Since the coronation isn’t exactly sustainable for the environment or for the economy right now, we’ve got some easy sustainable ideas for your celebrations. 

Leave the plastic bunting in pound land… it will exist forever, until it degrades into micro plastics and heads into the stomachs of marine creatures… instead, decorate with fabric bunting.. organic cotton is best if you’re buying, or paper that will eventually bio degrade. Or if you’re handy, cut up some old sheets and make your own. Simplest sewing project ever. 

Rather than buy plastic trays of shop bought food, support a local caterer or deli. It will have a lower carbon footprint and support a local business.  Avoid buying mountains of food. Food waste in landfill causes methane, a green house gas more than 86 times more toxic than carbon dioxide. Make a big batch of something like chilli or tagine, fresh salads and bread. Anything uneaten can be frozen for meals later in the week. Spend the money you might have spent on donating to the local food bank.

Rent partyware rather than buying loads of plastic disposable stuff. Any thing disposable causes the hugest strain on our carbon footprint. From the processing of trees and forests being felled, to the enormous production required to turn trees into paper and card for plate, the printing and dying of the paper to be turned into a decorate plate and then packaged, probably in plastic and shipped from China, only to be binned after one use, is quite frankly, an outrage and should be banned. 

Decorate your table with foliage and flowers and candles for when the sun goes down. Pick out your favourite vintage glassware.. life’s too short to leave it on the shelf.  Use your best luxury napkins. Make flower crowns and honour your self as a resplendent and powerful king or queen in your own right.

Earlier on in the year, the amazing Shelley Loves interviewed me about Vesta and the inspiration behind it, so I thought I’d post the interview here too..

Shelley has a great blog with lots of amazing fashion tips and interviews with inspirational woman.

http://shelleyloves.net/2019/04/11/reusable-cleaning-wipes/

Daisy and I have been using these to wash our faces both morning and evening and are very impressed with them. When I have put them in the washing machine on a 30° wash any mascara, lipstick or foundation stains have washed off and they still feel just as soft. To quote Daisy, she said ‘mum, they are like washing my face with velvet.’ And I have to agree, they really are that good. Daisy likes the little face wipes I like the big baby wipes. I have also been using them in the kitchen, bathroom, and just for spillages.

 I was intrigued to find out more about the founder Bryony and why she started Vesta Living, so I wrote to her and asked if I could question her for my blog. As you would expect she was super friendly and was so happy to spread the love of reusable items over disposable.

Tell me a bit about yourself

My name is Bryony.  I live in Birmingham with my husband Max and our two boys Jasper and Robin and our cat Milly.  I’m a cusp star sign, the cusp of oscillation, which describes me quite well.  I swing from needing to get to London to soak up that crazy energy and then immediately after needing to be in nature.  I love being in water, mainly the sea, but rivers, pools and baths work well too.  I have a huge pink roll top bath I get in every night without fail. Equally, I love getting dressed up and drinking champagne with good friends in a fancy place.  Live music and singing is a passion too and the summer is my favourite season.  I adore feeling warm in the sunshine.

What inspired Vesta Living?

I had, like most people, watched Blue Planet in pure horror last year and despite trying to make some changes to our buying habits already, I knew that we couldn’t go on consuming as we once had.  I listened to a podcast where someone talked about simply starting by making replacements in house hold items from disposables to reusables.  By doing this, you could tackle one area at a time and make huge differences, without feeling overwhelmed and as though you had to be immediately perfect at Zero Waste. So buying a reusable travel coffee cup, swapping out plastic toothbrushes for biodegradable bamboo ones, plastic bags to reusable bags and disposable wipes to reusable wipes.  Simply buying products in glass over plastic and avoiding fruit and veg wrapped in plastic.  When I started to research reusable wipes, I found that there weren’t many places in the UK you could find them, at that time.  So I decided to start making and selling my own. The emphasis being on ensuring that using reusable products didn’t impact your lifestyle.

Why do you think it’s so important that we all use reusable wipes? 

Disposable wipes are a massive tax on the planet.  Most wipes are made of plastic and come in plastic packaging too.  Most wipes don’t degrade, and even the ones that do, take 20 or so years to degrade and in that time have already caused damage.  So many wipes end up in our sewer systems, they form colossal fat bergs which cost the UK £100 million to remove each year. They also shed fibres, known as micro plastics which are found in marine life and in return are in our food chain.  The whole wipes that make it out into the ocean are swallowed by marine creatures such as turtles who mistake them for jelly fish. They then sit in their stomachs, unable to be digested and slowly kill the creature.

I think we all need to start taking responsibility for our planet.  I wish retailers and large corporations would make the changes when it comes to single use plastics, but they just won’t.  So it must come down to the consumer.  And we are powerful, we make decisions about the kind of world we want to live in every time we spend our money.

What were you doing before Vesta Living?

Before Vesta Living, I was a Lingerie and Swimwear Buyer but I was made redundant whilst on maternity leave.  After that I worked for a “value” retailer with very debatable ethics and lasted 6 months or so.  After the birth of my second child, I started my own shop selling organic kids clothing and then had a couple of jobs working for local small businesses.  It’s so clear now how my past job experiences have propelled me into this role.

What impact do you want to have on the world? 

Wow… that’s a big question.

I’d like to think that where I achieve success I can bring someone along with me.  Vesta is a collaboration, of creatives, photographers, graphic designers, sewists, makers… I couldn’t do what I do without them and in turn I’d like to support them too.

But, I’d like to live a fairly low impact life.  Consuming less and experiencing more.

Have you ever seen a Konjac sponge and wondered how your skincare routine could benefit? 

Well by using it in conjunction with your cleanser, it gently exfoliates and stimulates circulation, giving you fresher, smoother looking skin. Suitable for all skin types, even sensitive skins - just wet your sponge until it is soft and massage it with your cleanser over the face in circular motions. 

Once you have used your sponge, rinse well and allow to air dry. 

Remember to replace your Konjac sponge every 4 - 6 weeks. (It is completely compostable.)

Konjac is a plant native to China, Japan and Indonesia, and the sponge is derived from the root -  also know as Konjac Corm.

Our sponges from hydrophil support sustainable consumption and ecological issues, they are water neutral, vegan and fair. So by using it you are making a conscious contribution to the responsible treatment of our environment whilst treating your skin at the same time.

Shop our sponges here: https://www.vestasustainableliving.com/shop/konjac-sponge

On the path to sustainable living, a few small changes around the home can go a long way.

By making your own eco friendly cleaning spray, you will cut down on the use of harsh chemicals and be one step closer to having a plastic free household. We compliment our re-usable wipes by using these few simple ingredients:

• White vinegar

• Purified water (Easy to do, just use freshly boiled water and allow to cool)

• A few drops of your chosen essential oils - we use Lavender, Thyme and Rosemary - they smell beautiful, but are also antibacterial.

Fill half of your container with white vinegar and then add the same amount of purified water.

Next, add your essential oils a drop at a time until you are happy with the scent. (Remember to add and mix gradually to obtain your perfect fragrance)

Give your bottle a gentle shake before each use and use with our re-usable cleaning wipes or dish scrubbie. Spray onto surface and wipe clean.

Use with our 250ml amber glass bottle.