The Liz Moody Podcast - Lauren Singer—How To Feel Empowered (Not Depressed) About The Environment, Simple Ways To Go Low Waste & Creating A Career For Good

Episode Date: October 30, 2019

My guest today is Lauren Singer, the woman behind the blog and Instagram handle Trash Is For Tossers and the founder of the Package Free Shop. Lauren first gained notoriety when she started living a zero waste life, and was featured on the Today Show, CNN, The Guardian, and more (she even gave a Ted talk!). Now, she’s the successful business woman behind the mega-successful Package Free Shop, which has a brick and mortar store in Brooklyn and an online store, and is the home to everything you need to cut back on waste in your life, from menstrual cups to beeswax wraps to bar shampoo to metal straws. I’m gonna be honest: while I care deeply about the environment, I wouldn’t normally listen to a podcast about it, simply because I find the subject so depressing, mostly because I feel like there’s so little I can do that actually makes a real difference on a national or global level. But I promise—this episode is not depressing AT ALL. It’s truly so empowering—you’ll come away juiced and feeling positive about the direction of the world. It’s a great episode if you’re looking to live a lower waste life, but it’s also a great one if you’re interested in living a more conscious life, or working at a job that you feel represents your values and makes the world a better place. We get into Lauren’s career path, her advice for other social entrepreneurs, and how she grew a business for good. We also talk about her personal life: what she does for self care, what she eats in a day, how she combats hormonal depression, and more. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, so please share them—I’m @lizmoody on Instagram and Lauren is @trashisfortossers. We can’t wait to continue the conversation! Enjoy! PS: Healthier Together is officially a number one best-seller! You can get your copy right here or at lizmoody.com/cookbook. Please keep sending me your creations on Instagram—they make me so happy! This episode is sponsored by Better Help, an online therapy platform that I use and love. On their website, you answer a few questions and are matched with a licensed, professional therapist, who you can be chatting with within 24 hours. You can also schedule weekly video or phone sessions, so you have multiple ways to have therapy in a way that’s convenient for you. Join over 500,000 people using the super affordable serving worldwide by using the link betterhelp.com/healthiertogether to get 10% off your first month of service. It’s changed my mental health and I truly hope it helps you! This episode is also sponsored by Skinny Dipped almonds, which I’m 100% obsessed with. They’re roasted almonds with a super thin layer of chocolate, and they also have a coating of maple syrup and sea salt that gives them a sweet & salty quality that’s utterly addictive. They’re gluten free, made from mostly organic ingredients, and come in amazing flavors—you must try the Peppermint ones, or the Peanut Butter (but also Zack loves the Espresso and the Mint ones so you can’t really go wrong—follow your heart). They’re perfect for when you want a sweet healthy treat (after all, you’re mostly eating almonds!!). They’re truly one of my favorite snacks, and I can’t wait for you to try them. Get 20% off your order using the code “healthiertogether” on skinnydipped.com. Healthier Together cover art by Zack. Healthier Together music by Alex Ruimy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, friends, and welcome back to the healthier together podcast. Boy, do I have a show for you today? This is one of my favorites ever. It is so empowering and motivating, and it's just one of those ones that I've not only been thinking about since the interview, but I've actually been inspired to make real positive changes in my life. My guest today is the amazing Lauren Singer, who is the woman behind the blog and Instagram handle Trashes for Tossers and the founder of the Parenthooders and the founder of

the package-free shop. Lauren first gained notoriety when she started living a zero-waste life years ago. I remember seeing her on some national TV show almost a decade ago, I feel like, and she was talking about how all of the trash in her life fit into a single mason jar. She inspired a ton of people back then, and she was all over the media. She even gave a TED talk, which is so cool, but I think it's even more fascinating and inspiring how she's evolved her ideals in her business since then. She started a non-toxic laundry detergent company, and then she founded the mega successful package-free shop, which has a brick and mortar store in Brooklyn and an online store, and is the home to absolutely everything you need to cut back on waste in your life, from menstrual

cups to beeswax wraps, to bar shampoo, to metal straws. When I talked to her, she had just raised a $5 million round to expand her business, which, as we talked about in this episode, means making a life that's good for the environment and your body accessible to absolutely everyone, no matter how much money they have or where they live. So basically, she's a powerhouse business lady who is saving our bodies and the environment. No big deal. Nope, nope, nothing. I'm going to be honest. While I care deeply about the environment, I wouldn't normally listen to a podcast about it, simply because I find the subject, I don't know, like kind of depressing, mostly because I feel like there's so little that I can actually do that makes a real

difference on a national level or a global level. But I promise this episode is not depressing at all. This is an episode that I would listen to and I'm very sensitive about these types of things. It's truly so empowering. You'll come away juiced and feeling positive about the direction of the world. And Lauren actually did a ton to combat my fear about the environment and the direction that everything is going. So thank you, Lauren. I appreciate that. It's a great episode if you're looking to live a lower waste life, but it's also a great one if you're interested in living a more conscious life generally or working at a job that you feel like represents your values and makes the world a better place. We get into Lauren's career path, her advice for other social entrepreneurs,

and how she grew her business for good. And I just think that's so, it's such an inspiring story that you can do your work, but also be contributing to something so important to the world on top of that. And then, because this is the Healthier Together podcast, we also talk about hormonal depression, and we talk about vibrators, and we talk about chin hairs, and we talk about why a low-waste lifestyle can help you find a date. Yes, really. You get to know Lauren the person, Lauren the badass entrepreneur,

Lauren the empowering friend who will make you want to live a more meaningful and impactful life. Oh, oh my gosh. I don't know. I'm just so excited for you to hear this one truly. I can't wait to hear your thought, so please share them. I'm at Liz Moody on Instagram and Lauren is at Trashes for Tossers. And you can also find a ton of low-waste lifestyle tips at Trashesfor Tossers.com and all of the products you need to enable low-waste life at package-free shop,

One teeny tiny note, we recorded this episode in a conference room at Lauren's office, and our whole company was still hard at work right outside the door to the conference room. We did our best to edit everything out, and it should sound awesome, but I'm a perfectionist, so I feel the need to apologize for any tiny background sounds that might sneak through. Lauren is a busy CEO, and this is just something that comes with the territory. Also, super quick reminder, I am still doing giveaways as a little thank you. for listening to the podcast and for leaving a review. To enter, you just leave a rating and a review on iTunes,

and then you screenshot it and share it on Insta, and you tag me at Liz Moody. I'll be picking a few people every month to send a care package to of my favorite non-toxic beauty products, healthy foods, cookbooks. It's really just a little way for me to thank you and to show you that I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and to leave a review. I truly read every single one, and I am so touched by them.

There was a woman recently who shared that listening to the podcast was this huge part of her healing process after getting a concussion. And it was just so beautiful. If you're listening, thank you for sharing that with me. And I feel so honored to have even been a teeny, teeny, tiny part of your healing process. And I'm sending you so many positive vibes. So thank you, thank you, thank you. This is just a little thing I'm going to try to do as a way to say thank you to all of you.

So I'm going to try to do as many as I can, absolutely as many as I can. absolutely as many as I can. If you don't win one month, you might get picked the next month or the month after. You just have to do one rating, one review, screenshot it one time and share on Instagram and tag me at Liz Moody so I can see that you've done it and know who you are so I can contact you. And then you are forever entered. All right, that was enough from me. Let's get in to the episode. All right, we're sitting in the office room of Lauren's incredible office. I feel like you're a very serious business lady. It's like we have a whole whiteboard situation and a sad dog.

We're painting a great picture. It's really impressive. Okay. So I want to kick off with a bet that we made last time I saw you, which was who was going to be the first person to go public about a certain thing. Do you remember this bet? No. Okay. Well, I thought it would be a really nice kickoff to the podcast for us both to go public.

To be fair, we drink a lot of water. At the same time, about a weird place on one's body that they found strange hairs. Weird. Do you remember this? The first person to go public about that. Yeah, it was going to be whoever posts on their Instagram first would be the winner. Did you do it? No, I didn't do it, but I thought the podcast we could, like, come out together.

I plucked a chin hair the other day. I mean, I pluck a chin hair like every day. It's something I think that women don't talk about almost ever. Like, I feel like I pluck three to four nipple hairs. I think the girl we were with, I shan out her, but she like... Lucky her. She's like, I've never had a nipple hair. What is this?

