Stephanie Marie Seferian's Blog, page 35
June 22, 2021
How to Host a (No Plastic) Party
Like to entertain but hate the overwhelm? Join the club. While it feels so right to open your home to your loved ones for dinner parties, barbecues, and holidays, being chained to the kitchen (and the dirty dishes!) feels oh, so wrong. The alternative is equally cringe-worthy: Heaps of plastic plates, cups, and cutlery in the trash?
No thanks.
This week, I speak with Repurpose founder Lauren Gropper. Lauren believes hosts and hostesses should center themselves ...
June 14, 2021
The Pandemic Versus The Planet
Why is it that, in times of fear, society reverts back to relying on single-use disposables?
COVID-19 will have lasting effects on the environmental movement. While some of such effects—like embracing forced slowness, for example—took cars off the road and reduced worldwide carbon emissions in the short-term, our propensity toward fear-based buying over the past year has littered the planet. Indeed, communities that fought long and hard to ban single-use items embraced them during the pandemic; ...
June 8, 2021
Why is Palm Oil Bad?
Palm oil: Ever hear of it? Imports of the stuff to the United States have risen a whopping 263% in the last 15 years and, these days, it’s in our toothpaste, our shampoo, our pet’s food, our makeup, and more. Palm oil is in nearly everything, and its cultivation has dire consequences for our planet.
This week, I speak with award-winning journalist and author Jocelyn Zuckerman. Jocelyn traveled to 4 continents to research the ripple effects of palm oil’s rise, and she found herself alarmed at wha...
June 1, 2021
The Lowdown on Wooden Toys
Sustainable toys provide countless benefits to both children and the planet yet, still, finding such toys can be difficult. What, exactly, makes a toy sustainable? Are wooden toys (ahem … Melissa & Doug) considered eco-friendly simply because they are made of wood?
These days, most toys are made of plastics; stuffed animals and dolls are also made of artificial (read: plastic) fibers. Through a complex chemical process, plastic toys are made from fossil fuels and eventually break into many small...
May 25, 2021
How To Be Happy In A Small Home
Choosing to live in a small home is one of the most basic ways we can both reduce our carbon footprints and curb unnecessary spending. Indeed, while living small (not necessarily tiny!) is the epitome of sustainable minimalism, it can be difficult to intentionally embrace less square footage in a culture that suggests bigger is best.
It’s a real conundrum: We revere space, but we also revere eco-simplicity. Can we have both?
On today’s show I speak with author L...
May 19, 2021
3 Products that Support Your Zero-Waste Lifestyle
A zero-waste lifestyle looks different for every person, and that’s what makes it so fun! I personally know I still have a lot to learn, but I also appreciate how far I have come on my own zero-waste journey.
I enjoy learning and sharing zero-waste lifestyle tips and tricks with others in hopes I can be an inspiration for those on their own transition to more intentional living.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of zero-waste is finding sustainab...
May 18, 2021
In Defense of Subtraction
When humans solve problems, we often overlook an incredibly powerful option: Subtraction. We add baskets and bins to solve home organization problems. We buy new clothes when we find ourselves frustrated with our wardrobes. In correspondence, we get loquacious in efforts of making our point. In design fields, we add elements to improve “flow”.
In short, addition rules.
But intentional subtraction is a powerful practice that’s rewarding, fun, and backed by science. And once we retrain our brains ...
May 12, 2021
Circular Economy Benefits
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Our “take-make-waste” economy has cost consumers billions of dollars and has cheated us out of an inhabitable planet. But it doesn’t have to be this way: embracing a circular economy will save taxpayer money, preserve resources, and lead to an estimated $4.5 trillion in economic growth.
Even better? Embracing circularity on the large sc...
May 11, 2021
Finding your Minimalist Mindset
It’s often the case that we are our own worst enemies. It’s easy to fall back into old habits and old ways of thinking—it’s too easy, in fact, to revert to what we’ve always done. Indeed, in my capacity as host of this podcast, I often hear the same struggle from you, my listeners: it’s really darn hard to both find and maintain your minimalist mindset for the long haul in a culture that glorifies consumption.
Today I’m speaking with Lauren Jones, fellow minimal...
May 4, 2021
5 Tips For An Organized Home (With Kids!)
Staying on top of tidiness can be stress-inducing, time-sucking, and never-ending. If it seems as though your home never looks or feels the way you want it, know that maintaining an organized space with kids is hard work, but it’s possible.
This week, I speak with professional organizer Elise Hay. Elise believes there’s only one way to have a tidy home with children, and that’s to have the support of each and every family member. Elise is on the show to div...
