Positively Midlife Podcast

Five Ways to Get Sustainable at Midlife - Ep 44

April 05, 2023 Ellen and Tish Season 2 Episode 44
Positively Midlife Podcast
Five Ways to Get Sustainable at Midlife - Ep 44
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Show Notes Transcript

This week Ellen and Tish talk about how we can all be part of a  sustainability solution at midlife. April is earth month and Earth Day is on April 22 so this topic is timely for all of us and the statistics are staggering.  Earth month is a great reminder that in midlife, we can and should be doing all we can to take care of mother earth.

Ellen and Tish talk about how to start small and how these small changes can make a BIG impact.  They share what they are each doing to be more sustainable from clothes and fashion, eco-friendly travel, growing their own food/herbs and eating local, reducing food waste, and creating sustainable homes all through the midlife lens! 

Things we talked about in this episode: sustainability, single-use plastic bottles, Hyroflask, Kleen Kanteen, composting,  energy-efficient appliances, farmers markets, Marin Farmers Market, veggie stock, week, Thred Up, Poshmark, fashion sustainability, Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, Madewell, Amazon trade-in programs, Thred Up/Athleta, consignment shopping, food waste, IRA legislation, community gardens, home solar, check, veggie garden, herb garden, mental health and gardening, Cucina Testarosa, Chef Laura Pauli, eating locally, eco-friendly laundry sheets, All Free and Clear in a recyclable cardboard box, wool dryer balls, taking public transportation, renting electric cars while traveling, Hybrids, Tesla, Hilton Canopy Portland, Oregon.

Please support us with a monthly subscription and get a quarterly live  Q&A with Ellen and Tish.

Obsessions
Tish: OXO countertop composter. Uncomplicated composting with this stylish countertop composter.
Ellen: VegTrug 8 pocket her garden.  Ellen's super cute herb garden is planted in this! 

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Ellen Gustafson:

This week, we are talking about how we can be part of a sustainability solution. It's earth month in April, and we've Earth Day on April 22. And I think it's a great reminder that in midlife, we can and should be doing all we can to take care of mother earth.

Tish Woods:

Ellen, I love that we're talking about the environment right now, you know, becoming environmentally responsible, or green, to me is almost like starting a diet, making small changes that are going to add up to big changes.

Ellen Gustafson:

I agree. It's like a lifestyle change or lifestyle shift. Right? Tish? Absolutely. You know, the importance of environmental stewardship here at midlife, so taking care of the environment, and the benefits of conservation and sustainable living can make a huge difference.

Tish Woods:

Ellen, did you realize that 70% of consumers say that they are willing to pay more if they can buy things in sustainable packaging?

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, I agree. I hate when there's so much packaging on things. So I think that's a really interesting statistic. But I'm really glad we're talking about this today, Tish. It's a topic that's really important to me, personally, and for the world. But before we get to this great topic, let's get to our weekly obsessions. You know what, I'm hoping you have something sustainable for me this week?

Tish Woods:

You know, I do you know, I do. Okay, so I want to talk about two products, actually. And these are both for the laundry. The first one are wool laundry balls. You know, I've seen these before, and I never had used them. But do you realize it, you can eliminate 30% of your drying time by using wool laundry balls, I did not. And that's incredible, especially when you're doing things like comforters or bedding. Exactly. And it eliminates any need for using chemical softeners that actually hurt our clothes. So it's a it's a twofer on that one. That's unbelievable. But there's also another product I want to talk about in this is called inso green. And this has laundry sheets. So instead of buying those huge laundry bottles of product to put in your in your machine, all you have is this very small packaging, and a laundry sheet. So again, very kind to the environment.

Ellen Gustafson:

I love that idea. And I know we're going to be talking about laundry detergent a little later in the show. So what great products, yeah, and

Tish Woods:

inso green right now has a really great deal going on. So this would be the time that you really want to jump in and try some of this. So Alan, what are your obsessions for this week?

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, I only have one, but it's something that I love. And I've had for a few years. It's called the veg truck. And it is a race planting bed for herbs. And you've seen it here in my backyard, I have it right outside the kitchen. So I can pop out and get that Taraagon, or basil anytime I want. And what I love about this little planter box is that you can put it anywhere, and it's made of cedar, and it's super eco friendly. But it's just a great way for people to get started not to have an herb garden or a veggie garden be overwhelming.