But I definitely have experienced... She was like she was lying. Yeah. I mean, I think anybody who says they don't find weird hairs on their body is definitely lying. Unless they're like real blonde or... But then it's still there. Or like those people that are really actually very hairless, which exist. Like seals?

Yeah, like seal people. Seal people. I am not one of those people. I'm an Eastern European Jewish. You're very well groomed though. Like I'm always, I think it's so, you say it in an interview that you say it. You said in an interview is four products. Is that still true?

Yeah. So, I mean, my routine is really simple. I use this like tea tree charcoal bar soap that we sell at package free, a moisturizer, like oil that we sell here. and then a shampoo product and then I'll use like a spot treatment when I break out, which over the past few months has been like pretty often. Really? Your skin looks bananas good.

Thanks. That's really nice. Yeah. Because I've not been good to my body the past few weeks. What does that mean? I think just like post fundraise going out and trying to like all of a sudden be in this new world where people want to meet you and talk to you and are interested in you not as like the girl with a jar of trash, but like a girl.

that raised $5 million to grow and scale her business. Which is incredible. A really exciting time. But then I didn't realize the like time that that would take from my life. And I'm such an introverted person. And I love being alone and at home and like doing like personal things for myself. So it's been like a really interesting transition. And so I'm finding new ways to like incorporate self care into my routine.

So what's the stuff you have to like go out and do just for people who haven't say race, $5 million for their company and don't know what you're talking about. And then what's the stuff you do at home to recharge? So, I mean, it's, it's kind of the most exciting time of my life. And I feel like, even though I'm not sleeping as much, like, I'm sleeping less than I have in my entire life and, like, eating worse or drinking more. Like, I feel like I'm building. And I feel like that's such an exciting energy that I'm so grateful to be riding. It's a really new experience for me. So I just meet, like, so many different people from, like, nonprofits. or from venture capital or other business owners.

And it's just a really, I mean, business is amazing in general because it's like all these people who are riding this like building energy wave. And I feel like really grateful to be a part of it in my own small little weird way. And so to kind of recharge, I mean, I have my routine things that I can't ever stray from, which are, you know, taking my compost to the farmer's market every Saturday, walking, Rose, my dog, who does look very sad right now. She has, like, resting sad or skeptical. Yeah.

I feel like she's both skeptical and sad that she's, like, not playing with other dogs right now. Oh, hard life. And she'll look at you in the eye, like, dead stare. No expression. Like, she just, yeah, she's a very special bird. What else? I mean, I try to get a massage once a week. That really helps.

And then grocery shopping, I've been a lot worse at making food for myself. I've been pretty bad at. Yeah, that's something I wanted to talk to you about for sure is because I feel like you've dispelled the notion in other interviews and stuff I've read with you that being zero waste is something that's for like the privileged elite. But it does to me. And maybe you could touch on that again here for people who still think it's like for Guineathra and good people.

But it feels like something that requires a lot of time. Like I always, before I go to the airport, for instance, every single time, I'm like, I'm going to pack my own food. I'm going to do it. And every time I run out of time. And then I end up buying some sort of shitty sweet green salad or not that the sweet green salad is shitty sweet. Sweet green salad is shitty. Or buying like something at the airport or something like that. I just feel like I run.

I have the best intentions. I run out of time. For me, I mean, it's taken me. I'm still learning and growing every day, but for me, there's, like, certain things that I prioritize and the food that I eat, like, I would rather not eat than eat something that's, like, processed or shitty. Yeah. And so for me, like, prioritizing time for airport food is, like, one of those things that I,

you just, I just, I have to, yeah. Or I just won't eat, and I'll, like, drink a lot of water. And I really, like, I think that's one of the reasons that I have the energy to, like, be in this place in my life that I'm in because I just. don't sacrifice on, like, eating junk and, like, wasting packaging, making trash, eating processed food, supporting industries that I don't like. I think food is one of those things that because I am so strict about, like, the quality that I'll consume and, like, eating fresh food, I think that keeps me alive in, like, a time where I should feel, like, a lot of, like, I should feel really

shitty. Have you ever run into situations, like, where you can't actually. not eat for any longer and you have to compromise in some way or no? I haven't really had to compromise. I mean, I think one, a lot of people confuse dehydration and hunger a lot. Yeah, and I try to stay hydrated. It's like, I've been like not great at it lately, but, um, no, I'm usually pretty good. Like, I think about my week, what my schedule is, when I'll be able to eat. If I'm out for the day, I like try to have snacks or like plan something. So I, you know, before I was living this lifestyle, I was kind of like living by the seat of my pants and like eating whatever I had time or doing whatever. And I think now, I mean, it's been such a long time,

but I really do try to think a little bit more and plan a little bit more. And of course, like things happen where like food gets delivered when I'm recording something or whatever. But I try really hard to think about at least like eating as a priority. Do you do like a meal prep or something on? It depends. I mean, honestly, the past two years of starting this company has really changed my routines. And I think getting a dog has also changed my routines a lot because I can't. How long ago did you get her? I got her like a year ago, a little less than a year ago. But it's taken me time to build new routines around having her. So like I can't go to yoga

right after work anymore because there's nowhere for me to drop rows. So I have to go home. And by the time I go home, I'm like, actually, I don't really want to go to yoga. Like, you know, those types of things are going. Grocery shopping is a little harder. But I do try to meal prep at least for like the earlier half of the week. Sometimes it's harder than others. But, you know, making like big pots of rice and having vegetables and like prepping food.

So at least it's like the lowest hanging fruit. If I don't have anything prepared, it's like. Like I have some cut broccoli and like some rice ready. So I asked for questions and we'll get to the questions that people had online. But so many people were curious what you actually eat. They're like and not and it's weird because your diet isn't restrictive. It's not like you're like, oh, I zero weight shouldn't limit the types of food you can eat outside of packaged food. Yeah.

No. And it does. I mean, I wrote about this on my Instagram like pretty recently. But when I was in high school, found food was a really great. tool for me to combat some depression that I had. I realized that I was eating really poorly and by changing my food habits. It actually helped my mental state a lot. And since that point, I've always prioritized food as something that is kind of a non-negotiable as far as compromising on. But I eat really simply. And I think it's one, just because I like simple, clean food, and two,

because it's easy and fits my lifestyle. Three, it's like perfectly aligned with low-waste living. So I'll mostly eat, like, rice with vegetables, or I'll eat pasta with vegetables. Okay, so that's, like, dinner. What would be, like, a breakfast situation? I don't eat breakfast. I drink coffee in the morning, and then I don't really eat until, like, 12-1-2. Okay, and then that'll be, like, the pasta or...

Or, like, I know, like, today's a day that I didn't bring food, so there's, like, a vegan place a couple blocks away where I got a burrito that comes wrapped in paper, which I compost. So do you have like a running list in your head of all the places that? Yeah, 100%. Okay. You know everywhere. And do you recommend if other people wanted to like be able to eat out but do lower waste that they just sort of call places and figure out?

I think we live in a time where like human interaction isn't at its peak like interpersonal or in person or just like communication isn't at its peak in terms of like calling someone or asking someone a question to their face. But I think it's like, you can call a restaurant and be like, hey, I really want to eat from you, but I don't want to use plastic. Can I can you, do you guys have the capacity or could you make an exception and do something without plastic for me? And usually they're like, yeah, that's dope. But, you know, sometimes people just forget that that's an option. Like asking for what you want is really easy. Yeah. I, love the idea of using it as a way to to have a little bit more human connection in our lives

because I feel like that's like one of my biggest things. I believe we're in like an epidemic of loneliness time and and all of that. Have you, you said that you were sort of had a bout with depression when you were younger and then you changed your eating habits. Have you had any other sort of mental health struggles as you've, especially like I'm thinking now with this huge change that you're sort of dealing with in your life? I mean, one, hormonal depression happens to me like every month. I think it happens to a lot of menstruating people. And it's something that I've learned is just like a part of my monthly routine. And like, you know, I track my period and it's my favorite app that I have. Which one do? I just use one that's

called period. Straight forward. It's very on the nose. But, you know, when I'm feeling a certain way or I'm like really sad or feeling just like really upset with a lot of things. I can look at the app and be like, okay, it's three days before my period. I know that this is a part of my process. And being, instead of like fighting against my emotions, which I used to do when I was younger, like understanding my emotional like peaks and valleys has been a really amazing way for me to just like accept that I'm a dynamic person emotionally and love that sometimes. I feel less happy than other times. And it also is like a really creative time for me. It's like a really reflective time for me. So learning how to work with that as opposed to against it has been

like a very large, I guess positive in my life. So what will if you're feeling like a little me, you check period and it's like your period's coming up. Will you change your lifestyle on those days in sort of concrete, pragmatic ways? Definitely. So one thing that I do is, if I'm in a relationship, I'm very proactive about letting people know that that's the place that I'm in. I think it's a really kind thing to do when you're in a partnership. It's just be like, hey, you know, I'm at this place in my month where, like, I'm feeling a little bit lower and maybe I need a little bit more alone in time and I just wanted to make you aware. I found that that's been really helpful in relationships because some months it's like, I hardly even feel anything at all. And then some months I just like get really low.

