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Becoming Less
Becoming Less episodes
- 24 min
- Water
Bizz chats with Guiscela about wasting water and the differences she sees with water usage in Canada vs Mexico.
Tips to reduce water usage:
- Turn tap off while brushing teeth
- Turn on only the hot water while waiting to heat and start using as soon as it warms up
- Water lawn before sunrise or after sunset
- Change lawn from grass to garden to grow food, or to something that doesn't require watering
- Shop less and/or shop second-hand (manufacturing requires water, too!)
- Use concentrated cleansers and drink flavours
- Check for leaks and running toilets
- Get/make a rain barrel
- Shower less often/shorter showers/skip the hair every other time
- Low flow toilets and shower heads
- Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks
- Reuse clean wastewater for plants
Things we talk about:
- Water isn't just used by using water directly, not just the water we see
- Direct uses:
- Drinking
- Cooking
- Water lawn/garden
- Shower/bath
- Indirect uses:
- Agriculture
- Food
- Raise animals
- Materials for building
- Materials for clothing
- Industrial use
- Make pretty much everything we use
- About 1,800 gallons of water are needed to produce the cotton in a pair jeans
- Processing materials such as paper and steel
- Energy
- During a water shortage, often it's the individuals who are restricted, while large corporations can continue using as much as they want to produce non-essential products.
- Glaciers are receding - this is our water reserve!
- Lakes shrinking
- Oil spills can also affect water availability, and this can happen very quickly
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
43 min - Water
Bizz chats with Guiscela about wasting water and the differences she sees with water usage in Canada vs Mexico.
Tips to reduce water usage:
- Turn tap off while brushing teeth
- Turn on only the hot water while waiting to heat and start using as soon as it warms up
- Water lawn before sunrise or after sunset
- Change lawn from grass to garden to grow food, or to something that doesn't require watering
- Shop less and/or shop second-hand (manufacturing requires water, too!)
- Use concentrated cleansers and drink flavours
- Check for leaks and running toilets
- Get/make a rain barrel
- Shower less often/shorter showers/skip the hair every other time
- Low flow toilets and shower heads
- Use a broom, not a hose, to clean driveways and sidewalks
- Reuse clean wastewater for plants
Things we talk about:
- Water isn't just used by using water directly, not just the water we see
- Direct uses:
- Drinking
- Cooking
- Water lawn/garden
- Shower/bath
- Indirect uses:
- Agriculture
- Food
- Raise animals
- Materials for building
- Materials for clothing
- Industrial use
- Make pretty much everything we use
- About 1,800 gallons of water are needed to produce the cotton in a pair jeans
- Processing materials such as paper and steel
- Energy
- During a water shortage, often it's the individuals who are restricted, while large corporations can continue using as much as they want to produce non-essential products.
- Glaciers are receding - this is our water reserve!
- Lakes shrinking
- Oil spills can also affect water availability, and this can happen very quickly
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
43 min - Balance
Bizz and Claire chat about how doing your best doesn't mean doing everything and that creating a balance in your life is the key to sustainability.
Concepts:
- Focusing on one thing at a time
- Doing research before diving in
- Choosing to NOT do/use/have rather than finding an alternative
- Don't need to fit all your waste in a jar to be low waste
- Self care and self compassion
- Just DO. Doing something is better than nothing, even if it's small.
- Try to find the one thing with the biggest impact
- Try to find the simplest thing
- Take into consideration other people in your life when making changes
- New changes in life can mean going backward a bit
- New job, new baby, new home, etc.
Specifics:
- Public transportation
- Using it is the best way to make it better
- Strategically choosing where you live
- Size
- Location
- Efficiency
- Car share
- Cycling
- Meal planning
- Shopping for food in bulk
- Mending clothes
- Visible mending
- Compost alternatives to green bin for apartment dwellers
References:
- Spud - spud.ca
- Bulk Barn - bulkbarn.ca
- Communauto - alberta.communauto.com
- Bike Edmonton - bikeedmonton.ca
- Bulldog Razors - bulldogskincare.com
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
42 min - Balance
Bizz and Claire chat about how doing your best doesn't mean doing everything and that creating a balance in your life is the key to sustainability.
Concepts:
- Focusing on one thing at a time
- Doing research before diving in
- Choosing to NOT do/use/have rather than finding an alternative
- Don't need to fit all your waste in a jar to be low waste
- Self care and self compassion
- Just DO. Doing something is better than nothing, even if it's small.
- Try to find the one thing with the biggest impact
- Try to find the simplest thing
- Take into consideration other people in your life when making changes
- New changes in life can mean going backward a bit
- New job, new baby, new home, etc.
Specifics:
- Public transportation
- Using it is the best way to make it better
- Strategically choosing where you live
- Size
- Location
- Efficiency
- Car share
- Cycling
- Meal planning
- Shopping for food in bulk
- Mending clothes
- Visible mending
- Compost alternatives to green bin for apartment dwellers
References:
- Spud - spud.ca
- Bulk Barn - bulkbarn.ca
- Communauto - alberta.communauto.com
- Bike Edmonton - bikeedmonton.ca
- Bulldog Razors - bulldogskincare.com
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
42 min - Circular Economy
Bizz and Bri chat about consumerism and the importance of switching to a circular economy system.
