Be Still and Live

#08: Start Where You Are: Sustainable Living Made Simple with Sarah Robertson-Barnes

• Gillian Gabryluk • Season 1 • Episode 8

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What if the calm you crave isn’t hiding in a new planner or weekend reset, but in the way you shop, cook, mend, and move through your home?

In this episode, sustainable living educator Sarah Robertson-Barnes shares a gentler path: start where you are, use what you have, and let “enough” be the goal.

Sarah opens up about her shift from rigid zero-waste ideals to an approachable, suburban-friendly mindset. We talk about secondhand-first wins (like nearly-new graduation sneakers), the seven-day cart rule for online temptation, and the surprising peace that comes from shopping your own home before buying new.

Together we explore how to teach kids values through everyday choices—like cooking, walking, or repairing something, rather than lectures. Sarah shows how open conversations and small, tangible actions plant deep seeds of mindfulness and care.

From funky carrots to backyard compost, from bulk coffee to “stupid mental health walks,” she reminds us that simple daily rhythms can ground us in gratitude and reconnect us to place. We also dive into experience gifts, handmade holidays, and the joy of opting out of the season’s noise to create memories that truly matter.

If you’re ready to trade perfection for progress, clutter for clarity, and hurry for peace, this conversation will meet you right where you are.

Connect with Sarah: 

Website

Instagram

New here? Start with episodes 1-3: “Take Back Your Life”, "From Hustle to Healing", and “5 to Thrive.”

*Start Fog to Freedom Here*

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Sarah:

One of my grounding principles for most for the majority of my adult life has been use what you have.

Gillian:

If your days feel full, but your heart longs for more meaning, you're not alone. Between the screens, the schedules, and the never-ending noise, it's easy to lose your sense of peace. But what if the way forward isn't found in doing more, but in learning to slow down, to simplify, to be still. Welcome to Be Still and Live, a podcast for individuals, couples, and families longing for calm, connection, and a more meaningful way to live. I'm Jillian, speaker, coach, and founder of Sileo Health and Wellness. And I'm here to help you create space for stillness and step into a life that feels whole and good again. Today's conversation is one I think will speak to anyone who's ever felt overwhelmed by the noise of more. We're talking about what it means to live with intention, not through perfection or performance, but through simple, meaningful choices that bring peace back into our daily life. My guest is Sarah Robertson Barnes, a sustainable living educator and suburban mom who makes green living approachable for real families. Through her platform, Sustainable in the Suburbs, and her own podcast, she helps people start where they are, use what they have, and live a little greener. In our conversation, we explore the intersection of sustainability and stillness, how slowing down, saying no to access, and caring for what's already in front of us can actually make life feel lighter, calmer, and more connected. So take a deep breath, settle in, and enjoy this beautiful reminder that peace often begins right where you are, in the small, intentional rhythms of home. Hi, Sarah. Welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Thank you for being here and just giving us this time. I'm so drawn to your work, Sarah. The why behind Soleo is to offer my children an alternative to what our culture is currently offering them. You do this in such an intuitive way, and it feels so accessible and enjoyable. So I just want to pick your brain and understand how you got into this and uh how you continue to sustain the business and enjoy it as much as I feel like you do.

Sarah:

I love that you said offer them an alternative because that's what I'm trying to do as well, is we live in a culture of convenience. And I'm trying to offer a slower and more mindful and of course more sustainable alternative to that. Um, as far as how I got into it, I've always sort of been a tree hugger. Um, and you know, tease for that growing up and what have you. And my sustainable living journey has evolved over time from being, you know, a university student with no money and you know, thrifting and shopping in bulk because of that, to really learning about the impact of plastics when I was going through infertility. And when we finally had our boys, uh, you know, I did the cloth diapering and the reusable sippy cup and made all the snacks from scratch and all of that sort of thing. And now that they're older, now that they're teens and they have a lot of that pressure to have uh, you know, the latest sneaker or this video game, that, whatever it is, um, to really find alternatives to that and slow down and not just do, you know, one-click ordering for whatever pops into your brain.

