Dear Conscious Readers,

First and foremost, thank you so much for taking part in this challenge! There’s more than 100 of you, I’m so excited for our journey together and I sure hope you’ll stick around.

Of course, feel free to invite your friends, should you think that they would also have fun joining us. Each individual challenge can be achieved on its own, so they can enter the challenge any time, there’s no need to start from the beginning (even though the difficulty of the challenges might increase over time).

I’m not a fan of sensationalist announcements and I'm really bad at remembering numbers and statistics, so I might just suggest switches that make me feel like I'm doing something good, either for myself (consciousness, health, money) or for the planet (avoid sending trash to the landfill, pollution, unsustainable practices).

But, enough said, let’s dive into it!

ZWswitchallenge #1 - Switch to a reusable bag

I watched a video just this morning that perfectly illustrates the problem of plastic. And the one aspect I want to focus on today is: it never goes away and will eventually finish in the landfill or in the rivers and oceans. You can watch this video or read these simple facts if you want to learn more about this subject.

Many of you might already do this, or live in countries where they have already had to switch to a reusable alternative, but let's start with an easy one: Switch to a reusable bag.

I personally use on a regular basis:

- My fruits & veggies bag
I wanted a big versatile bag where I could put my fruits and veggies without squashing them when I go grocery shopping.

- My grocery bag
I screen printed this one at an event in LA 2 years ago. It is resistant enough to hold my mason jars when I go grocery shopping and has a little zipper pocket where I can put my pen (to write the tare on containers), my cardholder, and my phone.

- My to-go bag
I got it for free with a magazine subscription and was designed by a friend of mine. I keep it in my car and it always contains a 16 oz mason jar with a sleeve and stainless steel drink top for tea or coffee, my stainless steel chopsticks, a 24 oz mason jar for juice, 2 stainless steel straws (regular size and fat one for bubble tea), a stainless steel box where I can put leftovers if I go to a restaurant, a cloth bag for cookies or pastries and cloth napkins.

This sounds like a lot, but let's just focus on the bag for now, we'll study what I put into it later (one step at a time!).

Now have fun with it! You can find many designy and convenient ones everywhere. Of course, my favorite is the one pictured above, made by my forager and natural-dyer friend Kristin but I'm sure you all have a least one tote bag at home, from an event or even that you bought and then forgot about. You can even make your own out of scrap fabric or an old t-shirt! Just dig it out and put it in a convenient place: in your car, by the door, in your purse so that it's within reach when you'll need it.

Please share pictures of your reusable bags on social media and don't forget to use #ZWswitchallenge so we can all follow each other's progress. I can't wait to see your reusable bags.

Consciously,

Chloé