17: How to Raise Eco-Friendly Kids — Sustainable Living Tips for Parents with Talayna Zacharias

Is it possible to raise kids who care about the planet — without adding more to your already overflowing plate?

In this episode, I’m joined by Talayna Zacharias, a sustainability educator and content creator based in Alberta, to talk about what it really means to raise eco-conscious kids in a culture that pushes convenience and consumption.

We dig into parenting with sustainability at the core, how to model care and connection through small, everyday actions, and why curiosity, nature, and imperfection are essential tools in raising eco-conscious kids. Talayna also walks us through the full 7 R’s of sustainability — and we share a few laughs about when reusing becomes… hoarding.

Takeaways

• What it means to parent with sustainability at the centre of everyday family life
• A deeper look beyond the 3R’s — and how their order helps guide practical choices
• Using mindfulness, gratitude, and curiosity to raise kids who care about the Earth
• How to tell the difference between thoughtful reuse and just accumulating clutter
• Why embracing imperfection matters — especially in parenting
• Digital tools to make sustainable living feel more doable for families

Whether you’re just starting your low-waste journey or looking to deepen your family’s connection to the Earth, this is a practical, grounding conversation that will leave you feeling encouraged and ready to take your next small step.

One Small Shift

Create a “reuse bin” at home so your kids can access repurposed materials for crafts, projects, and creative play — a simple way to normalize secondhand and reduce waste while having fun.