and it's only a couple of days, but I think making people that are vulnerable to, like, my highs and lows, aware is just has been really great. Will you do that at the office as well? It doesn't affect work. It doesn't affect work, but it would definitely affect, like, an interpersonal relationship. I think work is, like, a very, like, I'm very just focused. There's goals, but with, like, interpersonal relationships, when you kind of let down that work barrier, sometimes, like, someone can say the wrong thing or just be there

when you don't want them to be there. And I think for me, the biggest thing is when I'm feeling low, I just need to be alone. And just making that aware or making that known to a partner and just saying, like, I just need this time by myself. And like, thank you for giving me the space to take it. Yeah. Have you ever had a partner be like, I feel like guys and maybe I'm, I'm totally stereotyping here. But whenever I tell Zach that I have a problem, he's like, okay, let me figure out how to fix it.

And if I was just like, no, no, I just need to be alone. He'd be like, well, okay, but have you tried this? Or could I do this? I'm definitely, like, the kind of person that does that. I'm such a, because I think business makes you really driven towards solutions. And, like, sometimes people just want to bitch or, like, be alone. And, you know, like men, women, everyone. And I've tried to learn how to, like, just listen instead of, like, try to give advice

and solutions for every single time someone comes to me. It's really, really hard. It's really, really hard. It's because you. It's almost like you're like, yeah, I hear you. And you can even say, and I think literally saying the words, I hear you is such, like, whenever somebody says this to me, I just feel like full body, like a wave of relief. Yeah, or like, that's really shitty. You're like, oh, my God.

Oh, my God. That's really shitty is the best thing somebody can say to you. Yeah. And I think it, because there's not a lot of solutions to a lot of things. And even if there is, like, someone has to be in a place to receive that. Yeah. And when you're feeling low, that's usually not the time. Well, and there's also like the implication.

I've been thinking by this a lot that like, oh, if I've had this huge problem and it's making me really down and I tell it to you and then you're just like, solution, solution, it's like, oh, in five and a half seconds, you were able to solve my problem. I'm like, if it's a big problem, that's probably not the case. Yeah, it's a little like belittling to the gravity of the problem. It like trivializes something that makes someone feel something very real. Yeah, for sure. Do you, speaking of things that are big and overwhelming, when you, I think one of the

the hardest things for me about the environment is how depressing I find it when I think about it and mass. How do you combat that? I mean, I studied environmental science and it was so depressing. Do they just tell you, like, here's all the reasons the world is fucked? I mean, yes and no. I mean, you learn about systems and how nature works and how the earth. needs to find balance and how anthropogenic triggers are changing the way the earth finds its like stasis. And it can, yeah, it feels really sad sometimes. But I think it felt the most sad to me when I felt like I was learning about all of these

things and had no control over doing anything about it. And I think that was because of the vantage point that I was using to look at all of these problem. So I looked at environmental stability as something that like other people were impacting. So like big businesses and governments and I would just like otherize all of these problems and be like, I'm so depressed because everyone's making these terrible decisions. And I have no ability to do anything about it except for use my voice in protest or activism. And I think activism is amazing. But it's one of those things that if there's no tangible ask, it can be very overwhelming and cause paralysis in a lot of ways.

But I think anything that's driven by fear can do that. And so when I started living a zero waste lifestyle and internalizing, like, wait, I'm not separate from the system. I'm a part of the system. And my daily actions contribute to what the world looks like, even if it's just in a small way. Creating that shift and like looking at myself and being introspective and then finding ways to align my day-to-day actions with my values for how I wanted the world to look,

kind of took that fear away and instilled me with power. And I think that's the power that's motivated me and pushed me to do all of the things that I've done over the past, I don't know, eight years. So start my blog and change my consumption habits and start my first company and then start my second company. It's all based on being introspective and realizing that I do as an individual, as we all do, have the power to create positive environmental impact if we choose to do so. So what would you say, like, when you say that I'm like so inspired, but I know in my day-to-day life, I still feel like when I recycle or when I, you know, bring my tote to the grocery store or stuff like that, I'm just like, this is such a drop in the bucket compared to what the oil

companies are doing. For sure. And it may, I find it really frustrating, particularly with how the climate sort of being dealt with on a governmental level. I think every positive change is positive. So using your toe bag and not using a plastic bag seems small, but you're not subsidizing an industry that is so powerful and so large. So like even though it is a tiny drop in the bucket, it has a positive impact. And so I try to celebrate those little wins. And then I also like to think about, okay, now that I have this awareness that I want to do something about environmental sustainability, about climate change, how can I apply that mentality to what I'm already doing in my everyday life to create impact in the things that interest me? And I think, you know, like talking to me

and raising awareness is like one of those ways. So it doesn't have to be like a directly tangible thing. I think the thing that I focus on is like if you know that there's a problem, how can you use your voice to do something about it every day, even if it's in a tiny little way. Well, and I think what's interesting about you is you, you sort of started in a tiny way, and now it's this, you know, major company that has the potential to really shift paradigms. And I think that's really cool. So I'd love to talk a little bit about how you became sort of an entrepreneur for good. When you started, actually, can you just really fast? Don't spend too much time on it, but tell us you're like, who's in NYU and some girl came in at the class of bag? I mean, really for me,

it comes down to realizing that I needed to live my values. And I think we, you know, I was raised in a way where I was always thinking about how other people felt and how to treat or not treat other people, but never to ask myself, what do I want, how do I want to be treated? What makes me happy? And what do I want to contribute to the world? And that's kind of the shift that I had when I was in college. So studied environmental science at NYU, but was very much. pushed into doing that through reading Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring, which is about the effects of DDT on bird populations, humans, and the environment. It was my first realization that

human beings have the capacity. The only creatures really on Earth that have the capacity to alter or destroy the planet for everything else that lives here. And that made me feel a lot of fear of just like the human species, but also a lot of power as an individual because some of the most catastrophic things that have happened on the planet are a result of decisions of a few people, right? And if you could be one of those few people to do something bad, maybe you could be one of a few people to do something really good. Oh my God, that's a profound thought. That's an act like you can keep going one second. Can you just repeat that? Because that's like a profound thought, actually. It just like the idea that if you think, yeah, if you think about

some of the most negative, scary things in the world, it's been just a few people. And the fact that as a single person, I do think people can feel really disempowered, but the fact that any person could have that type of outside impact. Yeah, I think we have the choice to do bad things or good things every day. And, you know, some people more than others have that power. But everyone had to start somewhere. And I think if you recognize that you have the ability to do good or bad, then you can start focusing on ways that you can do good. Were you raised in an environmentally conscious household whatsoever? Not at all.

Not at all. I was raised in a household that I had where I had the freedom to explore, which I think has given me a lot of space to, like, come to my own conclusions about life and, and be open to learning about a lot of different things. Are you an only child? No. I have had, I have siblings and have had many, like, step siblings in my life. I've moved around a lot. But I was always given the freedom to change my mind and do. things, quit things when I didn't like it. What are your parents, like what sort of world are your

parents in career-wise? My dad is a doctor. Okay. So he's highly intelligent. Just like a general practice. He's a radiologist and mammographer, so he focuses on breast cancer. Oh, wow. Not an easy job. No. And my mom is one of the most, like, creatively inspiring people I've ever met. And also just like very free in in how she lives her life. So she doesn't do things that don't make her happy. She's highly entrepreneurial, has started many businesses, incredibly creative. Right now she's, she owns and runs a really successful interior design business. But she's kind of always instilled in me this concept that like if there's nothing in life except for death that's permanent.

