Would you like to be part of an eco-conscious community for sustainability and make donations for free? You can do it with an app: abillion. How does it work? Every time you eat a vegan meal at any restaurant, try a vegan product like packaged food or cruelty-free cosmetics, add a photo of it and write a short review on the app and abillion will donate US $1 to an impactful lifesaving cause of your choice! Also, abillion helps you find vegan and sustainable options anywhere and plan your next meal, when you travel, wherever you are. You can find vegan dishes near you (even at a steakhouse) and filter results…
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Where do balloons go when they fly away?
Colored balloons are so beautiful, especially those inflated with helium! Yes, they are beautiful, but they are dangerous as well and unfortunately most people are unaware of it. The pollution caused by balloons is a growing problem with deadly consequences. Although it can be totally preventable, millions of balloons are intentionally released in the environment every year. What happens to balloons once they are released? Where do they go? Actually, they don’t disappear: sooner or later they return to Earth as litter. Since they are light and made of quite resistant plastic, they can fly for hundreds or even thousands of miles and land anywhere, they pollute the most remote…
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Etsy, the e-commerce that supports the environment
Something is finally changing: more and more companies around the world are becoming aware of the environmental problems and many of these have already lined up on the side of those who want to do something to save our beautiful planet. Etsy is one of them! I am particularly fond of this platform because I am part of it, with my eco-friendly creations. What is Etsy? Etsy is the global marketplace for handmade, unique and original items, and vintage treasures. It’s home to a world of creatives, the place where the slow and meticulous work of craftsmen has a great value and where all those objects of the past may have a new…
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DIY: how to make zero waste decorations for Christmas!
Last year for the first time I decorated my own Christmas tree and I loved playing with creativity, making beautiful handmade decorations. Since they had great success among the people who have seen them, today I share my tutorial with you, and I recommend to do this activity with children in the coming days of vacation, to train manual skills and have fun together. Here is the good news: you don’t need to buy anything! In fact, we will only use recycled materials, broken or surplus items that everyone has at home. What do we need? The necessary materials are: cardboard tubes from the inside of the finished rolls of…
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Zero Waste Tips: the Menstrual Cup
The first zero waste change I adopted, more than four years ago, when I had never even heard of the term “zero waste”, was buying a menstrual cup. At the beginning I was very perplexed and worried, fearing that it was too difficult to use, but the positive experiences of my friends convinced me to try it. I still thank Sara for making me discover this simple invention that has changed my life for the better! Unlike what many people think, this menstrual cup is not a new product on the market: the first patent dates back to 1932! But only in the ’80s it became more popular worldwide, because…
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Lush Naked Shop
Milan… Milan is a big city, you drink, you eat and… you get naked! No, we are not crazy, but we decided to join the #NakedRevolution not stripping our clothes, but getting rid of the useless packaging. How? Opening the first Lush Naked Shop in the world! The store is located in via Torino 42 in Milan, and was inaugurated on June 1st 2018, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the brand in Italy. What’s different with the other Lush stores? Well, this is the first to challenge the current state of the cosmetic industry, offering a wide range of products exclusively naked, solid and free of any…
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How to save the Oceans
Summer: time for holidays, sea, relax and fun. Also, time to stop, observe and reflect. This year I’ve been lucky enough to spend part of my time in a place not far from the sea, so I could start taking the first walks on the beach between April and May, when the shore is still not constantly cleaned up by the lifeguards. What I found was a plastic beach: trash at every step. When I was a child, I used to collect shells and pebbles on the beach; today’s children will find almost only plastic pieces, cotton buds, cigarette butts… Plastic is choking our oceans, hurting animals and our own…
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Earth Overshoot Day: a planet is not enough
Today, August 1st, is the so-called Overshoot Day which means that we have already depleted the renewable resources of our planet for the year. This date comes every year earlier because we consume our natural resources faster than the time the Earth needs to regenerate them, while our consumption keeps rising. According to the studies of the Global Footprint Network experts, at the moment we would need 1.7 Earths to meet our needs. My country, Italy, is the 56th in the ranking of the most voracious of natural resources: if everyone lived like my people, 2.6 planets would be needed to feed the world. We can’t keep living like this,…
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DIY: how to create handmade recycled paper
Paper is such a common material in our daily life that we do not pay any attention to it, even though we use it continuously during the day. On average, 300 million tons of paper are used worldwide each year. Throughout history, it has been the instrument that allowed men to preserve the cultural heritage of humanity: the most famous literary works were written on paper, as well as artists’ drawings and scientists’ calculations that led to great discoveries. Until a few decades ago, it was the only medium we used to store our memory. In the past, for centuries, paper was made using mainly rags of linen, hemp and…
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Zero Waste Tips: reusable bottles in stainless steel
How often, strolling around the city, the countryside or the beach, do you happen to see plastic bottles left on the ground? Have you ever been caught by a sudden thirst while you were away from home and you had to buy a (too expensive) drink in a pub or bar? Then I imagine you threw the bottle or can (in a trash bin, hopefully) immediately after its first, and only use. Or again, how many times have you forgotten a bottle of water in the car, hit by the sun, and you noticed that it had changed its flavor? Every time I leave home, I bring something to drink…
