Hey There!
I’m Katie, an eco-living coach.
I have been committed to minimizing my personal waste since 2017, but really, this journey began long before I even knew how to put a name on it. Being “zero waste” is at the core of who I am, not a level of perfection to obtain… and I wonder how many of you out there can relate? Here are some examples:
- From my earliest memories, my parents showed my siblings and I the value of making the most of something. We had a tight budget with four kids in the family, so much of what we consumed were thrifted treasures or given to us through hand-me-downs, and we even shopped at a local store that sold food near their expiration dates (which doesn’t always mean the food is bad) at a more affordable price.
- Our family valued cars that were still working in good condition and we had the privilege of being able to pass cars down within the family. My first car was a 1992 Buick, complete with velvety seats and a bronze exterior. It had carried my great-grandparents for a time, then my grandpa, then my uncle, and I felt a sense of pride driving around in that metal beast. I even had a cassette tape converter with a cord that could plug into my big fat iPod, allowing me to drive around blasting music from the many playlists my friends and I spent hours creating… What else did I need?! 😉
Fast forward to when Kevin and I bought our first home…
- We were able to afford it because the entire thing needed to be gutted and re-done. YouTube DIY videos, Craigslist and Home Depot became our world. Throughout the years of turning that house into our home, some innate sense drove us to find treasures that would have otherwise been wasted (something Kevin has always had a knack for, which I find oh-so-sexy). Our kitchen countertops were cut out of a granite slab we chose from the company’s scrap pile, as it was big enough for the dimensions of our tiny space. Almost all of our furniture has been given to us or bought second-hand. Inspired by a friend, we even turned an old bureau that we found at a thrift store into a vanity for our bathroom — all we needed to do was paint, fix the doors, cut into the top to insert a sink and tile around the surface!
- We have owned three dogs together, and each one has been a rescue.
Don’t get me wrong.
There are plenty of wasteful mindsets we brought into our home…
…and items I’m still trying to use up before replacing each with a more sustainable, eco-friendly alternative. We’ll get into all that in other blog posts. The journey really took a turn in 2017 when I began researching more about plant-based eating and its incredible health benefits, not only for our physical well-being but also for the environment. Once I made the decision to embrace a plant-based lifestyle, my awareness toward the bigger picture expanded. This was a fantastic step forward, but there was more I could do to take better care of our earth.
So, here I am, still learning as much as I can a few years later and finding new ways to adapt my lifestyle with this knowledge. I know what it feels like to look at the current state of our environment and become thoroughly overwhelmed by not being able to just fix it. Yet in the current climate we are living in, I also know more than ever before the vast power of individuals coming together, raising their voices, and demanding change.
Not just demanding it. Acting on it.
The critical state of our planet cannot be fixed by one person, obviously.
It cannot be fixed simply by banning plastic straws. There is not one magical cure-all step and, without that, I feel the burden of so many people wondering:
what could I possibly do about this then?
Here’s where I come in!
My mission is to provide you simple steps that powerfully impact the environment while living your everyday life. Specifically, I can teach you how to reduce your excess waste by at least 50% in ways that fit your lifestyle!
Throughout my life, I’ve fluctuated from lower to middle class and back. I firmly believe living sustainably should be accessible to everyone. We want to use what we have on the spectrum of privilege and do our best to better our planet, our community, and to help others do the same.
On this site, you will find many posts about living
that minimal life
It’s about minimizing our waste — our over-consumer mindset, our negative impact on the earth — so that we can MAXIMIZE our positive impact on this planet. You’ve probably heard it said: “less is more”. Taking one simple step at a time has freed me to care deeply, to value more, to feel empowered, to feel gratitude, to learn, to listen… and many of these steps have helped us financially by saving money on things we no longer need to buy! I’ve personally found “that minimal life” to be a wonderfully enriching life.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of my favorite advocates, authors, and influencers, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and it’s a motto by which I strive to live my life:
“Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something. Anything.”
This is my something-anything. What will yours become?
