Natural Living

Interview with Kate Arnell

Eco-friendly blogger Kate Arnell wants to help people cut back on their household waste. Here, she tells us how we can start in the home…

About six years ago, my husband came home with a newspaper that he’d found on the tube. It had an article in it about a family in California who produced a one-litre jar of trash a year and I thought, ‘no way!’. I was already passionate about choosing products that were organic or better for the environment, but that article really struck a chord with me. I thought, ‘how is that even possible?’. That’s what got me on-board with making my lifestyle more eco-friendly.

Switching to a more sustainable lifestyle can be a gradual process. You can still use, say, a regular shampoo rather than a shampoo bar. Plenty of normal shampoos have sustainable attributes and you can be mindful about packaging in other ways. Supermarkets such as Waitrose are trialling a non-packet aisle and that’s rolling out to other supermarkets, which is great. Iceland has also promised that it’s going to be completely plastic-free in a year or so as well, so changes are coming, and there are so many things to look forward to on the sustainable front.

My book is a step-by-step guide to going waste-free. Everyone’s lives are different, and we all have different budgets. When I started trying to make my life more ecofriendly, I thought I would clean out every single cupboard and get rid of anything that didn’t align with that. Then, a week or two later, I discovered that I actually needed a lot of the stuff that I’d chucked out. Working towards zero-waste, rather than thinking you need to completely overhaul your lifestyle, is what my book helps you to do. It also covers zero-waste in situ. Whether you’re at work, travelling, or it’s someone’s birthday party, there are sustainable solutions for everything if you look hard enough!

Loads of companies are working towards becoming more sustainable, but one that really stands out for me is The Beauty Kitchen. The brand has made a huge effort to make its products refillable. Not only that, but it has made them convenient for people to buy on the high street. There’s a refill station in Covent Garden at the moment, but the company is also going to roll out more across the country. People struggle to reduce their plastic consumption when it comes to beauty, but The Beauty Kitchen is doing well.

I think when people have children, they automatically start to question ingredients in everyday items. Some simple, sustainable, parenting hacks are reusable nappies, which aren’t as gross and messy as you might think, and opting for wooden toys over plastic ones. Trying to buy stuff that’s second-hand is good as well, but, realistically, every new parent is pressed for time. When we do buy stuff new, we try and buy from small, independent businesses, and if you can’t find something, look on Etsy!

Some time at home can be a chance to make sustainable adjustments, so whatever your natural passion is, start there. If you love fashion, then clean out your closet and put anything you want to get rid of on the second-hand market. If you’re a foodie, support an organic vegetable box and think about small suppliers who could really benefit from your money. Medium-sized companies, such as Abel and Cole, Riverford and Farmdrop, are good if you want to get good-quality ingredients. Graig Farm, for example, delivers all meat in butchers paper, which is great for the environment. And, don’t forget about recycled loo roll! Companies like Cheeky Panda do some in compostable packaging, which is good.