probably many more places like this where waste is still buried.  

Today, I spoke to Justin Lewis and Anastasia Vozovik from Naturehub . They are experts in the fields of sustainability and health. And I wasn't consciously aware of it yet, but living more environmentally friendly can also be a lot healthier! So, thank you Justin and Anastasia for this wonderful and inspiring chat! 

To organize my paper documents, I need a few tabs. Instead of going to the shop to buy new ones (which are sometimes made from plastic), I decided to look at my folder with paper leftovers (#185) to find appropriate materials. I found them and created my own tabs from them.  

Today, I started the recordings for my next online course "how to get the most out of your bin". As in my first online course about how to save money by doing things more environmentally friendly ( http://bit.ly/3t1iu62 ), I will share principles that will work for both you as an individual and for companies. In this second course, these principles help you to reduce waste or even go zero-waste. If you'd like to be informed when this course is available, please let me know here:  http://bit.ly/3t4fmGD

During my holiday, I decided to watch some fish. What I saw were fish, but also quite a lot of waste on the bottom of the sea. So I took a net that I normally use for shopping (#39) and started fishing. Later I found out that this is called “strawkling” in Germany. I was shocked to see how much it was and also what it was: plastic cups, lids for these cups, a shoelace, small plastic pieces and even a condom!  

On December 11th, I had such a great chat with Inna and Yuliya that my cheeks hurt (see previous post about this). Today, they released the podcast! We discussed: Sustainable living Growth mindset inspiration and leadership personal responsibility and cultural awareness consistency in getting results You can listen to the recording on your preferred platform: https://we.fo/1517902141 Thank you Inna and Yuliya for this amazing collaboration! I look forward to working with you again in the future!

I noticed that quite a few hairs and food remainders got stuck in my sink. As I don‘t want to use chemicals, I got my tweeters out and removed everything that I could get out this way.  

Wow, what a great chat I had with Keroles Riad today! We spoke about a mindful approach to sustainability. And what was most special to me is that we dealt with some technical issues mindfully as well and didn't give up. Just like we never give up inspiring others to join us in adopting a sustainable lifestyle too. Thank you Kero! If you couldn't join, you can watch the recording here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live?v=1148707455576932&ref=notif&notif_id=1611586904726185&notif_t=live_video

Whenever I’m in a restaurant and can’t finish my meal, I take the leftovers with me. I don’t want them to be thrown away and I can still enjoy them at a later time. I noticed when taking the food this time, that it would even be better to bring my own container, as this produces waste. I hope I’ll think of that next time.

To be able to play dice games, we needed 5 dice and a cup. But as we didn’t have a cup, we decided to use an empty vitamin container instead. The good thing is that we can also transport the dice in it without losing any of them. (And by the way, I found the dice on the street one day, where someone left them who didn't need them anymore.)  

Today, I received a letter from my city to present a great initiative. They offer each company to apply for a free energy check, which involves an expert visiting the company to see where energy use can be reduced. Fingers crossed many companies use this offer!  

As it is autumn, it is time again for leaves to fall from the trees. Instead of blowing them away, I rake them. It is definitely nice to be outside, getting good exercise and saving a lot of power.  

In some places, meal worms are being eaten by humans. Now also the European Union is in the process of accepting them for human consumption. This is good news as they are a good alternative to meat and especially more environmentally friendly, for example because they require less food and water to raise and you can eat them completely so there is no food waste.  Credit: Thanks to katerinavulcova for providing this picture on Pixabay.

During my drawing class, I was using the setup you can see in the picture. As I need the keyboard to be able to use shortcuts, I kept the laptop open. But that caused me to see the screen twice (duplicated). As this is unnecessary (I’m only looking at the drawing tablet), I started thinking about how to solve this. The solution: go to my display settings and switch off my laptop screen.  

Today, I had another  One Better World Collective  call with liaisons from all over the world (e.g. India, Canada, Kenya, Brazil). Each time, I get goose bumps as it is so wonderful to be with those who also love others and our planet so much.

Salad is one of my favorite meals. As I’m apparently one of many, I can buy tasty salads in the supermarket. But I avoid buying these as much as possible as they come with so much plastic packaging. This makes me sad, which in turn make them taste less well.  

