The School of Greatness - 605 Lauren Singer: The Zero-Waste Guide to a Simple Life

Episode Date: February 21, 2018

If you're going to have a discussion, be positive about it. Don't tear people down for trying. - Lauren Singer Have you ever thought about how much trash you create in a day? My juice comes in plastic bottles, my prepared meals come in plastic containers, my favorite to go meal from my favorite restaurant comes in a plastic bowl in a plastic bag. It's not just food either, it's everything. When you order something online it comes in a box full of packing products. It all adds up pretty quick, and once I started to notice how much trash I was creating, I started to wonder about a different solution. I'm not the only one noticing this problem, and you may even feel the same way. The zero waste lifestyle is a growing trend, and on the forefront of that is my friend Lauren Singer. Some of you may know Lauren from her popular blog Trash is for Tossers, or even from her giant social media following. Lauren was an environmental science major in college when she came to the discovery that she was creating just as much waste as everyone else. She decided to make an impact on the world by changing her personal actions and believed that her love for the planet would inspire others to do the same. Today she has been featured on several major news outlets, has a massive social media impact, owns a package free shop in Brooklyn, and is considered a leader in the zero-waste movement. On this episode, Lauren gave some amazing insights on how to live a waste free life. If you're worried that cutting down on your waste is expensive or impossible based on where you live, get ready to see this lifestyle in a new light. Learn all about the impact your actions have on our planet and how to improve them on Episode 605. Some questions I ask: What is zero waste and why did you get into it? (1:26) Is it easier for anyone to buy things without plastic? (6:04) Where can you go for non-packaged food? (10:09) When you want a smoothie do you bring your own container? (13:20) What if you were dating someone who had plastic everywhere? (16:42) Have you inspired others to be completely zero waste? (19:03) In an ideal world, what would happen with products in general? (23:50) Where do you need to grow the most? (26:55) Do you feel like you were more giving to everyone else as opposed to yourself? (29:07) Who do you reach out to when you're going through problems? (30:36) In this episode you will learn: What hydrofracking is (2:06) Why recycling isn't enough (7:24) If Lauren gives in to temptation of items that come in packaging (11:57) Where and how Lauren buys her clothes (14:22) How many people she's influenced to be waste free (15:26) How her life became simplified (17:56) How to get rid of plastic in the most efficient way (19:45) How she deals with all the haters (21:14) What she's working on the most right now (25:30) When Lauren reached her breaking point (28:04) Advice for female entrepreneurs in their 20s (29:30) What Lauren is going to do to get to the next level this year (31:30)

This is episode number 605 with Lauren Singer. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Albert Einstein said we cannot solve our problems

with the same thinking we used when we created them. I'm very excited about this episode because we have a bright young thinker in the house who is helping evolve the way we all think on how we can live a zero waste, simple life. And Lauren Singer is an environmental activist and entrepreneur and a blogger and her blog Trash is for Tossers focuses on educating readers on how she achieves a zero-waste lifestyle. In her company, The Simple Co. sells environmentally-friendly laundry detergent as well. She attended NYU and received a degree in environmental studies and went on to work as a sustainability analyst for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. She also has a store called Package Free, which is all about living with zero waste

and zero plastic. And most notably, all of the waste she does produce is kept inside the same 16-ounce mason jar. It's pretty spectacular what she's been able to do. And she's been featured in New York Magazine, MSNBC, NBC, AOL, CNN, Yahoo, Fox Business, NPR, and all over the world. And in this interview, we talk about how to decide what to buy when reducing waste in your life. Also, why Lauren doesn't judge people who are creating waste. Thankfully, she walked in and she saw my trash.

She did not judge me. Also, how to deal with all the haters in your life, what the world could look like if we shifted away from a culture of consumption, and Lauren's advice for young female entrepreneurs. Before we dive in, I want to give a thank you to the fan of the week and a big shout out to Chris Koch, who said Jesse Itzler recommended your book in his new program, Build Your Life Resume. So after listening to your book, I downloaded about 20 podcasts and can't thank you enough for doing what you do. I love filling my head in conversations with growth mindset info. You have a ton of amazing interviews with great people, but it's how you engage with the people

you interview shows how much you really care about continuing to be great. It's never ending. So Chris Koch, thank you so much for your support. And you are the fan of the week. And if you guys want to get shouted out on the podcast as a chance to being the fan of the week, just go ahead and leave us a review over on iTunes. You can go to your podcast app and just click review right there on the School of Greatness or go to lewishouse.com

slash iTunes on your computer and leave a review there. All right, let's dive into this. I'm super pumped to welcome you to the one, the only Lauren Singer. Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness podcast. We have Lauren Singer in the house. Good to see you. Good to see you. Welcome to LA. Glad you're here. We've been trying to make this happen for a while. We got connected through mutual friend Lacey, who couldn't be here. I know. Who's such an amazing soul, sweetheart, and a friend of ours. So shout out to Lacey. Thanks for the introduction. We miss you. Yes. And we've had some good times.

