Five questions with Tonia Simeone
1. What does living simply mean to you?
Living simply to me means doing more with less. Many times our solution to problems is to run out and purchase whatever we need for that situation (we need curtains on our windows, we go to Target and buy them), when we probably could have just reused another household item in a new way (bed sheets can make very cute curtains!)
2. Your site deals a lot with creating little to no impact on the environment, why is it important to you?
My parents take the responsibility of being good stewards of the earth very seriously. They instilled this passion in me at an early age, and I was raised with a high level of awareness about humanity’s impact on the environment. But now that I am grown up (yikes!), my parents aren’t around to remind me to recycle, and I am faced daily with tough choices. Moving from the country to the city didn’t help matters…living a green lifestyle in an urban setting is pretty inconvenient most of the time. I realized I was not the only city-dweller with these challenges…so, the blog was born.
3. What steps have you taken to live simply in your day to day life?
Some of the recent steps I have taken to decrease my daily impact include:
1. Riding my bike to and from work during the summer months
2. Eliminating all use of paper towel around the house– cloth towels/rags only
3. Growing our own vegetables
4. Only eating meat from local farmers
5. Purging our home of all cleaning supplies, toiletries, etc. that have toxic ingredients and replacing with homemade/biodegradable/natural products
6. Unplugging appliances when they’re not in use
7. Heating our home with a wood stove and turning the gas down as much as possible in the winter
8. No air-conditioner in the summer
9. Taking shorter showers
10. Collecting rain to water the garden with instead of using the sprinkler
11. Washing and reusing plastic baggies
12. Eliminating plastic tupperware containers for leftovers– replaced by glass ones
13. No plastic bottles of water or coffee-to-go cups. I bring my own bottle/thermos everywhere
4. What’s been the hardest part of your simple journey?
Giving up certain small pleasures that I hold dear (the occasion pedicure, buying new outfits…) is really tough for me. I get so much fulfillment from knowing I am making the right choice when I indulge less, but part of me still says “It’s ok to buy that shirt that was made in China…you deserve a treat.”
I’m constantly bombarded with advertisements and media that tell me I need more things in order to be happy…and I totally believe them sometimes. But at the end of the day, I can’t name one single material possession that actually brings me a real sense of fulfillment (except maybe my computer, without it blogging would be pretty tough!).
5. What advice would you give others who are on the living simple journey?
Don’t become overwhelmed by trying to be the meanest-greenest-machinist out there. Real change, especially when it comes to our lifestyle and habits, only happens when you take it slow enough so that it’s sustainable for the long-term. Find the pace that’s right for you and your family…change one small thing a week (shorter showers this week, wasting less food from each meal next week, etc.) and see how it all adds up over time.
Tonia is the blogger behind Itty Bitty Impact. Her green lifestyle journey began when she and her fiancé Mike bought a home together two years ago. They started “greenifying” everyday household tasks and realized that their small changes were adding up and making a difference. Their hope for the blog is that it will encourage others to start making sustainable lifestyle changes as well. Tonia and Mike spend their spare time planning their (green) wedding and running with their dog along Lake Superior. You can follow Tonia on Twitter @IttyBittyImpact
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