In case you are thinking of starting to reduce your waste or even reducing your waste a bit more and maybe trying out a Menstrual Cup, Gittemary Johansen has 8 things to tell you that she wished someone had told her before she used one. Hopefully her tips can be quite useful and steer you in the right direction when trying a menstrual cup for the first time!

View this post on Instagram

My pantry consists of second hand jars and reused glass containers from the supermarket lol. These are all the items I’ve been able to take home from @loesmarket – the rest of my groceries I get from conventional grocery stores, I avoid plastic and opt for glass, tins and cardboard. Check out my channel for specific tips #zerowaste #zerowastefood #zerowastelife #lesswaste #plasticfree #noplastic #eco #gogreen #vegan #veganfood #plantbased #lowimpactmovement #lowimpact #gogreen #govegan #sustainability #sustainablefood #pantry #pantrygoals #packagefree #bulk #reuse

A post shared by GITTEMARY (@gittemary) on Oct 8, 2019 at 8:17am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Are you just as crazy about glass jars as I am? I get my jars second hand from thrift stores or by re-using the glass containers from the grocery store lol, no need to buy fancy jars, there are so many functional containers everywhere #zerowaste #zerowastefood #zerowastelife #lesswaste #plasticfree #noplastic #eco #gogreen #vegan #veganfood #plantbased #nobuy #nospend #lowimpactmovement #lowimpact #gogreen #govegan #sustainability #sustainablefood #reuse #zeropackaging

A post shared by GITTEMARY (@gittemary) on Oct 14, 2019 at 6:48am PDT

View this post on Instagram

I shall call this series “the ugly truth of sustainable travel” because boi do I look great when I drink cider from my reusable water bottle, but I don’t mind looking stupid for the planet lol #zerowaste #zerowastelife #zerowastehome #zerowastetravel #lesswaste #eco #noplastic #plasticfree #sustainable #sustainability #lowimpactmovement #lowimpact #kleankanteen #gogreen #govegan

A post shared by GITTEMARY (@gittemary) on Sep 10, 2019 at 8:41am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Sustainable while travelling is more than just possible, it’s becoming downright easy. I bring a few essentials with me, like my spork and a water bottle, otherwise I seek out places with reusable (or eatable lol) plates, vegan food and fresh tap water #zerowaste #zerowastefood #zerowastehome #lesswaste #plasticfree #noplastic #sustainabletravel #sustainability #lowimpactmovement #lowimpact #eco #vegan #govegan #gogreen #veganfood #vegans #compostable

A post shared by GITTEMARY (@gittemary) on Sep 6, 2019 at 6:27am PDT

Photo Credit:

• Good Soul Shop on Unsplash

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post 8 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Menstrual Cups By Gittemary Johansen appeared first on FitNish.com.

Often people get intimidated by people who speak about reducing their waste and living a more ‘minimalist lifestyle’. What you must understand though, is that all it takes is a very small change to start, you don’t have to be implementing and worrying about reducing every tiny bit of waste in your life, initially. It all comes with practice and time and through that we can all do our bit. The great thing that I like about reducing waste and becoming conscious of it, is that it helps reduce our attachment to material things.

I put together a short (sped up) video below, which shows myself making a few toiletry items that I use daily. Once you know how, it’s really easy and fun to make your own.

My reasoning was really simple, I wanted to reduce my plastic waste, reduce the amount of chemicals and ingredients used in daily toiletries, and reduce my dependence on mainstream commercial brands that sell us all their marketing, which we cannot help but fall prey to. 

In the video I make some body lotion, which doubles as face lotion for me and under arm deodorant. All made with only a few ingredients, the main two being coconut oil and raw shea butter. If you would like to know more or have any questions feel free to email me. 

View this post on Instagram

A few essential 0 waste minimalist things that you can use to be more environmentally friendly to the earth and to yourself From the top, left to right, vinegar. Can be used to clean everything! (mix with water and some. Bicarb). -The yellow stuff is a homemade body and face lotion with shea butter and coconut oil. Can also be used as an under arm deodorant (I'm still perfecting the recipe for that one) -coconut oil is great for just about anything -Betonite clay can be used as a great rejuvenating face mask when mixed with apple cider vinegar. -Apple cider vinegar can be used in the mask and can be used to clean stuff as well as diluted with water to drink every now and again. (it becomes alkaline in the body) -Biodegradable bamboo toothbrush. -The best one yet.. Bicarb soda, perfect as a face wash, can be used to clean stuff as well. —Marketing of products has us by our knees. We don't need multiple cleaning solutions say for the bathroom and another for the kitchen for example. If you check the ingredients in products like that you will see they are exactly the same, one is just called a kitchen cleaner and the other a bathroom cleaner to make us buy more! The other day I went to get some mouthwash (p.s. you can also make your own ) and there were so many with different names (of the same brand) and when I had a look the ingredients were EXACTLY the same! So there you go. -Comment below or dm me if you would be interested in trying more 0 waste products like the body lotion or if you want to know more about how they help That's all folks. . . #fitspo #fitness #bestrong #fitnish #fitfluential #vegan #vegetarian #minimalism #zerowaste #facewash #bicarb #minimalist #things #marketing #gogreen #coconutoil #bamboo #bicarb

A post shared by Be motivated. Be fit. (@fitnish) on Apr 21, 2018 at 6:15am PDT

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Making Your Own Toiletries, The Minimal Lifestyle appeared first on FitNish.com.

