CampusGreenly

I rarely splurge on anything that I’ll have to replace in a few months, or on anything that has an expiration date, but (spoiler alert) this was completely worth it. I was going through the after effects of my break up and I was officially feeling like crud. I just wanted to feel like myself again. Nay, I wanted to feel like a better version of myself. I wanted to feel like a cleaner, more posh version of the woman I was in my past life. But I still didn’t want to put on anti-persperant or slather on a face worth of animal tested products to make that happen.

I was visiting a friend in Iowa, who runs the wellness department in an amazing little coop called Wheatsfield. And while I was there, I let on that I wanted a new beauty regimen to make me feel lovely. I told her I needed to take better care of myself and stop scrimping on beauty products. She pointed me in the direction of evanhealy’s line of natural and holistic beauty products.

When I finally pushed the sticker shock aside, this Whipped Patchouli Vanilla Shea Butter caught my nose and I couldn't put it down. It smells unbelievable. I wish I could shove it in your face over the internet, because that’s absolutely what I would do if you were here.

The Shea Butter is harvested from a group of widows in Africa. It is then whipped up in small artisan batches over a 4-6 hour period while essential oils are added. Now that I think about it, if anything deserves a $29 price tag, it’s this stuff.

Fair trade products can be expensive. What are you going to do? Providing a fair wage for workers costs a little more than shoving them into factories, and working them to the bone for almost nothing (we’re looking at you Foxconn).

If you’re a college student, you’re usually looking for the cheapest product available. Even though this may save you some mulah in the short term, it usually supports a system that practices the art of short cutting and making things that must be replaced as soon as possible. This not only costs us all something in the long run, the product you purchase is usually designed to last for a short amount of time.

That’s definitely not the case with our first Fair Trade Beauty Product. At first glance, this bottle of hair lotion may seem expensive ($8.95), but it lasts forEVER. It’s a leave in conditioner that replaces the conditioner I used to use. Now I just shampoo and apply this after my shower. A bottle normally lasts me around 8 months and I have pretty long hair. I know that sounds crazy and I’m a little shocked too. I knew a bottle of this stuff lasted a long time, but I just did the math. I have a half a bottle left and I got it in mid October. I got my first bottle of this about a year and a half ago, so it adds up.

And yes, I remember the exact dates that I bought this hair lotion. Why? Because it’s that memorable. First off, it’s vegan. Secondly, I’m constantly getting compliments on how great my hair smells. Even though I’m not very good at getting regular hair cuts, my hair stays smooth and shiny all year round.

On top of all of that stuff, it’s so Fair Trade it’s sick. The Alaffia company employs women in Africa to craft their shea butter products. They also deliver bicycles to the area so young girls have transportation to and from school. On top of all of that, they work to help keep maternal mortality low in the community by giving pregnant women access to a doctor or a nurse midwife before and after the birth of a child.

I walked into the small shop and tried to subdue my sticker shock. I tried to remember that I was living in a large city, and that it was just something I would probably have to get used to. I started budgeting in my mind, trying to figure out if I would be able to swing it, or if I’d be eating polenta and beans until the end of time. When I rounded the corner, I saw a barrel with a bunch of wilted produce, shrivelled potatoes and loaves of bread on top of it. The sign said, “Free food! Yes... Free! No... We’re not kidding! Take it!”

The odd thing is that I read the sign and walked right past it. I thought that it would be wrong of me to take anything from the pile. I figured that I didn’t need it as much as the next guy. I mean, I don’t even qualify for grants. But then I started thinking. I may not need it, but if I don’t take something, than who will? If I walk right on by and nobody wants the loaf of old bread, then wouldn’t I be contributing to food waste?

I guess I've never really met anyone who said one of their hobbies was to jump into a giant trash bin behind the whole foods, so I really didn't understand that that was a thing, let alone that it was a thing you could spend a lot of time doing. It so happened that the documentary Dive was all cued up on my parent's Netflix ready to show me what this whole thing was all about.

Dive follows around a bunch of young divolutionaries (new word!) who leap headfirst into trash for their breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, this sounds gross. I'm with you if you think that it sounds like one of the most disgusting ways to sustain a lively hood. However, a few minutes into the documentary, you start to see that these folks are living the life. They survive on a better diet than I could ever afford and they do it all for free. This documentary will teach you how to be a dietitian straight from the dumpster. Now I can't say that I made it all the way through the film. They all could have succumb to some odd food poisoning in the end, for all I know. My dad got home and I promptly turned it off before he started to fear for my sanity and wonder where his dinner came from.

But what I did see really sticks with me. There are people out there who are doing something about American food waste by getting out of the food system all together. They’re not just writing for a little vegan recipe blog; they're rescuing our food from the landfill. Now, back to the I met. He was taking it a step further and cooking the food to give to people who live on the street. That sounds pretty effin sweet.

Last week, I was obviously in the middle of a dilemma. No matter how old you get, during Christmas you start thinking, “Have I been naughty or nice? Am I getting coal this year? Or a sock filled with chocolate?” I was wondering if I was green enough this year, and to be honest, I was feeling a bit guilty for all of the things that I let slip by me.

But, the more I think about it, intention is the most important thing. We’re human. We make mistakes. But there’s no use of being to hard on ourselves. Every little bit helps. Mastering one green behavior, say taking your totes to the store, has implications that go beyond that one little task. So, instead of piling it all on this year and taking the whole world on you shoulders, why not make some small, completely doable, goals for yourself and let everything else be icing on the cake.

Here are my five goals for the new year:

1. Walk/bike any time it’s physically possible.
2. No plastic water bottles.
3. No unsustainable meat products.
4. Reduce packaging waste.
5. Reduce food waste.