Connect with Talayna

Instagram

Workbooks & Printables

Resources

10 Tips for Going Zero Waste with Kids

How to Do a Trash Audit with Kids

No Mow May Explained: Skip the Mower, Feed the Bees, and Help the Planet

Transcript

0:00

You should go outside. There's good stuff out there. Welcome to Sustainable in the Suburbs, a podcast for the eco-curious who want to live a greener life and are looking for a place to start. I'm your host, Sarah Robertson Barnes, a soccer mom with a station wagon and a passion for sustainable living. Each week I'll bring you practical tips and honest conversations to help you waste less, save money, and make small doable shifts that actually fit your real life. Because sustainable living doesn't have to be perfect to matter, and you don't have to do it all to make a difference. Hi friends and welcome back to Sustainable in the Suburbs, the podcast where we start where we are, use what we have and live a little greener, one small shift at a time. Thank you so much for tuning in and being a part of this growing community. If you are enjoying the podcast, you can support the show by leaving a rating and a review, which helps other people find it. You will also find links in the show notes to my blog, newsletter, shop, all that good stuff. Every little bit helps and it truly means a lot. Okay, so today's guest is Talana Zacharias, a fellow Canadian and kindred spirit when it comes to raising kids who are grounded in care, connection and responsibility to the planet. Talana is a sustainability educator and content creator who shares practical and thoughtful ways to bring more connection to nature and low-waste habits into everyday family life. Her work is rooted in love for the planet, realism, and the belief that small shifts really do matter, especially with what we're modeling for the next generation. We'll be talking about parenting with sustainability at the core, embracing imperfection, and how to raise kids who are curious, compassionate, and connected to the world around them. I think you're gonna leave this one feeling both grounded and encouraged. Kalina, I'm so glad you're here and welcome to the show. For anyone who is just meeting you right now, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? Well, I am a stay at home mother of two and I kind of just like a content creator doing my best to spread the word on raising kids to love and respect our planet because I find that they don't teach in school, honestly, and lots of people just have no cares and it hurts my heart a little bit. Like it's a rare occasion that I actually see a lot of kids outside. And so, it's like my kids, like that's all we do, spend time outside, right? And so I'm just, I don't know, I'm just trying to get the word out and try to educate parents a little bit more on how easy it is to raise kids, love and respect our planet, as well as adults, right? Like, because you're also lots of people I'm educating at the same time as they're trying to educate their kids, if that makes any sense. So, yeah. Definitely. starts with what we teach our own children, what behaviors we're modeling and that sort of thing. So that is the parents are a critical audience to reach with that work. And that's how I found you actually. I was looking for more parents who are doing that sort of like outdoor education piece as part of their sustainable living journey. What sparked you to like first start sharing that online? That's a really good question, honestly. I have been doing some online stuff for quite a few years now. And the one thing I was doing before still went along with my beliefs of like protecting the planet, blah, blah, blah. But I found I just wasn't happy doing it. And I was just happy being with my kids and teaching them all this stuff. And I'm like, why am I not telling other parents that they can also do this? Right? So that's kind of what spurred it a couple of years ago to start changing my platform. And then about a year ago, I did write a digital ebook for parents to start off on their sustainable journey. So yeah, that's kind of how it started. And I have lots of big ideas and plans. So it's kind of just growing from there. oh That's awesome. I'm definitely going to ask you about that later because you do have some fabulous resources. uh But if you don't follow Talena already, I'm going to link her Instagram down in the show notes. There are so many practical tips and the ones that I personally love are all of your water conservation tips. Just around the house water conservation, you don't realize how much you're actually wasting until you try to interrupt that. So definitely follow her for those like they're really simple, doable tips that think anybody can start adopting. into their homes. So I'll put that in the show notes for everybody. I love hearing about like the roots of someone's sustainable living journey, story, what have you, especially when it ties into parenting in real life, because there are just so many ways to raise a family, but also so many ways for people to find their way in to this work. And one thing I really admire about your work is how much you center your kids, not just as future stewards of the planet, the current ones, and therefore part of the solution right now. So you talk about it in terms of like raising like little earth warriors. So what does that look like in practice for you? Well, a big part of it is, because like I said, I love the pun, which is kind of why I've been educating my kids. But honestly, I really like learning along with them. So I think that's why this has expanded so much as it has, is because I'm so curious and I want to do better. And then so it kind of just makes us all learn at the same time. So when it comes to, I like calling it Earth Warriors just because it's such a fun term. we, the three of us, I mean, my husband does too, but. That's a whole nother thing. Like he loves it too, but not as much as we do. I just like calling ourselves that and like raising little earth warriors because that's what I feel like we are because there really is not enough people who care in this world. So I find that the three of us, because we care so darn much, we're like, we're really doing