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How To Have An Environmentally Friendly Outdoor Cat
My cats are now outdoor cats, but not in the way you might think. They are not free roaming outdoor cats that come in at night, instead, they live full time in a chicken coop turned catio. In this post I’ll explain the why, the how, and everything else you want to know about the new style of outdoor cat. Why My Cats Live Outside The easiest explanation is because now we do too. This past winter (2022), my husband and I decided to convert our cargo trailer into a custom RV and leave Maine in the winters for some warmer weather. That’s easier said than done with two dogs…
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The Christmas Tree Debate
The Christmas Tree is a staple home décor item during the holiday season (even if you’re not religious like me). And while the classic coniferous trees aren’t available in all parts of the country, they grow abundantly in my home state of Maine. So depending on where you live, you might have the option to have a real tree, or a fake tree. Growing up my family and I went to a Christmas tree farm every year, walked the groves of conifers, and picked out a tree that was just right to cut down and bring home. Cookies and hot chocolate were complimentary, and pictures of the previous year’s customers…
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10 Small Sustainable Swaps for 2021
I’m not big on new year’s resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I love goal setting, and have vision boards and lists galore. But I prefer to tackle things in smaller increments whether that be scale or time frame for what I’m trying to accomplish. So I’ve decided to share my top 10 small yet attainable, sustainable swaps I’ll be continuing or adding in 2021. Reusable produce bags (continued) I started using reusable produce bags in 2019 after buying some on amazon. They worked pretty well but I had misplaced most of them and recently rediscovered my bags last month. It’s so fun to whip out my reusable produce bags at…
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Let’s Talk Financial Sustainability
The coronavirus pandemic has taught us many things, but two of the most important things are that we need to take care of our health and our finances. While two separate categories, they are inextricably linked. United States household and consumer debt reached a record high of $14.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s quarter 2 Household and Credit report. After the effects of COVID-19, which resulted in many households and individuals constricting on finances, the second quarter saw a drop in overall debt of about $34 billion, the first drop since 2014. The practice of being indebted is not…
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Talk the Talk but Don’t Walk the Walk?
My freshman year of college, I took a 13 hour-long bus ride with a few of my classmates from Maine to Washington D.C to participate in one of the largest climate marches of its time. In the college spirit of trying new things, I figured this would be a fun opportunity to do something completely out of my element and normal practice. Not to mention its a unique story I would carry with me in life. I’m not sure what else I really expected out of the march, but once I was there I could physically feel the vibrations of the crowd’s energy. That said, the march didn’t have any…
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Average Joe Versus Uncle Sam…Where Does The Responsibility For Action On Climate Change Fall?
Every day I scroll through my Instagram feed, I see posts condemning the consumption of animal products, and in the same breadth messages about how we should be holding corporations accountable rather than shaming each other for our individual choices. So when it comes to tackling climate change, whose responsibility is it? As you know, this blog discusses matters of sustainability at the individual level based on my own practices and experience. I obviously believe in the power of the individual, when multiplied by millions, to affect change on a larger scale. That said, the role of government and regulation of corporate pollution and environmental practices are irreplaceable in the…
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How I Got Into Volunteerism
Half way through my second year of college, I realized that I could graduate not only a semester early, as planned, but an entire year early. While how I accomplished that is a story on its own for another time, I quickly began to realize that I needed more external experiences and connections. I had a planned internship at my university that summer, to build a rain garden, and had already lined up a part time summer job at a retail store. In an attempt to gain more experience in my remaining spare time, I applied for a few volunteering positions, one with Maine Audubon doing outreach on the beaches…
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Coexisting With Wildlife When it Comes to Our Furry Friends-Part 2: Indirect Impacts
For me, pets were a staple part of my childhood. My parents liked animals but it also helped teach us the responsibility of taking care of another living being. I knew my first year living off campus in college I was going to have a pet. As much as I wanted a dog, I knew starting off with a cat would be best (not to mention I like cats a little more than dogs, but truly love them both). Maxwell is my cat, I adopted him from my local shelter and he has been with me for four years now. For the first year, I lived in an above garage…
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Opening Up About the Complex Relationship Between Food and Sustainability
In a world of over 7 billion people, food is a major component of sustainability. Food is perhaps one of the most complex facets of sustainability due to the cultural ties humans have with food. This is why I have admittedly avoided this topic thus far. Whether you have food or you don’t, all life centers around it. I can only speak on my behalf, a middle class white American that has never truly wondered where my next meal is coming from. Because food is such a personal issue, many discussions regarding food and its impact on sustainability can quickly become heated, so it’s important to practice acceptance of others…
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Growing Habitat from the Roots Up
Exploring Live Staking and Native Species Two years ago in the spring I was on the hunt for a very specific shrub. I wanted to grow shrubs along the roadside as a privacy screen, something native that also wouldn’t attract animals. I settled on downy serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea), a wide branching, broad leaved, shrub that can sometimes grow like a small tree, had beautiful orange foliage in the fall, and grew berries that typically only attracts birds. I visited a couple local greenhouses in search for my perfect shrub, only to find that I was only the second or third person to ask for that particular species in the last…
