Our new year’s resolutions, let’s take it to the next level!
Happy New Year! Do you have a New Year's Resolution? We're always promising to exercise and eat healthy, learn a new language and get up earlier… Well, this year, we Jellyfish founders have decided to improve our sustainability. Everyone has room to improve our habits for the planet, and so does our team. If you recognize yourself in one of our profiles, join us to make some changes to your lifestyle! Check out our sustainability resolutions and our progress as we share our journey on social media.
A mostly sustainable eater with a fitness goal and a motorcycle habit...
Sustainability scale: 8/10
Where I am now
My diet is already pretty sustainable, but there’s always room to improve. I’m a pescavegan (a word I may or may not have made up), meaning I avoid most meat and dairy but I do eat fish and other seafood. I think my diet is pretty healthy, but I wouldn’t mind dropping a few pounds. More than anything I want to get strong!
I definitely have room to grow in other parts of my life. Before the pandemic I was flying a LOT, mostly for work but also for fun. I haven’t been on a plane in a while, but I still ride my motorcycle almost every day (his name is Johnny). And I’d like to explore ways to reduce my overall consumption and energy use.
Goals for 2022
I have some serious fitness goals for the new year, and I’m hoping I can find a sustainable diet that will help me get there. For one thing, I want to do a pullup!
I also need to look at my transport carbon footprint. I’m going to explore biking, walking, public transport and other options to really green my commute. I won’t say goodbye to Johnny, but I might need to take him less.
Finally, I’m going to track my consumption patterns and see if there are places I can improve my footprint.
How I’m going to get there
There’s a lot of debate about the best diet for getting strong, but I’m going to focus on making sure I’m getting enough calories, protein and nutrients to feed my growing muscles. I’m also going to do more research and explore the environmental impacts of selecting different types of fish, or even starting to eat eggs again.
For transport, I’m just going to experiment. I’ll need to calculate the carbon footprints of different options, and then find something that works for me. My ideal form of transport of course would be a dogsled, but we’ll see if that’s feasible in Washington, DC.
I’m going to try to buy secondhand or reuse or repurpose things I already have. Before I purchase, I’m also going to consider whether I really need something in the first place!
An almost vegan cheese lover willing to go all the way…
Sustainability scale: 7/10
Where I am now
I consider myself a flexi-vegan: I am vegan at home but eat cheese or dairy when I’m invited to someone's house or eat at a restaurant. Note that I would never eat meat or fish, my motivation lies more in protecting animals than saving the planet, but if you can do both, even better!
The problem? When going back to my hometown in the French mountains (where cheese is almost a religion), I eat cheese at each meal and I can definitely say it is my favorite food. I just cannot find a good cheese alternative. Unlike burger patties, there is no tasty Beyond Cheese…
I am careful with food waste, I make sure that no fruit or vegetable goes to the bin and I can say that it happens only very rarely. However, I do my grocery shopping at discount grocery stores and tend to choose the most economic option, even if it comes with plastic packaging and unhealthy ingredients. I do not often shop in organic stores, except to purchase rare products I cannot find otherwise.
Goals for 2022
I want to change and drastically reduce my consumption of dairy. I feel guilty about not eating the vegan option when restaurants make the effort to put one on the menu, just to satisfy my taste buds. I don’t want to say goodbye to cheese altogether but reduce my consumption so that it truly becomes exceptional and I can better appreciate the value of this ingredient.
I also want to reduce my plastic waste. So far, I want to go from one bag of plastic waste per week to one bag per month. This is a drastic change and will probably mean that I must go more often to stores where I can purchase ingredients in bulk. More expensive, but worth it!
How I’m going to get there
First, when I go to a restaurant that offers vegan choices, I will opt for those rather than the cheesy options, as tempting as they may be. When I’m in France, my home country, I will cook cashew based melted cheese recipes and share them with my family and friends.
For my daily routine, I will more often shop in stores where I can find sustainable products, and sustainable packaging options (or none at all!), even if it means increasing the budget a bit. For instance, when apples or tomatoes, I will make sure to take the ones that don't come in plastic bags and will make my own orange juice from fresh oranges.
A cook willing to expand his sustainability menu
Sustainability scale: 6/10
Where I am now
I try to eat healthy already. In the past year I can count on one hand how many times I bought a pre-packaged or “boxed” meal. I cook fresh food from scratch most nights, and eat leftovers the rest of the time. When I do go out I love a good burger. In the summer nothing beats grilling meat.
Goals for 2022
I have one goal. Reduce my carbon footprint! Both in and out of the kitchen. I am not entirely sure how I’m going to measure this reduction. Wish someone would make an app for that!
How I’m going to get there
I already am in the habit of meal planning. Each week I go through the fridge, freezer, and cabinets to see what I have, and what I can make from it. I put together a menu for the week, make a list of what I don’t have, and go do my shopping. I think I can take my normal routine and add rules to try and be more sustainable. I can reduce my meat intake to 1 meal/week. I will also try to eat more vegan. Maybe I’ll start with 1 vegan meal a week and increase from there.
Outside of the kitchen I will attempt to be more aware of the packaging in the products I buy, and the quantity. If I reduce the amount of new “things” I buy I should in theory also reduce the amount of waste created, energy used to make those “things”, and resources needed to properly dispose of or handle those “things” when I no longer want them. Buying second hand, repurposing, and making myself all seem like good ways to reduce my carbon footprint in 2022!
An epicurean willing to finally get a greener diet
Sustainability scale: 5/10
Where I am now
I am a foodie. I love eating all kinds of food and trying new flavours. As a Mexican, I love traditional Mexican dishes, which almost always contain some kind of meat. Also I have some extra kilos that I am constantly trying to lose. So, when I check for diets on the internet I often get recommendations of high (animal) protein diets, which only help me to have one extra excuse to keep eating meat and diary. Don’t get me wrong, I care about the environment, but I often prefer to be sustainable in other aspects of my life (e.g cycling, avoiding consumerism, etc.), rather than making better food choices. But this year, I have decided to finally stop making excuses and challenge myself to adopt a healthier and greener diet.
Goals for 2022
I will quit eating beef and I will drastically reduce my consumption of dairy products and pork. I will still eat chicken or fish, twice per week. This will allow me to have animal proteins, while reducing my carbon footprint. By avoiding dairy products I will also reduce the amount of fats that I consume and the CO2 emissions of my plate.
I will increase my consumption of locally produced vegetables and fruits.
I will reduce my consumption of pastries, cakes and other desserts that often have dairy ingredients and have tons of calories.
And I will follow a fitness plan, which will progressively be more challenging throughout the year.
How I’m going to get there
First of all, I am going to get informed on nutrition. One of my problems is that I have been too lazy to learn how to have a healthy and balanced diet, or how to substitute one food for another while still getting the nutrients that my body needs. I have preferred to follow unbalanced diets that promise fast results.
Second, I am going to learn new vegetarian recipes. I will focus on getting new tastes and flavours, instead of trying to reproduce dishes that originally use meat with “vegetarian” forms. This will add fun to my challenge and will reduce the chances to fall in old excuses (e.g. the veggie burger does not taste the same as my 150gr beef burger).
Third, I will track my food carbon footprint. I will first do it in January, to know my baseline and I will continue tracking it on a weekly basis to check my progress… just as I will do for losing weight.
And finally, I will look for communities and forums to find other people having similar goals. This will help me to keep my motivation high and it will also inspire me to continue on this path. My Jelly-pals are already motivating me!!
So do you join the challenge in 2022?