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Sustainable in the Suburbs | Reduce Waste, Sustainable Habits & Intentional Living

Sustainable in the Suburbs | Reduce Waste, Sustainable Habits & Intentional Living

著者： Sarah Robertson-Barnes | Sustainable Living Expert Low Waste Educator
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10月19日まで。※適用条件あり

Want to waste less, save money, and build a more sustainable home life?


Do you care about sustainable living but feel overwhelmed by all the advice, products, pressure, and endless lists of things you are supposed to change?


If that sounds like you, you’re in the right place. Sustainable in the Suburbs helps you reduce waste, build sustainable habits, and make intentional living feel more doable at home — in a way that works for real people, real families, real budgets, real routines, and real homes.


Hosted by Sarah Robertson-Barnes — sustainability educator, writer, speaker, former high school science teacher, suburban mum, and founder of Sustainable in the Suburbs — the show offers practical, non-judgmental guidance to help you waste less, spend more intentionally, buy less, use what you already have, and make thoughtful changes at home. Sarah’s background in science education and technical writing helps her make complex sustainability topics clear, approachable, and useful in everyday life.


Because sustainable living is not just about eco-friendly products or making every possible swap. It is about creating a home life that is better for the planet while also working for your budget, energy, family, routines, and capacity.


On the podcast, you’ll hear practical conversations and ideas about:

  • Low waste living and reducing waste at home
  • Sustainable habits that fit real life
  • Reducing food waste and building low-waste kitchen routines
  • Buying less, using what you have, and reducing overconsumption
  • Sustainable parenting and sustainable living with kids
  • Composting, decluttering, plastic-free living, and eco-frugal living
  • Making holidays and celebrations less wasteful
  • Bringing more slow living and intentional living into everyday life
  • Building a more sustainable home life without adding more pressure



Choose an episode and hit play. Follow or subscribe for practical ideas to help make sustainable living feel more doable at home.


Next steps:

Free Household Waste Audit Workbook

A Beginner’s Guide to a Sustainable Kitchen

Read the Sustainable in the Suburbs blog

Join the Sustainable in the Suburbs newsletter


Start where you are, use what you have, and live a little greener — one small shift at a time!

© 2026 Sustainable in the Suburbs | Reduce Waste, Sustainable Habits & Intentional Living 人間関係 子育て
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  • 58: How to Quit Amazon, Buy Less, and Break the Cycle of Overconsumption

    58: How to Quit Amazon, Buy Less, and Break the Cycle of Overconsumption
    2026/09/15

    Overconsumption is built into the way we shop and Amazon makes buying more, faster, almost frictionless.

    This episode of Sustainable in the Suburbs originally aired in August 2025, but I wanted to bring it back now because the conversation feels even more relevant today.

    I’m talking about how to quit Amazon (or at least drastically reduce your reliance on it) in a way that’s actually doable.

    We look at the real cost of convenience, from plastic waste and overconsumption to the pressure Amazon’s business model puts on local and independent businesses. I also share how my family has mostly moved away from Amazon, what we do instead, and the few situations where we still use it.

    We also talk about the power of boycott. One person choosing to spend differently might feel insignificant, but collectively, where we spend our money matters. Choosing to buy less, shop locally, support independent businesses, buy secondhand, borrow, or simply wait before purchasing are all ways to push back on a system designed to keep us consuming.

    This isn’t about pretending everyone can completely avoid Amazon. It’s about finding the places where you do have some wiggle room and building sustainable habits that feel realistic for your life.

    Because intentional living doesn’t have to mean overhauling everything overnight. Sometimes it starts with pausing before you click “buy.”

    Takeaways

    • How Amazon’s business model encourages overconsumption and makes convenience hard to resist.
    • Quitting Amazon is about spending in ways that better reflect your values and support your community.
    • The environmental cost of convenience, including packaging, plastic waste, and unnecessary purchases.
    • Why boycotts and collective consumer choices can have real power.
    • Practical ways to buy less without making your life harder.
    • How shopping local, choosing independent retailers, buying secondhand, borrowing, and using what you already have can reduce your reliance on Amazon.
    • The three mindset shifts that helped my family: Pause, Buy Local, and Shop Secondhand.
    • Why even reducing how often you order can be a meaningful step toward more intentional living.

    One Small Shift

    Try a “pause rule” for online shopping. Choose one day each week — or even each month — to place online orders, and let everything sit in your cart until then.

    You may be surprised by how many things you no longer want or need by the time ordering day rolls around.

    Resources

    • Buy Less, Buy Better: My Favourite Canadian Brands
    • Facebook Marketplace
    • Buy Nothing Project
    • Poshmark (invite code SUSTAINABLESRB)
    • DePop
    • ThreadUp
    • Kijiji
    • LEND-IT.CA

    Related Episodes

    Ep. 11: Money, Enoughness, and Community Care with Women’s Personal Finance

    Ep. 32: Overstimulation, Overconsumption, and the Pressure to Do More

    Ep. 37: Sustainable Decluttering — Why Letting Go Isn’t Neutral

    Support the show

    Connect With Me

    Website

    Newsletter

    Shop

    Instagram

    Support the Show

    Sustainable in the Suburbs is mixed and edited by Cardinal Studio

    If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you followed the show, shared it with a friend, or left a rating and review. Every little bit helps more people find Sustainable in the Suburbs — and live a little greener.
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    20 分
  • 57: Connecting With Nature — Everyday Ecosystem Restoration with Tim Christophersen

    57: Connecting With Nature — Everyday Ecosystem Restoration with Tim Christophersen
    2026/09/01

    Connecting with nature starts with understanding that we aren’t separate from the natural world — we are part of it.