Tish Woods:

Absolutely. It doesn't matter if you have a small apartment or a big house. I mean, it's just the perfect size. And I like how it's sectioned off into eight sections. So it's really clear what's in each section. And you can even put a little lettuce in one of the sections or two. But I love this. And I think I'm definitely envious over and I think I need to get me one of these. But it is it is absolutely adorable. So a great way to kind of start on a little sustainability with growing your own food

Ellen Gustafson:

Agreed. And you know what we are going to put as we always do links to these products. On our website.

Tish Woods:

Yes, we have a new website and we are so excited. So if you've ever wondered, ah, you know that episode three times ago, they were talking about a product, how can we find it? You can go to our website, and they're all going to be there.

Ellen Gustafson:

Right and and much much more. So everybody check us out at the www.positivelymidlifepodcast.com All right, Tish. Let's get to it, we have six ways that we can be more sustainable. And none of these are huge changes. And that's one of the things I like about them.

Tish Woods:

You know, I do like that as well. You know, if we start to make one small change at a time, these things are really going to add up. So I'd like us to kick off with one of my favorite subjects to talk about fashion, fashion fashion, but let's talk a little bit how How can we be sustainable when it comes to fashion?

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, what a great place to start. And I have to just say we all have too many clothes, so maybe not buying as much is a great way to start right?

Tish Woods:

Yes, I like the buying less and buying smarter. So at women at midlife, we can really reduce our impact on the environment by choosing these eco friendly clothing options, such as secondhand clothing, or buying from companies that make their products out of sustainable materials.

Ellen Gustafson:

Yeah, you know what? I know we both love to shop at consignment shops. You got a great dress here in my town this week at a at a consignment shop for your upcoming trip.

Tish Woods:

I know it is a gorgeous new Trina Turk. It is a long resort Maxi wear dress. And I got it for a fraction of the price. And I feel a little sustainable by not buying a new another new product.

Ellen Gustafson:

Exactly. And you got to buy a size 4 if I can get a shout out for that. But you know, there are so many companies out there that are rewarding you for trading in items. H&M, Levi's North Face, Eileen Fisher Lush Mack maidwell has a jeans recycling program, Patagonia. And you know, I own a couple pieces by Eileen Fisher that are made of recycled material. And I love that.

Tish Woods:

And do you feel it's less quality? No, right? No, even No. So that's great. And did you realize that Amazon has their own trading program?

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, before we were researching this episode, I did not but I am going to take advantage of it. So share a little bit more about it. Yeah,

Tish Woods:

I only recently discovered this. And you can trade in devices that you bought from Amazon. And they even have some of their program where it doesn't even have to be originally purchased from Amazon. But definitely check it out. There's a lot there's 1000s of products that are eligible for this, like cell phones and gaming products and things like that. So definitely check it out, you can get Amazon gift cards in exchange for recycling these old products.

Ellen Gustafson:

Who wouldn't want an Amazon gift card? I know in the past, we've talked about Poshmark and thread up but something I'd like to chat about is this program that thread up has with Athleta. Now that's a brand

Tish Woods:

this one I'm so excited about. And I'm going to be sending in some stuff next week for this.

Ellen Gustafson:

I love it. I went and you get bag at Athleta. And she put any clothes that match the thread up brand, you know, they have some guidelines. You pack them up, you send them off to thread up, and they give you an athletic gift card. And so it's so great. There was a hoodie and I love athletic because they make tall clothes. And as Tish pointed out, today, I am tall and she isn't. And anyway, I left this hoodie and I got it with the gift card from thread up.

Tish Woods:

So you're working on sustainability changing in clothes. Athleta is rewarding you for doing that. Yep. And you got something that you maybe wouldn't have splurged on. And I love that.

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, I think there's so many programs out there like this around clothing. And we just mentioned a few but we'll put the links to some of these in our show notes as well.

Tish Woods:

So let's move on to talk back about this gardening.

Ellen Gustafson:

love gardening. So, you know, you saw my herb and veggie garden in the back Tish? I love growing my own food. It's super sustainable.

Tish Woods:

Yeah. And I think the other thing about gardening, is there something you know, getting your hands dirty, getting your your hands in the dirt, working in your yard. There's a lot of therapy, emotional therapy, I think that happens. So, you know, it's again, it's one of those twofold kind of activities. But I can encourage everyone to start making little garden in your own yard.

