When A Teen Goes Green – Eco-positive living: a blog about among other things: zero waste, veganism, minimalism, vintage fashion, feminism, volunteering and other sustainable and social subjects

Pro-Healthy but not Pro-Diet

Today it’s time for me to make a clear distinction. I talk about health quite a bit on this blog. When it comes to policies, personal behavior or societal behavior I usually have a clear opinion on health. I want people to be as healthy as they can be, because I believe that this makes life for all of us better. However, I did not realize that the term healthy is not a very clear term and that some people take the wrong assumptions when I use the term healthy. That’s why I want to clearly elaborate on this today: I am pro healthy but absolutely not pro diet.

News + What You Can Do About It | September 2021

Mainstream news in The Netherlands is depressing. It has to be shocking, sensational and topical. Because of this news gets negative and people who only follow this news feel like the world around them is changing in a bad way. They lose trust in people and companies and they lose hope. Besides that, it makes people feel powerless. Yet, it has been scientifically proved that the world gets better every single day for humans. And so, I share 7 news-article once a month in these posts. A mix of positive and bad news, but mostly positive, to make sure that positive news has the upper-hand. Along, I share a practical tip on what you can do to change that news. This could be a lifestyle change, a petition to sign or a social media campaign to support, anything. To make you feel in power, because we are! This way you’ll know about the positive news, how to keep it that way, the negative news and how to change that!

Why I Avoid Wearing Clothing with Brands Showing

I’ve made the switch to secondhand clothing a long time ago. This means that the habit of buying (almost) no new clothing is quite easy for me. I know where to look and what to look for when it comes to secondhand clothing. The next step was not buying any plastic clothes anymore and that’s going quite well too. Now that I got this base I want to take the next step: I want to stop being a billboard for (especially) unsustainable brands.

My 5 Biggest Sustainability Challenges At This Moment | September 2021

As you all know, I moved to Amsterdam recently. It’s been three weeks now and I think I already learned a lot about this new situation to do an evaluation. I went from living with my boyfriend in a modern apartment (where I finally managed to live within the earth’s capacity for the first time!) to living in an old student flat with 13 others. It’s been a real adventure and I’ve been loving the student life again so far. However, this change also has some consequences for my sustainable lifestyle. I have already come across challenges for this new life. Today I want to share those with you.

Documentary about courage: Miss Americana

I guess I don’t have many idols. I mean, I have examples and people who inspire me, but almost never a superstar. I have never screamed over a popstar. I have never been that girl who had posters of a specific idol on the wall. Artists are just people to me, so I never really understood the whole fangirling thing. However, recently I have seen a documentary of an idol which I really appreciated and I want to share it with you: I’ve seen Miss Americana by Taylor Swift.

Sticky Tempeh Barbecue Ribs

Last week I did not post anything on this blog due to personal circumstances. I had a post planned which was perfect for that week, but now maybe not so much. I am still posting it because I believe we will still have enough sunny weather in September in the Netherlands to do some barbecuing. Yes, today I am posting a recipe to be used when barbecuing. Sticky Tempeh Barbecue Ribs, I loveee those!

News + What You Can Do About It | August 2021

Have I Lived Eco-Positive the Past Year? 2020/2021

The moment of truth has arrived! Again! It’s time to measure the impact I’ve made the past year. My goal is to live within the earth’s capacity. Meaning that if everybody lived like me, we’d need 1 earth or less (as we have). I started calculating this score for the first time 4 years ago. I started with a score of 2.5 earths (while I was already a vegetarian, so before I started measuring it must have been like 4 earths or something. I was a disaster for our planet). The second year I went down to 1.7 earths and last year I had a score of 1.1 earths. If I go down this year, I will finally come to 1 earth or less. I am very excited for it and curious to see how I’ve done. I really think I have improved. Let’s find out!

Life Update: I’m Moving to Amsterdam!

It’s time for another big announcement, since my life will change quite a bit the coming weeks. Last year I wrote a big life update too, I was moving out of my parental house to go live with my boyfriend in Groningen. Today I’m reflecting a bit on this past year of living together and telling you about the next step. As the title says: I am moving again! This time I am moving to Amsterdam. Let me tell you all about it.