Weekly diary #82: Voting for a regional election!

Hi there! Welcome back into my personal weekly diary, open for anyone to read. I try to live an eco-postive life, as far as that’s possible. Doing more good than bad, contributing to a better world! Curious what that looks like on a daily basis and what my thoughts in the proces are? You can read all that in this weekly diary! The past week I did a lot of work for Loose, my package free webshop and I voted for the regional elections in The Netherlands! Here’s weekly diary #82.

Thursday

I had a rough night, I barely slept. Worries and a billion things on my mind were causing it and that rarely happens. So, when I woke up today I was very motivated to do something about that (since I appreciate sleep). The main thing that was on my mind was my thesis, it’s a big project and I am constantly worrying about whether everything is going well. It makes no sense. I am perfectly capable of doing this, my whole bachelor has been going well for me. I just need to remember that sometimes. Today I worked in the library, dived into the research and suddenly everything kind of fell into place. Very weird, but all of a sudden I knew where I was going and how I should carry on. It made me feel soooo good. My mood flipped around and I was feeling amazing again. Great! At night I had another meeting for Loose which was very exiting too. There are some exiting things coming up these months, not just for Loose, but for me too.

Friday

First of all, I want to thank all of you for reading this! I don’t do that quite often enough I think. But the fact that you’re reading this makes me feel amazing, let’s go green together! The past week I received a lot of sweet messages from people, telling me I inspire them and I should carry on this way. I can’t even tell you how much that means to me. Thank you! I went to my thesis company today and discussed all the things I’d found and done. We agreed on most topics and now it’s up to me to finish this and past the first test on 26th of March! Let’s do this! Even though I was happy today, something terrible happened at that same time in New Zealand. I guess you heard about the shooting, horrible. I still feel like I don’t highlight the global news enough, since this diary is personal. But, I think I am planning on doing that more. Discussing global problems, like terrorism, is important. But on the other hand, I want to remain positive about the future and spread a positive mindset. What do you think?

Saturday

The past few weeks, I have been mostly free in the weekends. This is quite unexpected and so it feels kind of unnatural when I am home. Maybe that is also because it’s raining today and it has been for the past weeks. This weather is extreme and I want to scream climate change in everybody’s face. Anyway, my boyfriend came by! We went into the shopping centre for a while (I never buy anything since it’s not sustainable but I do like to look around every once in a while) and at night we went to the Cinema. In the city center we had drinks and nachos. I asked for a drink without a straw and a plastic thing for the lemon, but they ignored me. Bummer. For dinner, our family ordered food. I suggested on going myself and bringing some containers, to make sure it would be zero waste. However, nobody agreed to that plan and so it was a wasteful dinner. But, I don’t feel sad about this. I tried, in both cases. At the cinema, I brought some water myself in my own bottle, but I did not buy any snacks there. I used to buy popcorn at the cinema since it was low waste. But, recently I found out that most popcorn at cinema’s isn’t vegan because they use butter, so these days I don’t buy anything anymore. If you want a snack, the best option would be to bring your homemade snack. Vegan, zero waste and low-budget! We went to see the Green Book. It’s an amazing film.

Sunday

Our team played another handball match today and we won! Third time in a row. I am quitting next season so I do try to enjoy these last few games. If I’ll be admitted to the school in Amsterdam, I will move and so I can’t play anymore. I had a new order for Loose which was exiting and afterwards my boyfriend and I went out to eat sushi. Vegan sushi is my favorite thing, like ever. I could eat it every day. We went to Ginza in Enschede, they have all the allergy ingredients mentioned on the menu and so I can see very easily which things are vegan and which are not. They have a lot of vegan options! It was a great night.

Monday

The weekend is over, back to work! Today I posted a new post about how zero waste isn’t always Instagram-pretty, you can read that post here. First thing I did today is go to gym and exercise, that feels good! I worked on my thesis the rest of the day and did some chores at home. During lunch, I saw the news. Today was another horrible day. There was another shooting, in our own country this time, in Utrecht. When will this pointless violence end?

Tuesday

Today I went to ETN salad bar in Enschede. It’s an amazing vegan friendly place. So if you’re looking for a place to have lunch, this is your place! I did not go there for lunch, but for Loose. The owner suggested I should sell some of the products I sell at Loose in their store too, low-waste and zero-waste items, like a bamboo brush or a cotton produce bag! So kind! I said yes of course and so today I brought by some stuff. Zero waste is getting more attention this way, amazing! Afterwards I went to work on my thesis again. At night, I went to the store to buy some things for this amazing vegan ‘tuna’ salad. I love this and I am seriously addicted (not even joking). Unfortunately, it’s not plastic free since I can’t find nori blades without plastic anywhere. Bummer, but this vegan salad is waaaay more sustainable than normal vegan tuna salad and so I am taking the little plastic for granted. I can’t like without this amazing recipe.

Wednesday

I’m on a streak, third day in a row I go out and exercise. I am motivated! I worked on my thesis (duh) and I worked at my job. But! Today is a special day in the Netherlands, because I voted! You can vote for regional elections. I voted Partij voor de Dieren, a Dutch party. It’s the most environmental friendly party there is and so I am happy! I hope they get more say in all political discussions. They focus a lot on climate change by making veganism more mainstream, since it’s a large contributor to a lot of problems. I love politics and debates, since it’s a space to discuss national and global problems. I’ve gotten into politics a bit more last years and that way wasn’t for me (campaigning for a party), but maybe one day I’ll be able to contribute more politically, I would love to. Also, today my oyster mushrooms are growing! I am growing these mushrooms on waste, our households coffee waste. It looks amazing and I’ll share more about it soon.

I normally also go through my trash in a week in this weekly diary, but this week I haven’t managed to do that. I promise I’ll show you my waste again next week haha.

Yours sincerely,
Romee