Ellen Gustafson:

I agree. You're right. And you know, it kind of brings me back to your beehive too. Right, which, you know, everyone can do something that they enjoy. That's around puttering. It's so healthy. I love being in my yard, whether it's pulling weeds or, you know, just tending the garden and we also talked about community gardens before in one of our episodes. So I think if folks don't have the room and they really want to do this community gardens are a great option.

Tish Woods:

Yeah, we did talk about that. In a prior episode. I went to that spectacular, massive community garden that they have in Hilton Head but Look in your area for something like this. If you if you live in a small condo, live in an apartment or something like that, and you don't have the room for it, this would be a great way to go. The one, the one thing I loved about the community garden too in Hilton Head is it was right across the street from a horse farm. So the horse farm donated so kindly all their manure to be used as fertilizer. But what a great way to maximize the use of both, you know, product, both properties. Yeah,

Ellen Gustafson:

and you know, just one other thing about that the worth community. So you are actually out meeting other people who also have this love of growing things, and probably of the environment. So that's another benefit here at midlife is meeting people who have the same interest as you?

Tish Woods:

Absolutely. So Ellen, are you wanting to go to a lot of farmers markets?

Ellen Gustafson:

I love farmers markets. And here in Marin County, California, you know, I'm living in the middle of it. So I love supporting local farmers and getting the best produce. And again, it's not highly packaged, right, we're bringing our own things a lot of times bringing our own bags. And I also love the vibe, there's music, there's food trucks, there's products. So for me, it's a really fun here in my town. It's Wednesday nights. Do you go Tish?

Tish Woods:

I do. Charlotte has this huge farmers market. And I love to go support local farmers. Especially there's so much organic that is available. Yeah. And it's not super pricey. I know, sometimes when you go to your grocery store, the price difference is so huge. But you get a lot of the great organic, and you're supporting your local farmers. There's something about buying food with that is created within 100 miles from where you are at. You know, it just cuts down on again, on all kinds of fuel consumption, things like that.

Ellen Gustafson:

I think you'd like to go with me, me with your daughter, right?

Tish Woods:

Yes, I love to go and get things like huge bouquets of flowers. I can get them for like 20 bucks for these massive bouquets. But I like to try different things when I go. So microgreens there's a gentleman who's always there, so I can try something new all the time. And it gets me to try different things. And yes, my daughter, she's a forger, right? So she loves to go and talk to the mushroom people. There's a whole stand just on mushrooms. And she's learned so much from what you can do with them, what they're good for how to cook them. So yeah, she's she likes her mushrooms.

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, in many people may not, you know, really think of about farmer's market as being sustainable, or contributing to the earth. So, you know, just a reminder that it is a great thing to do.

Tish Woods:

Yes. So hey, we just had an episode that talks about travel. You know, Ellen, what would you consider to be sustainable travel?

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, I think that's a great question. Tish. When we did our solo travel episode, a week ago, we didn't really talk about that aspect of solo travel. But we can all make eco friendly choices when traveling. And again, these don't have to be big things. I just took a trip with one of my sons to look at a college and we rented an electric vehicle. First time we've rented it. And I was a little nervous. It happened to be a Tesla. It was no more expensive than renting a gas car. It was actually less expensive. And we loved it. It was super fun to do that. So I have to say that that's one easy way.

Tish Woods:

You know, I like that and and if you've ever been curious about Hey, what's this Tesla all about? What a great time to do that. And you could drive and drive and drive for that. I love it. I was a little nervous about charging it but it ended up great. Now when you were in Portland, you stayed at a unique Hilton, tell us about that experience.

Ellen Gustafson:

When, when my older son graduated from college last year, we stayed at a canopy Hotel, which is a Hilton brand and guests have access to refillable water stations with glass cups and bottles on every floor of the hotel. And so you have this beautiful kind of glass container next to your bed and the water stations. They're kind of like the ones at your gym, you know where you can you can put your water bottle in, but they saved hundreds of 1000s of plastic water bottles since the hotel opened. And you know one other thing I do Tish and I know when You're out here with me, we always have a clean canteen or Hydroflask with us that refillable water bottle. So bring it when you travel, just say no to those single use plastic bottles, I think it's really important.

Tish Woods:

You know, according to the EPA, only 8.7% of plastics created will ever get recycled, and 75.5% ends up in a landfill. That is staggering stastics.

Ellen Gustafson:

And I love that you brought some more stats in.

Tish Woods:

We love our stats, you love the stats,

Ellen Gustafson:

but that is really worrying. And you know, we can really do something around plastic bottles. So let's all take that on. It's just one simple, easy change.