Gillian:

Right. And I'm gonna have to study you, Sarah, because we are pre-teen right now. And I'm I'm wondering how we're going to continue practicing these values that we have in our family as our kids feel that pressure to belong, right? You you started a business called Sustainable in the Suburbs, and you teach families how to live a little greener. How are you able to incorporate that into your daily life with your children, especially your teen, teenage children?

Sarah:

So I did want to basically target people in the suburbs because that's where most of us live. And, you know, we have to drive cars and order things online or go to big box stores or, you know, all of those suburban life things. Um and I really just wanted to show folks that there are lots of easy switches that you can make, habits that you can adjust, things that you can slow down, and of course, build those, what your values are, build some scaffolding for your kids so that as they get older and they move into the world, they have that framework for the kind of choices that they want to make. So, for example, my my kids are tween young teen, um, and the oldest one really wanted this fancy pair of basketball shoes for his grade eight graduation. They are not cheap, um, but um, because we live in the greater Toronto area, we have access to really great secondhand marketplaces. So Poshmark and Facebook Marketplace, of course. And my husband has become a Kijiji wizard, so Kijiji is similar to Facebook Marketplace here in Canada, and he found the shoes. And I just had to drive 25 minutes to pick them up. They were a quarter of the price and they look like they had never been worn. They probably haven't. But my son knows that we purchased those secondhand because that's just part of how we shop. We do secondhand first. We always have. So when they were little and they wanted a particular Lego set, it would be like, Dad, can we look on Khajiji for the Millennium Falcon or whatever it was? Um, and so they they know that that's that's our approach and they seem to be carrying that forward. Now, that doesn't mean they don't buy things with their own money. It's their own money, it's their own choices to make if they want to buy the silly plastic candy thing, whatever. Um, but we've given them that framework. And so we have to trust them to make those choices going forward. And the shoe thing was a great example of that. So I was really, really proud of everybody for how that worked out.

Gillian:

Yes, and husband for the win finding those shoes. That's that's a great story to hear because I think so many people can relate to that story. And the fact that you've come up with these values for your family is so important because if we don't have these values for ourselves and our families and talk about them regularly with our kids, then our kids will adopt the values of the world. And we don't necessarily want that. I mean, they're gonna learn a lot in the world, they need to test their boundaries in the world. But when it comes down to it, our job as parents is to kind of, like you said, build this framework so that our kids can grow into a framework that that works for the whole family system and that they can kind of change and you know learn what works best for them when they get out into the world. So I appreciate that.

Sarah:

And what you said about talking about it is a key component. So you can't just be, you know, once like, oh, we do this because the planet, like, okay. I mean, how many times do we have to tell our kids to put their shoes on every day? You have to say things multiple times in order for the message to get through. And so that can just look like talking about it over dinner. You know, I saw this thing today, or I picked up this much litter on my walk with the dog today, whatever it is, to just in a natural way just continue talking about the things that you value and why, and what are actions that you can take in your own community, in your own home. And just it's just talking to each other.

Gillian:

Right. And then they get to go out and test that out in the real world and and they're learning to pay attention to these fine details, giving them the freedom to kind of figure it out on their own with that framework.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Gillian:

Sarah, you said you want sustainability to feel approachable, not overwhelming. This is so important because we are all feeling stretched thin and overwhelmed right now. What inspired that vision and what have you noticed about how people respond when they realize doing better doesn't have to mean doing more?

