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Weekly diary #63: are flowers a zero waste gift?

Posted on October 25, 2018January 24, 2023

Hi there! Welcome into my weekly diary in which I want to show you how I try to live an eco-positive life! Great new on the trash-subject this week! I picked a bag full of trash myself and the European Parliament approved a proposal to ban single use plastic! Wanna read along? Here’s weekly diary #63.

Thursday

I went back home from Harderwijk, because I had some things to do today. I had another laser appointment at the hospital. It went well, and I’m planning to write a blogpost about it once the whole process is finished! After that, I went to grandma to celebrate her birthday. I got her flowers and a gift card. Not exactly zero waste. I wanted the flowers loose, but the woman at the flower shop said that wasn’t allowed otherwise they’d think I’d stolen the flowers, so she packed them in paper. And yes, I go to the flower shop for flowers, not our local supermarket. I think it’s important to support local entreprenours and artisans, it’s pure and they really know they craft. But, my boyfriend mentioned yesterday: Why not buy a plant? Since flowers are actually grown to die in a few days and plants can last years. And that got me thinking. Are flowers zero waste? And are plants a better option? Sometimes I just feel like gift giving, even though I’m not that materialistic. So, giving nothing is not always an option. Flowers are not a good option I think, now. My boyfriend was right, flowers are specially grown for a few days and then die. That land can be used differently, for food for instance. And I think I once read something about fair trade flowers, which means that ‘normal’ flowers aren’t a fair trade. I think I won’t buy flowers anymore. I’m going for plants. A small one, then, of course. And even then, if grandma doesn’t like the plant any longer, she can still transfer it to her garden, another room, or just compost it. It’s not the exact thing I want (composting), but the plant will last longer than the flowers, that’s for sure. Hmm, still a tough choice. Maybe food is the better option here. I just don’t know yet.

Friday

Someone got sick at work, so I decided to help out on my free Friday. I can use the extra hours. I walked a long walk with Darco (our cute Frenchie), and meanwhile I picked up trash. That’s really a good way to multitask (even though I’m usually not a fan of multitasking). You have to walk anyway, so why not bring a bag and pick up the trash you see along the way. If you walk the dog three times a day, this’ll really add up! Hello eco-positive, cleaning up more trash than creating it! I also went grocery shopping with mom and picked some vegan things which were of course not zero waste. A sin really, but when I choose myself where I’ll do my groceries (when I move out), then it’ll be zero waste. For now, sometimes vegan is enough. On market days, when I get some money from mom, I do zero waste groceries myself (which you’ve probably read in more weekly diaries). I’m addicted to Grey’s Anatomy again also, a new season came out, yay!

Saturday

I am free! And so, that means I’m going to work out on a Saturday. Woah, that barely ever happens. At the moment I work out 4-5 times a week, and that frequency really works for me. I headed over to Vindiets in Enschede, because I promised the owner to give her some of my business cards so she could give them to interested people! She really loved the concept of Loose (package free groceries) and she is even considering becoming a customer herself! Vindiets is my favorite secondhand store where I’ll usually bring the clothes I don’t wear anymore too. It is also sustainable so we really compliment each other. I am so happy she decided to do this for me! Also, I still had a gift card lying around in my room so me and mom went to have lunch in the city centre. I had a delicious vegan salad at ETN. At night, I had a surprise party of my niece (she came back from Norway). There was only wine and beer at the party and since I don’t like beer I went with the wine. I know it isn’t vegan but for drinks I sometimes make an exception when there’s no other thing around. It does not happen a lot, most of the time I just drink with our group of friends and we buy the drinks ourselves. Let’s state that I’m following a 99% plant-based diet.

Weekly diary #63
Weekly diary #63

Sunday

I slept quite a bit because work started late, at 11 am. I worked the whole day. Further, it was quite a lazy day. I spent some time blogging and watching tv. Boring for this diary, but very relaxing and good for me.

Monday

I decided to not set an alarm, but I ended up sleeping way too long. So, I went to the gym at 12 am. I attended a boot camp class this time, but I have to say, it was just too hard for me. The exercises are draining, which is good. But most of the time I can’t keep up. And honestly, I have never seen anyone keep up with the full class of boot camp, most of the times I’m alone. That says enough I guess. At night, I planned on going to the Blood Bank to give plasma. I try to do it every 6 weeks. Plasma is used for making medicines and treating severe burn injuries. So, hello again positive impact! But, I did a little test beforehand because I had a cold and wasn’t sure I was allowed to come. And I was right, I wasn’t allowed and I cancelled the appointment. It is a bummer, really. I enjoy giving plasma, it gives me a good feeling, helping others. Oh! That makes me remember a great thing by the way. A few weeks ago, in class I talked about it to some people, and then one person made an appointment right away to donate herself! Hello, even more positive impact! And there you see, your individual work changes a lot, even though you might not even know. Anyway, I rescheduled the appointment and hope the cold will pass soon. At night, of course, I couldn’t sleep, because I had slept so long the morning. Real smart move, Romee.

