Climate change pops up in our news feeds and our conversations on a daily basis but so much of it is focused on what big companies and our governments are doing in the fight to better our environment. One relatively new local business that is hoping to make strides in helping people achieve a sustainable lifestyle is Bare Market.
They offer cost-effective and locally sourced body and home-care products that they say are healthy for both the customer and the environment with no use of disposable plastics.
Founder Dayna Stein started doing market research in October of 2017 and started selling products in June of 2018. “We’re really trying to nudge behaviour change,” she said in an interview with the Observer.
They dub themselves “Toronto’s first one-stop-shop for package-free goods” and are opening up their first storefront location this winter on Danforth Avenue.
Through that market research came the Bare Market pop-up shops, which operated throughout the GTA until August of this year.
Stein has her Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Food Systems and Food Security and her Masters in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability. She worked as a consultant for another company that focuses on sustainable food systems before realizing her dream of Bare Market.
One of the first things she tells people is to use what you have before coming to buy zero-waste products. “People are kind of brought into the more consumeristic side of zero-waste and feel they need to buy their way out of waste, which doesn’t really make sense.”
Maintaining a sustainable lifestyle doesn’t need to be difficult or even expensive, says Susan Neudorf, the Educations Programs Manager for Green Venture at the EcoHouse in Hamilton.
“It’s not going to lead to a decline in their quality of life,” she says. “Your life might change. You might cook more or you might cook differently. You might have to work a little bit harder…Actually living a sustainable green life is fairly simple and will only save you money.”
Green Venture is Hamilton’s primary source for sustainable living ideas and the EcoHouse is a 1850s stone house that has been declared a historic site and used as a demonstration for the initiatives that they promote. Neudorf has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental and Atmospheric Science.
She has a family of five, her and her husband and three kids, and they already implement green practices themselves such as getting rid of their vehicle three years ago. They take transit or bike and if they need to use a car for something, they are part of a car share program in the city.
She and her family also cut down on the amount of meat that they consume by just buying less of it. Her one tip for people is to watch their thermostat and how high they have it set in the winter, putting an emphasis on warming yourself more and your home a little less by putting on more clothes, getting up and doing things around the house, or drinking something warm, like a cup of coffee.
She notes that it is okay to be cold in the winter and warm in the summer when she suggests having fans in every room rather than using the AC all the time.