Posts in lifestyle
Modern Boheme | The Only Ethical Holiday Gifting Guide You’ll Need!

The holidays are right around the corner and if you’re a planner like me, you’re already thinking about gifts for the special people in your life. So much waste and over consuming occur during the holiday season, but it doesn’t have to! When we make a plan, resist sales on items we’re not shopping for, and think about the longevity of our gifts, we help shape a world that is kinder to our planet.

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Modern Boheme | July 2022: A (Brief) History of the Rise of Single-use Plastics

The invention of synthetic plastic in 1869 was revolutionary. Originally meaning “pliable and easily shaped”, the term ‘plastic’ is now the descriptor of polymers, long chains of molecules. Where before humans were constrained by what the natural world had to offer, plastic was touted as inexpensive, accessible, and a way to protect animals like elephants and tortoises from being killed for their ivory and hard shells. In fact, John Wesley Hyatt created the first synthetic polymer in the late 1860s because of the strain billiards was placing on the natural ivory supply.

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Modern Boheme vol. 11 | Spotlight Series on Youth Activists | Asia

It’s almost summer and as the warm breeze wafts into my apartment, it draws my memory to the drive on I-64 to my grandmother’s house when I was younger. The “back way” as my mom would call it as we drove through Wakefield and other smaller towns that dotted the road. Growing up in the suburbs, there weren’t a lot of occasions for me to see expanses of farmland. With the sun shining and the windows down, gazing upon open fields, rows and rows of corn, and the occasional deer in the distance felt like an unwinding. Over the years, the drive more or less remained the same, but the rows and rows of corn grew shorter and shorter. What started as edges of dried-out stalks gradually became rows and soon, “for sale” signs appeared. In a relatively short amount of time I saw the landscape change, farmland sold, and I wondered about the people impacted.

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Modern Boheme vol. 11 | Why the Environmental Movement Needs More Stories

It’s almost summer and as the warm breeze wafts into my apartment, it draws my memory to the drive on I-64 to my grandmother’s house when I was younger. The “back way” as my mom would call it as we drove through Wakefield and other smaller towns that dotted the road. Growing up in the suburbs, there weren’t a lot of occasions for me to see expanses of farmland. With the sun shining and the windows down, gazing upon open fields, rows and rows of corn, and the occasional deer in the distance felt like an unwinding. Over the years, the drive more or less remained the same, but the rows and rows of corn grew shorter and shorter. What started as edges of dried-out stalks gradually became rows and soon, “for sale” signs appeared. In a relatively short amount of time I saw the landscape change, farmland sold, and I wondered about the people impacted.

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Modern Boheme vol. 10 | How does space tourism impact climate change?

I won’t bury the lede, scientists need more information to truly predict how space tourism will impact climate change, but what they know so far doesn’t bode well.

Read on for the full breakdown of why scientists are concerned about space tourism’s impact on climate change.

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Modern Boheme vol. 10 | Joy as Climate Change Resilience

Fragrant Jasmine wove around the doorway of my parents’ home in Sierra Leone when my mom was pregnant with me. The striking greenery, star-shaped flowers, and sweet scent are where I got my name and it feels fitting that 30-something years later I’m working to preserve the environment.

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Modern Boheme vol. 10 | Good Earth News

It's easy to become overwhelmed by the negative climate and environmental news cycle. The reality is that humans have greatly accelerated and brought about climate change and it's wreaking havoc on nature, animals, and our own lives. I hope that you find ways to engage and follow the rapidly evolving climate news cycle.

Today, I wanted to break up some of the negative news with some good news. All is not yet lost and if we can continue to be optimistic and drive towards change, we can change course. Continue reading for some breakthroughs and good news in the areas of waste reduction, renewable energy, species, biodiversity, and the Land Back movement.

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Modern Boheme vol. 8 | Are houseplants ecofriendly?

How many plants do you own right now? If it's anything like social media would have us believe, you probably have at least one (but likely many more!). During the pandemic, so many people turned to houseplants. And for good reason. They provide oxygen, a slice of nature, and a sense of purpose in a chaotic and ever-changing pandemic.

But how ecofriendly is our houseplant obsession?

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Modern Boheme vol. 8 | App Review: Too Good to Go

Too Good to Go is a Danish company and app with the goal of saving food waste from restaurants and grocery stores. They launched in the U.S. in 2020 and I’ve been hearing mentions of the app on various social media platforms over the last handful of years. I downloaded the app sometime last year, and this past week I finally tried it out.

Read on to see what I purchased, my overall experience, and what I would love to see from the company in the future.

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Modern Boheme vol. 8 | Greener Bouquets

If you had to guess before reading ahead, do you think flower bouquets are sustainable? Well, if you said “very sustainable”, you may be surprised to find out that the opposite is true. From transportation costs to the chemicals they’re treated with as they grow to labor, cut flowers aren’t as sustainable as they may seem.

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