Meet the founder of The Conscious Lifestyle Collective (CLC), Elle Cooper, whom has created educational content surrounding living a sustainable lifestyle whilst recommending locally made Eco-products.
Let’s delve a little deeper with Elle, into recycling, reusing and reducing.
1.What does sustainability mean to you in one short sentence?
To me sustainability means – being conscious of how my everyday decisions, will affect the way my three year old son and his generation get to enjoy the future. The aim is to strive for a positive impact.
2.What and when made you decide to embark on a greener lifestyle?
It was about 4 years ago when I lived in the UK, where I learned to recycle and separate my rubbish. It was only then that I was made aware of how my purchasing behaviors were negatively affecting other people and the planet.
As consumers we hold so much power! Knowing who you support, where the products come from, how they are made and if the packaging is recyclable has a long lasting effect on the environment.
3.How can we easily, in our day-to-day life, help with the plastic crisis?
- Educate yourself on various packaging and how or if they can be RECYCLED.
- Shop consciously! A lot of the plastic we invite in our homes starts from our shopping habits.
- Write a shopping list so you can plan better.
- Carry your own shopping bag and water bottles.
- Buy items that come in recyclable or REUSABLE packaging.
- Where possible REDUCE your consumption, REFUSE plastic.
4.What made you want to bring a positive environmental change to South Africa and Africa?
Most of us grew up in self-sustained homes, whatever was broken was mended, you wore your siblings hand-me-downs, you exchanged clothes with friends, cooked at home, shared a lift, walked or cycled, used water and electricity responsibly and in some homes, you grew your own food.
Unfortunately, fast consumerism has stolen all of that away. Everything is about fast, convenient and in most cases cheap. Sadly, the true cost of this is on the PLANET and unethical practices that get us what we want at the cost of overworked and underpaid service workers.
Many of our people in South Africa lack basic human rights, which has a detrimental effect on their health and daily life. Things like garbage collection and people living in townships has forced us to learn to live with mountains of garbage that don’t get collected or recycled. It is a necessity for us to learn how to take care of the environment and exercise eco-friendly activities which in-turn will elevate communities.
5.Are you a vegetarian or ethical eater?
I’ve been on a pescatarian food choice for 4 years although most of my meals are now vegetarian.
6.How can we save our planet and make a difference right now?
To effectively create a greater impact means, we have got to do it TOGETHER and it all starts with educating ourselves and others. Getting everyone involved from government, private sectors, organisations, consumers, our kids, friends and families.
We also have to make this lifestyle accessible to every South African and never stop talking about or practicing living consciously.
