- Thrive-bynature
Cleaning products and banks – both big players in sustainability, no correlation.🧴🏧
In our daily lives we use a lot of unsustainable things.
Things that make life as we know it possible and comfortable.
There are some things that we grew up with, that are no-brainers and we don’t even think about them twice.
But unfortunately we live in a very unsustainable world and have to question how we live and educate ourselves about more sustainable options.
We can look at everything here, from shoelaces to electronic devices,
to transportation, kitchen tools and dental floss all the way to the bank we have an account with.
I will tell you about two changes that I have made in my life that play an important role for a more sustainable world and you might not be thinking about making a more sustainable swap in these areas.
1. CLEANING PRODUCTS🧴
Every single cleaning product that I buy is made from 100 % natural ingredients and comes in recycled plastic.
I am lucky that my mother had always bought a majority of her cleaning products from the brand FROSCH🐸 which is a brand that has been pursuing ecological motives from the very beginning, in this case 1986.
➡“For us sustainability is not a passing fad, but an established and diligently maintained company tradition.”
https://frosch.de/Nachhaltigkeit/index-2.html
So I have always had a good example and continued to use the sustainable products and replaced the ones that weren't, with better options.
But some people buy really awful, chemical, poisonous laundry detergents, air fresheners, dish soap and what not.
This might sound very dramatic, but if you actually look at the ingredients in some of that stuff like: conservatives, fabric softeners, etc. – it’s downright filthy (excuse my French).
What you have to consider beside all of the trash is that EVERY SINGLE waste product, chemical, CO2 emission, micro-plastic that is part of the manufacturing process or final product,
will find its way back to us.
It all ends up somewhere, in our water, air, soil,…
Recommendation and solution:
buy from brands that use recycled plastics or plastic-free packaging and natural ingredients.
They are not that hard to find that you would have to order them all online, if you don't like doing that, a lot of the times they are in the same shop where you would buy your conventional products from.
But to be safe, here are a few examples for some great
sustainable household brands which you can buy in-store or order and even purchase very convenient subscriptions in some cases:
https://frosch.de/en/index.html
https://methodhome.com/product-category/home-cleaning/
https://packagefreeshop.com/collections/cleaning-supplies
2 BANKS🏧
This is a huge jump from cleaning products : )
But very important and not that obvious to overthink when wanting to be more sustainable.
When I first got confronted with this part of #adulting, my initial thought was just to open an account with the bank my mother was with.
But then I thought again.
There have been countless scandals revolving around banks and where they put "their" money.
From manipulating currency exchange rates, investing in fossil fuels and the gun lobby or making questionable transactions,
big banks have been major players in ecological and economical "downfalls".
Because money=power
So I thought it be best to take a closer look at different banks and the options that I had,
after all it is MY money and I don’t want to be putting my money somewhere where it may be part of any 'shady business'.
I did a lot of research and looked for
“green banks”, “sustainable banks”, “ethical banks”
and came across a few I had never heard of.
They weren’t old, big or well-known.
They were mainly, young and fresh and built on a whole other foundation with very different values and visions than the ones the “OG” banks are built on.
At last I came across the “GLS bank”, and their mission statement speaks for itself:
"The fundamental principle guiding our work is respect for life and concern for a peaceful coexistence of all cultures that are rooted in individual freedom and responsibility. We take human beings seriously in their totality as body, soul and spirit. Our actions are geared towards maintaining and enhancing the prospects and life chances of our own and future generations. We see ecology as the holistic concept of a life-fostering unity of nature and civilisation development."
You can see that this statement intrigued me and quite frankly,
it is very different from the messages that I was used to from other banks.
If I gave you the complete run-down of their principles, investments, customer service and more,
you’d probably get a little bored.
I highly recommend that you check out banks in your area or country and consider making a switch to a bank that has better values and visions for the future.
This is the website of the "GLS bank", which is in German because it is a German bank: https://www.gls.de/privatkunden/
This is their portrait for all English speakers:
https://www.gls.de/privatkunden/english-portrait/
And their mission statement, in English:
https://www.gls-fonds.de/fileadmin/Redakteure/mikrofinanzfonds/GLS_Missionstatement.pdf
You might be skipping past this and not bother clicking the links, but I highly recommend it!
It just proves that our world and even the financial world is not just corrupt and searching for the next big win or unethical ways to make profit.
You can make sustainable choices in every part of life, all you need to do is to educate yourself a little and look around for the newer, greener, more humane
options.
Are there any areas in life that you want to discuss the sustainability of?
Or any questions or topics you want to hear about?
Shoot me a message on my instagram @thrive_bynature 🤸🏼♂️💚
See ya next blog👋🏼
XX Stella