So you have to do the things that make you happy, you know, like you have one life to live go. And that's given me a lot of freedom to change my mind and make choices that make me happy and align with my values. You're listening to the Healthier Together podcast. Oh my gosh, I am so excited to share today's sponsor with you. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I am absolutely addicted to skinny-dipped almonds. I remember the first time I tried them years ago when I had a full-time editorial job. I looked at the package and I was like, eh, they're chocolate-covered almonds. what's the big deal? I've had chocolate covered almonds like a zillion times in my life.

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I didn't know what I wanted to do. Really had no direction in life at all when I was 18. I was just like very in in 18 as most 18 year olds are. I did my first year of college in Paris. So it was kind of like your first year? Like as a study abroad? NYU has this program where you can go abroad your first year. That's so interesting.

When I was in high school, I wanted to like travel and visit new places. Yeah. And so going abroad my first year was like my way to be free and explorative. So I was like, yes. Was it awesome? It was amazing. Yeah. And so it was like a very general liberal arts kind of thing. So I came back and I was like, I guess I have to do something now. So I tried for journalism, hated it. It was just like awful for me. What was awful about it? I just didn't care. Like I've never been the kind of person that does things that I don't want to do. And I think my mom has very much enabled me for that for better or for worse. I think it's always been for better in the long run. So journalism wasn't for me.

Ended up looking into economics, learned about the housing bubble. And I was like, nope, cannot. I'm like, I cannot spend the next three years of my life learning about huge, terrible mistakes of other people, like, can't do it. Although objectively, environmental science is very much centered on that same thing, but different. And I was in an environmental science class. And it was the only class that I was like front and center for, so excited. excited about, like, loved learning about. And I was like feeling it from, you know, when you get excited about something and you, like, feel it from your chest. It was like really that energy.

And it was like, what am I doing? I don't care about like future job prospects or whatever. Like, this is really interesting. So I'm just going to pursue it. So I did. And which is probably, again, like a little bit of your mom's like it'll work out. Just like follow. Yeah. Yeah. Like I'd rather live and die knowing that I live and died doing things that tried that were like fulfilling in my own little world way, as opposed to to living life for other people and then dying. Yeah. Without having like experience. You seem like you're not afraid to fail. Not at all.

No. Like never, like zero fear of failure. Have you ever had a fear of failure? No. I don't think so. So, I mean, it must be very free. And I think that's what lets people accomplish incredible things sometimes is to just kind of get rid of that notion. I think sometimes I try to like both upplay, like my abilities as an individual, but downplay them as well.

And like if I fail, like you can start again. Like life goes on kind of thing. And what is failing anyway? Like for instance, for package free, like if we failed tomorrow, we've already kept over 75 million pieces of trash out of landfill. So like what is failing anyway? Oh, I love that. So for me, it's like failure is maybe looking at something from a less positive vantage point. And I think every failure, like, ultimately has some really awesome lessons in it and maybe even some like tangible benefits at the other side.

So I don't know. I try to look at things from a bunch of different angles and try to stay positive about how I look at everything. But yeah, I think environmental science was one of those things that really. was hard for a second because I was learning about how from like all angles, there was just like, it was just like a shit store. Like animal agriculture, the oil and gas industry, subsidized industries, how the government works, like climate refugees, climate change, the sociology of environmental systems. And yeah, I mean, it's rough. And I was learning about all of these things. And I wanted to take action. Like when you learn about something bad, you want to do something.

and I didn't know what to do. And at the time, I was just like evangelizing and, like, prostalitizing and be like, mom, you know, you have to stop drinking conventional milk because there's hormones and you're going to get breast cancer. And then I was like, grandma, you have to stop, like, using natural gas. I don't know how she was supposed to do that. But like, all of these things. And I was just like telling people why the way that they were living their life was wrong.

And nobody wants to hear that. That's annoying as fuck. And it's like the surest way to get people to ignore you. Like, my mom stopped answering my phone calls. because I was really annoying. And through that time, that's kind of when I saw the documentary Gasland by Josh Fox. I haven't seen it. It's about the oil and gas industry, specifically around hydrofraking and the methods of extracting natural gas from shale rock.

And it was like a process developed by Halliburton to kind of get the most out of a well. and it uses millions of gallons of water, hundreds of toxic and proprietary chemicals, and releases a lot of methane. And methane is exponentially more toxic or more warming of a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time frame. And the process of fracking also causes a huge amount of human rights issues. Basically, oil companies will come in, rent or lease. land to be able to frack it. And then if there's nothing there or if they like taint the water systems, they can just leave with effectively no liability, leaving these like poor disenfranchised people with valueless property after having promised them money. And so it was just one of those

systems where I was like, this is so wrong. Like this is so wrong in so many ways. And they were going to start fracking in areas of upstate New York. They were fracking all over the country. It was the time of like the Keystone Ex-Exel pipeline. And it was just this moment, this was what in like 2011 maybe where like all of a sudden the power of the oil industry was becoming very evident. And I think Josh was like a huge part of creating this movement against the oil and gas industry. And I got really into activism. So after I saw this documentary, it was, again, kind of that realization that, like, human beings have the power to do something really bad, like a few people.

And I was like, okay, what can I do about this? And at the time, the way that I knew how to use my power was through activism. So I started student groups. I was in D.C. lobbying all the time. I was protesting all the time. And luckily, because of the efforts of, like, a lot of people that were involved, tracking was banned in New York. The Keystone XL pipeline was postponed. And so it felt like there are wins, kind of.

But I think what I felt in the process of this whole thing was that it was, again, very otherizing. Like, it wasn't me creating this problem. It was like big business and government. And so the only way that I knew how to take action was to yell and judge people and otherize people. And at the same time, I was studying politics. And I was like, you know, not all politicians have to be that bad, right? Like, there's no way.

Like, it's called public service. Like, how can everyone be so awful? And so, you know, I was, I'm always interested in learning about how, how to look at situations from different angles and kind of try to see the best in something. So anyway, I was about to finish college, was in the last class that I had to take as an environmental science major. And it was this thing called a capstone. And there was a girl in this class that every day would bring this, like, big plastic

bag full of food, a plastic clamshell, plastic. plastic fork and knife bag of chips. Just like normal New York take out the Jewish. Yeah, like every class. Yeah. And we'd been studying environmental science. Like we were about to graduate. And I would see her eat everything and just like throw it in the trash. And I'd be like, what the F? Like, this is so antithetical to everything that we've been studying for four years. I don't get it. And I would judge her and just think that she was like a total POS and like get really angry. And one day after class, I went home to make dinner and open my fridge and was like, holy shit, every single thing in there was packaged in plastic, like my pre-washed greens and my condiments and my milk and my eggs

and everything. And then I looked around my apartment more and like, all my kitchen utensils were plastic, like my K-cup coffee pods, my beauty products, my cleaning products and my clothes because I was participating in fast fashion. It was on the rise at that time. It was like, And it was peaking. And I was like, I've been protesting against the oil and gas industry for two years at this point, like giving my entire life to this cause. But I'm actively subsidizing this industry every single day, multiple times per day through my consumption habits.

And I was like, how did I not create a connection between what I was doing and like what the world looks like? And that's when I realized that I wasn't living my values. I was in total misalignment with what I cared about and I had to do something about it. So it was like, I'm going to stop using plastic today. And I was like, I marched over to write aid and I was like, I'm going to buy everything without plastic. And like, obviously there was literally nothing.

So I had to find new ways to stay away from plastic. And that kind of caused me to dive really deep into the internet and learn how to make my own beauty products and cleaning products. And through that, that's how I learned about the zero waste life. style. And there was one person writing about it at the time. Beja, she was a mom in California with two kids living a very different life than mine. I was like 21 and drunk all the time and you know, in college. And so I had to take a lot of what I was learning from that blog and apply it to my own life. And as I started to reduce my waste, I realized that like there might be other people

like me who care about the environment but are maybe not living in alignment with that and who would benefit and find value in the things that I was learning and researching. And so that's what led me to start Trashes for Tossers, which was your blog. And at what point in writing the blog did you kind of see that there could be a really good social entrepreneurial. It took me a while. It took me like a few years, actually. So I started Trashes for Tossers at the tail end of being in college. I graduated and I had a couple of jobs, one in consulting, one for the government. And when I was in the government job, I had Trashes for Tossars running. I was pretty unhappy at work.