Sarah:

So I started um posting online about sustainability around 2016, and that's when I was like full on into the zero waste movement. So no household waste or all of your waste for the year has to fit into a mason jar. And it was impossible. It was a standard I couldn't possibly hold myself to. Uh, like I said, I live in the suburbs. I have to drive a car. I had small kids at the time, and it just felt very difficult. And it got to a place for me where it was um even off-putting. Like I wanted to just quit doing anything because I was holding myself to these standards of perfection. And I just realized like, this doesn't work for me, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't do anything. It doesn't mean that I'm going to just forget about shut down that part of myself that wants to do better. So, what are some ways that I can make this work in my own home with my circumstances and my budget? And I started sharing that. And that had such a warm response. And I've made so many great connections with other folks living in different kinds of suburbs with different family structures and different access to public transit or refill shops or what have you. But basically, like it's okay if it's messy, if it doesn't look aesthetic, if it isn't perfect, because perfect is better than nothing at all, or not being perfect, rather being imperfect. Um, see, I can't even say the sentence perfectly. Um, but saying something, doing anything is better than doing nothing. And what you do matters. It does make an impact.

Gillian:

It does. I believe it. And I I love that you're able to bridge that gap between something that was completely unmanageable and giving up altogether. And I think that's what we all have to do. I mean, some people are able to achieve that zero waste movement, that that approach of putting everything in a mason jar. I have no idea how, but if I learned a little more about it, it might help me to understand how I can reduce waste in our household just a little bit. But letting go of the external expectations that it has to look a certain way. And you saying that it is messy. I mean, it reminds me of that quote that a lot of families have when you first walk in the door, God bless this mess or bless this mess, right? There's so much truth to that. This isn't going to look perfect. It's not supposed to look Pinterest perfect. And uh a lot of us feel like it has to. So imperfect is the way to go. The last um one of the last interviews, we talked to a parenting coach and she said parenting is supposed to be imperfect. And there was so much freedom in those words. So having an imperfect approach to sustainability is probably something that you're going to be able to sustain, which is the whole point from what I hear, from what I'm hearing you say. So, how has slowing down and saying no to excess, Sarah, and focusing on what really matters shaped your sense of peace in especially a noisy consumer-driven world in the Greater Toronto area? Um, just help us understand what saying no and and slowing down has done for you and your peace of mind.

Sarah:

So disconnecting from those things, particularly from like shopping, online shopping, going to the mall, um, caring about what I'm wearing, or all of those things, just help me to focus on things that matter more and give me more of a sense of accomplishment and self-sufficiency and joy. So things like cooking, like cooking more from scratch. It sounds so silly, but like, oh, soaking beans. You've got to plan that out a little farther in advance, you know. Like I'm gonna start soaking beans today for dinner tomorrow. So I have more of a connection to what I'm eating. Uh, we built um raised beds in our backyard. So now we are growing some of our own food. Not usually enough for dinner, but enough, it's enough. Um, and so it really helped us to figure out what our definition of enough was and how joyful it is to pull a proper-looking carrot out of the ground. Um, I mean, I only grew like six carrots this year, but I grew six carrots this year. Yay! I'll celebrate that. Yeah. Um, but also just looking more to inward to our community. So, what's available locally that we could walk to? What are some small businesses that we'd like to support? Picking up litter on the on the sidewalk. Um, I started about 10 years ago doing um bird nest monitoring here. I sort of accidentally joined a birding group, but as a result, I end up talking to people on the trails when I'm monitoring the nest. Oh, what are you doing? And I had no idea. That's so interesting. And just getting folks to see the natural wildlife around us in the suburbs. Yes, we still have it, and it's important to protect it. So turning off a lot of the noise helped me to hear things a lot better.

Gillian:

That's beautiful. And it's it's the message of this podcast and and why I started it, because that's the message that I needed to hear as well. And I relate to that because it seems we need to disconnect from the noise of the world to connect back to ourselves and what matters to ourselves. And when you talked about, you know, stopping shopping online and not worrying about what you wear. Really, when we're not comparing ourselves to the latest trends and online shopping and such, we're we're when we do that, we feel like we have to change what we're wearing, that for some reason we're falling behind and need to refresh our wardrobe. But if we don't connect to the internet in that way and shop online, then we're strangely satisfied with the wardrobe that we already have in our closet. So it's little practices like that that do help us to understand that um these things are unnecessary and they don't necessarily make us happy. Growing your own food, I I wanna, I wanna celebrate the fact that you grew four carrots because I mean the struggle is real to grow your own food. We experience it as well. And your whole, your whole garden can be wiped out from one insect. Have you had that experience?

