Greener Days Prevail

Happy New Year! You may have noticed that I’ve intentionally avoided using the words ‘goals’ or ‘resolutions’ in the title. Or maybe you didn’t, but allow me to expand on that a bit more.

Setting intentions is so much more beneficial in achieving our goals as it shifts the focus from the end result and onto the journey and allows us to be present in the process. It’s a gentler approach with less pressure that sets us up for success in the long run.

So, with that in mind, here are the sustainable intentions I’ve set for myself for 2025! And because these intentions are all aligned with my values, it puts me in a better mindset to achieve them.

Prioritizing secondhand things

I used to thrift a lot when I was younger, but then fell out of it when I wasn’t getting that instant gratification of finding some sort of treasure every time I went thrifting. Once I got pregnant I started thrifting more again for things for my baby and fell in love with the whole journey of it all again. Looking back on 2024, I realized the handful of pieces I added to my wardrobe almost all came from the thrift store, which I want to carry over into 2025. My approach for this year will be whenever there’s something I want to buy myself to ask myself if I can take the time to thrift it. I’ve become much more intentional with the things I want to buy, and I actually have a 2025 thrift list post expanding on this, which I will share soon!

Continue to practice making candles

As I mentioned in my last post, my family and I tried making candles ourselves for the first time and it’s now hopefully something we can get together for every fall and do. As much as I would like to perfect the art of candle making, I know this requires heavily on the journey, so my intention is to practice more, and in time, get better at making candles. Even though our candles had some imperfections, I still have a huge smile on my face every time I light one of mine knowing I made it, it burns cleaner, and it uses an upcycled jar.

Learn more about gardening

It is so special and rewarding to be able to grow our own food, and I love the sense of connection it brings to the Earth. Whether it’s a large vegetable garden or just a small herb garden, I find it to be a huge mood booster. I’d like to achieve the former, but in order to get there the first step is to actually grasp a better understanding of gardening. My actionable steps to get me towards my bigger goal is to do the following:

1. Check my local library for books on gardening (and thrift the ones I like best to have for reference).
2. Continue to follow online creators in this field to keep me inspired (Carmen in the Garden is one of my favourites, especially because she has no formal training or a culinary background).
3. Start small. My main goal is to set up an indoor herb garden so that I can have fresh herbs all year round.

Connect with like-minded individuals

This is definitely the toughest one for me. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I struggle with putting myself out there. It’s something I’m constantly trying to work on, so a small intention I’m setting is to engage more online with similar creators. A bigger goal outside of the online community would be looking into connecting/volunteering with those within my local community who focus on the environment and sustainability as I know being physically around more like-minded individuals would be hugely beneficial for me.

So, here’s to 2025 and prioritizing intentions over just goals and resolutions! I’ll definitely reconnect with this post at the end of the year to see how I ended up approaching everything and this will hopefully hold me accountable as well. Whatever the intentions are that you have set for yourself, remember to approach them with kindness and be mindful on the journey there!