I’m sure a lot of you woke up on the first day of 2018 asking yourselves “how can I make a difference?”. Well, it’s this easy! It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a guy, this information is for absolutely everyone! Read it, digest it and share it with your loved ones.

1) Did you know we use and throw away enough plastic PER YEAR to circle the earth 4 times?! Or that this plastic and waste takes approx 500-1000 years to degrade, which means it will sit on landfills for that long or will find its way into our oceans and kill sea earthlings precious to human survival? Solution? Reduce your consumption and plastic use! I carry my bamboo utensils and metal straw in my bag at all times and say no to plastic ones whenever I’m on the go. That easy! If you have them with you, you'll never have to ask for plastic ones when eating at restaurants or buying ToGo food.

2) Did you know tampons and pads carry chemicals, odor repellents, plastic, petroleum, bleach and other life-threatening and cancer-inducing ingredients? Yes, I know...talking about a woman’s period is “gross” but it should NEVER be a taboo! What’s gross is everything we are putting in our bodies without knowing about it! Women, in their lifetimes, will use 16,800+ tampons and pads! Some of these pads are made with plastic equivalent to 4 plastic bags! A woman uses 2-4 pads per day during her mother-nature-called days.... Do the insane math! And yes, there’s the option to buy organic feminine products but those products, once used, will eventually find their way into our landfills and oceans too. Solution? Menstrual cup! I know it looks scary but it was the best advice I received in 2017! I love it, I take it with me everywhere (even on my trips), it takes my cramps away every single time, and it is safe, hygienic and eco-friendly. Plus, you buy one and it lasts for... YEARS! Protecting your body from toxic chemicals, and helping you- beautiful goddess- produce LESS waste! The brand I use is called GladRags, and they donate feminine products to girls in need with each purchase you make. They also sell pads made of cotton fabric.

These are just a few of my green secrets. What are yours?

“It is not that we don’t live. Indeed we do, but whether we live rightly, whether we live fully, that is he question. Unless one is conscious, one is not alive. To sit in a room and meditate is not the way to become conscious. To read books is also not the way. We must, in the midst of our day-to-day life, learn to observe, to contemplate, to measure our response, our movements, our words, our thoughts- which are more important than words. We must develop the sensitivity, the urge to appreciate the soul of beauty, a sense of order and harmony. We must find and create beauty everywhere.” 🌿🍃 This year in April, I visited Auroville; a Utopian and sustainable city south of India. Besides having a breathtaking and eco-friendly architecture focused on the synchrony of the universe, there was no single dominant religion (all are practiced and accepted), no politics, and no currency. They live blissfully, respecting nature and humanity. This quote by The Mother (the woman who gave birth to Auroville) describes my view of life completely. See, respect and create beauty everywhere you go. Don’t destroy but add value to places and people. Especially when it comes to nature. Our earth is aching, guys. Badly. It’s heartbreaking to watch. Forests are burning, glaciers are melting, air is becoming unbreathable, animals- crucial to our survival- are dying faster than we ever imagined, and trash has become an overused word in our vocabularies and lifestyles. If I tell you that YOU can change this, will you listen? Will you do something about it? The solution is at our fingertips. It’s in the way we do our day-to-day lives. How we shop, eat, think, move. Simple daily baby steps that can have a huge impact! Here are a few:

1) Say no to plastic when you go out to eat or shop. Take your reusable utensils (I have them and love them! Bamboo and metal straws) and cotton shopping bags. I'll be selling bamboo cutlery sets that benefit two nature-preserving non-profits I've partnered with on my blog's shop. Give me a few more days and I'll share details with you :)

2) Switch the car for a bike, bus ride, or electric transportation. (I surrendered my car 2.5 years ago. Best decision ever. I’m thinking of getting an electric scooter now. Yes, they exist!)

3) Offset your flight carbon impact. (Yes! That exists too!) I use ClimateCare; a B Corp offsetting your carbon footprint by using a calculator to tell you how much you need to donate to different nature-preserving projects. For example, to offset the 18,000+ miles I traveled from Miami to New Delhi roundtrip, or the 4+ tones of CO2 I emitted, I donated $42.48 to ClimateCare's projects that range from planting trees to preserving rainforests to purifying water in Kenya and many more. Use their calculator to do the math. It's very simple!

4) Shop wisely! Consciously! Read labels. Choose fair-trade, vegan, rainforest alliance certified, organic, natural and eco-friendly (packaging especially).

5) Set Ecosia.org as your search engine. They plant trees with each search. So far, 17million+ trees have been planted.

6) Go vegan. I know it sounds crazy and difficult but it is the only diet that can save and preserve our planet. Besides, if done well, it is one of the healthiest diets! Take your superfoods, eat your fruits and veggies, and watch how your health and our planet bloom back to life.

7) SHARE the knowledge. We are in this together!

Go Green in 2018! It's this easy!

Easy daily steps you can take to go GREEN!