Sarah:

Yeah, we um we had a lot of cucumber beetle this year, but also it was just so hot and dry here in Toronto over the summer that none of my squashes did anything. Um, I got no zucchini, no pumpkin, no gourds, no cucumbers, nothing. So all of that was just completely wiped out. And I think that's one of the wonderful things about gardening is that it is these lessons in patience and abundance and scarcity and problem solving. And, you know, there's nothing better than I call it having a garden look, you know, at the end of the day. You're outside in the golden hour, just looking at your garden instead of looking at your phone. And it's so much more nourishing that it, yeah, that it's just indescribable.

Gillian:

It is indescribable. And and um, I think we there's so many lessons for us to learn through gardening. There's so many lessons for our children to learn through gardening. When you plant that one seed and you nourish it and nurture it, that it turns into something, something that nourishes our mind, body, and soul and so many levels. I'm curious to know, Sarah, when when you say you grew four, was it four carrots? Something like that, yeah. And and the rest was wiped out, would you say it was a waste of time to try?

Sarah:

I don't know, I don't think so because I've been so I've been trying to do proper carrots for a while now, and they always come out strange looking. Um, I I think I've grown two proper looking carrots. I use that in air quotes, um, for in the last four or five years. But what I'm learning every year is okay, so which type of carrots are best for the kind of soil that I have? How should I amend the soil so that these have a better chance to thrive? But also, okay, so I'm pulling out carrots that are real weird looking. They look like people dancing or knots or what have you. They still taste like carrots. They are still perfectly good. You can still eat them. Just because they don't look like a perfect aesthetic grocery store carrot, it's still a carrot. Yes. You can it's it's perfectly fine. And that's really my overarching method or message about sustainable living is that it's about enoughness, not perfection. Beautiful.

Gillian:

And maybe carrots aren't supposed to look the way they look in the grocery store. Maybe they're supposed to be a little funky. Also that part, yeah. Yes. Sarah, I'd love to merge to the conversation around the messaging out there that's telling us to buy more, to constantly upgrade and to keep up. How do you personally stay grounded in a culture that's always asking for more? And what advice do you have for us as we approach Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the holiday season? I know this is a big topic. So I'd love for you to share your wisdom with us.

Sarah:

One of my grounding principles for most for the majority of my adult life has been use what you have. Um, and I mentioned earlier that, you know, that started when I had zero dollars as a university student was to just make it work, figure it out, use what I have. If not, find something secondhand, and so on. And so when you stay grounded in, okay, use what you have. Do I have something that will work for, you know, we think, oh, I got to get this to for whatever reason. Do you? Or do you have something in your home that will already work? And you probably do. So shopping your home first, just pausing. Just take a minute. Don't add to cart yet. Just think about like, do I have something that will be a solution to this problem? Is this a problem I actually need to solve? But this is why I always say, you know, start where you are, use what you have. Shop your own home first. You probably don't need the thing. If you do think you need the thing, okay, put it in your cart. Let it sit there for seven days before you hit order. At the end of that seven days, this is the story of how we quit using Amazon Prime or how my husband quit using Amazon Prime.

Gillian:

Oh, I'd love to hear more about that story, Sarah.

Sarah:

So then it would just sit there for seven days. And let's say you pick your order day as Saturday. Okay, so Saturday you're going through your cart, you're like, what did I, what was this? What was this for? You probably won't remember. So just get rid of it. And then you can move that on to you order every two weeks to every 30 days, and then you quit Prime, and then you'll find yourself using Amazon less. Or if you are still using it, use it as a search engine. That's what it is. Whatever is on that platform also exists off that platform. So you can either buy it directly from the company or find a small business who sells it. Um, and then of course you mentioned Black Friday, which is creeping. Well, it's not creeping into Canada. We fully have it now. Um you probably don't need anything on a Black Friday sale either. Right. I mean, if you're shopping for a new refrigerator or what have you, great, take advantage of the sales. But that's not what most of us are doing. And most of the deals are not deals at all. The price went up before Black Friday, so they can quote put it on sale and the price will go back up after. So you aren't actually saving any money. You are most likely buying things you don't need. Now, I know lots of folks will shop for their all their Christmas gifts or whatever on Black Friday, and that's fine. Make a list. Make sure you're only buying what's on your list, make sure that it is actually a deal. Just be mindful about it. I'm really not into saying, like, don't do this to people, um, but do it less and do it more mindfully. And I think you'll find that you start to gravitate away from those things. But the fact of the matter is, you know, waste increases by 25% between American Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. And a lot of that is from overpurchasing both consumer goods and food. So just be really mindful of what you're buying. And I'm not good at this, but you got to make a list and you have to stick to it.

Gillian:

Oh, absolutely. I know that works. It's very difficult to stick with it. Once you get online and you're seeing what else is out there and you're hearing, you know, through conversation what other parents are getting their children and you fall into that comparison trap. And then you wonder, you know, are we gonna have enough to open on Christmas morning? You know, is there gonna be disappointment? You want to have that magic. You want to make sure that you're you're getting the right things for your kids. But I would just love to try this on for a moment. This is a thought experiment. What would happen if you stayed offline throughout this season, throughout this holiday season? And you chose to just opt out. You simply chose to opt out and you did what you're saying. At this point, you have fun chatting with your kids about their Christmas wishes from Santa and such. And you made a very intentional list and you gave yourself time and space to go and shop for those things in person, or you're very intentional about finding it online, and then you just opted out of the Black Friday Cyber Monday madness. What would that feel like?

Sarah:

So we basically do this, and we have for many years now. Um we really make a point to, you know, limit the amount of stuff that we're buying, but also to focus on again, I'm like it's totally fine to buy secondhand gifts. It's totally fine. Um, that's how the PlayStation came into our house. Uh, you know, think video games, all of that. You can find all of that secondhand. Um, and then that way you're just kind of keeping money circulating through your community and not through a giant corporation. Um, but also you'll find that, oh, I could make something for this. Oh, what if we got so for the last few years, the best presents, uh, the best present that my kids have gotten is passes to Canada's Wonderland, which is like six flags. It's an amusement park. And they've gotten those from the grandparents. 14 out of 10. They love it. We go all the time in the summer, and then it's like, oh, isn't this so cool that Grammy and Grandpa got you this for Christmas? And they get months of use out of it. And that money is so much better spent doing something like that. It's an activity that they that they remember, you know, month after month after month, versus just something to open. For a while, the concern was, well, okay, we're gonna get them these passes, but they won't have anything to open on Christmas Day. And the solution was um they got each kid a box of Pop Tarts and wrapped the box, but they put the passes inside the box of Pop Tarts. And that was cute. We don't normally buy with our groceries. So it was like a treat. Yes, and the gift. And so, you know, it's a funny little gag gift, it's a treat, but it also has this really cool experience inside. Um, and so there are so I have a big blog post about this about um, you know, not non-stuff gifts for kids and stocking stuffers and all that kind of stuff. Um, because it doesn't have to just be a toy that they open and forget about it in 15 minutes, or you know, plastic tat from the dollar store and their stockings. There are lots of meaningful things that you can do. The amount of stuff is just the amount of stuff. But that's not the gift, right? Right. And so, and I I just want to say this too. I mean, you manage the expectations for your children. Right. Yeah. So what you do in your home is different from what other people do in their homes. And that's true of every kind of parenting, whether you're trying to be an eco-parent or you're super into sports or what have you. Every family lives differently in their own home according to their own values. And it's all valid, but this is what we do and why. And it comes back to that conversation piece.