I felt like I had all this energy, again, to contribute to something bigger than myself. But it was just so bureaucratic. And I felt like my energy was not being well spent. At the same time, people on Trashers for Tossars were like, I love how you're living and these products that you're making. but like I, you know, again, misconception about zero waste is like I don't have the time to make my own laundry detergent or my own cleaning products or my own beauty products. And I have always felt that like time shouldn't be a reason that people can't have products that are safe for their bodies and homes and the environment. And so that's when I decided to start my first company, the SimplicCo, which was a three ingredient,

organic vegan laundry detergent, the same detergent that I was making for myself. to be able to give people access to a product that was as simple as one that you could make at home with ingredients that you already have, just make it more accessible. And so I started that in like 2014, I believe. And at first I did a Kickstarter and I was like handmaking it myself. And through that process, I started meeting more people that were in consumer products and specifically sustainable consumer products. And what I was learning from all of them and what I was kind of seeing myself running this business was, you know, it's a lot of work to run a single product or few product assortment company. You need marketing dollars. You need salespeople.

You need like these teams. And if you don't have like venture capital or like angel or some type of financial backing, like it's really hard to grow in scale. And it's really hard to pay yourself and like make ends meet. And especially with these mission driven companies that were so small, it was like people. who had a passion for making a product, but not necessarily like marketing acumen or anything like that. They were having just a really hard time growing and scaling, acquiring customers and kind of getting the word out. And this was, you know, 2014. So sustainability was nowhere near, you know, like mainstream dialogue.

Like, you know, now there's like talking about zero waste and vogue. But at the time, it was like you'd be lucky if mind, body green was going to talk about zero waste. And so, yeah, that's kind of when I had this idea of wanting to do something about that. So from Trashes for Tossers, people were like, okay, now we have these products. I see that you're using these tools, like a reusable water bottle or like a bamboo toothbrush, but I'm not going to go to 40 different websites to buy all these products or like go to Amazon, which is full of plastic packaging and trash. Like, that doesn't make sense.

So like, now what can I do? Like, I don't have the ability to access products that have. help me reduce waste. So package free was kind of centered around solving those two problems. It was a way to take these like really badass consumer product companies, bring them all together, create collective discovery power, be able to bundle them all in one shipment and then make it easy for people who want to have these products to be able to access them in one shipment at the same time. So when you started the company where you faced with like issues of running an actual low or zero-waste brand, like with shipping issues and stuff like that?

So package-free started as a pop-up, and we started it by basically asking, it was around 40 initial brands. We asked them to pay up front to be involved, so it was like a subsidy, effectively. And the deal was that they got to keep 100% of their sales, so we weren't actually making any money. but, you know, it had to be shipped to us plastic-free, you know, no plastic packaging, or the concept was, is like, we're living in a system where this is a very new concept, like zero-waste products, or products that result in not creating any waste. So we were picking the best of what was available, maybe not products that were perfect, but, you know, motivating the brands to use plastic-free shipping practices, paper tape,

all of that was like a big part of the process of onboarding and getting this started. And everyone was like really amenable to it. And so after, you know, when we started the got the money, got the space, it was kind of this thing of like, is this going to work? But like whatever, because I was running with Simplico at the time. It was simply go profitable. I know you had your Kickstarter and all that, but it was like profitable from the kickout. Yeah, I was like, we were fine. Like it was.

You weren't going to become like rich off of it, but you could like, it was working. Yeah, it was working. And it was just me. So it was like it wasn't. There weren't a lot of expenses. Yeah. It was, there was very low overhead. Yeah.

And so entered into it kind of like, this is going to be a fun experiment. Like, let's see what happens. But by day one, there was like a line out the door. By the end of month one, all of the vendors had paid themselves back from that initial money. Month two, they had all made like pretty good profit so much so that by month three, almost all of them converted from this like consignment model that we had to a wholesale retail model. So we were able to take margin on products and use that cash flow to continue the business. So launched e-com and just started to grow in scale. And through that process, as we grew, we were having the ability to ask brands to do more and more.

So even now, we're the largest revenue drivers for a large percentage of our brands. And with that power comes the ability to say, like, hey, we don't want you to use, you know, this type of packaging anymore, like this type of label. Oh, that's awesome. So we've helped a huge percentage of our brands change. their practices to become more sustainable just through the power that we have as a purchaser. That's super cool. And I also like, do you, it's interesting when you're talking about like we're doing the best we can, especially at the beginning, because I feel like, did you run into when you went zero waste people like, I don't know, like watching you and being like, oh, is she going to like mess up?

Is she going to like looking for like the one little things that might not be perfect? Yeah, like with vegans all the time. It's like, oh, but that's not vegan. And it's also like, why are you judging somebody else. But no, I mean, I started living this lifestyle for myself and like I said, to align my day-to-day actions with my values for environmental sustainability. So this was never something that was intended for other people. It was just because like I didn't feel right living in a world that was like, that is so messed out for so many reasons and contributing to it. Well, and I also, it's just like it's still better. Like even if you're getting something and it has a little bit of, you know, tape or something. It's just,

It's like it's still people are trying and I hate, hate, hate, hate, in society when we condemn the people who are trying instead of the people who are like fully on the other side. It's one of my least favorite things. And one of the things that I think has made what we're doing really successful is like meeting people where we're at, like or where they're at before I knew about zero waste. I cared about the environment, but I was still using a lot of plastic. Like people are where they are and have different motivations for change.

but I think judging someone for where they're at is never a motivator for change. Like shame works sometimes, but I don't think it's long-term sustainable. So I think leading by example, showing people how you're living, showing how it makes you feel good, is a much better motivator for change in positive action than judgment. And, you know, on my Instagram all the time, like, people are really judgmental or, like, trying to pick out, like, things that I do. And I'm, like, looking for classic in photos or something. I think of every, like I think through every choice that I make.

I am conscious of all of my actions. Like I am so observant of myself. And if I make a decision, like there's a reason for it. But even if there was something that could be improved in my life, telling me that I'm wrong is never going to motivate me to listen to you ever. Yeah. And it's just like you're already doing so. I just am like, let to applaud the things that people are doing instead of condemning the few things.

because it just, it makes people not want to try because you're never going to achieve perfection because we're humans. Yeah. And I think like, again, every positive change is positive. So like if you, the biggest, the biggest place I get it from is like is vegans, honestly. And like I would. Do you eat me? I eat me.

Very seldom. But I eat it from people who I know are raising animals in a way that is aligned with environmental sustainability. In my ideal world, nobody would eat meat. Okay. So do you think that eating meat is bad for the. environment fundamentally? It's a really loaded question because eating meat in a way that's like in line with human systems and like indigenous populations and, you know, like hunting for an animal,

eating the whole thing. Like there are some places in the world where meat is the only food that they have. So you can't say like the world needs to go vegan because that's just not realistic like eating animals as part of our DNA as human beings. But here's the thing. There's like at large scale animal agriculture is not okay. Like applying Ford practices, you know, I guess Ford got his inspiration for how to build cars from like the animal agriculture industry. If I'm, if I'm, I was like, I was going to say if I'm not butchering that fact, but that seemed crass.

Yeah, but the rate at which we consume animals is not sustainable at all. And that's largely because, you know, I focus on methane as a metric for, for climate change, as everybody should because of the short-term effects of the warming capacities of that gas over carbon dioxide. And animal agriculture is one of the largest drivers of methane production. So not eating animals in the short term is an amazing thing that you could do for climate change. That being said, one of the reasons that I, so I never eat meat in my home, anything like that, But there are people who are choosing to raise animals in ways that is in line with more sustainable consumption habits. And those people should be celebrated and not ignored because you could just have an animal agriculture like large-scale feeding lot operation and make more money.

But people that are choosing not to do that, I think are courageous and admirable and taking a huge amount of personal risk and financial risk to do something that is objectively more. right. That's really interesting perspective. If you were to give, if somebody said, I want to be a socially conscious entrepreneur, what would you tell them if they wanted to sort of live in line with their values from a career sense? Yeah, I guess I would ask like, what are your values? I think that's a question that people don't ask themselves a lot. Like, my biggest thing is, what do I care about? And am I living my life in a way that contributes to that every single day? What I realized when I asked myself the question seven, eight, eight years ago is like, no, I was not. And so that's what led me to take the steps to, like, improve my own life.

And I think through doing that, that's what has led me to my path of entrepreneurship. But I think in order to do, like, something really positive, I think you have to know what you care about first and not just try to be like, I want to start a socially conscious business for the sake of like starting a socially conscious business. It's like, what is what are your values? What are you trying to solve for? Where are there problems? And how can you use your skill sets to help to solve them? And for me, business made sense because of my personality. But for other people, it might be through being a teacher or through, you know, being a writer, or through, I don't know, running for office or through just being a parent and raising children that are asking questions like that and thinking about things like that and being more conscious of their day-to-day actions.

