Weekly diary #56: I was a speaker at the kick-off of 'Het Plasticdieet' (the plastic diet)

Hi there! Welcome back into my weekly diary. In these diaries I try to share how I live as sustainable as possible, on a daily basis. I hope to show you that it isn’t hard to live eco-positive, it’s actually fun and made my life so much more meaningful! Anyway, this past week I started my final year as a Univesity of Applied Sciences student and I was invited at a speaker at one of the kick-off events of ‘Het Plasticdieet‘ (plastic diet)!

Thursday
While the last days of the holidays pass by, I try to enjoy it as much as I can. Today we did some groceries for the sushi we planned on making. Making sushi at home is such a guilty pleasure for me. The fruits and veggies I put in mine are all package free. But I also eat seaweed salad aside and today I wanted to try a vegan chicken burger in the sushi, see how that’ll work. It was good, but sushi is good enough for me without the vegan burger, so next time I can avoid that plastic. The seaweed salad is something I cannot give up I think, but maybe I can make it myself sometime. A plan for the future. All the other ingredients, the rice and the nori sheets come in plastic. This time we had some left from our Christmas gifts (our family know us too well haha). If I eat sushi, it’s best to go out for dinner at a restaurant, I think the waste in those kitchens are less, because they make waaaay more. But giving up sushi altogether? No, hell no. That would make my life less good, seriously. That day we had an amazing day, since my boyfriend graduated. It all feels unreal, but so good! We shared a drink at a beach club, but I forgot to order it without a straw. Shit. After all this time, I still sometimes forget. But that’s okay, because it’s work in progress.

Friday
A long while ago, I was invited to speak at an event. It’s called Plasticdieet, which means a plastic diet. It can be compared to plastic free July. All people who join the movement try to live without plastic waste for a whole month to see how they like it. Anyway, that event is tomorrow and for me to be invited to speak there is such an honor! I practiced one last time today. Well, practice. I don’t study my lines by heart, because I think that’s not a good way to present. I just sum up what I want to say and then I’ll see, I want it to be natural and not studied like a robot. We also biked today and we saw some beautiful cows. Every time I see animals these days I feel so good, I’m a proud vegan and I will do anything not to hurt or kill them.

Saturday
Today is the big day. I’m going to be honest, I did not sleep well. But, I am so excited for the event. It is one of the kick-offs of the plastic diet. My boyfriend came with me this day and that is a huge support. When we came there, we first got a vegan lunch, you could choose between vegetarian or vegan. It was delicious! The event was hosted at the Green House in Utrecht. This is truly a great concept, you should check it out. They grow most of their own food, to make it as local as possible. To sum some things up: spices like pepper (which aren’t local) they’ve replaced with herbs of the same taste but which are grown here, they have plants on the wall so they don’t need air-conditioning, everything (literally) is recycled in the building, so everything they use (from chairs to walls) has had a previous life. And I could go on, this is amazing. Such an inspiring place. I was asked to speak about my company Loose (for package free groceries). I tried to make my story as personal as I could, so I also told some things about myself and this blog. It went great! I got sweet feedback from the audience and people were really exited! I met some great people and was inspired so much! Also by the other speakers, it really makes me exited for the future. We can tackle this problem, together. Alltogether it was just an amazing day (and I’m thinking about writing a post about the plastic diet). We ate lunch in Utrecht (where the event was haha) after, and did some shopping. I got a gift card and Tony Chocolony Chocolate for a friend, just what she wanted. Because at night I had a little party of hers.

Sunday
Since I slept at a friend, I was still there with another friend. At noon, we went to MacDonalds. But today, I decided I wanted to step up my zero waste game a notch. Normally, I am quite okay but cardboard. I don’t know why. At MacDonalds I usually order fries, no sauce. So, no plastic but there is cardboard. But today I realized how silly that is. Cardboard is also waste, unnecessary and pollution. So today I’m saying no, I am not ordering anything. And, it felt good! I realized I don’t really want to support MacDonalds, since there are destroying the planet and the animal cruelty they cause is horrifying. So, no, I am not a customer of MacDonalds any longer. Fries aren’t good for my health anyway (not that I don’t eat just food at all) and it saved me money. All good, in my opinion. Also, sitting at MacDonalds can be confronting, since everybody eats meat and I know where that meat came from. The process is horrifying. That doesn’t mean I don’t come there, because I’ll go with my friends if they want to. Everybody can make their own choices, but I just wished these choices were more clear. Because I can remember myself, just 3 years ago sitting at MacDonalds eating meat. I was just like anyone else there, I didn’t know what I was causing and supporting. So, I don’t blame anyone sitting there, I just wish they knew.

Monday
My Mondays always tend to start with yoga! And I love it! I’m sticking to this routine. And also, today I started meditating again. I haven’t done it in 3 weeks so it was time to make a change. Today I also tried to make potato chips, out of a plain potato. I cut come slices and put these in the air fryer. It went all well, but then, it didn’t. I checked again and the pieces were almost on fire. Oops. I don’t have pictures because I was trying to make the smell go away and got rid of the burned pieces. Such a waste, but I’m not giving up! Next time I’ll try again in the oven, see how that’ll work. No plastic included if you buy the potatoes loose and not as unhealthy as the ones bought at a supermarket. At night, I had an appointment at the blood-donor service, I went to donate some plasma again! Hello, saving lives and eco-positive living! You don’t have to be a surgeon to save living, great! It always gives me a great feeling and they check my blood pressure, my hemoglobin and my blood altogether. So, it’s a health check-up as well. Win, win. Oh, and if you thinking about doing it too, it doesn’t hurt, I swear.

Tuesday
First day of school! A new module has started! I am now studying Health and Performance at work for six months. I am very excited because I am very interested in the subject. I have to commute for 3 hours 3 days a week, since the course is given in Nijmegen, but that’s okay with me. I can read and write in the train as I always do, so I’ll be fine. The first day was a but of a search to find the school as usual, but I wasn’t the only one. My new class is great and I am excited. I hurried back home at 5 pm so I could make it for my handball training, the season is starting again! I forgot my drinking bottle, so I hope someone saved it for me. Otherwise I’d have to look for a secondhand one. I made it all just in time, I have to get used to this city. It is soooo busy compared to Enschede and Deventer. It feels like I am stepping into the centre of Amsterdam haha! But, it is fun. The handball training was fun, it feels good to be back. My skills could use some improvement haha, but that’ll come.

Wednesday
I got up early to go to the gym for bootcamp class. But when I got there, it turned that I looked on the wrong schedule. There was no bootcamp class. I had no time to wait till the next class so I just went home, no exercise for me today then, but that’s okay. I did some meal prepping again for school again, which I did yesterday too. It makes me help make healthier choices, it produces zero waste, and it is free for me because most of the groceries at home are done by my parents. Again, win win win.