I went to Brooklyn. We connected there. I went to your store, which was a really cool store in Brooklyn. Been to a semi-dance party. Semi-dance party, dinner, lunch, brunch, walked around Brooklyn with a bunch of group of people. So we've had those good moments where you get to connect with people, even though we've only hung out a few times. It's like when you spend three or four hours doing different stuff, you really bond. Yeah, especially in Brooklyn.

In Brooklyn especially. So thanks for coming on. I'm excited to talk about the stuff that you've been working on. You've been blowing up online with your story of zero waste. And this is what everyone knows you for right now. I remember I think I had a photo with you when I was in Brooklyn, and some guy that follows me was like,

I'm obsessed with her, right? He's like, that's like my dream woman I would marry. Someone who's like, Oh my God, pink. Someone who's like, beautiful, and someone who's like, into the environment and activism, it was like, everything. So I'm sure you have a lot of male fans

watching and listening as well. You're out here now. Holler at me. Holler at her. DM her. But tell me, why did you get into this zero waste? What is zero waste? Why did you get into it?

So I think zero waste means different things to different people. But for me, it's always meant, as an individual, not sending anything to a landfill. So not throwing anything on the ground, obviously. No littering. No putting anything in a trash can, but I do compost and I recycle, but as a last resort because recycling takes a lot of energy and a lot of water. And this all kind of started when I was in college. I didn't have a family that was into like sustainability or being environmentally conscious. So everything kind of started when I learned about hydrofracking. What's hydrofracking? It's a process of extracting

natural gas from shale formations and uses, you know, tons of water, toxic chemicals, and has put a lot of people out of their homes, out of work, and has been just a huge social issue and environmental issue. And I became really passionate about it. I was protesting against it, went to lot of people out of their homes, out of work, and has been just a huge social issue and environmental issue. And I became really passionate about it. I was protesting against it, went to DC to lobby, and it kind of just consumed my whole life. And I studied environmental science at NYU and was always kind of proselytizing about sustainability. Like I was telling everyone, like, mom, don't drink non-organic milk. Like, dad, you have to recycle. Like kind of telling people what they had to do.

And everyone would just be like, shut up. Like, stop it. Like, I don't care. Or like, no one wants to be told what to do. And that's kind of what I was doing. But I was learning all this stuff that was so exciting and so empowering and like ways that people could change their lives when it comes to like impacting the earth. And no one wanted to be told. And so my senior year of college, I was in the last class that you have to take as an environmental studies major. And there was a girl in my class that every day would bring in this like

big plastic bag with a plastic clamshell full of food and a plastic fork and knife and a plastic like thing of Gatorade and a bag of chips and she would eat everything and then just like throw it in the trash. And I would kind of sit there like staring at her, being like, are you really going to do this? Like, are you going to throw this away? And just like watching her and kind of like giving her eyes. I'm sure she thought I was absolutely crazy. And I would just judge her for being this person who studied environmental science and then would make so much trash.

And I went home one day after class to make dinner, and I opened my fridge and saw that, like, every single thing in there was packaged in plastic, from, like, my lettuce that was pre-washed to my milk, which was in a plastic container, like, everything. And I had this realization that, oh, my God, I've been protesting against the oil and gas industry for two years at this point now. It's been like

my entire life. And I looked in my fridge and saw that all of this plastic, like I was supporting and subsidizing this industry because one of the biggest products of the oil and gas industry is plastic. I was supporting them through my everyday consumption habits. And I started looking around my apartment and I was like, oh my God, all my beauty products are made of or packaged in plastic. All of my cleaning products, like all of my kitchen utensils, my clothes, because fast fashion, so much of it is made from synthetic fibers made from plastic. And I was like, I'm such a hypocrite. You know, I was getting mad at this girl for making plastic trash with her meal. But like my entire world was made of plastic. And I made a decision in that moment to stop using plastic, which obviously isn't like an overnight thing,

right? If you think of walking into like a CVS, every single thing in there is in plastic, right? So I was like, okay, I want to transition away from plastic, but I couldn't just walk into a normal store and like find all my beauty products. And so I started doing research online of like how I could find beauty products plastic free. And it turned out that the way it was to make them. So I started making my own beauty products. I could not find anything plastic free. So I started like looking up recipes to make my own beauty products and some of my own cleaning products. And through that, I found this website about this woman who lives in Mill Valley, California, who's living a zero waste lifestyle. And I had never heard of anything like this. When I read more about it and I learned about it,