So I don't think there's, like, one method. but I do think business is an amazingly powerful tool to make change, whether positive or negative. But if people get into it without understanding their why and what their values are, it can be incredibly destructive. I love the idea of just asking what your values are and then thinking about every way that you can actually apply them to your life without any changes. Like being like, okay, I work in this office environment. How can I transfer my job a little bit more in line with my values? I think that we tend to want to make these like huge shifts. to have huge effects in our lives. But I like these little tweets. Yeah, I mean, it can be,

you can, you can go deep and it's like fun. I think it's a really powerful exercise. Like, if you care about, you know, the health of farmers, it's like, okay, first, what am I eating? And then like, what larger companies am I supporting? What restaurants am I going to? But in my workplace, like, what are we contributing to? And how can I use my voice and my power to make change there? How can I, you know, like raise awareness around a value system? But I think it's also paying attention to the fact that like your values aren't going to be the same as everybody else's values. And I think living your values and being a champion and a torch of your values is inspiring to people and you don't have to push them on people and you should never push

them on people to make change. I think if you live your values and see that people are receptive to them, then there's like an opportunity to make shifts. But pushing your values on people is super annoying. What about when it directly comes up against others? So I'm thinking about like when you live in a house with a family. And so the way that they're living their values or making choices for the family affects you or if you're in a relationship with somebody, how does that work? I think you can only control yourself, right? You can't change other people. Like, I know, I've tried. It doesn't work. Yeah. It doesn't work. So I think, like, do what you can in your power right now. Like, if you still live with your family, maybe you have the ability to, like, say no to trash and waste in the

outside world, like say no to plastic bags and plastic straws and like maybe that's the amount of control that you have right now. But I also think, yeah, like recognizing what your limitations are and doing the best that you can within the confines of your current life is like step one. And then I think like having open conversations about like how, like this is how I want to live and this is why it excites me. Like that makes people think. I think just by proxy of knowing me, so many people begin thinking about their own consumption habits just because they know what mine are. And that is a driver for change. That definitely happened for me, for sure. And you don't have to tell people to like be different. It's just like showing that there are other ways to live, um, is really powerful.

Have you, has it been an issue in any of your relationships? All of my past, so my past three relationships. Um, so actually all four of my, my, my boyfriends in my life, I've had four. Um, they all came through me pursuing my values, the first one. And met at a nonviolent direct action training when I was protesting against the oil and gas industry. So again, like, found someone through my values. He was super in line and started living a zero-waste lifestyle with me. He was a huge, like, part of making it so fun because he was so excited and engaged. And then my second boyfriend met through, he found my blog, Trashes for Tossers. And he reached out to you? And he reached out. And you were like, let's go on a date?

And we happened to be in the same place at the same time, met. And he loved what I did. And so he met me through my value system. Oh my God, that's cool. My third boyfriend, he literally was a cameraman at my house when someone was filming me for like a Brazilian TV show. And so he knew who I was from the beginning and was like super aligned with my values. And I helped him reduce waste in so many ways.

And he changed a lot of things in his life. And I think what I found is like men are really open to reducing waste. I think I've had to be a catalyst for them, like in my relationships, but it's been like a super easy process. And then my most recent boyfriend as well, like he, I went to a dinner that he hosted and he had already known about what I did and like seen my TED talk and was really excited. And there's like a hot dating tip. Like live in line with your values and you'll get like a bunch of hot date.

Well, I think, yeah. I mean, in my experience, yes. But I also think just like living in alignment with your values attracts people that are like in that energetic play. I like really believe in the power of intention and the law of attraction. And if you're focused on what you're wanting, then you'll attract people who are energetically aligned with that. And I think that's proven true four times for me. Wow. That's very impressive. You're listening to the Healthier Together podcast. You all know that I've been really open with you about my struggles with anxiety. I shared my

whole anxiety story on my Instagram. So definitely head over there. like what, Liz has anxiety? But basically, I was completely agoraphobic for a while and I still struggle with generalized anxiety disorder. While I think there are a ton of wellness practices that can help with anxiety, I truly believe in the power of therapy. And not just because both of my parents and both of Zach's parents are therapists, which is definitely a story for another day. The only problem, it can be super hard to find a good therapist and then seeing said therapist can be crazy expensive. That's why I'm so excited to share better help with you. BetterHelp is an online professional counseling platform that I've been using for a few months now.

You go on their site and you answer a few questions about the state of your mental health and what you're looking for and then they match you with a licensed professional therapist. And if you don't like that therapist, no worries, it's totally free and super easy to change to a different one. Within 24 hours, you can be messaging that therapist and I have been so impressed with both the quality and the timeliness of the responses that I've gotten. Beyond that, you can schedule weekly video or phone sessions. And I have to say, I was skeptical about this at first. I thought there was no way it could be as helpful as sitting in the room with an

actual therapist. But it really is. I love my therapist so much. And I also love not having to lose an hour of my day to get all the way to the session and back. With therapy, consistency is so important. And being able to fit my sessions way more easily into my weekly routine has been a total game changer. It's also way cheaper than traditional therapy, like less than a third of how much you would pay here in New York City, which I absolutely love because I do not think that taking care of your mental health should be a luxury that's only afforded to people with a ton of money. Plus, they have financial aid, so if you don't feel like you can afford it, definitely send them an email. They really want to make sure that therapy is available to all people, which they're

doing a pretty good job of because there are already 500,000 people using the service worldwide. They were kind enough to give me a code so that healthier together listeners can get 10% off of their first month of service. Just go to betterhelp.com. That's better-h-elp, the word help.com slash healthier together to get the discount. It's really easy to sign up and you can start therapy right away, which means that you can start feeling better right away. Also, if you are struggling with mental health issues, I want you to know that you are not alone at all. So many of us are in it with you and I am in it with you. And if you're feeling lonely or anxious or depressed, know that you're not weird or damaged

and you can still have an amazing, amazing life and know that I am 100% there for you. All right. Let's get back to the episode. I want to get to some of the questions that people are sending because there's a lot and they're really good. Okay. What about food waste? What about food waste? To you, food waste is obviously a huge problem in the country.

And you tend, when you define zero waste, you compostable get sort of like a free pass, right? I compost. So that's not food waste technically. Right. So how do you, is there ways that people can go about combating food waste in their own lives? Is there ways that you use to combat food waste in your life? So let's first talk about why food waste is bad. Like, and food waste being like organic things going into landfill.

Most people don't understand or know or wherever given access to understanding about how a landfill works. But landfills effectively are a big hole in the ground that things get put into and all of the oxygen is squeezed out. So there's no actual like aerobic digestion or digestion with the presence of oxygen that happens because everything's so tightly compacted. So it happens to something called anaerobic digestion. And when you have something like food or something organic in a landfill, going through anaerobic digestion, that releases methane. And like we talked about before, methane is exponentially more potent of a warming gas over a 100-year time frame, which is well within where scientists estimate we have to make changes for the climate. We have 11. whatever years to get our shit together. So reducing waste to landfill, reducing organic matter to landfill.

Reduces methane directly. Reduces methane directly. And landfills are one of the top three drivers of methane production. So that's why it's bad. So even like compostable plastics, all of that, super bad to go into a landfill. People sometimes justify throwing food away because they're like, oh, it'll just biodegrade in a landfill. That's not how it works. And that's actually super bad.

So if you want to do something that's, has a powerful impact right now. Obviously, not eating meat is a big one. And not putting food waste into landfill is a really big one. So I'd say like those are the two most powerful things from a methane perspective that you could do right now. How do you prevent and reduce food waste? One is just by being a proactive grocery shopper, like looking at your schedule, making a shopping list and buying only what you need. My diet consists of staples like pastas and rice and like dried beans and and things like that. And then I'll add fresh vegetables into that mix. So it's a really simple diet and I'll only buy like fresh vegetables that I could like freeze, for instance. So if I buy a

bunch of broccoli and I already cut it up and clean it, if by like the middle of the week and like I have it's Wednesday, I have dinners Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but I have this broccoli. I can put it in a stainless steel container and freeze it. To the most expensive and detrimental food that we buy is the food that we throw away. So just by planning ahead and then being proactive about like properly cooking something or storing it before it goes to waste is like probably the best thing that you can do. And then like proper food storage. So, you know, carrots, if you put them in water or celery, if you put them in water in your fridge, they'll last a lot longer and stay crisp compared to if you just like put them on the shelf. Things like kale, if you take it off the

stem, it'll last longer because the stems draw moisture from the leaves. So there's like little things that you can do to keep your stuff fresh longer. I love putting herbs in a little pot of water, like a vase. It also just like makes you feel really adult. It's like very fancy. I feel French for some reason. Like ocean. I do with the French herbs and my French. Yeah, I really like it. Composting is one of my favorite things to do. And it makes such an impact. It's so positive. Directly contributes to healthier soils. Less of a dependent. on synthetic fertilizers because compost is very nutrient dense. So do you compost at home or do you bring it to?