Weekly diary #63

Tuesday

Even though in Enschede it is the holiday period, I have to go to school, since I go to school in Nijmegen. I gotta say, I still enjoy the travelling, because the trail goes through mostly nature. I mostly see forests and cows (we have so many milk cows in Holland, oh my, all that because we think we need milk from a cow, even though we don’t, I’m the living proof, it causes a lot of climate change, not that a don’t like cows, I just don’t like the fact they’re bred just for us). Also, I am currently reading a really good book, so that makes time fly by. I am once again addicted of the game Hay Day, so I play that too. It is such a simple game haha, but I just love it. I really want that for the future myself, a small house with a lot of ground surrounding it, with some rescued animals and big garden to grow my own food. I’ll flush my toilet with rain water and have solar panels for the energy. Of course I want a job too haha! But how that’ll turn out I don’t know yet. I first want to finish my bachelor and then my master. I hope I’ll make it into the master’s program eventually, the admission criteria for a pre-master are quite high I think.

Wednesday

Amazing news came my way today, everyone’s way! The European Parliament has voted in favor of a ban on single use items! Wooooo, very good news. Of course, we’re not there yet. There are other people who still have to vote, like the European Council and more. But, still, this is very good news! I am so pleased. You read more about the proposal here. At night I ate vegan pancakes with dad. Vegan pancakes are delicious and easy!

Weekly diary #63
Weekly diary #63

What do you think? Are flowers zero waste? And do you pick trash yourself? And what about the ban on single use plastic?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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0 thoughts on “Weekly diary #63: are flowers a zero waste gift?”

  1. Linda - Zaailingen says:
    October 25, 2018 at 10:43 am

    Ja, die ban is echt fantastisch. Er waren natuurlijk al geruchten over, maar blij dat het nu echt op papier staat.

    Bloemen geef ik ook niet vaak meer. Nu krijgt iedereen stekjes van mijn eigen planten. Die heb ik altijd op voorraad 😉

    Reply
    1. Romee Hoeksma says:
      October 25, 2018 at 10:48 am

      Ik ben er zó blij mee, hopen dat het door alle andere commissies komt! Goed idee trouwens, plukken! In eigen tuin kan helaas niet, daar wordt mijn moeder niet zo blij van denk ik hahaha.

      Reply

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ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Ik gebruik al jaren een bamboe tandenborstel, die van Humble Brush 🎋. Naast dat hun product duurzaam is, doen ze ook wat moois met de winst. Dat maakt een product nou echt eco-positief! Je leest meer over poetsen met bamboe op mijn blog, via de link in mijn bio. Vandaag op de blog: iets waarbij de relatie met eco-positief leven wat indirect is: diëten. Januari is dé maand waarin veel mensen weer aan het diëten slaan en daarom leek het me goed om deze post nog net op de valreep in januari te delen. De blog van vandaag gaat slechts over één van de vele nadelen van diëten: het leidt ons af van wat echt belangrijk is 🧐. Weten waarom ik dat denk? Lees dan nu het artikel via de link in mijn bio. Ik ga dit jaar weer de challenge aan om de winter door te komen zonder de warming aan te zetten. Hiervoor ging mijn essential, een warmwaterkruik 💦, kapot. In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik een ‘nieuwe’ tweedehands kruik kocht. Vandaag te lezen op whenateengoesgreen.com: een inspirerende documentary over Greta Thunberg: I am Greta. Een documentaire over hoop, maar vooral over doorzettingsvermogen 🔥. Lees het nu via de link in mijn bio. Meer vegan producten in de schappen, yay! Gisteren probeerde ik voor het eerst de vegan lentil tikki masala saus van Patak’s 🧑🏼‍🍳. Zie in deze reel wat ik ervan vond. Vandaag verscheen er een nieuw artikel op mijn blog over: 5 dingen die ik niet koop. Want we denken vaak dat we dingen écht nodig hebben, maar vaak is dat niet zo 🧠. Check het artikel via de link in miijn bio. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel op mijn blog over alles wat ik nieuw kocht in 2022. Dat is een groot deel van mijn negatieve impact. Deze week was het tijd om te kijken naar de andere kant van de medaille. Vandaag lees je op mijn blog een artikel over al mijn positive impact in 2022 🌞. Je vind de link naar het artikel in de link in mijn bio. Afgelopen week verscheen er op mijn blog een artikel over alles wat ik nieuw heb gekocht in 2022. Eén ding op de lijst waren deze onderbroeken (een stuk of 20). En nu denk je misschien: waarom zou je in één keer zoveel onderbroeken kopen? Op 31 december, nog net op de valreep in 2022, kwam er een video online op mijn Youtube-kanaal over voedselcoöperaties. Ik denk namelijk dat voedselcoöperaties ons voedselsysteem democratischer en eerlijker kunnen maken 🥦.

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