Tish Woods:

So another two areas, when you're thinking about traveling that you can go a little bit more sustainable is make sure that you're eating locally grown food and take public transportation. So last year, when I was in Italy, in Spain, we took a lot of public transportation, whether it was buses or metros, and you also get a better feel for the local people when you're on the mass transit. So you know, forego that, that Uber forego that, you know, you know, getting your own personal car, try some public transportation.

Ellen Gustafson:

I agree. And so all of these things we've just talked about are around travel. They're small and easy things to do. And they can really enhance your experience wherever you're traveling. So I love those. I think next, we wanted to talk about reducing food waste, and sustainable food choices. I'm going to throw out a stat here, that the UN states that 1/3 of all food produced goes to waste. And there are so many hungry people in the world. That's crazy.

Tish Woods:

That is an absolutely upsetting statistic to me to know that we are throwing away so much food, and I'm going to say I've been guilty of that too. I have really been trying to make an effort to shop smaller shop more often pre plan my meals. So if I'm buying a big bag of vegetables, how many different ways can I use that? Before they go bad on me, right?

Ellen Gustafson:

Absolutely. I mean, a lot of times, I roast things for the week, right? A big thing of baby tomatoes that I can use many different ways. And I think here at midlife, you know, we've been so used to cooking for massive amounts of kids and big, you know, big events and when you're cooking for one or two, you just don't need as much and a great way to not waste food is to just not buy it. Right.

Tish Woods:

I remember you were telling me a story about your friend chef, Laura Pauli us what she taught you during a zoom cooking class during the pandemic.

Ellen Gustafson:

That's right, my friend Laura, Pauli Cucina Testa, Rossa, she was doing a great series of of zoom cooking classes during the pandemic. And one of the basic foods that she taught us to to make was actually chicken and veggie stock. But for me, it was the veggie stock that really enabled me to not waste food. At the end of the week, the night before your garbage day, when you may have taken a lot of things and just thrown them out. You just throw all of these veggies and greens and things into a pot and you simmer it and it makes the most delicious veggie stock you can use in a lot of ways. And we were talking about how you can freeze it in an ice cube tray or I have some some soup freezer things that kind of almost like an ice tray. And you can just pop it out and add it to pasta, or any many many things to enhance the flavor. It is

Tish Woods:

I love that idea. I mean, I'm a big one for using a delicious. lot of these you know Boulian, they are salt laden. So if you have some health concerns, this is a great way to really make sure that you know what's in your food. But there's going to be some waste, right, right. It's inevitable. There's you know, scraps and stuff from food. So we were at your book club the other night, and I just love this. I went to throw we were helping clean up after because we had a dinner together. And I went to put it in the trash because no no no. We compost here. And right on her counter. She had the cutest little composter.

Ellen Gustafson:

I know they're making them so so great these days. And I loved that Julie was going to be using those in her garden.

Tish Woods:

Yeah, I think it'd be a good goal this year, just to make sure that we really lessen the amount of food that we're wasting. And that when we do come down to those scraps that maybe we buy ourselves a little composter or make some stock or make some stock. So I'm going to switch gears here because you know, there's so much that we need to cover. I know, we seem like we're going fast, but we want to give you lots of ideas. All these ideas aren't going to work for everybody, but pick and choose which ones you can make changes on today. But I want to switch gears, let's talk about a little home improvement here. Okay. This is an area that we can make a huge difference to make our homes more eco friendly. You know,

Ellen Gustafson:

I agree with you, Tish, and I love that we're talking about this, because there's some really simple things that people may or may not realize, like when you get an energy efficient appliance, I had an old refrigerator at my garage for years that was just sucking energy, right. And I instead got a nice little energy efficient refrigerator. So whenever you're looking to replace an appliance, or if you have a very old hot water heater, you just don't know how much energy that's using. And I recently got these cool power strips, that PG and E which is my power company, put out in in a newsletter. And it really saves energy on this things in your home that are running all the time, whether it's your computer, a gaming console, TVs, and they I got them on Amazon, of course. And you just plug your appliances in in different, you know, these different, different plugs. And I really have seen a significant savings in my energy bill.