our best and what we can for our planet. That's why I like that little term. I don't know if that answered your question though. Yeah, absolutely. mean, and kids love playing superheroes and they're really like justice minded and you know, they're, learning like right and wrong and good and bad and those types of things. Right. So I think it really ties into their stage of development. I think yours are elementary-ish age. Yeah, my daughter is eight and a half and my son is just over six years old. And so we've been doing all sorts of learning since my daughter was like one and a half. Right. And we've just expanded from there. My daughter actually is, I swear she has a memory of an elephant because instead of asking Google questions about stuff, I'll just ask her now. Cause she'll be like, you know, and I'm like, my heart's so happy because I'm like, she knows so much about nature. Like we went on a hike the other day and she was the one that was pointing out all the flowers. I knew what they were too, but she saw them first. She's like, hey, that's me, mom. Hey, that's hair, Belle. And I'm just like, my gosh. I love that she knows all of these things and not YouTube stars and celebrities. Do you know what I mean? So iconic. Yes. I know, know totally what you mean. Mine were like that with birds, as you know, I'm like a bird person. And so they used to come with me on my quote, like bird walk when I would do the nest box monitoring. They are teens now, so they are not as like into hanging out with mom in any capacity or like going to the outside. I know that I have laid the foundation and that they will return to it. Like that's how I've led by example, right? And so that's what's normal for them. And they're just doing normal teen stuff now, but have you noticed anything like that changing as your kids are getting older or do you have any tips for a parent of teens? Teens are a whole different ballgame, man. I'm not there yet, but I'm entirely sure. But I have done a little bit of research on the teens part. And honestly, it's still just trying to get them outside, just trying to think of other activities that are going to keep them happy. Like, for example, my kids love a mud kitchen in the backyard. um And yeah, that's not like overly nature wise, but it's a way to get them outdoor. And they love it. Teenagers, they're not going to like that. But maybe you can go to the park and play soccer or take them on a really big hike, right? They're at that age where they totally can go on a hike. And while you're on the hike, you don't allow phones, you don't allow music. Just be on the hike and be in nature. There is in our town, there's actually a lot of classes at the nature center for birders for age 16 plus or let's go on an invasive species walk and pull them or whatever. kind of stuff they do. And it is for kids that age. So you can take a look at your, you live, they might have lots of that stuff too. And yeah, a teenager might not want to do it, but sometimes you got to give them that little nudge in the right direction. You're like, why don't you just try this, right? And see how it goes. And of course, like I said, teenagers, I don't have them and I know they're a whole different ballgame. So do your best. I used to be a high school science teacher. Like I'm familiar with the teenage of the species and yet I still sometimes struggle with my own kids, but it is, it's just like, we are going for this hike and they will fight tooth and nail and then like 15 minutes into it, everyone is super chill because we don't have our phones out because we're outside. And they're like, Oh, wasn't that awful? But it is just, you know, it's your stupid mental health walk. Like you just got to get out there and do it. So is that something that you were raised with growing up? as well, like this being outside and curious about nature or... It's not that my parents forced it on me. We lived on a farm and so it was the 90s. So was like I went outside and I had come back till I was hungry. know, most of the time they didn't know where was on the farm because I was just off doing whatever the heck I wanted. So that's kind of where my love of nature came in because I was just outside 24 seven. But we did also love the mountains. So we were always hiking. Like I specifically remember. having to sit in the middle of the trail as a child because I was exhausted and I couldn't take any more steps. But my parents like, you can do it. And I did. And we loved it. We loved it as a family when I was a kid. Like we had all the time because we were obsessed with it. Like we just loved being out in nature. So it's not like they like tried hard to get me to love nature. It was just like that's how they were. And then so that's how. I became, guess, you know, like I was just used to being immersed in nature all the time. Yeah, that was your normal. Yeah. And so I get this question a lot too. And I'm sure that you do too is um that sustainable living with kids is just like too hard. It's too hard to just change everything all at once, which I don't recommend doing that. But sort of the blocks that I hear like it's too hard, it's too expensive or too busy. And honestly, I get it. And I get frustrated with that because like this This really matters. This work really matters. So I'd love to hear your take. Like what are some practical ways that families can start weaving sustainability into their everyday routines, even when it's like chaotic and we're so stretched thin? would be like just some simple things that you could recommend? My first thing that I recommend is not something most people would think about because they don't think about it in regards to sustainability, but it's literally going outside. Because the more you're outside with nature, immersed in nature around the beauty of it, the more you're going to fall in love with it. It's the same thing for your kids. The more love we have, the more desire we are going to want to care for the planet. Again, same thing for your kids. That is one of the first things I always say. And like I said, lots of people were like, does that have to do with sustainability? But it really does. in the grand, I've been laughed at, but in