Sustainability Journal | Apr + May 2021

Welcome to Sustainability Journal, where I document what I’m reading, learning, thinking, and doing in the sustainability space.

I’m short on time today, so I’m not beating around the bushes: my big personal announcement is that my partner and I welcomed a baby! This nugget came a little earlier than expected so life has been an absolute whirlwind (everyone is well, and sleepy)! I’m not sure what this will mean for the blog, but for now, I’m going to take a break from this space to soak up the baby snuggles.

An individual action I’m focusing on at the moment I have been focusing on: mindful consumption during pregnancy.

This topic probably deserves its own post (or several), but getting through pregnancy comfortably and prepping for the arrival of our little one without accumulating too much stuff has obviously been my focus these past several months. Luckily, partly thanks to remote work and quarantine, I really didn’t have to get much clothes at all. A few months ago, a friend connected me to a group of local moms, and I was able to score a huge bag of secondhand maternity clothes. (Actually, they might have been third or even fourthhand because these clothes have apparently been circulating in the Boston area for quite a while. “The sisterhood of the traveling maternity pants?” :p ) I kept a few items that fit me and passed on the rest to another expecting friend. Combining these with the looser fitting clothes I already own, all I ended up purchasing was one work shirt, a pair of jeans, a robe, and some maternity underwear, so I consider this a win!

Being more thoughtful about baby items has been more challenging, as it is sometimes difficult to know what’s truly necessary as first time parents. Plus, we have lots of loving friends and family who want to buy gifts! For us, we’ve gotten a mix of hand-me-downs, secondhand purchases, and new items that I hope will last a long time. Of course, the verdict is still out, so I’ll be back with an update in a few months on how we did.

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A thing I’m daydreaming about: PAID. PARENTAL. LEAVE. FOR. ALL.

More stuff you should check out:

• LOVED Mark Bittman’s take on the latest headlines about beef and veganism (you know what I’m talking about: Epicurious’s decision to stop publishing beef recipes, Eleven Madison Park going vegan, etc)
• The Weeds podcast interview about global lead issues – something that was completely not on my radar! (Did you know about lead in turmeric and ceramic pottery?!)
• I learned much from this Planet Money episode about carbon offsets and the verification process! Is it all a scam?
• @fluent.garden: a new Insta find for me – I’ve been learning so many gardening tips from Chris!
• I enjoyed this Guardian article breaking down the difference between true climate policy and greenwashing.

That’s all friends! See you after my leave.