I was like, oh my God, this woman does not send anything to a landfill. This is the coolest, most empowering thing that I've ever heard in my life. Because I thought, you know, like, obviously I really cared about environmental sustainability, was talking about all the time, was protesting, but it was the first time that I realized that I had a way to align my day-to-day actions with the things that I cared about. And for so long I wasn't doing that. And so going zero waste was really the way that I could live my values. And five years ago, I made the switch and it's been amazing. It's crazy. And now is it easier for anyone to buy things without plastic? I mean, that's kind of my life's work, really. Because when I learned about Zero Waste,

you know, she was the only person writing about it at the time and the only person talking about it. So I later started my blog, Trashes for T Tossers to document my journey of reducing waste and open up the conversation in a way that felt safe and non-confrontational. Because remember I was saying so much of the conversation of environmentalism is like, you're not doing this or like you're screwing this up. And it's so, it's like the blame game. Yeah. And that to me, like, I realized that by just taking everything on myself and being like, okay, I'm a part of the problem. What can I do to change this and share my experience through taking control of my waste and talking about my experience from my perspective that it made people feel comfortable to have a discussion around waste. have a discussion around waste. And so I started Trashes for Tossers and I learned that I actually didn't even have to tell someone like, you should stop doing this. Like through hearing my story and through learning that I was living a zero waste lifestyle and through knowing that there's

an option for the way that we can live our lives, people were like, wow, I'm doing a pretty shitty job here. Like I want to make some changes. And so I just shifted the entire way I approached talking about issues. So is recycling not enough then in your mind for people? I'm trying to make it obsolete. I'm trying to— You don't even need it. Yeah. I think packaging is kind of antiquated.

I think if we invest in multi-use alternatives to single-use packaging, then we can eliminate a ton of waste. So through like one of my businesses is Package Free, and it's aimed to provide multi-use alternatives to single-use disposable products that are made of predominantly plastic. So we don't have to keep investing in and wasting energy and resources and money on these single-use items. And ultimately, you know, we save money and we're healthier because plastic is toxic for the human body. What's an example of some of these things that you guys have? A simple one that's kind of in the bubble right now of conversation is straws, right? Plastic straws.

So many people are against them. They're being banned in tons of places. There was a whole, like, celebrity campaign around it a couple months ago. Like, I suck or something. It was like, I'm not sucking. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sucking anymore or something. Yeah. And so we offer, the first thing that I say is like, you don't need straws, obviously. Most people don't need them. But if you do feel that you need straws for whatever reason, we sell three alternatives made of bamboo, silicone, and stainless steel that can last you forever and that are recyclable or biodegradable at the end of their life. So it's an investment that has a positive impact, not just

on the environment, but on your health because plastic straws leach toxins. Yeah. And what about food? You know, that's been the biggest thing and people are consuming food every single day. Yeah. Plastic containers at the store. It's interesting. When I started going zero waste, I was in college, a senior, and I didn't know how to prepare food or make a grocery list. And so, like, I would find myself at the library until three in the morning, starving, having to eat, like, absolute garbage. And then I would feel bad about myself. I would waste money. I would feel unhealthy. You know, like the dialogue around most college students, right? You just feel like shit most of the time. Through going zero waste, I eliminated the parameter of packaging from my purchasing options, right? And so I realized what happened was that I started eating really, really, really

well. Fruits and vegetables. Yeah, fruits, vegetables, bulk grains, nuts. And I felt like I had never felt in my life before. Like I was sleeping better. I was, my weight had stabilized. I just had more energy. And I realized that most of the food that we buy that comes in packaging actually isn't food. It's a food product. It's packaged. There's preservatives. There's ingredients in it that aren't even natural.

And so by eliminating packaging altogether, one, I was saving money because we pay a premium for packaging. But two, I was healthier because I was eating real food. Yeah, for packaging and the brand on the packaging, right? Yeah. Huh. And so where can you go then for that type of food? I guess you can go to the grocery store and just get non-packaged vegetables and produce sections. Most conventional grocery stores have both options.

