Hi there, welcome back into my personal weekly diary. Great that you’re here! Let me know what you think. In this diary I try to show what an eco-positive lifestyle looks like on a daily basis. What choices and habits make my life eco-positive (not entirely yet, but I’m getting there)? The past week I attended an Avatar-party, went to Amsterdam for shopping and went to a concert of Dermot Kennedy! Want to read along?
Thursday
For lunch today I had some leftover salad from Tuesday’s dinner. Eating leftovers as lunch is a great way to prevent food waste ánd save money! At night I went to the Bijlmer ArenA (stadion of Ajax soccer club) to go eat first and then see Dermot Kennedy! We went to eat at Eazie, where they have a lot of vegan options. I didn’t bring my own cutlery because we were eating in. But once there I got plastic spoon for my food. The bowl my food was in was reusable (from the restaurant) and I chose my drink in a can so that’s 100% recyclable as well. I’m getting there. In AFAS I also had a drink, this time in a plastic cup. I did not bring my own reusable cup. I forgot it on Monday in Enschede (where I sometimes live in the weekends) and so it will be two weeks before I get back there. The concert was amazing! I got the experience from my boyfriend as a graduation gift. My boyfriend barely ever gifts me physical stuff anymore, since that is not what I want. He rather gifts me experiences which we can enjoy together, we create memories. It’s a minimalistic point of view, but also a sustainable one since buying new stuff puts a huge burden on our planet.
Friday
It’s black Friday. And as much as I don’t like the concept of it, I’m going shopping today as well. It felt a bit weird, but my boyfriend and I had planned it for a long time since we went to that concert yesterday and were in Amsterdam together today. Also, next week I am visiting Sinterklaas with family and so I did actually need some things. First, we went to the LENA fashion library. Yes, that’s a place where you can lend clothes! Very circular! I’ve been wearing the same dress for Christmas for the past five years I think and I didn’t like that anymore and also it had been itching a lot. I want my look to be special during the holidays, but I don’t want to buy something else each year. That’s where the library comes in. I’ve lended a beautiful dress for 25 euros for the entire month. I have my graduation ceremony, Christmas and a ball from my student association coming up. And so, now I have something great to wear for all these events. And afterwards, I can return it so that someone else can enjoy that piece of clothing. I am very excited about the dress but I won’t show it just yet. We also went to Hearth, a vegan restaurant where we had sushi and lemon curd. Oh my, it was both so good! Soon I’ll be writing a sustainable guide about Amsterdam, there is so much to see and do! Today we also went to Vegabond and Delicious Food where I got some vegan Cambert and vegan tuna cans. I am so excited to try those! We went to visit Het Faire Oosten too, a place which only sells sustainable and ethical stuff. I bought some gifts for Sinterklaas haha! Last but not least we went to Deer Mama, a vegan mylk and burger bar. I got a brownie and hazelnut praline vegan milkshake and it was honestly the best thing I’ve had in a long time. They barely serve vegan milkshakes anywhere so this was amazing. Then we had a massive dinner since there were so many things we wanted to try. I had a double vegan cheese burger and vegan cheesy fries. Oh my god, it was so good!
Saturday
For breakfast I had some vegan fish sticks today, which I got for free from the AH a while ago. At night my boyfriend and I had some vegan gyros sandwiches for dinner, which were really good! Afterwards we had a party in Utrecht from his brother and the girlfriend of his brother. And since I hadn’t brought my reusable cup to Haarlem this past week, once again I was forced to use a disposable cup. Bummer. There was a lot of candy at the party but you never know if these are vegan (usually not) and so I mostly stuck with the natural chips. They made some gummy bears with vodka which I did eat, until I later on thought: hey, these are not vegan. I had made a mistake but it was okay. Better luck next time. The theme of the party was a children’s party and so that’s why there was a drawing competition. The winner got to hit a piñata. I got in second place but I was very proud of my drawing haha! After the party we went out in the city centre where I afterwards ate some fries in a plastic basket. In Enschede I know where to get fries so that I get them in paper and here I don’t (I did not choose the place where we sat anyway). So I chose to have some fries, even though it was in plastic.
Sunday
We went to drink coffee at a café once everybody had woken up. I don’t drink coffee and so I went with kombucha. I unfortunately forgot to say I wanted it without a straw and so I did have a straw. Also, I did not like the kombucha at all, it was too intense for me. It tasted like wine and that’s not something you want after a night out. Anyway, my boyfriend and I drove back to his house in Harderwijk and there we made some vegan snacks for ourselves, including the vegan Cambert! It had been expensive (8 euros) but it was totally worth it. This is a delicious vegan cheese. The non-vegans in the house also liked it, that says a lot I think.
Monday
Another day with leftovers! Yesterday we had made some wonderful (vegan for me) burritos and there was one leftover which I ate for breakfast today. Saving food waste and money again. I also made some vegan grilled cheese sandwiches for myself again, I simply love those. Normally I’d edit my vlog on Monday evenings, but my plans were to go out in Amsterdam with classmates yesterday and so today I’d be in Haarlem (where my laptop is). However, I did not go out so there is no vlog online this evening. My plan is to upload in on Thursday so stay tuned!
Tuesday
I did not bring lunch to school besides some fruit and so I bought some lunch on my way. I bought some sandwiches in my own bread bag (which I fortunately do always have with me) and organic hummus. The hummus is in plastic, which is not that great. But as I’ve written in this post, the fact that something is plant-based or organic is more important than the packaging since there is more impact is that.
Wednesday
Today I am wearing an almost entirely thrifted outfit, like most of the days. I don’t feel like I highlight that enough and so here is a picture of my thrifted outfit of the day. Only the shirt is new, I bought that before I cared about sustainability or ethics at H&M.
Have you had a good week?
Yours sincerely,
Romee