Johansen - Sustainable Badass: A Zero-Waste Lifestyle Guide

Praise for
Sustainable Badass

Gittemarie is a one-of-a-kind creator and a much-needed voice in the movement. Her attention to detail and level of research is a true testament not only to the quality of her work, but to the intensity with which she takes on the waste crisis. A much-respected and positi ve force!

Immy Lucas (@Sustaina bly_Vegan)

Gittemarie is creator that not only provides helpful tips on living a zero-waste and vegan lifestyle, but also articulates it in way that is appr oachable.

Jhnneu Roberts (@Jhanneu)

Gittemarie provides extensive amounts of accessible eco-friendly tips and education for those entering a sustainability lifestyle. With themed recipes and fun humor, Gittemarie is paving the way for sustainable futures.

Isaias Hernandez (@QueerB rownVegan)

Sustainable Badass is enlightening and entertaining! Itll have you reaching for your reusable bags and turning that eco-guilt int o action.

Kathryn Kellogg, author of 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste (@going.z ero.waste)

Gittemarie has been an inspiration to me for years! Shes always prepared to address a given environmental concern with an educated perspective and provide solutions to her audience. Not to mention her style, which makes her my personal favorite eco-fas hionista.

Shelbi Orme (@sh elbizleee)

Sustainable
Badass

A Zero-Waste Lifestyle Guide

Gittemarie Johansen

Coral Gables

Copyright 2022 by Gittemarie Johansen.
Published by Mango Publishing, a division of Mango Publishing Group, Inc.

Cover Design: Elina Diaz
Interior Illustration: Tsvetina
Production Design (English): Katia Mena
Translation: Gittemarie Johansen, Jens Damborg Jens,
and Christian Bredvig Fjordside

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2850 S Douglas Road, 4th Floor
Coral Gables, FL 33134 USA

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Sustainable Badass: A Zero-Waste Lifestyle Guide

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2021952881
ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-869-7, (ebook) 978-1-64250-870-3
BISAC category code HOM022000, HOUSE & HOME / Sustainable Living

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

1. Do they have actual certificates to back up
their claims?

3. Is there consistency between the price and
the product?

Commonly heard statements about animal products
and some solutions

Products That You Might Want to Phase Out or
Stop Buying Right Away

The past few years have seen some of the worst environmental disasters in history, signaling a new era of accelerating environmental destabilization. Food security and the strength of our global systems to meet basic human needs are under threat and have already caused irreparable damage in the Global South. As our levels of consumption increase, so do the demands for fossil fuels and cheap labor. This is wholly unsustainable, and without systemic change, we cannot turn the tide on environmental de struction.

All that said, there has been a fundamental shift in the perception of how the climate and waste crises are being handled. And with the advanced scrutiny coming from creators like Gittemarie, young activists living on the frontlines of climate change, and organizations, there is hope for o ur future.

Many have argued that individual action cannot save the planet, but to the contrary, many individuals have galvanized the world into action. However, we mustnt look to one person to motivate us, to see the enormity of the problem we are facing. Instead, we should individually do our parts and come together to create an even grea ter voice.

Individual action plants a seed of hope in every single person who makes one swap, one lifestyle change, or reads one book outside their comfort zone. It is this action that helps to shift our mindset from overconsumption to mindful consumption, from buying the latest and greatest to choosing second-hand and vintage. While our one swap at a time may not immediately change the world, those around us will see our actions and may make one swap of their own.

When you get thousands if not millions of individuals looking inward at their own actions, you get thousands of potential comrades with which to join forces. That self-scrutiny paves the way to create curious minds in all of us. If I want to stop consuming so many vegetables in plastic packaging, I may think about where I could shop to do so. After a time, I may consider how the shops themselves could make consumers lives easier by offering unpackaged foods. Eventually, this may lead me to ask, Why is so much plastic packaging used and how could policy affect the whole countrys level of consumption? And then, it may lead to collective action, to protest, to petition, to actual system ic change.

Gittemarie is particularly well-qualified, personally and professionally, to contribute to this conversation, and many of us who have followed her for years have learned a tremendous amount. One aspect of her work that is much needed is her in-depth video content that interrogates the validity of many sustainable claims. As an individual it is often difficult to decipher what is and isnt greenwashing. Many brands seeking to offer consumers a more sustainable option often use buzzwords that actually lead to more confusion. I have no doubt that you will gain the tools needed to live more sustainably at the end of this book, and hopefully, it will motivate you to join forces and be a part of a collective for a more sustainab le future.

Imogen I mmy Lucas
Sustainablility/low-impact bl ogger and
influencer (@sustaina bly_vegan)

In January of 2015, I began an experiment. I wanted to live without producing any trash for a month. I had never been interested in sustainability before, and I had no idea where to begin, but I just threw myself into it headfirst. Through my experience with zero waste, I have learned that if we want to live in a more sustainable society, there are no shortcuts and easy fixes. At least, this the case if we want to permanently implement the green agenda into our daily lives. There are hundreds of ways to change your habits but, like with every other lifestyle change, they require patience and commitment. We live in a world where convenience and luxury dictate many consumers priorities and where most companies would rather sell us products that make us sick and unhappy than create a positi ve impact.

Wow, okay, that sounds super woke, and maybe a little too holier-than-thou-ish for most tastes, but honestly, that is how it is. For that reason, it can be difficult to navigate all the information and all the noise which is affecting the discourse of sustainability. In this noise, its super difficult to figure out what is right and what is wrong and whether trying to live sustainably even matters if we cannot do it perfectly. At least, those were my thoughts five years ago.