So I keep my compost in my freezer and a little metal bowl. Every Saturday I go down to my recycling room, take a paper bag, put the compost in there and walk it to the farmer's market. Luckily in New York, you know, municipal composting is happening slowly. I think people are doing it very badly because there's been no education in the rollout plan of composting in New York City. It was just like an atrocity. And I will openly say that because I think it could have been actually.

executed exponentially better. But having worked for the government and the departments that actually do that, I know how hard it is to do anything there. So I applaud them for even having composting. I think it's rolling out in a lot more cities. And I think it's more available than people realize through things like farmers markets and community composting and community gardens. But it's definitely not as large scale as it should be. And I think composting is something that's not really talked about that much is something that could directly have a large-scale positive impact on climate change. Because it's reducing the amount of anything in that landfill, which is reducing the methane. 100%. Exactly. So could you Google just like composting your city

and probably find some sort of option? Probably if you live in like a big city or like in the Pacific Northwest or like something like that. Otherwise it's like farmers at farmers markets are a great place to start because sometimes they'll take compost back and then like bring it to their farm. And then otherwise like starting a community composting program. Oh, that's cool. Like just because something isn't available doesn't mean I think of business as like solving problems and problems, recognizing what problems are is like an amazing breeding ground for for opportunity. So if you have a problem, somebody else probably has that problem. You can't be the only person in a town that wants to compost if there's no composting. So, you know, connect.

great way to meet people again. It's probably going to meet your next day. Like interested in composting, yeah, for like being my baby daddy. Hey. You know, I mean, stranger things have happened. It should be an app for, there should be an environmentally. We sell so many vibrators, like sustainability people are horny A.F, like myself included. Because they're eating so while.

So the blood flow like all over the body. Yeah, for sure. They just have like a good flow of energy. But yeah. So like sustainability is such an amazing way to connect with people. And if just because something doesn't exist, like, oh, I don't have any bulk stores in my community or like I have no composting. Okay, then like do something about it. That's the cool thing.

It's like don't rely on the world to change for you. Change the world. And you can do that in such small ways like starting a community composting by, you know, talking about how you're living zero waste by asking a grocery store to offer something in bulk. Like you have power to make change. And I think that's why zero waste is so cool because it's like unleashing all that potential power and making people feel that they have the ability to do something, which we all do. Yeah, for sure. I think about that every, like even I forgot my tote bag at my grocery store the other day.

And I, so I just carried everything home and my arms and I had like toilet paper and all this stuff just because I was like, I don't want to use a plastic bag. And the grocery store lady was laughing at me. But then the next day, she was like, oh, I told my friend about you. I go to the grocery store every day because I'm recipe developed. and whatever. But she's like, yeah, I told my friend about you. And then we were laughing, but then we were also, like, recommending to people not to get a plastic bag with their stuff. See, it's so dope. It was one person has the power to make change.

Yeah. Even if it feels small. Like, that could feel so small to you, but look at what you did. Yeah. And it felt really precarious as well as I was walking home. I have a second sub question of that, which is, like, do you have time management tips? Because I feel like you're so good at being, like, And getting rid of the excuse that you don't have enough time to do this stuff. And I use that excuse for myself all the time. Why are you running a business, your meal prepping, your combo, you're doing all this stuff that I feel like we give ourselves permission not to do. I am a believer.

There's always time. Where? I just feel like there's always time for the things that I really care about. Like, I don't know. I feel like I run my business. I have a social life. I have my dog. I cook my food, I buy my groceries.

Is there stuff you're not wasting time on that other people might be? Or like, is there anything pragmatic you could tell me that would, I don't know, I just feel like I run out of time every single day? I think like one, I like my calendar is really important. And definitely like I miss things and I cancel things. Like don't get me wrong. There's like things that I have to push around. I'm not perfect. But for things like, I don't know, getting my coffee in a reasonable.

cup as opposed to like. Yeah. Like there's things that I'll take the time for because one, it's just how I've lived for eight years. So it's like become a part of my routine. But two, like, what are you not willing to sacrifice? And for me, it's like making trash. So finding time. I mean, also, here's a good thing. Like it takes a lot of time to like walk to the store every day and buy groceries. I'm sure because you're recipe testing. Like for me, if I ran out of toothpaste and I had to walk to the store and buy toothpaste and walk back, that's like 20 to 30 minutes of my time. Like, that's as much time as it would take me to, like, clean all my vegetables and meal prep. But it takes me 30 seconds to make toothpaste because it's baking soda and coconut oil.

So I save 30 minutes by not buying something packaged and by making it myself for like 29.5 minutes. It's actually interesting thing about how much time you spend one spend shopping. Yeah, buying shit. Yeah, buying shit. Like online shopping takes a shit ton of time shopping in stores. takes a lot of time. I secondhand shop and so like whatever, that's something fun for me. But I've just stopped when I, I bowed out of fast fashion like about a year ago and it completely changed like just the amount of time and the amount of money and all of that that I had.

I mean, so many people think that sustainability is is so exclusionary from a cost perspective, but I've saved like I would argue hundreds of thousands of dollars over eight years through living this lifestyle through food, package food that I'm not buying, clothing that I'm not buying, through saying no to things that I don't need, buying things secondhand instead of new, like a huge, a huge significant amount of money. Even on something as simple as like a period product, you can save thousands of dollars by using a menstrual cup instead of a tampon. So like you save a huge amount of money by living this lifestyle. And even if like the upfront cost of something seems more like a menstrual cup is $40. That's way more money than a box of tampon.

bonds, but over the course of the 10 years of its lifespan, you'll save a huge amount of money. So, you know, thinking about money in a different way, which we're not really taught to think about money in the United States like that. Like, we don't think of return on investment. We think of like upfront cost. So, you know, there's shifts of like how we use money that need to be considered. But then also, you know, the reason that we just raise money for package free was to like very much change the narrative around that.

Why are sustainable products up front more expensive than they're, you know, like conventional counterparts. And my deduction for that is because of economies of scale, nobody's tackled sustainable consumer products at economies of scale as like Procter and Gamble and Unilever products. But when you actually look into the cost per unit at scale, you can make sustainable products as inexpensive as conventional consumer products. And nobody's done that yet. I think it's really exciting because that's what we're on a mission to do now. Like I whole, heartedly believe that money should never be a limiting factor for access to products that are safe for our homes and our bodies and good for the environment. And so our mission now is to is to make

products that help you reduce waste, live a sustainable lifestyle, save money, and protect your body as convenient and accessible as it is to go and buy a Unilever product. I love that. Okay, we're going to do some quick fire because I know you need to get back to running your business, your actual business. Okay, what are three products that if somebody wanted to start being zero waste or less waste, you would recommend, like, first three you would want to buy? It's so hard because everyone's life and routine is different. So, like, what works for me might not work for you. I love a menstrual cup. I think it's been one of the best changes that I've ever made in my life and saves me so much money.

And, like, not having a tampon is one of the shittiest feelings ever. Also, just using tampons is really gross and, like, putting something dry and, like, cottony and your, vagina is like pretty awful. And so menstrual cup for me for a menstruating person is wonderful. Or you can even say for you like the top three that sort of have changed your life the most of products you've purchased. So I think simplifying my skincare routine to two products like a bar soap and a whale moisturizer that has been really great. And you, when you have like hormonal acne, you're not tempted to like. I don't have hormone. I don't have I guess I get hormonal acne, but no, I, for me, like, or as you get older, you're not, like, tempted

to be like, oh, I need an anti, you're not, you're not swayed by the marketing messages. No, because acne for me, like, it's kind of like a messy house, right? Like, when your house is messy, it's usually a sign that, like, your mental state isn't where it should be, or you're, like, not prioritizing something. I think, like, acne is a body's cry for help. It's a symptom. It's, yeah. And so putting something like a Band-Aid on it isn't addressing why you have acne in the first place.