Have you ever really consciously thought about how much waste you produce? Most people haven’t.

Just take a random thing such as buying mouth wash for instance. You go to the store and buy your Listerine mouthwash today. About two months (or less) later its finished, and you throw the empty bottle in the bin and off to the store you go for another bottle. Do the math and you will see just how many plastic bottles you are throwing out per year, and that’s just you! And surely by now you must know that most waste ends up in land fills or in the ocean where it affects the ecosystem in so many negative ways, since it takes a tremendous amount of time to break down, if it ever does.

Your immediate response, I’m sure would then be, “so, what, you want me to give up Listerine? But my dentist said…” Relax, that’s not what I’m saying, hear me out.

It may seem hard to live a more zero (or less) waste lifestyle; you may know that the lifestyle is great for the world and environment but you just don’t know how to make the transition or you are too used to the current lifestyle that the change can be overwhelming, and for starters you are unsure where to start. I mean how do we solve the Listerine mouthwash problem.

Well one solution to that problem would be to have Listerine makers have stores where you could go and refill your bottles instead of purchasing a new one each time, but that’s for another article.

The thing is, you don’t need to do everything at once and do a complete 180, that will probably never last for most people. No one is perfect, but we can all do a little bit at least, and in turn it all adds up.

The two best things to start with are:

1. Just start with something small. Like using your own bottle when getting a smoothie from Kauai for example.
2. Be conscious about everything you buy and that way you can make better choices and in turn you start to forge a habit and soon you will do it naturally.

View this post on Instagram

A few essential 0 waste minimalist things that you can use to be more environmentally friendly to the earth and to yourself From the top, left to right, vinegar. Can be used to clean everything! (mix with water and some. Bicarb). -The yellow stuff is a homemade body and face lotion with shea butter and coconut oil. Can also be used as an under arm deodorant (I'm still perfecting the recipe for that one) -coconut oil is great for just about anything -Betonite clay can be used as a great rejuvenating face mask when mixed with apple cider vinegar. -Apple cider vinegar can be used in the mask and can be used to clean stuff as well as diluted with water to drink every now and again. (it becomes alkaline in the body) -Biodegradable bamboo toothbrush. -The best one yet.. Bicarb soda, perfect as a face wash, can be used to clean stuff as well. —Marketing of products has us by our knees. We don't need multiple cleaning solutions say for the bathroom and another for the kitchen for example. If you check the ingredients in products like that you will see they are exactly the same, one is just called a kitchen cleaner and the other a bathroom cleaner to make us buy more! The other day I went to get some mouthwash (p.s. you can also make your own ) and there were so many with different names (of the same brand) and when I had a look the ingredients were EXACTLY the same! So there you go. -Comment below or dm me if you would be interested in trying more 0 waste products like the body lotion or if you want to know more about how they help That's all folks. . . #fitspo #fitness #bestrong #fitnish #fitfluential #vegan #vegetarian #minimalism #zerowaste #facewash #bicarb #minimalist #things #marketing #gogreen #coconutoil #bamboo #bicarb

A post shared by Be motivated. Be fit. (@fitnish) on Apr 21, 2018 at 6:15am PDT

If someone is living a zero waste lifestyle or is pro zero waste (or whatever title or label you want to give it) it doesn’t have to mean that they are totally waste free. It just means they are conscious of their buying habits and they are trying to make a difference no matter how small it is. When you start this way and do something small, often, you slowly form a habit, and then that habit grows.

Thus, soon you will be doing way more than you ever thought you would, and it will just come naturally to you.

One of the best things about living this more conscious lifestyle, is that you realize that you don’t need a lot of stuff that you buy, so you cut down on spending on all that extra unnecessary things.

A few easy and great simple ways to start to reduce waste are:

• Keep shopping bags in the car so you don’t keep picking up new plastic bags from stores.
• If you have coffee or smoothies from places like star bucks or Kauai etc. keep your own cup or shaker to use and avoid the straw, or buy your own metal/bamboo straw to use instead of plastic straws.
• Compost! We should all be composting, you will be surprised how much your trash is reduced just by removing vegetable and and compost waste.
• Choose biodegradable alternatives, such as a bamboo toothbrush that can be found on places like theotherstraw or The Refillery, which are biodegradable.
• Recycle where you can.

Then eventually you can even start doing things like making your own natural lotion, cleaning products, mouth wash and much more!

Check out some great brands and stores that are leading the way in the zero waste life style in South Africa:

• Simply Bamboo
• Shop Zero
• Nude foods

Photography credits:

• Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash
• Photo by Denise Johnson on Unsplash

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Is Reducing Your Waste Or Going Zero Waste Too Hard? Start With A Little appeared first on FitNish.com.

You May Also Like:

Related Images:

The post Is Going Green Really That Difficult? appeared first on FitNish.com.