Magdalena is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she lives with her husband, three kids and a dog named Lupita. She’s an environmental enthusiast who enjoys writing inspirations and ideas for a sustainable living. She’s always looking forward to learning more about sustainability and seeks to collaborate with companies in the design and development of their sustainability strategies.
You can find more of her articles and posts on her instagram page @iGo.Green !
There are moments in our lives when we arrive to a breaking point in which we learn things we can’t then “unlearn”. Suddenly some little puzzle pieces that were going around in my mind got together and I could no longer look aside: the fact that we were consuming natural resources at a faster pace than nature can restore it, made the need to change unavoidable.
Many aspects of my lifestyle made no longer sense to me, and I found continuously asking myself: do I really need to buy this? Is there an eco-friendly version of this product? We have a say in Spanish: El cambio empieza por casa/ Change begins at home, and with this in mind I slowly started taking decisions towards a simpler, conscious life: buying organic products, to be thoughtful in our water and electricity use at home, even to be choosy when buying presents: Buy local, Buy durable is my motto. Is it perfect? Probably not, but it certainly is a nice path for our family to take with little milestones every now and then.
So I began my own RoadMap to Sustainable Living, and I feel this is the way: taking small steps. Starting with those changes that best resonate with us will help us to own them and keep them up through time! Here are some of the new habits I took in these past two years, I hope you find some inspiring:
- I have a multipurpose bag in my handbag to avoid store bags.
- I always take a reusable water bottle with me.
- We use bar shampoo, conditioner and soap that come in compostable wrap paper.
- We use bamboo toothbrushes, compostable.
- Compost at home.
- I make dish washer and laundry detergents at home with non polluting chemicals and keep them in a reusable container.
- Sun dry my clothes, it´s free!! 🌞
- Try to buy as much as I can in bulk, and use my own bags for fruits and vegetables.
- Try to have as much home-made food as possible, is much healthier and avoid plastic packaging.
- We use cloth napkins. Identified, each has its own so we don’t need to wash them after every use. No paper towels at home!
- I also use menstrual cup and cloth pads to remove my make up.
This is one part of the trip. And then there´s spreading the word, inspiring others. And not in the “oh, God! Here she comes again” way! There are many ways of inviting people around us to jump into this journey. Sometimes when we get together with my friends, we do some clothes swap through coffee. A fun way to change the items that no longer Spark Joy to you for a new love! I also enjoy organizing dinner parties with women I got to know here and there; friends, co-workers, school mums, friends of friends… We share nice food, matching wine, lots of laughter and a vision of sustainable living @home and @work. I always end up the evening with new ideas and sometimes interesting projects also come up.
I really love the feeling that I am living my purpose. There are broader challenges to explore at our communities and the cities we live in, as introducing circularity in our product designs and services (#circulareconomy), thinking of sharing/renting instead of owning and putting innovation towards better processes I terms of environmental impact. Exciting opportunities to keep on learning and improving! And most certainly, each of us can add little milestones as we see fit with a common goal, to enjoy our beautiful earth for years to come. 💚
Natu 
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