the grand scheme of things, it really does make a difference because the more you're outside, the more you're like, well, I can't use this plastic bag that's going to suffocate that bird or whatever the case is. You know what I mean? So that's the first thing I usually say. The second thing I usually say to you is start with one little thing. Don't do it all because it is super overwhelming. Parenting is overwhelming as it is, let alone trying to add the rest of it. Right? So start with something small, like force yourselves to carry your water bottles everywhere you go. Make sure, doesn't matter where you go, even if it's a grocery store, make sure you have a water bottle so that you don't have this urge that, I'm thirsty, I'm just gonna buy this plastic one. Once you have that down pat, because of course habits also take, know, they can take 21 days to get into the routine of things, then start adding another one. So start small. And then the third thing I would say too is do what works for your family. You know, trying to use, I can't think of anything, like refilling. Our family loves refilling. It's great. We love it. Some people may not be able to, they may not have acts like super easy acts like our bulk barn is like two minutes away, which is really nice. But if you don't have access to a refillery or it's like an hour away, but your grocery store is five minutes away, sometimes refilling may not be the best, or like refilling all your things type scenario may not be the best option, right? So you have to do what works for you so that you're not overwhelming yourself or just making yourself more miserable, right? Like I said, parenting is hard enough as it is, so do what works for you. Yeah, it has to be sustainable for you too. There's no about like driving an hour away to get your refills is not sustainable for you. It's not sustainable for the planet. And like, this is about more than a plastic bag. So, I mean, I went through a phase where I was like, I'm going to make everything. This was like the 2016 era of the zero waste mason jar full of trash. And I thought I was like, I eh was making toothpaste. It was too much. Especially when there are so many amazing small brands that are now making these things for you that are local to you or that are sustainable brands that are Canadian brands. I have a post of like 300 different brands. I'm going to put it in the show notes because everything you could possibly need, you could probably get it locally and you don't have to burn yourself out making everything. That's not really sustainable either because your time is also... resource. Yeah. Then there's the added pressure of, I'm going through this right now because I have teens, of like what other kids have. You know, like it used to be the toys. Although my husband got into uh buying everything on Kijiji, like buying everything secondhand. So every brick of Lego in our house is secondhand. But now it's like video game stuff and clothes. the convenience food. Like they just want to go to McDonald's all the time. And I'm just like, who raised you? that comparison trap is so real. But I also think that's just a normal natural part of parenting. Right? So adding the sustainability piece on top of it, like that's just how our family lives. Right? So, okay. You want those like whatever ugly basketball shoes? Like I'm sure someone bought them and more than once and we can find them and we have. Yeah, nice. So how do you navigate that? mean, I know your kids are younger, but how do you navigate that sort of comparison track? Like I said, you're right. Like my kids don't really do that a whole lot. But we have talked about these things so much that my dad tried to take my son to McDonald's once and my son freaked because he's like, no, it's garbage food and it's so wasteful. And he's six. My dad's like, OK. he kept driving, didn't take him there. And so my kids do have this. I mean, like you said, they're young. So when they're teenagers, that's probably totally going to change and they're probably going to eat a McDonald's. But right now, they don't fall into that trap too much because we've talked about it so much. Well, the McDonald's makes me sick. So that's a big reason why we don't eat it. But they know it's super wasteful, right? Or Starbucks, like we really don't like Starbucks. The same thing is super wasteful. They've talked about like new toys every once in a while. And yeah, don't get me wrong, they do get new toys for birthdays and Christmas. But we don't just go out and buy whatever they want, whenever they want. Right? And so many people do. And like, especially in the summer, they're like, look at all these summer things we got. I'm like, go hang out in the sun. Go to the nearest lake. Like, why do need all these things? And so luckily my kids are... pretty good with that right now. I said, give it a few years, it'll probably change. But right now. will say like the foundation piece that I was talking about earlier, like now when they do want something, they will come in and say like, can we look for this on Kajiji? Can we look for this on Marketplace instead of, can we put this in the Amazon cart? They sort of know that we're going to do secondhand first. And they've really retained that. Like, mom, can we go to Valley Village and look for jerseys? That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, of course. So it's still, it's still there. It's still, it's still working. So as long as you sort of lay that as like the, this is how you shop. Exactly. Then if the worst thing like my kid does is go out and use a single use plastic bag like Exactly So I wanted to ask you to actually that's just popped into my head About gifts from other people and you mentioned like they still get new toys and that and that took a long time for us To have those conversations with family. Have you have you done that or started doing that? No, I haven't done it with family, it's funny because they already know. So they don't buy garbage that's going to like, like, you know, when you could go, you used to go to birthday parties and they come home with all this plastic crap and you're like, okay, but why, you know, so my family knows to not buy that kind of stuff. They will only get like really good quality things. And a lot of guests actually, especially for my daughter has been like, the one gift she got was like organic science kit. Like even the box that it came in is like recyclable cardboard. So they kind of know our vibe a little bit. So that's been really good. um I'm pretty sure they would know I would have words if they gave something that wasn't awesome, I suppose. um And we've all had the same agreement on like birthday parties, like we don't give garbage if anything like My sister-in-law will give candy and I'm like, that's better than giving, you know, six little tiny plastic toys are going to break. Yeah, we do jars of candy as well. Are we used to when we had that type of birthday party? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. yeah, we like I said, we, don't have any like rules or anything with my family, but we're at a pretty good understanding, I think. So that's nice. Yeah, these are really difficult conversations to have sometimes. sorry. Go ahead. oh going to say, like for my daughter now, like she's going to turn nine here pretty quick. And eventually it's just going to be like a $5 party or nothing party. Do you know what I mean? Instead of getting old. And now to be fair, we're very, we're purposeful. Like the last birthday she had, she got these like big containers with these toys and we kept the containers because we're like, Hey, this is a great container for the sandbox or whatever. And she literally uses them in the backyard all the time. But eventually it's going to come to a point where it's like, just don't, don't buy anything. Like, let's just come and have some fun. You know, it's just really hard. Like they're just selling kids. I have a hard time being like, no, yes, no, you can't buy anything. You know? And so eventually we will get there, but I have a hard time with that right now. So again, you've got to do what works for you and your heart too, right? If your heart says, oh, I want my kids to have some stuff. Well, don't say no to it then, you know? Yeah, we've done that too. Just like, you know, whatever other folks do is their business. this is just the way that we're doing parties at our house. And this is the quote, goody bag that we give away. Like we've done seeds and we've done, you know, stuff like that. So that's a whole other birthday parties are our topic that we'll talk about another time. But you just mentioned repurposing. So, you know, this is my favorite. And I'd love to get into something that comes up a lot in your work. And You really take it beyond the surface, but like most of us grew up hearing about the three Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle, even though we tend to ignore those first two. But you've expanded that out to seven. And I think that that deeper framework can be really helpful for families that are trying to make these intentional choices. So can you walk us through them and explain why the order matters? So the seven are reduce, reuse, refill, repurpose, repair, rot, and recycle. Now of course, reduce is number one because obviously that just, to me it's common sense. Like just don't buy things. If you don't need it, don't get it. know, think, think before you buy anything. If you don't need it or you, there's too much plastic packaging or whatever the case is, see if you can find a better option. And then reuse, obviously that's the same thing given the other ones now. So I know there has been, like I've seen a lot of ours around before. I grew up with the three and I always questioned the three, but it was just, that's what I grew up with. And I have seen more ours before, but I decided to actually do something with the seven and give parents some more resources for this because Like I have a little printout you could get and you just put it on your fridge. And it's a great way to remember, actually I have a couple of teachers that have it too in their classrooms. It's just a great way to like get your mind thinking, right? So that's why they're reduced. Thank you for before you buy it, reuse. Well, if you have it, can you use it to something else? Like our jar, I know you have a lot of jars. I have so many jars too. These jam jars are getting a little out of hand, but they're perfect. Like I'm never going to throw them away. I'm just going to have a closet full of jars. No bad jars. Refill, that one I put on there because that is not something everybody thinks of. There are so many people who don't refill. And I think if you have the option, the availability to refill, I do highly recommend you try it. Repurpose, what else can it be used for? And you've said that before, it's only single use if you use it once, right? So. That's how I feel about Repurpose too. We have so many pickle jars that have turned into rock jars. The containers the kids toys come in, we've used as like flower vases or actually my favorite are the big yogurt containers the kids use for their sandbox or holding their Lego because they want to keep it separate from the rest of the Lego type scenario. Repair, fix it, don't trash it. That one is one of my favorites because my husband is a genius when it comes to, I don't know what. His brain is fascinating because it doesn't matter what breaks, he will fix it. Like we have Frankenstein our stove probably five times and that thing's almost 20 years old. Yeah, I saw that. My husband's an engineer and he was like, I can fix it. I'm like, oh, okay. And that was, that blew my mind because I would never attempt that. I would hire a person to come and do it. But he was like, I can rewire this. like, oh, I had no idea there was like a computer in the stove essentially. yeah. And so we, and it was a stove that we bought secondhand. So we're keeping it in use and most of it. out of the landfill for a fraction of the cost of going out and buying a new stove. Well, that one will 100 % end up in the landfill. Nothing from it will be salvaged or reused more than likely. So now we're keeping it in the kitchen. Well, and I put repair on there because lots of people don't and like they either don't even think about hiring someone or they think about hiring someone and like, that's