There's like a lettuce that's just a lettuce hanging out on the shelf. And then there's the pre-washed just a lettuce hanging out on the shelf. And then there's the pre-washed, pre-cut lettuce in the packaging. And I am perfectly capable of cutting and washing lettuce. And I actually really like that experience of seeing the entire product. So you just don't put it in the plastic bag? Yeah, I'll just put it in my cart. Like there's this fear of fruit and vegetables like touching each other that people have and they have to like put everything in its own bag. And I'm like, that's, that's interesting. Like why? So yeah, I'll just like let all my fruit and vegetables touch each other. It's like scary. And then, but if you're afraid of that, I have these

organic cotton reusable bags that you can put your produce in that I sell it package free. And then you can just wash them afterwards. And then it's funny because so many people will buy organic produce, but then they'll put it in a plastic bag. I'm like, that's interesting. So most conventional grocery stores will have the unpackaged produce and then the packaged produce. So you have a choice there. But I've traveled like pretty extensively everywhere and I've never had a problem finding a natural food store or a farmer's market or a grocery store where I can get things that aren't packaged. And so that's kind of one of the first things that people say, like, this is impossible. They don't have this

where I live. And I would have said the same thing when I started. You know, I didn't even know in New York City it was possible to live this lifestyle, but it just takes a little bit of time and research. And I realized that there was this whole world available to me where I didn't have to make any trash, where I could eat healthier, where, you know, I was saving money and it was right in front of me. And I just didn't know. What if there's something, you're in LA right now, you go to your favorite grocery store, Air One, and there's like a smoothie and a plastic jar that you just really want to have. Do you, do you try that sometimes and just like, ah, once like a smoothie in a plastic jar that you just really want to have. Do you try that sometimes and just like, ah, once in a while we'll do it? Or are you just like,

you know what, there's a better alternative that I can go make it, and then I bring my jar and have them put it in the jar? How does that work? I mean, one of the bigger things is every decision that we make when it comes to consumption has an impact that's larger than the product that we're looking at. You know, things are manufactured. If it's a food product or a textile product, it comes from farmers, which, you know, have their own life and their own social issues. And I try to ask myself the question, is this worth it? You know, is the impact that this consumption decision that I'm about to make, is it worth it? And when I look at a smoothie in a plastic container, you know, I ask myself, do I need this? Is this necessary for my happiness? Is this necessary for my life? And 99.99999% of the time, it's not. And that's something also

really beautiful about this lifestyle. It's made me reevaluate what is actually necessary and what makes me happy. I constantly ask myself the question before I'm about to consume or buy anything is, you know, does this make me feel happy? Does this make me feel beautiful? Does this make me feel special? Do I feel like the best version of myself with this or because of this? And if the answer is no, which it normally is, then I don't even think about it again. It's done. Wow. And so when you do want a smoothie or something at a store, do you bring in your own containers in or how you've got the mason jars? So I'll bring like a container that I refill. I always have a little container of like a fork,

knife, spoon, chopstick, straw in my bag. I have a coffee cup that I carry with me, my reusable water bottle. And I'm just prepared. So I think about where I'm going. If I'm coming to LA, you know, I'll look up some stores that offer things in bulk, or I'll look up places where I can bring in my own container. And I'll have a dialogue with the person that works there. Like, hey, I know this might sound really weird, but I try to live a life where I don't create any trash. And I don't, I prefer not to use plastic. Is this okay? Can you refill my, yeah, refill my thing? And they're usually like, oh my

God, especially here. They're like, oh my God, that's so cool. Like, I love this. This is awesome. Like I do this too. And it's just all about having a dialogue and not being demanding, but like, you know, as a consumer, we can be demanding, right? We're, we're exchanging our money for goods. So like, I think it's our right to ask for and demand what we want. Interesting. Yeah. And what about with clothes and everything else like that? Do you? I buy everything secondhand. Secondhand.

There's nothing new. I'll buy underwear, new, organic cotton. But besides that, like, even you can get, like, really cool secondhand bras, which sounds weird maybe, but, like, I don't care. And it's all about, like, the slogan of package-free shop is give a shit. And, like, for me, like, when it comes to being judged for decisions that I'm making that help to have a positive impact on the environment, I just don't give a shit. You know, like, I do what I'm doing and I don't care what people think because I know that it aligns with what I believe in. That's great. And even if it's been in a packaging before, originally, even though it's secondhand, it's still, because you're recycling that? I consider reusing something that's already in the waste stream. So like everything I buy is

secondhand. And another cool thing about this time that we live in is the internet makes it so easy for people to consume things secondhand, you know, through the sharing economy, whether it's Craigslist or through websites like Poshmark, where you can buy secondhand clothes for both men and women. It's so possible to get everything reused. And you save so much money because of it. Yeah. Wow. How many people in your life have you influenced to do this that you thought would never go kind of way?