Gillian:

Oh, it's so important to understand the why and why your why. Why do you believe in that? Why it's uh it's this uh opportunity to pause and just to think about what you're doing and and why you're doing it. Are you doing it because everybody else is, or are you doing it because it really does bring value, joy, and happiness to your family? I love the idea of these experience experienced gifts. I think people are moving in the direction of experienced gifts because parents are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that's flooded into their homes during birthday parties and holidays. And we are welcoming these gifts, these experienced gifts with open arms, because it means that our kids are able to participate in something that is new for them, a new experience where they are, you know, having quality time with somebody they care about in a lot of cases. So if the grandparents want to take them, even if they're taking them out for dinner, it's an opportunity for them to build that relationship and put the focus on that relationship and that experience over the stuff. Yep, exactly. Another thing I'd love to chat with you about is this idea of creativity over consumption. And this is something that I teach in in uh the Be Still and Live program. This idea that we were created to create, not to consume, and that we derive so much joy when we create. Do you have any ideas for how we can pull creativity into our gift giving in the holiday season?

Sarah:

Yeah, um make stuff. It doesn't have to be amazing. You don't have to be an artisan or a craftsman to make things for people that they will really appreciate. So things that I love to make are simmer pots. Um, so it's just a little jar and it's full of aromatic compounds. So, for example, you could do a gingerbread one with like some nutmeg and some dried ginger and a cinnamon stick and some star and ease, and you put it in a little jar and you give that to someone, and then they just boil it on the stove. It makes your house smell like cookies. Uh, those are always a hit. I'm a big fan of food in jars, whether it's a cookie mix or a soup mix, or I've done um, you know, spicy chili oil before, uh flavored oils, that sort of thing. I really like to make things like that. Uh, food is always an appreciated gift, especially if it's homemade. But like if you are a baker, you can bake things for people. You could give away bits of your sourdough starter or your kombucha scoby or you know, plants, all of these different kinds of things. But I'm a knitter. Um, so I will knit big piles of dishcloths and pair that with one of these food gifts and maybe, you know, like a thrifted cookbook or something like that, make a little basket. Um, so there's zillions of ways you can be creative that are really inexpensive and don't take a lot of skill. Um, it just takes love and intention. And they've always been received really well. So really like get on Pinterest and just start looking around at what are some things that I can make for people for gifts. I'd love to learn how to make soap. I think that's really cool. That's been on my list for a while. Uh, I'd love to figure out how to do that. Everybody needs soap. Yes, you know, and they can look so pretty. Um, and so I think that when you lead by example like that, giving gifts like that, you're also communicating the kinds of things that you appreciate receiving. And that will help to lessen the amount of uh clutter that comes into your home. We've been having these conversations with extended family for for many years now, and and things have shifted. And this year, finally, we're doing no gifts for adults. And I couldn't be more thrilled. We we all have everything we could ever need. Um, and this gives us the opportunity to just focus on the kids. So I'm really looking forward to it this year.

Gillian:

I love that you thought this through so much and that you enjoy these simple ways to give gifts and you know, something like that. I'm just picturing every time somebody washes their hands, they're thinking of you, Sarah, and they're appreciating the fact that you you made this gift for them. You didn't just go to a store and you know, buy the thing that was on sale. You made it from your heart. That there's something meaningful about that. It just makes me reflect on the memories that stand out to me as a child around the holidays. I don't know if I can remember many gifts that I opened. There might be one or two. I remember receiving a bike and I it had a big bow on it and it was over the moon. But that bike also supported my outdoor activity and such. But the things that I remember are the scent memories, you know, the roast in the oven, baking with my mom, setting up the tree with my dad. It's those memories of the quality time that really bring me joy, that help me to understand what matters most in life. So I think it's important to think about that as parents. What are the things that we recall being most meaningful when we were kids and recreating that in some way, shape, or form with our own children and passing it along to the next generation? Yep.

Sarah:

Go skating, go sledding, do all of those things that are that are time. That's the most valuable thing you can spend.

Gillian:

Absolutely. I love that. I fully support it. And uh I'm glad that you're putting this message into the world, Sarah. In your work, you often say start where you are and use what you have. You've spoken about this already. Why do you think that specific mindset feels so freeing, especially for busy parents and families?