too expensive. Let's just go buy a new one. No, no, like nothing is ever thrown away. It has to go somewhere and that somewhere is either in our landfills or our oceans. So that's why I put the repair on there because I'm like, think about where this is going. Try to fix it as best you can. I put rot in there because well, that's just genius in my personal opinion. I know you have compost in your backyard too and we started that quite a few years ago and I begged the city to get green bins and then we finally got green bins a couple years ago and I still have people that are like, you can put food scraps in your green bin. Oh my God. What do you think goes in the green bin? They're like, oh, I thought it was those branches. No, no, no. All things go in the, and I was just, was like, I went on a little rant with this person. like, put all the things in the green bin. Please, please do. So I put that on there because people literally don't know. like how important competition is. It's not. breaks down in a landfill, not even food. Yeah. Food is uh the third largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. So reducing food waste in your home is one of the biggest impacts that you can make toward climate action, even if that means diverting it to the green bin versus a backyard compost pile. Please use your green bin if you have access to municipal pickup. It's one of the simplest, most impactful things that you can do. Yes, exactly. And then recycle is last. And again, to me, that is common sense, because really, you should be doing the other six first. Recycling is basically a scam. Most things don't actually get recycled. And so we need to try, do we need the other six first before we put anything in recycling? Yeah, the recycling bit is something else that I'll need to expand on, like as the show continues, because it is so dicey. But the TLDR on that is that recycling is a business. And if there is no market for the materials, then they will not be like resold and recycled. We know this about plastics, that like only 9 % of plastic worldwide is recycled. But I think, you know, like the things that are the most recyclable are glass, aluminum paper, but paper can only be recycled a certain number of times. Um, and lately I've been learning about how glass is actually crushed for landfill cover and that's called recycling because it's, it's used again. Um, yeah, I've heard that in a couple of different jurisdictions. Um, so it's, these are the things that I read about late at night. Um, aluminum is of course like infinitely recyclable. So just things to keep in mind when you're purchasing packaging. But again, if you can reuse it, I don't want to talk about the number of jars I have in my house. Which actually this brings up something I've been thinking about lately. Let's just continue on this thread. And that's like the limitation of my, it's only single use if you use it once thing, because like when does saving things turn into hoarding? I'd love to hear how you approach that because there is a balance between being resourceful and just being like overwhelmed by stuff. So like, where do you draw the line between something that's worth like reusing or repurposing or repairing and something that's just trash? Honestly, when I run out of room, we actually don't use a lot of tin foil as it is. But when we do use it, I make sure to wash it and put it back in the pantry because you can use it more than once. The yogurt containers, I have a little bit of a problem with because I keep them a lot. ah I actually use them to put them back in my freezer for leftovers, soups or lasagna or whatever. And of course, people are probably going to tell me, you're putting microplastics in your food, but there's microplastics everywhere. And it's safer for the freezer. Glass can be dicey. Like I freeze in glass and you lose the occasional jar, but like, why not use the containers that are coming into your life anyway? You ate food out of it. I mean, yeah, it's doing what you can do and what works best for you. Exactly. So the yogurt containers I have a little bit of tough time with because I can only keep so many. So then I do and just end up putting those in recycling and it does hurt a little bit because I'm like, not really getting recycled. But again, just do what you can. The jars I am, I am running out of room, but I will, I'm going to keep, there's never a bad jar. You're, you're going to use it. You know? Yeah. And when you purchase something, you purchase the container that it came in. So get your money's worth and least try to reuse it once. But yes, putting a pickle jar in the recycling like hurts my heart. Yeah, I feel like that. That's why there's a whole area in the basement that's full of jars. But in my defense, I also do canning. So I need those jars. So you mentioned your green bin, like municipal green bin pickup. What's sort of like the overall eco vibe like in your town or suburb or like, is there a lot of infrastructure for this kind of thing? Like for eco minded people or do you feel sort of like an outlier? I'm a little bit of an outlier. ah I have pushed my city. Have you heard of Bee City Canada? Yeah, so I got my city to become a Bee City and they've done nothing. So Bee City is an organization that encourages like um your city would have to pay like a small amount to get the Bee City sticker. Basically, it's an initiative to get your city or town to become more bee friendly. So plant way more native flowers, native plants, try to use less pesticides. We do have a few extra pots everywhere in the city that do have this little bee friendly sticker or whatever you want to call it. They are trying a little bit there, but you know government, everything's super slow or it's like, don't have money for that. So that part's a little frustrating. Our nature center though, I have been working quite a bit with them. And so they now have this best, what do they call it? Best front forward uh program, which is encouraging people to like do more in your front garden, or sorry, your front yard. Like my front yard is, like we live in a corner lot, so the front yard is huge. We have a pollinator garden and three garden beds and a bee home and a