I guess how many people have gone completely to the level of your waste-free status of like zero cheating on this ever? And then how many have surprised you who brought this up? I don't even think of it as cheating. Like I think every positive step is positive. Every positive action is positive. And so like if you're doing one thing even and you like make waste in the rest of your life, like I still consider that something positive. And so when it comes to like my friends and family, I've never asked them to, you know, be zero waste or reduce their waste at all. But I think they see that, you know, like I've started three companies. Like I feel happier and healthier.

I'm a better version of myself through living this lifestyle. And I think through inviting people into my life in a way that feels safe, like they've adopted these things. Without judging, right? Like they've adopted these things. You know, one of my best friends. Without judging, right. Without, yeah. I would never judge anyone for where they're at because I cared about environmental sustainability, but I was like wasteful as hell.

Right, right. And so like who am I to judge or critique anyone for where they're at? I feel like my role is to be a champion of my own beliefs and my values, be consistent, and then invite people into my life if they're open to it. And if they're not, then like I love you for who you are what if you're dating someone who had just like plastic everywhere plastic container food I mean like would you be like I can't stay with this person or everyone that I've dated hasn't been zero waste but but they're conscious about it yeah I mean it comes with the territory right like? Like, I live this lifestyle.

This is who I am. You know, it's like take it or leave it. Yeah, it's like being with a vegan. You know, you're probably going to eat less meat. Except vegans will always tell you that they're vegans and that you shouldn't eat meat. No, I'm just kidding. I love vegans. But you'd probably eat less meat if you were with a vegan.

No, totally. I think everyone wants to have a more positive impact. I don't think anyone really wants to be, like, wasteful. But I think, first of all, people aren't aware of the impact that their choices have. So that's the first thing. But two, I think there's all these barriers to taking the next step. Like, they don't know where to start. There's this preconception that it's too expensive or that it's really hard or that it's time-consuming or that it's, like, this elitist thing.

And for me, like, again, I think my role is to really dispel those preconceptions and show that this is really easy, it's really approachable, and there are so many external benefits that you wouldn't even think of because of living this lifestyle. It's easy for you, you think, or do you feel like you have to? It is. It's so easy for me. Life is more simplified too, you think? Like a million percent, a million fold.

How so? I mean, percent, a million fold. How so? I mean, I just have fewer things. So first of all, that helps. Like my home is easier to clean. I can leave with less stress. I save money. So obviously that takes a financial burden off of the equation. I'm more conscious and deliberate about my purchasing decisions.

I'm more conscious and deliberate about mostly everything in my life. And I've been able to just be happier. And I think that just makes things easier. And I think also my attitude going into it was what helped, you know, I didn't say like, I'm going on this crash diet and I'm eliminating all plastic from my life. And if I screw up, then like everything is done and I'm a horrible person. And I went into it and I was like, you know, this is awesome. Like I'm so down for this. I'm going to start and I'm going to do one thing and it's going to be like amazing. I'm going to integrate it into my routine and then I succeed. And then I'm going to do something else. And if it's not perfect, I'm going to try again. And it was not like it's,

I gamified it kind of. I made it like I congratulated myself every time I did something that aligned more with this goal of mine. And I think like that's the attitude you have to take when making any change in your life. Right, right. Have you inspired others to be completely zero waste? I mean, I started out like with a blog being like really the second person who was talking about this in a public space. And now there's zero waste stores all over the world. There's like people blogging about zero waste. Like there are tons of people there. My following has increased on social media. My blog views have totally increased. There's brands wanting to align with zero waste. There's so much happening in this space now. And I have people write to me every day being like, this totally changed my life.

And the only thing that I did was show people that there's another way to live and give them the tools to apply that to their own life. When you first did this assessment in your space, you realized there's plastic everywhere in the fridge and in your place. Did you say, okay, I need to get rid of this plastic originally and recycle it or do something with it? And then never again will plastic touch my space? How do you get rid of the plastic in the most efficient way? There's a few ways. So one, you know, if there are still things that are usable, you know, I wanted to eliminate plastic from my life.

