This past weekend was spent camping at the lake with my family and I suprised myself with how much I enjoyed every bit of it. We only live about 20 minutes down the road from several campgrounds at Jordan Lake so it was up in the air whether or not we would actually sleep in our tent both nights. About 5-ish years ago, my parents bought an airstream and have since been very into camping (really though, ‘glamping’). My older sister and my nephew and neice came down from Richmond and we all set up our tents, made s’mores each night, laid in our hammock, and enjoyed the outdoors. I brought my favorite tee I’ve had on repeat lately from Uniquities in Cameron Village because it’s super soft, casual, breathable, yet stylish. There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little style to the campsite. Uniquities is filled with casual chic pieces, the best quality denim, and so much more.. It’s honestly one of my favorite places to find items that perfectly fit my style.

Anyways, coincidentally yesterday was also Earth Day and had me thinking about a few changes that I can personally make to help protect our environment:

Buy more local food.

If you stop and think about how much of your food has traveled thousands of miles, that’s a lot of fuel and pollution whereas there are so many local farm stands, markets, and local-focused grocery stores that provide local produce. This is something I’d like to be more conscientious about whenever I go grocery shopping. There are really great farmer’s markets this time of year in most towns too! I also want to start making an effort in remembering to bring our reusable bags!

Recycle and reuse.

There is a huge, I mean monster, landfill near our house… it’s kindof disturbing driving by it almost everyday and it has made me really stop and think before I throw something away. I’ve been re-using every single cardboard box I get in the mail and plastic bottles, but I know there are more items I can recycle. This site is the best one I could find that organizes a guide including everything you can recycle at home.

Wash less.

This one I can easily get behind because I am the worst at laundry. I want to be more mindful about what I throw down the laundry shoot and only wash clothes that actually need to be washed because they stink. You can get a lot of wear out of your jeans without washing them.

Drive smart.

After doing some reading, I was surprised to hear how bad it is to leave your car on while not moving. Sitting in that Chick-fil-a drive through definitely hasn’t been the best for the environment. Moving forward, I’m going to make an effort to bypass drive-thru’s if possible, combine errands whenever I have to go pick up something so that I’m driving less overall, and shopping online more often (I think I can definitely do that one..). If I have to pick up somet items from Target, I’ll ask myself if I also need to go anywhere else on that trip (Post Office, etc.).

Choose beauty products wisely.

There are so many beauty products that contain chemicals that are potentially dangerous to the environment, including some that are in my bathroom cabinets for sure. I know it may not be completely realistic to instantly have only safe products but, as I get older, I will definitely be reading up on each skincare product and beauty product I try out. The same goes for cleaning products! As I shift more in this direction, I’ll be sure to share my favorite products with you all on here.

Those are just a few ways to make a small difference but if everyone made small moves, it would have a huge impact.

Anyways, our camping weekend really inspired me but it was nice to get back to our normal routine and clean sheets in our bed yesterday. If you want to shop my favorite t-shirt, be sure to stop by Uniquities in Cameron Village. They carry a bunch of my favorite brands including Free People, Sam Edelman, J Brand, and so much more.

Thanks for reading!

Xo, Shelby

Thank you to Cameron Village for sponsoring this post.