So for me, like as much as I hate having a pimple and it's like embarrassing and annoying, it's also like, okay, I need to maybe like slow the fuck down because something's happening and like something's off. Am I not sleeping enough? Am I not drinking enough water? Am I eating like shit? Am I drunk all the time? Like what is happening? And addressing that. And addressing that.

So as much as like, you know, perfect skin would be like a great goal. sometimes you don't treat your body as well as you should. And I know that there's other reasons for acne as opposed to like not treating your body well. There's like deeper hormonal issues. But I think food, sleep, hydration are some pretty fundamental ones and usually one of, and usually some of the biggest drivers of breakout. So I like to address that. I know people always ask me. It's one of the most common messages I get is like if I go off the pill, I'm worried my acne will come back. And I'm like, if your acne comes back and you're off your pill, off the pill, you have some sort of hormonal thing you need to address. And it's like

better that you know that. And that's how food becomes so important. And just knowing your body and knowing your cycle. And like, I'm so connected to my body through like tracking my period, knowing how I eat, looking at my emotions. And I don't try to fight against my body. I try to be like, what's going on here? Right. A lot of people want to know how you feel about Greta Thunberg. It's interesting. I think environmental awareness is incredible. One of the things that I think is really dangerous about what's happening with Greta is I think people are like Greta is going to save us. Greta's not going to save us. She's raising awareness about environmental issues. But it's kind of like what you saw with Obama. Like because Greta exists, I feel like people are like, okay, we're good now.

Like the environment is saved. Like with Obama, like, okay, we're good. Like Obama's going to save us. Like Obama's not going to save us. Greta's not going to save us. We have to save us. We need to save us. And I think it's amazing to let people know that there's a problem. But now it's like, okay, people know there's a problem, what are we going to do about it? And I think inciting fear in people without giving them ways to alleviate or remediate that fear can be really dangerous. And that's why I think zero waste is so amazing because it gives people tangible tools that they can use every single day to actually have a positive impact on climate, as opposed to just being scared that it's changing. I love that. Okay. I think we actually covered a lot of these. I have three questions that I always

everybody. I have more than that, but we're going to keep a short. One is, is there ever any place in the world that you've been where you're like, these people really got it right in terms of health or happiness? And if so, where was it? It's a really good question. Probably different parts in different places. My friend Manju, she's a farmer in California. and her life, like she took a typical suburban, like L.A. home, like in Diamond Bar and converted it into a place that grows food for her family. And that's amazing. And I think she's like showing that there's a different way to live. Like she inspires me hugely. But a country or a place, I mean, I think going to Korea and seeing a Korean diet was really important for me in like five

days of being there, my skin changed. And my eyes changed. Like, my eyes were weighter. My skin was better. I was, like, more clear and bright. And I think, like, places that understand the value of food as, like, a contributor to overall well-being, I think, like, Italians are very much like that. Korea was a place where, like, everyone that I was talking to knew what benefit a certain food had had on their body. And that's, like, so couldn't be more different from America, where we eat as, like, fuel and not as like... We think about calories, I think, more than anything else.

Like, literally, like, it's an engine if you just shove any type of gas until you're fine, which is interesting. Okay, what's the best way to spend 20 minutes every day? In terms of living a healthier, happier life. I mean, for me, like, walking my dog is a really good one. She probably appreciates that, too. I think just, like, doing nothing or, like, masturbating. So many, like, more people than you would think have said masturbating.

I mean, masturbating is so good for you. I think it's every time I do it, I get myself like a gold star because I'm like, you boosted your immunity. 100%. So I think that or, yeah, something that I love about yoga is that when you lay down, I realize that like it's the first time that I've laid down and done nothing in like maybe months when I go and like when I'm done and I just have a space to like think. for a few moments.

Like before bed where you read a book or something. I'm like on my phone. Yeah. And then I like fall asleep with like something glowing in my face. Right. Like yoga is you get kind of like two mindsets like the before you start the practice where you're just like kind of all in your head. But you lay down and like you feel your back for the first time like in what seems like

forever. And then after the practice you're like you have it's literally you and your brain. And that's a moment that I don't really get that often. especially because I haven't gone to yoga in a long time. But for me, it's like a tangible, palpable presence, which is so different from how I live my life, which is like, I'm here, but I'm not here. I'm like everywhere else and where I should be and where I'm going and, like, being with yourself for literally three minutes before practice or like five minutes after is like some of the most

valuable presence that I feel in my whole life ever. I love that. I also think you, to the 20 minutes point, I do a home yoga practice for like 20 minutes. and doing it at home makes it so I can fit it in so much more and you still get that, like, awesome rush. Okay. And last one, what is one really big mistake you've made and what's something you really got right?

I really, it's funny. Like, I don't, like, I don't think of mistake. I think mistakes is just like the word mistake is really bad because it's like making a decision that didn't play out the way that you thought. But I ultimately think all of those things are really positive. Like, I think it's so important to know. what you don't want or what doesn't make you happier, what feels bad so that you don't do it again. So I think of like anything that contributes to those feelings as a positive and not as like a mistake.

I mean, I do shit all the time that isn't what I think it's going to be or doesn't work out the way I thought, but ultimately like helps to change my view of how I do something next time. I know that's like a really, it's like not the answer you're looking for, but like I try to take all experiences and turn them into a lesson as opposed to like a way to hate myself. and like the word mistake is kind of like you did something wrong. They're like a mental, because you feel like an optimist like at heart in so many ways. And is there like a mental dialogue or something that like somebody who has a hard time viewing stuff optimistically could steal from you? Yeah, it's interesting.

Like I have like depressive tendencies, but I definitely have an optimistic outlook on life. And I think that helps me find balance and also think about things from so many different perspectives. It was like, I don't know. I just think like our reality is what we make it kind of. And I just think there's always more sides to a story. So if I think about something and how it feels, it's like, okay, what, like asking yourself, like, what's another way that I could look at this? Or even like asking a friend to start.

Like, what's another way that I can look at this thing that makes me feel really shitty? And like literally asking some of that question, like, if you can't do it yourself, like, bring someone in to help you, you know, like kind of how you were talking about your partner with like, solutions, right? Like, okay, maybe you're thinking about something you feel really bad. You're like, okay, what's another way that I could think about this problem? Like, I feel this way because of this, but like, what's another way that I can think about it? And it's not happening. Apparently, they're going to have another way to think about it just because they're a different person. Exactly. And I think that could be like a really helpful. It's not them providing a solution.

It's them giving you another perspective or vantage point. I love that. Okay, bring us home with one thing you feel like you got really right. I think I try not to do things. I feel like if I do things in a way that everybody else is doing them, I'm doing something wrong. Because the world isn't perfect. And the way everyone is doing everything is creating the world that we live in. And so I'll do things the same way as everyone else when the world is exactly what I want it to be. So I think always looking for never feeling comfortable being homogenous is something that I feel very lucky to be driven towards. Well, this is, I think you first of all very much succeeded in that. And this is a very empowering conversation, I feel. You just, you really imbused somebody with the sense of their own power

in a really positive way. And so thank you for the work that you're doing. And thank you for having this conversation with me. Okay, was I right? Do you feel empowered and excited and invigorated? I really, really hope so. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this episode. So please screenshot and tag me at Liz Moody, tag Lauren at Trash's for Tossers. Let's definitely continue the conversation. And if you love this episode, please leave a rating and review. I'm still going to be doing those little giveaway boxes basically forevermore. I don't know why I would stop doing them. So just leave a rating, review, screenshot, tag at Liz Moody on Instagram, and then you are entered. I'll be sending out a ton of boxes every month of my favorite beauty

products, food, and all of that. All right, thank you guys so much for listening and I will see you on the next episode. Love you guys. When it comes to wellness, you're going to get the best results by focusing on the big needle movers. A lot of us spend a lot of time trying to optimize that last 1%, which creates a ton of stress and it actually doesn't help our health that much. At the top of the needle mover list, sleep. And one of the best ways to optimize your sleep is to optimize your mattress, which is why I love avocado green mattress so much. First of all, this mattress is so comfortable. I have the one with the pillow top, which is medium firm, and it's just a dream. I miss it when I travel. It's better than even the fanciest hotel beds. Having a mattress that supports

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