Living sustainably might seem too hard and expensive for busy families. But that’s not the case according to sustainability guru LOTTIE DALZIEL. She shares some easy wins for families to save money and the planet from her new book.
When Lottie Dalziel was tasked with living like Mark Wahlberg for a week in her journalism job, it led to surprising life changes.
She soon realised she couldn’t meditate for an hour and a half, or work out for two hours like he did, so she decided to start working on her long list of New Year’s resolutions. One of which was doing better by the planet.
“I was starting to see those scary news headlines like – there’ll be more plastic than fish in the sea, or that 40 percent of animals are going to be extinct by 2050. But there was no actionable advice for people,” she says.
So she started small, researching reusable straws for her smoothie. A quick Google search revealed various options, from silicon to pasta straws. Then, after hours of research, her new stainless steel straws arrived in the post – but individually wrapped in plastic.
“I’d just been completely greenwashed. So that was my turning point for going: if we want people to live more sustainably, it needs to be so easy that there’s no reason for them not to.”
So, she put her journalistic skills to work and created Banish.com.au, an educational platform to help people live more sustainably. She has also just released her book 365+ Ways to Save the Planet and Your Money At The Same Time to help people find easy ways to live more sustainably.
She shares her tips for families to save money and the planet.
Rethink birthday parties
Lottie says kids’ birthdays, parties and events often come with excessive waste and unnecessary spending, and we need to rethink them.
She recently attended a first birthday party, where everyone was asked to bring a book they had loved as a child as their gift.
“We all wrote messages on the inside so that now this child will have all these lovely books as they’re growing up. I went to a second-hand bookshop for mine because I knew that was where I was going to find lots of those old books that I loved so much.”
Lottie says another family offers their kids a ‘yes day’ for their birthday, in which the child designs their day.
“So one kid who’s really outgoing wanted a party and to do all these things, while another really wanted to just go to the airport and watch the planes.
“It means you’re not investing a lot of money in expensive presents that you don’t know if they’re going to enjoy or not.”
Lottie also suggests ditching the party bags and to do things like getting kids to decorate their own birthday plates (in line with the current TikTok trend) instead. They can then take these home and use them over and over again.
Shop the supermarket perimeter
Tackling food waste can be tricky when you’ve got fussy eaters on your hands, but the trick is to plan out meals and be as organised as possible so you don’t buy quick, easy food wrapped in plastic at the last minute.
“When you’re going to the supermarket, the healthiest and often cheapest way to do it is to browse the perimeter. Go into the fruit and veg section and then stick to the outside to get your dairy. But you’re avoiding those plastic packaged foods which will come at a cost,” Lottie says.
She also recommends having a “use me up first” container in the fridge and storing things like herbs and leafy greens in damp paper towels or tea towels to keep them fresher for longer.
Learn to share
With constantly growing kids on your hands, find families you can swap clothes with or pass clothes on to.
“One of my favourite things is toy libraries,” Lottie says.
“I remember using a Toy Library when I was a kid and just how much fun it was to go and choose a couple of toys that you were going to use for a period of time and then return for somebody else to use.”
Shift the focus to building memories
Lottie says there can be lots of pressure to do extravagant things with our families, to go on big holidays and take part in expensive activities. But sometimes, we miss the point of doing these things.
“The biggest thing we all need to remember is to create memories – it’s a big mantra that I have. It’s about romanticising your weekends or your life – this could be from a holiday perspective, but also just in general when you’ve got a spare couple of hours on a weekend. Use those to create a memory.”
She suggests having a picnic at an extravagant spot instead of just catching up with friends at home. Give gifts that are handmade or in handmade wrapping paper. Or gift muffins the kids had a great time making, but that didn’t quite work out.
“There is so much innovation in this space, but it really is just remembering what our grandparents did. Some of my fondest memories with my grandparents are doing things like making scones with my Grandma or helping my Grandpa do the compost. I can’t really remember what they gave me as presents, but I do remember the experiences we had.”
Involve your kids in the journey – including decluttering
“One of my favourite things is to get the kids involved and explain why you are decluttering their room,” Lottie says.
Talk about why these items aren’t helpful to your family anymore and emphasise another person loving those toys or benefiting from those clothes.
“Explain the importance of being mindful of what they’re consuming and help them to understand that your trash could be somebody else’s treasure,” she says.
This could mean passing items on to someone else, to charity, or helping the child sell to sell them second-hand.
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