Tish Woods:

While you know, you don't think about when an appliance is plugged in, that it's still using energy. Yeah, and let's face it, we're not going to be plugging and unplugging out and plugging and unplugging, we just want to end so to have something like that, that controls it for you. That is fabulous. But you also brought up another point that I really love, check out your local energy company that you use, they probably have all kinds of programs out there that you can utilize. I know in past years, I've gotten light bulbs for them, that are energy efficient light bulbs, so they probably have different programs out there, check out and see if there's any that your company has themselves. So Ellen, I have a question for you. Sure. Have you you have a beautiful house in sunny California. Have you ever considered having solar power panels?

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, I It's a dream for me. And you know, with a cat weather in California, it would be great. I have to say that my neighbors on both sides have solar recently with backup battery systems. And I'm so envious. So I'm hoping that the you know, Ira legislation will provide a little bit more financial incentive for me to do this. And I jump at it. And you know, we have had our fifth season fire season down the electricity. And we've had so many storms here. I'm almost feeling like it's a must have living in California moving forward.

Tish Woods:

Wow. You know, maybe a couple of letters to your local representatives in Congress that you want that legislation passed. I think our lawmakers really need to put some more incentives so people can transition easier. It's not that people don't want to just like you, but there's budgetary limitations. So let's let's work with our politicians, hopefully, to push through some legislation that can help us be more energy

Ellen Gustafson:

Well, you know, the IRA did pass Tish and I know

Tish Woods:

absolutely. You know, one other way that we can efficient. that some things are coming out around it. You know, it's that big legislation from Biden, but I think there are more things in your state and at the local level that we can all do. So I agree. You know, advocating with our representatives is a huge thing for us to do, not just national, go stay and go local to try to make a difference is to use more eco friendly and non toxic cleaning products. And I know this has been a huge one for you, Ellen and one of my besties Liz as well, because you're cancer survivors. You're much more sensitive to this idea. I don't want chemicals near my body. So you were the one that inspired me to start using Mrs. Meyers products.

Ellen Gustafson:

I'm so happy I was an inspiration. Yeah, I love Mrs. Meyers. And I know that this has been a big quest for me for a long time, using the eco friendly cleaning products in my house. And for other things, I always look at this Environmental Working Group, which has a list of eco friendly products as well as beauty products. And I they started I believe, is sunscreen, because sunscreen is pretty toxic, and something that a lot of people are using. So check out Environmental Working Group. But I have to say, another stat, I know we're getting close to the end, I know. But let's have another stat 700 million laundry bottles a year ended up in the landfill here in the US alone. And I know you spoke about the laundry sheets earlier, yes, fashion. But I've used all free and clear product. So very nice for the environment, really low toxins, it comes in a big cardboard box, and you pop it open. And there's a little bit of waste. But most of it is this recyclable cardboard box. And that's another way for us to try and save any amount of bottles in that landfill that we can,

Tish Woods:

I'm just trying to picture what 100 700 100 million bottles would look like in one spot. I mean, that is just a phenomenal statistic. And again, you know, maybe the sheets aren't your thing. But think about the packaging that comes around. I know we talked about Magnolia products, again, very concentrated, their packaging is small in comparison to what you're using. But those big enormous bottles, they gotta go

Ellen Gustafson:

You know, they do. And I also want to give a shout out to the method brand, which I use a lot of their cleaning products and they have everything from floor things to a to shower, you know, to just that general spray, and they're available at Target. You know, we're not talking for a lot of these that you have to order them a special place or you know that they're not mainstream, so many like method and sevens generation. They're just they're even at a Safeway or probably your Lidl, or all these where you Chanel, sometimes stiff?

Tish Woods:

Absolutely. But here's the thing is this is kind of where the conversation started. In the beginning of our show, these are little changes you can make. Each time you make one change. The next week, make another change. And over time this builds up. encourage your friends to make these changes. Just think if 20 Friends of yours, you convince 20 Friends of yours to stop buying laundry detergent, in bottles in bottles. That's hundreds of bottles a year.

Ellen Gustafson:

You know what I think this is a challenge that you're throwing down.

Tish Woods:

I think I'm throwing down the gauntlet on this one. How many of us can give up that big huge bottle this year. That is a big impact in itself. Try make that change and try to get one other person to make that change with you.

Ellen Gustafson:

I agree we'd love to hear for you, our listeners on what you're doing to be more sustainable too. And I think we can all take action. Big and small. Listen, if you want to go big go big right? There you go. Go small, just make the small little changes and we can all make a difference made by first. Alrighty, check out our new website, the

Tish Woods:

new website. Oh, you're gonna love it.

Ellen Gustafson:

Okay till next

Tish Woods:

week. Till next week.