Another advantage of living more environmentally friendly is that it saves me a lot of money. Last year, it saved me about 3 months: so instead of having to work for my employer 12 months, I only had to work 9 months to have the money for what I love. Here I share how I did this: http://www.SustainableDecisions.eu

Before the Corona-crisis, I started bringing my own bag to the bakery (#39). However, due to hygienic reasons this is currently not allowed. That‘s why I have to accept a single-use paper bag. To reduce the number of bags, I asked them to put the two types of bread in one bag. I don‘t mind that the lady asked me surprised „really?“. Yes, really.  

I'm really looking forward to the fireside chat with Keroles Riad of Waste Not Want Not on how we adopt a mindful approach to fighting the climate and waste crises! Join us live on Facebook on January 25th 4 PM CET. You can set a reminder here:  https://www.facebook.com/CUcompost/posts/2768993466751273

I have put notes on my mailbox that I don’t want advertisements. I know that if I nevertheless get some, they move from my mailbox directly into my paper recycling bin.

I read in a newsletter "not many exciting things happen during home office life". This is not the case for me. It is like snow: it may all look the same, however when I look at it properly, I always see bright spots reflecting the sun. And there are more than I would expect at first sight!

I received feedback that my 365 Sustainable Decisions Challenge book was delivered with a lot of plastic. As the whole point of the book is to support a more sustainable lifestyle, I don‘t like it to be shipped like that. That‘s why I asked Amazon to ship my book plastic-free and with as little packaging as possible.  

Do you think it is tiring to walk up a hill? I'm sure these children didn't think so. So what is the difference? They were enjoying themselves. And this is true for me too: when I'm enjoying something, it becomes so much easier. That's why I have so much energy for my sustainability work.

Of course, I have often heard about organic foods. But to be honest, I don’t really know why this is more sustainable. So, after having bought this organic milk, I did some research. I found out that products that are produced using organic farming can get this label. Organic farming means that the production is based on methods that intend to be environmentally friendly and enable animal welfare. Excellent, this sounds as if it is perfectly in line with my Challenge.  

When I shoveled snow two days ago, I noticed that my neighbors didn't have a chance to do it yet. So I knocked on the window to ask whether it would help them to their part too. As they didn't have the equipment, they really appreciated it. As a thank you, they gave me this local honey.

I had some batteries with a specific shape on stock. But as they are so specific, I hardly ever use them. As I needed one recently, I found out that they had gone off so I can’t use them anymore. So I have to throw away all these batteries unused. This taught me that I only buy batteries when I need them.  

If you want to start saving money today and want to continue saving money for the rest of your life, then you don't want to miss this: Today, I'm excited to share with you my renewed website!  On this website I share online courses that will make it easy for you to help saving our home by adopting a (more) environmentally friendly lifestyle.  The first course is on how to live more environmentally friendly AND save money at the same time !  You can find the course here: www.SustainableDecisions.eu   Enjoy the course and making your dream come true with the money you saved!

When doing dishes, I capture the water and soap in the sink. This saves a lot of water and as I use warm water, it also saves a lot of energy. Furthermore, I start with only a little water, as the amount increases anyway when I rinse the soap off.

I wanted to go for a walk today when I found out that it was my turn to shovel snow. I could have become grumpy that I couldn't follow up on my plan. Instead, I realized shoveling snow is also exercise and outside, so I enjoyed these moments just as much as I would have enjoyed my walk.

As I've been cooking for several days (#221), I have a huge pan that needs to be cleaned. To be able to clean it quicker when doing the dishes by hand or make sure it gets clean in the dishwasher, I soak it beforehand. To save a few liters, I decided to use bath water. It may sounds a bit dirty, but it doesn‘t matter as I‘ll clean the pan afterwards anyway.  

I shared before that I got the advice from a professor to use my brain and follow my heart. Today, this is a challenge, as I need to make a decision about whether I do a particular project or not, about which my heart and brain have different opinions. Well, I'll sleep on it.

After getting the wrapping off my butter, I noticed that there was quite some left on the inside. I decided to scrape it off. It turned out to be enough for one slice of bread.  

On today's walk, I strolled passed these old car tires. They are part of a playground. I think it is a great way to reuse them, as rubber tires are hard to recycle, meaning that they also often end up in huge piles on landfills.

I saw this e-bike being parked close to my house. It is begin owned by a physiotherapist who visits his/her patients at home. And instead of using a car, he/she has chosen a more sustainable option. Well done!  

During my lunch break, I almost always go for a walk or run for at least half an hour to do some exercise and also to get some sunshine. The sunshine helps me to feel good even in winter. That's why I believe is true for me: one walk a day keeps a depression away.

