Living Lightly

without Compromising Your Lifestyle

WORDS CARRIE SONG

Nicola Turner’s family of four have reduced their waste to just one bin a year! How do they do it?

Sitting in a co-working space meeting room in the beautiful town of Cambridge, Nicola, in a black top, which she bought 12 years ago (she bought a blue one at the same time; you’ll see it on the cover of her newly published book Living Lightly), she shared with Nourish how she began on her journey to mindful consumption and how her family managed to live with less stuff, less waste and less impact. Nicola is deeply convinced that if she can do it, anyone can. Living lightly has helped make her life simpler, saved heaps of time and money, and created a healthier, happier family. This is her ‘why’ and also a silver bullet to lessening her impact, which motivates her to keep going. “As humans, we will do things that make us feel good,” says Nicola. She hasn’t always been this way. In fact, Nicola used to work in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry, an industry behind all those everyday products we buy regularly and consume frequently like shampoo and toilet paper. Her role was understanding consumer behaviour with the goal of getting us to buy more. She found that was very interesting until 2011 when her husband Mike got dermatitis on his finger. Nicola tried to help Mike look into what could be causing it. They started to question all the products they would put on their skin; that led to them looking at the food they were eating, the cleaning products they were using and all of the other stuff in their home like furniture, clothes and kids’ toys. “This was a journey of questioning every aspect of our consumption and simplifying our lives,” said Nicola. This enabled her to focus more on her family’s well-being and the well-being of the planet—and that felt really good. Nicola came to realise that her personal values were getting too far removed from her professional values because she was buying and using less in her personal life, but she went to work every day to try to convince people to buy more. It wasn’t a lightning-bolt moment but the process of living lighter that has changed her career naturally. She started her own social enterprise called Mainstream Green working as a behaviour changer. She runs workshops, delivers speaking events, provides consulting services to councils and businesses, and has now published her book, whatever works to get people engaged. Imagine living with less clutter in your life. Imagine how much time and stress you would save not organising, tidying up and paying for all that stuff. Imagine spending that time instead with loved ones and having the life you want. If you can imagine any of that, maybe it’s time to start changing your behaviour. Nourish asked Nicola to share a toolbox of shortcuts which will give you an awesome head start on your own adventure.

According to Nicola, the single biggest change we can make to the way we consume is to become more conscious. She believes the subtle shift in our mindset changes everything. If you’re about to buy something, ask yourself: Do I really need it? A lot of time you are going to say no. If yes, can I make do with something I have? If no, can I borrow or rent it? Can I buy it locally made or second-hand?

One man’s trash is truly another man’s treasure. Recently Nicola was contracted to work on a project with Hamilton City Council and Collectors Anonymous to bring you Hamilton’s second-hand shopping guide. But if buying second-hand is not for you, it’s fine to continue to buy new stuff when you need but choose products that really suit you, that you really love, and make them last. Nicola said she always felt good in her 12-year-old top. “In fact, so often sustainability and cost savings go hand in hand because when you really boil it down, it’s all about valuing things more.”

Living Lightly: The Busy Person's Guide to Mindful Consumption RRP$45 HarperCollins Publishers

Carrie Song

Carrie is mum to Yimo and wife to Yuqing. Hailing from China, Carrie and her family have fallen in love with life in New Zealand where she works as a bilingual storyteller, a cross-cultural communicator and a Diversity & Inclusion advocate. Carrie loves cooking using fresh, local ingredients and sharing food and culture with her friends, neighbours and co-workers.