But there are people that would like to use anything regardless of what material it is. And there are places that would openly take donations of any type because there are people that don't have things in general. And so first of all, I like to look at everything and be like, is there someone else that could use this or benefit from this? And so I donated a lot. But with like beauty products and any other plastics that weren't recyclable, I learned of this really amazing option where it's a company called TerraCycle and their motto is really like recycle anything. And so you can send them your toothpaste containers, your beauty product packaging, and they'll recycle it. And so that's, I think, the best bridge between living a conventional

waste-producing lifestyle and making zero waste. Send it to that company or anything. They'll recycle anything. They will take pretty much anything. They even take cigarettes and diapers. It's pretty cool. So you don't have to throw stuff away. Yeah. There is always an option. I found that there's always an option. You just have to do a little bit of legwork to make it happen and to figure it out. What about all the haters that you get online? How do you deal with that personally? I mean, one, I don't indulge in negativity. Like, I read a comment.

When I first started doing this, there was a big article that came out about me, which kind of, like, put zero waste into the mainstream conversation because it was shared pretty widely. And there were people who were like, this is bullshit. Like, this girl isn't real. Like, she's just doing this for attention or whatever. And, like, first of all, I didn't care because that's not true. And I got a little bit emotionally affected because, like, I'm doing this for myself.

I'm doing this because I want to live in a world where people are living their lives in harmony with nature, where we're not screwing up the planet for everything else. We're the only creatures on Earth that can destroy the planet for everything else. And I'm not down with that. So when people say negative things, first of all, I like delete the comments because it's my world, you know, like it's my social media and like, who are you to come to my house and, you know, break my things. So I dispel like a lot of those negative comments by either like sharing a post that proves it wrong or I'll just delete it and maybe like some people would say that's Screwed up or whatever

But I think like if you're gonna have a discussion about it about something anything at all like have it be positive have it be Productive like don't tear people down for trying So for haters I say like most people that have a negative Reaction to what I'm doing they see something high-level zoomed out and they don't try to understand what it is. And I think anything that's alien to people for a lot of people is something that's scary or dangerous. And so they just like push it away altogether. And for me, like zero waste is a collection of tiny little steps that are really easy that together have a large scale impact um and so for haters I just like don't indulge it or try to be like come into my world see what it's

really like you know it's actually really easy and awesome you know like my family used to make fun of me so much and like mock me and I think when they saw that I didn't care they were just like oh let's try this just like, we're compost. My family composts now. They buy organic stuff now. They didn't care. It wasn't even on their radar. And because I was such a champion of my values, they started to take it to heart.

You know, my mom uses my stainless steel containers now. She, you know, uses reusable bags. She does all these things because she saw that it made me happier. And I think she wanted some of that too. So I just, I do what makes me feel good and hope that it inspires other people. In an ideal world, if you could have anything, what would happen with, I guess, products in general? You know, all these products are out there, food, clothing, all this stuff, like how would it be structured so that we would be able to make better decisions? We wouldn't have to make decisions as consumers.

They would just be like, here's the option. Yeah. I mean, it's a loaded question. Of course. First of all, I think there's, like, way too much shit out there. Because is cardboard okay then? Like, a cardboard packaging box? Well, it's like what is okay and what's not okay.

You know, I think, like, that as well is, like, a very large and loaded question. But I think like one, there's just too much stuff. There's way too much stuff. We have too many choices. We're obsessed with consumption. We get bored really easily and we think we need more and more and more. So I think, first of all, I'd like to shift our values away from consumption and more towards experience. You know, how can we enjoy each other again without needing things? How can we show our love and affection without physical materials? And I think that's very important because I think it's something that very much is lost right now, especially in America. But I would like for packaging to become obsolete or standardized or, you know, something where... Reusable.

Yeah, it's just reusable, you know, and a lot of people say, well, doesn't that kill creativity? And for me, I say, what is creativity? What is your right as a creator, as an artist? I think a lot of art and creativity could be masturbatory in a way. If what you're creating is contributing to something that's totally detrimental for the environment, I think you need to check yourself and ask, is what I'm producing or creating necessary? There's so many products out there right now that aren't necessary. And I think we need to evaluate that.

Right. There you go. Awesome. What's the thing you're working on the most right now? We were talking before this about what you really are excited about or what you're into now. Because this is kind of like phase one of your journey five years ago. This is the thing that gets talked about a lot in the press. But what's really, what are you really working on? I mean, mostly right now, just running my companies. I think

I studied journalism in college for the first year. And then I was like, I'm going to do economics. And then I studied politics and environmental science. And I thought I was going to be a politician because I thought that was the way to make large scale positive environmental change. And that's my North Star. That's what leads all of the decisions that I made. And I thought I was going to be a politician because I thought that was the way to make large scale, positive environmental change. And that's my North star. That's what leads all of the decisions that I made. And I thought that that was the way, but then I learned about business and I saw that business is like the thing that bisects all bureaucracy. Like you can get things done through business so much faster than you can do anything else. You can make decisions that no one even looks at twice. You know, you know, you can kind of, business is this weird thing where you can like do anything you want. It's like a free world in a way. People say there's regulation, but like you have so many

opportunities to exercise freedom and creativity and that can be very dangerous, but it could also be super powerful. So for me, I'm focused on building businesses that help to solve these large-scale environmental problems that I'm seeing, you know, chipping away one thing at a time. So most of my time is dedicated towards building and growing these businesses. And then through that, I've also learned that a lot of my time needs to be dedicated towards building and growing myself. In what ways? Where do you get to grow the most? I burned out this winter.

