Eeee I’m so excited to be nominated for the Liebster Award by my lovely fellow blogger Danielle from No Need For Mars! The awards are an awesome way to connect with like-minded bloggers, as well ask a few fun but insightful questions to some of your favs.

The best thing for you lot is not only do you get a little sneak peek into my lazy green life, you might just discover a fabulous new blog to follow through my nominations. Sharing is caring peeps!

So thanks again to Danielle (check out her blog if you haven’t already!) and here are the answers to your great questions….

1. What do you want your readers to know about you besides pursuing zero waste/sustainable lifestyles?

I’m an incredibly curious and passionate person, who occasionally needs a little boot up the bottom to get going!! I never like to judge anyone for their lifestyles, or assume I know best, though I do hope to encourage others to live as compassionately and respectfully as they can. I see life as a short but extremely exciting journey everyone is lucky to experience, and it’s up to us to make the most of every second, without harming the way for our fellow nomads!

2. Do you remember and can you share your first zero waste purchase or DIY?

I grew up in a single parent household where money was very tight and I was encouraged from an early age to use my imagination to create things I wanted. In particular, I was a massive fan of Barbie’ (cringe!) and my mum and I would spend hours making dolls houses from stacking old cassettes, or cutting up old flannels and small bits of soap to kit out Barbie’s luxury bathroom!

Though I now prefer to play with yoga mats and vegan ingredients than dolls, the ethos of using my imagination and what I have to hand still sticks. That said, things like my reusable water bottle, fabric shopping bag and Mooncup are purchases which will help me be zero waste well into my old age!

3. Do you consider yourself a minimalist or have you implemented minimalism into your lifestyle?

I am definitely becoming more and more a minimalist. It’s taken me a long time to change my sentimental habits and stop holding on to everything and anything that holds emotional value. A series of house moves over the last couple of years – including my most recent move to a very small studio apartment – has meant I physically don’t have the space to hold on to unneeded bits and bobs. It feels blissful to be free of material attachments!

In a months’ time I’ll be getting ready to go backpacking for a year, so living out of a 46 litre rucksack with certainly make me a talented minimalist!!

4. Who is your biggest blog inspiration and why?

I will blame my indecision on being a Gemini, but this is far too tricky to answer concisely! My initial inspiration for beginning A Lazy Girl Goes Green is the fabulous Jen Gale from My Make Do and Mend Life, as she was the one who opened me up to the world of blogging . Even now her crafty, frugal skills – no matter if I have them myself or not – continue to inspire me.

Since then, I have become further inspired by the honesty and passion of Brown Bread Baked Beans, the slickness of Moral Fibres and the vegan genius of Vegan Richa. But without sounding like a complete (cashew) cheeseball, every single blog I follow inspires me as a vegan, ethical consumer, or simply an aspiring blogger looking to inspire others!!

5. Do you have any advice to people who get overwhelmed by the pursuit of zero waste and trying to inspire others?

Giving advice on this would assume I’ve mastered it myself, but here goes!!:

1) Stay true to your intentions and surround yourself with things that inspire you.

2) Don’t beat yourself up about slip ups, just remind yourself of that happy buzz you feel when you do well, and aspire to recreate that feeling.

3) Surround yourself with some nifty tools to make it fun! I couldn’t live without my Thali tins, my water bottle and my kilnder jars to avoid plastic packaging!

4) Use a calculator. Seems a bit nerdy, but whenever you think of yourself as a tiny drop in a big ocean, add up how your impact multiples over time to see the bigger picture. So, for every bottle of water a day you don’t purchase by using a refillable version, you’ll see that’s nearly 750 in a couple of years!

5) Don’t be afraid to shout about your achievements and encourage others to join your Zero Waste journey. Whenever one of my friends or readers tell me something I’ve done has inspired them to follow suit, it reassures me to keep on going.

6. What is your favorite zero waste recipe or recipe you look forward to trying?

I’m a bit of a juicing fiend and so create a lot of juicing pulp that I don’t want to go to waste. I love experimenting with juice pulp recipes, such as burgers and crackers, and came up with some interesting concoctions during Zero Waste Week last year.

7. Where is your “happy place” (literal or figurative)?

Literally, my happy place is at my grandparents’ home in the south of France, especially in July/August when it is completely surrounded by Sunflowers. Nothing beats a lazy evening on the veranda with a glass of local wine, watching the sun set to the sound of crickets and the smell of fresh flowers!

When I can’t make it out to see the sunflowers, I’m always happy wherever I roll my yoga mat out and turn my mind in toward my happy space within.

8. Do you have any pets? (I just want to know–pictures please!)

I have two gorgeous wonky cats; Merlin and Mango. Merlin is a black 3-legged wonder who is incredibly shy and timid but very loving. Mango is a one-eyed ginger chappy with a big heart, who loves big bear cuddles and talking nonsense to you.

9. Do you have a Favorite charitable organization or ethical company?

I have to go all non committal Gemini here and say no! If a charitable organisation is trying to do good, I love them! That said, there are some charities who fight for things which I see as fundamental for human rights. Water Aid, Shelter and Amnesty International are top of my list of charities who help to remind me that there are people in the world who don’t even have clean water or a roof over their heads. To me, this is inexcusable and should be our priority as human beings.

10. What lifestyle change or action item is next on your zero waste/sustainable journey?

I’m hoping to spend my time backpacking exploring how other countries approach sustainability, and see if there is anything nifty I can adopt over here in the UK. I have also vowed that when I return, regardless of how big or small my outdoor space is, I will strive for greener fingers so I can grow my own food.

 

Now it’s over to my nominations…

Rules:

1. Thank the nominator.
2. Display the award.
3. Nominate 10 more bloggers with 10 new questions.
4. Answer the questions.

I nominate:

Vegan Needs

The Tipsy green Goddess

Activism is Hard

Organically Blissful

Eat Me

My Veggie Life

Crafty Little Coco

Brown Bread Baked Beans

Mainstream Permaculture

Development Truths

Questions for the Nominees:

1. Who or what inspired you to start your blogging journey
2. What’s your top lazy tip for living more sustainably?
3. How do you react when your ethics and beliefs are challenged in a disrespectful way?
4. What’s your favourite guilty pleasure?
5. How would you define “green living”?
6. What do you see as your biggest blogging achievement to date?
7. Name the 5 websites you visit the most
8. Where in the world would you most like to do a cooking class and why?
9. What still baffles you about the world of green living?
10. If there was one thing you could guarantee all people of the world would commit to in 5 years’ time, what would it be?