Sarah:

Right now, it is such a pleasure to not spend any money. Um we see the price of everything going up. Um, and we just don't, we just don't have it. And it just creates so much anxiety that when you're like, oh, wait, I could just use this. Not only are you saving money, but you feel more resourceful and more resilient. So that's part of it. Like obviously, I'm trying to help you not create more waste and reduce the amount of waste that your household is producing, but it's the intangible things that you're gaining from that, that feeling of affordability, of resilience, of creativity, like we just talked about, which is like, you know, how can I solve this problem using things that I already have? It's really it helps you disengage from that consumption consumerism mindset because we're trained to be good little consumers and to just solve a problem by buying things. But when you have that reward-driven effort cycle of, okay, I gotta, there's a huge hole in my kid's sheet. I don't know how this happened. This is a real life story. Do I need to go buy new sheets? Or could I grab the sewing machine out and do a very poor job because I can sew a straight line ish. Um, you know, I'll I'm gonna put on the YouTube and figure out how to thread the needle again because this is the basic level of skill that I have from my thrifted sewing machine. I'm gonna mend that sheet. That's not me being cheap. That it's not, you know, it's just I don't need to buy a new sheet. I've got I've got some fabric remnants, it's just a little and then we can keep that sheet in use and out of the landfill a little bit longer. And I spent 20 minutes doing that instead of doom scrolling, instead of spending money that I don't need to. And no one's coming to check your sheets to see if they have poorly mended. Right. Um, but you'll know every time you put it back on the sheet, you're like, Yeah, I did that. Every time you make the bed, you'll be like, Oh, yeah, I fixed that problem. Good for me. And that's going to carry forward into other areas of your life too.

Gillian:

And your kids will know every time they make their bed. Mom, fix that sheet. She could have thrown it away. She could have replaced it. But just because you can doesn't mean you have to. It you're saying it might actually be better for you. We get that dopamine hit, right? That that real reward, not the reward that we get, that dopamine hit that we get when we're scrolling social media. You're getting a real life reward for working through that and for finding a solution to the problem.

Sarah:

Yeah. And I am badly learning a skill that is good enough. Good enough. And maybe I'll improve at it someday. Maybe I won't, but it's good enough for my purposes. Perfectly imperfect.

Gillian:

Yeah. So, Sarah, I love to talk about rhythms. And with you, I'd love to talk about rhythms of the home. What are a few small daily rhythms of low waste practices that help you feel more grounded and connected to your home rather than weighed down by it?

Sarah:

So I have a couple of things that I do every day. So the first one is making my coffee in the morning. So I do buy coffee in bulk in my own container and I grind what I need every day. And I do the pour over. So you're pouring it through that bee thing. Um, and I have a usable, a reusable, uh, it's called a coffee sock. So it's just like a cotton coffee filter that I'm gonna have to rinse out and clean every day. Takes a little bit longer than just chucking it in the trash. Um, but I I like doing it. Um, you know, and I walk my dog on the trails every single day. So I call it like my stupid mental health walk, but it really is because I'm walking on the wooded trail through my neighborhood and I get to see how that changes every day. And right now it's stunning, of course. Um, I really enjoy hanging laundry up to dry, not just because it's free and it's more environmentally friendly or what have you, but I do find it very meditative. And again, it feels like useful work. And so I never regret the time that I spend hanging laundry. It's one of my great joys. I'll be out there hanging laundry in the backyard until it starts freezing, and then I will very begrudgingly set up the drying rack in the basement. But um that's something I really enjoy doing. Uh I love cooking from scratch, which I realize like we're all super busy and it just isn't possible. We have like soccer and basketball tonight, so it's not gonna happen tonight. Um, but when I can, I I like soaking the beans. I like making oatmeal from scratch. And if you don't, that's fine. Just leave it and do something else. Um but that is something that that I have grown to love doing. And uh my favorite thing is taking the compost out every day. So I have a little bucket that I keep on my counter, and we throw all of our food scraps in there over the course of the day. And at some point during the day, I take it out to the backyard compost and I toss the pile a little bit and I check on my worms and um all that sort of thing. But I'm out there making soil, and that makes me feel like a wizard that I'm somehow creating these things that I that we would typically just throw away and never think about again. I'm gonna make a little bit of soil that I can put into my garden again next year.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Sarah:

So I get that circularity feeling. Um yeah, and I mean, like dirt's awesome. So literally, you know, we say to kids, oh, touch grass, but like actually, yeah.