I took control of my company. I started Package Free with a partner, but I took control of it after the holidays. And I was running three companies by myself for the first time. I'm 26. There have been people far younger doing far more. But for me, I didn't have a balance between working seven days a week and being in a relationship and having friends and a life and forgot to eat all the time. I forgot to exercise. I forgot to sleep. And all of these things kind of snowballed. And I had this moment where I just like broke.

And I realized and like what I've dedicated so much of my energy towards now is one, of course, running my businesses and supporting all of the people that work for me. But two, I can't do that unless I'm taking care of myself. And I learned that the hard way through cracking. So I'm focused on eating well and loving myself and improving my mind and going to yoga. Just simple things. But I lost it so easily. When did you realize you lost it?

What was the breaking point? Or was it more just like a feeling of overwhelm? I think like just relationships in my life kind of started changing. I was getting in fights with people that I wasn't getting in fights with before. You know, I was just feeling sad all the time. Yeah. Why do you think that? Because I didn't take care of myself, right?

Like if you're not eating and you're not sleeping and you're not exercising and you're just working all the time, you forget that you're a person. Human being, yeah. Yeah. And I think that takes a toll eventually. And that's what happened. And so it just took like one snap, like one thing to happen.

And then I've just been changing my entire routine. And it really has just changed like my entire life. I think I can be a better friend and, you know, not in a relationship now, but I think I could be a better partner retrospectively by knowing that it's necessary and totally not up for dispute to be very selfish and take care of myself. And, you know, the same goes with business relationships and being a boss. Yeah. Wow. So do you feel like you were more giving to everyone else as opposed to yourself or just working so much that you never gave to yourself in general? I think taking over package-free was a lot of responsibility.

And for me, it was just kind of like a survival mode. I just had so much more to do that I couldn't think of anything else but work. Yeah. What advice would you give to female entrepreneurs in their 20s who are trying to start something, launch something, grow something? What's the most important things they should be aware of? I made hard stops for myself. Like I have to go to yoga every night at 7.30. I have to remember to buy groceries and eat meals. I have to remember to read things that improve and expand my mind and

my thinking and to be really aware of my intentions and to talk to myself and to give myself moments where I'm like in conversation with my body and my mind. And I wasn't for so long. And it's so easy not to be if you're someone who's super intense and driven and ambitious. And I'm all of those things. And because of that, I forgot about myself. And so any advice that I would give is like, check yourself daily. Be like, am I feeling happy? Am I feeling hungry? Am I feeling tired? Am I feeling overwhelmed? And asking yourself why, like, I think therapy is amazing. You know, talk to someone. Yeah. Wow. That's a good realization. Yeah. Who is in your corner? Who's in your side?

Is it your mom that you reach out to when you're going through this? Do you have a friend? Do you have a group of people? Yeah. I mean, it was also just a really hard year because my best friends all moved away this year. Where did they go? L.A.? 26 is kind of that year where, like, your life kind of shifts. People get in more serious relationships. Jobs change. People kind of travel. And so I had to, like, start putting myself out there more and making more friends and, you know, finding more people. And ultimately, you know, I need to be in charge of taking care of my own mind and taking care of my own emotions. And of course I have my mom and my family and my

friends, but I think mostly that that responsibility does fall on myself and I need to be able to understand and accept and work with my brain and my emotions. And I'm very much trying to be intentional about teaching myself how to do that. Wow. What do you think it's going to take from you this year to get to the next level in your business and your personal life, personal growth? I think I'm trying to ask myself what's important to me right now. And what's important to me right now is work so much more than doing things like building

love relationships or making lots of new friends. I'm really focused on work. So I think in order for me to be the best at growing my businesses, I need to be really, really, really nice to myself. And- You're usually not nice to yourself? I think I need to be really, really, really nice to myself. Are you usually not nice to yourself? I think I'm good to myself, but I forget that I'm a person.

