Cruelty-free make up

I’m not super clued up on cosmetic products in general. Contouring is total magic to me, and I can’t even get liquid liner right without an emergency cotton bud on hand. But a lot of people use makeup everyday, or even if they just use it on weekends to look like a total bombshell at the bar, makeup products do have an environmental impact, so it’s important to be aware of that and make good decisions about which products to buy.

How to drive greener

There’s no denying that transport is essential. We need it to get ourselves from place to place, to ensure goods get to where they need to go, and even to transport the fuel that makes transport possible. Transportation based on fossil fuels, such as petrol and diesel, (including planes, trains, cars, trucks and ships) contributed 20.5% of the global Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGE) in 2014, making it the second highest contributor after electricity production (49%), with manufacturing and industry coming in close third (20%). Furthermore, personal transport and freight transport are both expected to increase by  1.7% and 2.3% respectively between 2000 and 2050, with the majority of the increase coming from rapidly developing nations.

Tips to improve your recycling game

I’m obsessive about recycling! I recycle everything I can, even to the point of trying to clean aluminium foil (not that it’s always successful). More and more initiatives are popping up that use recycled material to make everything from benches and school desks, to light-weight bricks, road surfacing and roof insulation. However, current recycling stats for South Africa show that the recovery rates for recycled cans is at 69%, but only 17% for plastic (visit Treevolution for more stats and lots of really good information on recycling). This means that of all the plastic waste that is generated across the country, only 17% of it makes it to a recycling facility. This low figure is due to a combination of factors:

Is zero-waste a privilege?

A couple of weeks ago an account I follow on Instagram asked the question “Is a low or zero-waste lifestyle a lifestyle of privilege?”

Cruelty-free personal hygiene

There’s a lot of pressure on women to take care of themselves, and to look young and gorgeous forever. That’s not to say there isn’t pressure on men to look good, but I think the point where its ok to look your age is a lot older for women than for men. A lot of people rely really heavily on makeup to achieve this, but from my experience makeup can be quite psychologically damaging.

Alternatives to pads and tampons

This post has to start with an emphatic recommendation that absolutely EVERYONE should listen to a podcast called Ladies, We Need to Talk, an Australian radio show hosted by Yumi Stynes, which looks into the kinds of challenges and issues women are often too embarrassed to talk about, or maybe don’t even really notice because we’re just so used to it. This includes post-natal health, understanding your hormones, body image, sex and how to ask your partner to help more around the house.