Gillian:

Yeah. We underestimate the value of soil from that soil that you are creating, you are going to grow food for your family. I mean, there's nothing better than that. There's nothing more satisfying than that and rewarding. And I love that you you are actively seeking out these micro opportunities, these micro moments in your life to experience stillness and simplicity. Every time you go to hang up your laundry and take your compost out, you're being exposed to the elements. You're going outside, you're immersing yourself in nature where you're, you know, listening to the birds and you're getting that sunlight on your face. All of those things nourish our soul. And they're so important. So it sounds like you're saying you you can easily find these micro moments throughout your day to bring you peace and um to really just remind you of, you know, who you are and and who you're created to be. We're created to enjoy life, right? Not just like live it out like it's a slog.

Sarah:

No, and you I mean, I'm still being productive. I'm still doing the laundry, but I'm doing it very slowly and very mindfully in a way that it doesn't feel like a chore anymore. So it's just that interesting reframe. And yeah, it takes 15, 20 minutes, whatever it is, but like I was just gonna spend that on my phone anyway. So I mean, let's be honest. We do have time to do a couple of these things. You don't have to do everything. Just pick one thing that feels really good to do and make that part of your new routine. And then you'll find that you're ready to add another one.

Speaker:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Gillian:

And if you truly don't have the time, that's that's time to take a step back and reassess your values and what you can let go of. Such an important conversation, Sarah. Thank you so much for being here today. I would love to share your website with the listeners. I know you have a blog and you have your own podcast. Yes. So I will share those in the sh in the show notes. Is there any other ways that you would like the listeners to know where they can connect with you?

Sarah:

Yeah, you can find um everything, the blog, the podcast, everything is at sustainableinthsuburbs.com. Um and you can come and find me on social media. I'm just at my name. So I'm at Sarah Robertson Barnes on most of the things.

Gillian:

Wonderful. And and I will attest to Sarah's um her blog and her posts, these are posts that are going to fill your soul. She's showing you how to live this out in such an accessible way. And that's really important because a lot of times when we go on social media, we are bombarded by this idea of perfect. And Sarah's doing the opposite. She's, like we said, she's showing you the perfection and imperfection. And this is this is a message that I feel is worth sharing. So thank you so much, Sarah, for being here. And uh, I hope that the listeners tune in with you and connect with you in one way, shape, or form. Thank you, Jillian. I appreciate this so much. Thank you for your work. Thank you again for being here, Sarah. Have a wonderful day. You as well. Thanks, Jillian. What a refreshing and grounding conversation. Sarah's reminder that sustainability isn't about doing more. It's about noticing, simplifying, and caring for what we already have. This feels like the perfect companion to the practice of stillness. It's not about striving for a flawless lifestyle. It's about living in harmony with what matters most. You can connect with Sarah and explore her work through Sustainable in the Suburbs. I'll have all the links in the show notes. And as always, take a breath, look around, and remember, sometimes the most meaningful change begins in the quiet, ordinary corners of life. Until next time, be still and live. Thank you so much for listening to Be Still and Live. If today's episode brought you a breath of peace or a moment of clarity, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who might need it too. For more resources to support your journey toward a slower, simpler, more connected life, visit SoleiloCoing.com or connect with me on Instagram at SoleoCoaching. Until next time, be still and live.

Speaker:

This podcast is produced, mixed, and edited by Cardinal Studio. For more information about how to start your own podcast, please visit www.cardinalstudio.co or email Mike at mike at cardinalstudio.co. You can also find the details in the show notes.