Things we talk about:
- Composting toilets
- Glass and aluminum instead of plastic
- Reuse vs recycle
- Clothing fiber content
- Visible mending
- Valuing service, not just "stuff"
- Amazon hurts small businesses and the expertise they offer with their products
References we make:
- Earth's General Store - earthsgeneralstore.ca
- Compost S'Cool - edmonton.ca
- Blush Lane -blushlane.com
- Patagonia - patagonia.ca
- Fjallraven - fjallraven.ca
- The Dress Library - dresslibraryrentals.com
- Edmonton Tool Library - edmontontoollibrary.ca
- Indigo Proof - indigoproof.com
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
36 min - Circular Economy
Bizz and Bri chat about consumerism and the importance of switching to a circular economy system.
Things we talk about:
- Composting toilets
- Glass and aluminum instead of plastic
- Reuse vs recycle
- Clothing fiber content
- Visible mending
- Valuing service, not just "stuff"
- Amazon hurts small businesses and the expertise they offer with their products
References we make:
- Earth's General Store - earthsgeneralstore.ca
- Compost S'Cool - edmonton.ca
- Blush Lane -blushlane.com
- Patagonia - patagonia.ca
- Fjallraven - fjallraven.ca
- The Dress Library - dresslibraryrentals.com
- Edmonton Tool Library - edmontontoollibrary.ca
- Indigo Proof - indigoproof.com
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
36 min - Maker Hobbies
Bizz chats with Megan about maker hobbies like sewing, crafting, knitting, etc.. With maybe a little tangent on the joys of cat ownership.
Things we talk about:
- Getting creative with what we already have
- Not being afraid to experiment
- Sourcing the best materials available to us
- Using all the little pieces
- Making new things out of old things
- Buying used tools and equipment, especially when just getting started
- Normalizing second hand
- Repairing and dying to lengthen the life of our clothing
- What to do with "unusable" scraps
- "Recyclable" doesn't always mean it's recyclable
- Plastic spools replacing wooden spools
References we make:
- Natural Earth Paint - naturalearthpaint.ca
- Reuse Centre
- Website - edmonton.ca/reusecentre
- Facebook - facebook.com/edmontonreusecentre
- Bead Sweaters - pinterest.ca
- Yarn Ends Sweaters - ravelry.com/patterns/library/stash-dive-raglan
- Bizz's Scraps Hoodie - instagram.com/p/CTlA0WMMeOq/
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
32 min - Maker Hobbies
Bizz chats with Megan about maker hobbies like sewing, crafting, knitting, etc.. With maybe a little tangent on the joys of cat ownership.
Things we talk about:
- Getting creative with what we already have
- Not being afraid to experiment
- Sourcing the best materials available to us
- Using all the little pieces
- Making new things out of old things
- Buying used tools and equipment, especially when just getting started
- Normalizing second hand
- Repairing and dying to lengthen the life of our clothing
- What to do with "unusable" scraps
- "Recyclable" doesn't always mean it's recyclable
- Plastic spools replacing wooden spools
References we make:
- Natural Earth Paint - naturalearthpaint.ca
- Reuse Centre
- Website - edmonton.ca/reusecentre
- Facebook - facebook.com/edmontonreusecentre
- Bead Sweaters - pinterest.ca
- Yarn Ends Sweaters - ravelry.com/patterns/library/stash-dive-raglan
- Bizz's Scraps Hoodie - instagram.com/p/CTlA0WMMeOq/
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
32 min - All or Nothing
Bizz and Lesley chat about many things, most of which revolve around the balancing act of doing what you can, not burning out, and avoiding the all or nothing mindset.
Things we talk about:
- Avoiding the all or nothing mindset
- Embracing minimalism in order to avoid over-cluttering
- Minimalism
- Experimenting with DIY options
- Certain DIYs have a cost savings, others definitely do not
- Problem with system that making clothes is more expensive
- Mindful creativity
- Everyone make a t-shirt, then think about how much you think it should be worth
- Trading/swapping/barter system
- Giving unwanted items directly to those who could use them rather than relying on thrift stores who throw out or export 80-90% of clothing they take in anyway
- Read more on cbc.ca
- Capsule Wardrobe
- The struggle with finding your "magic bra" or any other unreturnable undergarments
- Gift giving and receiving
- Surviving cycling in the winter
- Visible mending
References we make:
- Blenderz - blenderzgarmentrecyclers.com
- Girlfriend Collective - girlfriend.com
- Everlane - everlane.com
Donate to support waste reduction at wastefree.ca or on Patreon
Music by Vita Chino (@vitachino on Instagram, or find them on Spotify)
44 min
About Becoming Less
From the publisher's feed
An Edmontonian journey to less waste, less impact, less consumption and less clutter.