When wrapping the present yesterday (#72), I also had a present that didn’t fit in this paper wrapping. I had a look in my paper bin and found an old magazine with nice pictures in it. I decided to use two of the pages to wrap the next present. It doesn’t look as good as yesterday, but the principle works. So, I’ll keep an eye open for more beautiful pages for future presents.

Yesterday, I shared I'm solving technical issues, which today involved passwords. In 2018, I shared on the German television what can happen if an account gets hacked and how to choose a strong password. Today, I added subtitles so you can watch it too:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLk9RWELozg&t=72s&cc_load_policy=1&cc_lang_pref=en

A family member told me proudly that he had repaired his bike after it broke. I‘m not surprised, that the bike broke as the odometer said about 30.000 km / 18,641 miles! Wow, I‘m impressed and all these km/miles by bike saved so much CO2-emissions!  

Due to my IT-background and experience as ethical hacker, I'm used to working my way through technical issues. And so I did today. And I realized that what Nelson Mandela says indeed applies to my technical issues, I feel it will also apply to my sustainability mission.

For my birthday, I got a book that was wrapped in a nice, colorful piece of paper. I decided to keep it to be able to make someone happy with it later. As you can see here, I had a present with the right size and I think it looks great.  

128 days into my 365 Clover Challenge:  O wow, I've been working so concentrated all day, and have been so focused on my work for my surprise that I completely forgot about my post for tonight. So just in time, I wish you a good night and a nice rest of your day!

Whilst cleaning my home office, I found some books from a course that I did years ago. As I don‘t need the learning materials anymore and it is too much of a niche to put give to someone else, I decide to put the paper in the paper bin. I took the bindings out for recycling and was able to use them as garden fence.  

Today, I went for a walk in the snow. I enjoyed it, because I love the feeling and sound of crunching snow under my feet. And I enjoyed it even more knowing that I will probably be able to enjoy snow less and less often with our planet warming up.

For one of my crafting projects, I needed a piece of wood. Although I had to go to the other side of town to do the shopping, I cycled over instead of driving by car. As it wasn’t heavy and not a lot, it worked out well.

As many people depend on a car these days, I in this video share with you how you can reduce the amount of fuel you need - and save money.  https://youtu.be/l9reegMj3Kc

As I‘m taking shorter showers (#9), turn off the tap whilst soaping my hair (#28), and use cooler water (#342), I‘m sometimes a little cold when I go to bed. Instead of reverting all the habits, I‘m using a hot water bottle to warm up, which requires a lot less water and lasts longer.  

Today, I started in a study as participant. I was shocked to get a pile of papers, as I already read it on my computer. Apparently this is obligatory as it makes sure participants are informed. This doesn't make sense to me, so I hope that such regulations are soon paste tense.

Today, I walked past a tree on which someone put out a notice encouraging passers-by to eat its fruit. I really appreciate this as it is much better to eat it than to let it rot on the ground. And it tasted good, because the fruits are much fresher than when transported across the globe.  

When I'm doing tasks that require much repetition, I love to come up with ways to perform them quicker. When for example having recorded many videos, it's afterwards unclear which ones are final. That's why I make screenshots as a marker, indicating that the previous file is good.

During another drawing course, we were allowed to choose one or more objects for drawing or painting a still life. As I wanted to give plastic waste a second life, I upcycled it to a still live motif. I had 1 hour and 45 min but it felt like I just started as I was in a flow.  

While I'm waiting for Twitter to unsuspend my account, I'm not at all sitting still as we would say in Dutch. One of the things I'm working on is a surprise for now. I'm doing everything I can to share it with you by the end of January, so stay tuned!

Close to my house is a bookshelf. It is standing outside, so that people can put in or take books for free. Whenever I have a book that I have finished reading or don’t want to read anymore, I put it in there instead of throwing it away. I then hope someone who wants to read it finds it, so that he/she doesn’t have to buy a new one.

Today, I have been working on a few videos. For my videos, I use a tripod, my mobile phone and a professional microphone, so that you can hear me well. This is how this looks like, a picture from behind the scene.

I have several magazines I like reading. They are all timeless (i.e. not based on the news), which means that I can also read them a long time after they got published. That‘s why I asked a few people whether they have finished reading some of these magazines. I got a whole pile! It saves me money and of course we produce less paper waste.

The famous Dutch football player Johan Cruyff said once: "every disadvantages has its advantage". Today, I again realized that this is true: the advantage of not being able to work with Twitter is that I can spend time on preparing offers that I've wanted to work on for a while.