    This week, I’m joined by Tim Christophersen, author of Generation Restoration and a leading global voice on ecosystem restoration, to talk about ecological literacy, our relationship with nature, and what it means to restore that relationship in our everyday lives.

    We talk about what it actually means to be ecologically literate — knowing where our food and water come from, understanding the role nature plays in our communities, recognizing the species we share those spaces with, and beginning to see ourselves as part of those systems rather than separate from them.

    We also look at what this means closer to home, including the potential of suburban yards and neighbourhoods, nature as infrastructure, community restoration, regenerative agriculture, and how ordinary people can participate in restoring the ecosystems around them.

    And while the challenges facing the natural world are enormous, this is ultimately a hopeful conversation about agency, reciprocity, and why rebuilding our relationship with nature can change the way we approach sustainable living.

    Takeaways

    • What ecological literacy means and why we need to relearn it
    • How the language we use can unconsciously reflect how we see nature
    • What reciprocity can look like in our relationship with the natural world
    • Why trees, wetlands, soil and other ecosystems are essential infrastructure
    • How connecting with nature can begin right outside your own front door
    • The role suburban yards, native plants and citizen science can play in ecosystem restoration
    • Why community action and local policy matter
    • Our shared belief that there is still so much reason to hope

    One Small Shift

    Get curious about one part of the natural world you encounter every day. Ecological literacy grows through curiosity and observation — and simply paying closer attention can begin to change our relationship with the living world around us.

    Connect with Tim

    LinkedIn
    Website
    Generation Restoration: How to Fix Our Relationship Crisis with Mother Nature

    Related Blog Posts

    Safe Nesting Materials for Birds

    A Simple Framework for Climate Action

    10 Sustainable Living Mistakes to Avoid

    Related Episodes

    Ep. 20: Wildlife Conservation, Birding, and Finding Hope in Nature

    Ep. 51: Can You Be Sustainable in the Suburbs?

    Ep. 54: Litter Prevention and Community Action with Keep America Beautiful

    Support the show

    Connect With Me

    Website

    Newsletter

    Shop

    Instagram

    Support the Show

    Sustainable in the Suburbs is mixed and edited by Cardinal Studio

    If you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you followed the show, shared it with a friend, or left a rating and review. Every little bit helps more people find Sustainable in the Suburbs — and live a little greener.
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    41 分
  • 56: Food Preservation for Beginners — How to Save Money on Groceries with Kris Bordessa

    56: Food Preservation for Beginners — How to Save Money on Groceries with Kris Bordessa
    2026/08/18
    If you want to reduce food waste, save money on groceries, and learn about easy and practical food preservation, this conversation with Kris Bordessa is a great place to start.In this episode, I’m joined by Kris Bordessa, author of Attainable Sustainable and Attainable Sustainable Pantry, to talk about ‘old-fashioned’ kitchen skills that are still incredibly useful in modern life. We talk about using what you already have before heading back to the grocery store, stocking a more useful pantry, preserving seasonal abundance, and why safe canning matters.Kris also shares why these skills are not just for homesteaders or preppers. They are practical tools that can help ordinary households stretch food budgets, reduce waste, and feel more capable when life gets unpredictable.This conversation is about building a more sustainable kitchen in a way that feels realistic, not overwhelming. You do not need to preserve everything, make every pantry staple from scratch, or completely change the way you cook. But learning a few simple sustainable habits in the kitchen can make low waste living feel more doable.TakeawaysStarting with what you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry can help you reduce food waste, save money on groceries, and avoid unnecessary grocery runs.A more useful pantry does not have to be complicated. Staples like beans, grains, broth, potatoes, onions, garlic, and oil can make flexible cooking easier.Food preservation can start small. Freezing, quick pickling, dehydrating herbs, making herb salts, and preserving in salt or oil are all practical ways to use seasonal abundance.Safe canning matters. Water bath canning and pressure canning are used for different foods, and trusted, tested recipes are important.You do not need to make everything from scratch. Some things, like salad dressing, may be worth making at home, while others, like tomato paste, may not be worth the time.Preparedness does not have to mean fear-based prepping. A stocked pantry and the skills to use it can help ordinary households feel more capable when routines, budgets, or supply chains are disrupted.Self-reliance does not mean doing everything alone. Sharing food, recipes, tools, and skills is part of building more resilient communities.One Small ShiftBefore your next grocery shop, start with what you already have.Take a few minutes to look through your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and choose one or two things that need to be used before you bring more food into the house. Maybe it’s leftover rice, soft fruit, wilting vegetables, or something you bought with good intentions and then forgot about.If you want a little more guidance, my Simple Kitchen Audit is a good place to start. It’s a 10-page workbook that walks you through what’s working in your kitchen, where food and packaging waste are creeping in, and what small changes could help your kitchen feel more organized, lower-waste, and easier to use.Connect With KrisAttainable Sustainable: The Lost Art of Self-Reliant Living (book)Attainable Sustainable Pantry: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Stocking Your Kitchen (book)WebsiteFacebookPinterestInstagramRelated Blog PostsA Beginner’s Guide to a Sustainable KitchenHow to Use Beeswax Wraps (Plastic Free Food Storage)Plastic Free Pantry — How to Refill in Your Own ContainersCreating a Sustainable Kitchen: 11 Ways to Reuse Food ScrapsRelated Podcast EpisodesEp. 13: Plastic Free Food Storage with Hive to HomeEp. 38: Things I Don’t Buy AnymoreEp. 45: How to Spend Less on Groceries by Reducing Food Waste Support the showConnect With MeWebsiteNewsletterShopInstagramSupport the ShowSustainable in the Suburbs is mixed and edited by Cardinal StudioIf you enjoyed this episode, I’d love it if you followed the show, shared it with a friend, or left a rating and review. Every little bit helps more people find Sustainable in the Suburbs — and live a little greener.
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    55 分
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