Sustainability in Progress: What I’m planning 2022 to look like on My Eco-Minimalistic Sustainable Journey?

For me, 2021 was all about taking the beginner’s steps on my new eco-minimalistic journey.

To make my weekly sustainable swaps, I moved my disposable income towards that goal. If the swap was too pricey, I waited until I had enough money to make the change. Pretty soon, I got into the groove of swapping, and once the initial changes took root in my everyday life, I started dreaming of bigger changes.

Some of the changes I’m planning for 2022 are huge and scary, but I feel they are vital to my journey to better my life and be part of the solution to the environmental crisis instead of adding to the problem.

So, in 2022, I’m planning to:

• Build a composting bin. I’ll start with the worm bin and see if that works for our family and our current living situation.
• I’m designing a small garden that I could grow on my balcony and, partially, in the flat. I’m hoping that in the process, we will reduce our need to buy some foods wrapped up in plastic or have bits of plastic packaging in/on/around them.
• Keep building on my new habit of not buying fruits and veggies that have to travel from the other side of the world. I only purchase them if they come as add-ons in my Oddbox or if they come as weekly items in my Oddbox, which already rescues food that would otherwise go to waste.
• I’m going to move. I’ve said it. I think as a family we found a place that we like, which is walkable and small enough to get around without having to use a car.
• Recently, I’ve become very conscious of what I have in my wardrobe and on my shelves. I’m trying to figure out if there is something in my space I don’t need, and someone else would make better use of it. I’m not obsessively decluttering, but if something is gathering dust, I’ll try to find a new home for it.
• I would love to invest in tools such as a sewing machine, stainless steel scissors, and small gardening tools. I’ll be able to pass those timeless items on to my kids.
• I would like to buy more sustainable cooking pots and pans than we have now. Our family’s cooking pots are a random collection of what was on sale at TK Maxx. Some of them aren’t very good, and I’ve had to replace way too many over the years. In the long run, it was a mistake not to research and invest in quality, choosing convenience instead. Besides money-wise, it’s never a good idea to buy something only to have it replaced in a year or two.
• I still need a few bits to replace in the kitchen, and hopefully I’ll get around to ordering them pretty soon.
• I would love to do wood and clay workshops. Those skills are priceless.
• I would love to stay in a tiny house for a few days just to see if it suits my personality. I’m absolutely crazy about the idea of being able to move the tiny house anywhere you want to go instead of being tied down to one location for life. Some of the tiny houses are built off-grid and have small veggie gardens attached. This is what I call independence and self-sufficiency. I also love the designs of the tiny houses, and that every inch of the space has a use and is used. Another thing I love about them is that they can work almost like Lego blocks, and different elements can be added when your life circumstances change. In traditional housing, if you have a two-bedroom apartment, you have a two-bedroom apartment; you cannot magically magic a third bedroom out of it (you can turn your living room into a third bedroom, but then you lose the living room. If you turn your storage into a bedroom, you lose the storage space. So never a win-win situation).
• My son and husband have decided to introduce more vegan foods to their diets. I’m not too fond of some of the things they eat because those foods have a meat consistency. But kudos to them for trying. I hope those two will become less reliant on meat this year.
• I want to become very mindful of what I’m bringing into my life. How long will that something new stay with me, and what effect will it have on my life experience? (this includes physical items and people, situations, and places)
• Buy a microfilter for my washing machine that works and isn’t massively expensive. I’ve been meaning to do that for a year now, and I’m finally getting around to doing my research. (research is the key 🙂 )

The main things for 2022 are:

• growing my garden,
• setting up the composting bin,
• moving to a less crowded, easier-to-navigate, and more affordable place.

If I can do any of the other things on my list, that would be a cherry on top of my cake.