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The Mindfull founders Caitlin and Morgan share their tips on how to minimize waste in your life… everyday.
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A sustainable and low-waste future starts at home. And, introducing change is not a hard thing when you know what to look for and how to minimize waste. Our lifestyle routines can easily produce less single-use plastic, CO2 emissions and water waste when you have the right products. That’s the idea behind The Mindfill– a South Dakota based store offering low-waste bathroom, kitchen and laundry essentials, hair care products, plantable cards and more. All products are manufactured in compliance with sustainability principles such as ethical research and sourcing from local vendors in the South Dakota area.
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Mindfully minimizing waste and at the same time maximizing customers’ responsibility in the community is the vision of The Mindfull co-founders Caitlin Reimers and Morgan Hughes. Both founders are recent graduates from the University of South Dakota with degrees in sustainability and the desire to bring more eco-friendly products into their city. And, both ladies shared their insights about how to reduce, reuse and minimize waste everyday both in their personal lives and throughout their community.
What impact can we make by choosing sustainable everyday products?
MH– Individuals have the power to do two things- first reduce their personal waste, second they are able to voice their preferences and values through their purchases to larger companies and plastic product manufacturers. When choosing sustainable products in general and from The Mindfill, there are other benefits that come with reducing their personal impact. These benefits can include affordability, ridding of harmful chemicals, and supporting ethical and socially responsible businesses.
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CR– A lot of the focus of being less wasteful has been narrowed in on packaging, how to make it with “50% less plastic” or buying in bulk; however, the most effective change is not buying the packaging at all. We, as consumers, did not ask for our daily necessities to create harm, to come in large quantities of plastic, or to have harmful chemicals. We simply wanted the product. Making sustainable switches to our brands that are seeing this problem and set themselves apart by caring for their customer, their health, and the environment while still getting the same necessities shows other companies that the tide is changing. People are no longer accepting plastic and harmful chemicals as the norm, they are asking for more. And over time, this will become the norm for all companies to follow.
What has your sustainable journey been like?
MH– My interest in sustainability stemmed from involvement in agriculture growing up. Agriculture led to caring about sustainable communities in terms of food, the environment, social opportunities, and making sure that producers and customers are connected. After finding this interest, I decided to get my sustainability degree from the University of South Dakota, and saw the need for sustainable goods to be made accessible. In terms of personal sustainability journey and lifestyle switches, it does not happen all at once which is very important to remember. It takes months, even years of small changes to create a sustainable lifestyle that is actually realistic and can be continued.
So You Wanna Go Zero Waste? Start Here
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CR- My sustainable journey didn’t start until college, where I took an environmental exploratory class that completely blew me away. I transferred schools and changed my major to Sustainability at USD right after that. I was immediately interested in zero waste, and had a huge need to become zero waste asap. But, an entire lifestyle change takes a lot more time than I realized and researching every product thoroughly to make sure they were actually sustainable is exhausting. I’ve tried all types of shampoo bars, deodorants, detergents, thrift challenges etc…and after 4 years, I am still working on it. I am working on it right along with the customers that we now work with!
The Mindfill works really hard to involve the community in the discussion around sustainability, because it really does all begin with education. No one can begin acting on lifestyle switches or sustainable practices until they better understand the “why” and “how”. We do this by posting informative content, interacting with individuals at our events, answering any questions we get through email or messaging, and taking every opportunity to collaborate with other sustainability organizations in our area.
How can someone reduce single-use plastic in their local communities?
CR– Reducing waste in a community that is not as forward thinking can be more challenging, as you may not have access to local sustainable products or a recycling or compost program. However, even small switches that work within your environment and community are great! These can include investing in a reusable water bottle, using reusable bags when shopping, or switching out your plastic shower products. Then you can share your switches with your friends, family, and community to encourage them as well. Communicating with others about sustainability might surprise you, because many people are interested in reducing waste, but do not know where to start!