And I think that happens to a lot of people. I started doing research on entrepreneurs that, you know, get divorced when they start their companies or that break up with people or lose friends or get depressed and tired. Like, this is a thing. And I didn't have that many people that had businesses in my life that like could empathize or understand what I was going through.

You know, and I have friends that have just like nine to five jobs. I can go get drunk and go out and then they go back to work on Monday. And I'm like, I can't do that. I'm working seven days a week. So yeah, I just think like in order for me to accomplish my goal for this year

of just growing my businesses, I really need to grow myself. I love that. That's cool. Anything else you want to share? I've got a few final questions but I don't know if there's anything else. Go for it. Okay, cool. This is called the three truths. Okay.

Three truths. Imagine you've made all the changes and impacts you want to make in the world. This is the end of your life. Maybe you're 200 years old. We've extended your lifespan now. Some technology. You're as old as you want to be and it's the last day for you. And you've made all the impacts that you could possibly make. The environment, your mission, it's come true. You've done it all. You've also written tons of articles and books and movies. You've done whatever you want to do. But for whatever reason, it sounds great, right? But for whatever reason,

all the information you've put out in the world has been erased. So no one has access to your videos or your content or your words anymore. But you have a piece of paper and a pen that is not plastic that you get to write down on. A quill. A quill. Just a strand of ink that you get to write on a feather. And you dip it in the ink in a glass jar. You get to write down three things you know to be true about all of your experiences,

which I call three truths. So these would be your lessons, truths that you would share with the world, since this is all they have to be remembered by you. What would you write down as your three truths? I guess the things that have always guided me are, it's so important and necessary to live your values and to ask yourself, you know, what is it that you care about

and are you living your life in a way that aligns with that? So that would be the first one. My mom always told me that there's nothing in life that's permanent except for death, which, you know, made me realize that you can always change and grow and not be afraid of quitting or moving on or failing or anything. Like there's always something else except for death. That would be the second one. Third one, for me at least, for my truth, it's necessary for me to check in with myself every day and to have a really clear idea of what my values are

to kind of go back to the first point. So, you know, am I living my values? But the third point would be what are my values? What are the things that I do care about? What are my intentions? And I think a truth would be that those change all the time. And it's so necessary to ask yourself what you care about and what makes you happy and what makes you excited every single day so you can constantly be checking back in with that. I think that for me is the only way that I sustain my happiness.

That's great. That's great. Where can we connect with you online? Website, social media? I guess there are lots of places now. Come to your store in Brooklyn. You can come hang out with me in Brooklyn at Package Free Shop. You can read all about how to live a zero waste lifestyle on TrashesForTossers.com or my YouTube channel, which is just Trashes For Tossers. I have my other company, The Simply Co. And yeah, Package Free Shop. All those places. I will hear you and see you.

I look at everything. I read everything. Where do you hang out the most? Instagram? Yeah, I love Instagram. Trashes For Tossers. At Trashes For Tossers, right? So go hang out with her there.

Scroll back a few months, you'll see a photo of her standing on top of trash with me next to you. Yeah, we hugged on trash. Yes, we did. Trash that was being tossed. Yeah. It was symbolic.

It was, it was, exactly. Before I ask the final question, I want to acknowledge you for a moment for your mission. I think it's so empowering and inspiring to see someone of your age with a commitment and a dedication to your mission. I think it's so empowering and inspiring to see someone of your age with a commitment and a dedication to your values. You're so committed to doing whatever it takes that you can do. You're putting out content, you're creating physical goods, you have a store,

you're doing everything in your power right now to get the message out there and support people in living this lifestyle. So I acknowledge you for your inspiration constantly, for you not judging me with having plastic in my place but also inspiring me. I have a glass bottle container now so one step at a time for me. But honestly and also being an aspiring young female entrepreneur to show other women what's possible and how they can create it. Anything. Anything's possible, yeah. So I acknowledge you for all of it. It's amazing. Final question is what's your definition of greatness? Living your values. Lauren Singer. Thank you for coming on. Appreciate

it. There you have it, my friends. I hope you enjoyed this episode with Lauren Singer, such a beautiful individual with a big heart and a mission to serve the world if you enjoyed this make sure to share this out with your friends lewishouse.com slash 605 all of the notes the resources the information we talked about on this episode is at those show notes you can watch the full video interview there as well and go subscribe to our YouTube channel that has over a quarter of a million subscribers at youtube.com slash Lewis Howes. You can watch all of our videos over there on YouTube as well. If this is your first time here, thank you again so much for being here. We welcome you to the ecosystem of the School of Greatness.

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we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. I love you so very much. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Bye.