bee bath and a bird feeder and all these things. So that's what they're trying to do. So I've been working with them to. just to encourage uh our residents in the city just a little bit more, but it's definitely been challenge. It's a different city to live in. I have worked with environment Lethbridge, so they're another nonprofit organization as well. I actually ended up working with them and we planted a drought tolerant garden in the park behind our house. We have done some work together, but it's definitely nothing like, I would love to see more. um It's so hard to get folks to think about their lawns differently. I'm in the suburbs of Toronto and it's just like, your lawn looks like a golf course. And that is not my vibe. I also live with a lawn guy. So it's trying to find that, you know, like I could have 12 more raised beds in my backyard, but the lawn. So. uh what I've been doing, he doesn't listen to the show, so I'll just give you my secret. Hi, Brad. So we have like a garden in our front yard, like a little jelly bean sized garden. And I just keep sort of like making it slightly bigger every year and planting more pollinators. So again, like you're kind of fighting against city hall, like you said, but also. the person that you share the house with. So it's finding that balance of like, you can do your thing and I can do my thing and we'll find a balance there. I would rip the whole lawn out, but we have to share the space. So some is better than none. And yeah, so let's take that and we'll just zoom out a little bit because we are all trying to do this inside of a system that is very difficult to fight against it pushes. convenience and individualism and over consumption everywhere we look all day long. And I know for a lot of us, it can feel like our small actions don't matter, which is wild to me because like if our individual choices led us here, why on earth wouldn't they lead us out? So yeah, how do you think about the role of individual action in this work and how can those like small shifts kind of lead us to where more community minded, like connected way of living? I always think that small actions matter because the thing is our mindsets are all around consumerism, convenience, um living a simpler life in no regards to what that simpler life is doing around us. And so I think the mindset is huge. That's why I always try to tell people like when they ask, like I said before, what's the best way to go inside, start going outside. Right? Because you need to appreciate and love our surroundings, our planet before, so that you can try to make more of a change. And so that's why I think our mindset is so incredibly important to start thinking about the planet first before you do anything. Because once you have that mindset in there, do I really need this Starbucks coffee today? Well, no. So maybe I'll skip it. I'll bring my own coffee or, you know, little things like that. And then eventually all those little things end up being this huge mindset that you've taken on, and if everyone can do that, like that, that would be unreal. Like our world would change if everybody had this mindset of thinking about the planet before they do anything, you know? Even just within your own little world, like if you are really into cooking, then maybe then you start focusing on food waste. And if you're really into fashion, then maybe you start focusing on thrifting or there's so many ways to access that mindset shift. If we just think more, yeah, like you said about the planet, but the people on it too, who's like labor, we depend on to make all this shit that we're buying that we don't need. like going out, we can't buy things when you're outside because you left your phone inside. um But it's just so calming for your nervous system as well. That's what it does for me is it makes me realize that I have enough and I am enough and there's nothing I can buy that can augment me seeing an Oriole, for example. And I look at this in a couple of different ways. I just mentioned that corporations want us to think our actions don't matter, but they do. If our individual choices brought us here, then why on earth wouldn't we be part of the solution? But also that... Systems are made of people and people can be influenced. So just keep talking about this with everyone you encounter. Well, exactly. when my one book I talk about, like it's from me to we. Right. So you may think these small actions don't matter, but once you start doing it, encourage other people to do it and those people encourage other people, you know, like it's just it will keep going. It's just like a waterfall. Yeah, the ripple effect is a real thing. yeah, so exactly like how we influence people just by how we live is one of the things that I admire about your work is the way that you model curiosity and mindfulness for your kids. And it's not just about like doing the quote, right thing. It's about noticing, connecting and really caring. And you share so beautifully how you teach your kids about that. Can you tell us more about how that's wound into the resources that you've created for other families. So yeah, my starter ebook is a good one. It's all about, like I said before, going outside to start that. But the starter book is really about a big part of it is the gratitude part. And again, lots of people always ask, well, that has nothing to do with trying to take care of a planet. But it really does. Like, I know people make fun of me and sometimes I might sound like a cheese ball, but love is a huge thing. Love can basically not fix everything, but like it kind of does, you know? And like I'm the type of person who, like we went on a hike two days ago and I saw a bald eagle and I could have cried. Like they're just, they're one of my favorite birds. And they're just, it's just so beautiful. And like we saw a bear, we saw a toad. Like I was like basically in tears the whole time. ah Just because it's just so, so darn beautiful. And I'm just so grateful. that I am able to see all these things and that these creatures are here. We are a part of nature, right? And we need to start understanding that and being grateful for it. uh So that's what my book is about. like I said, people don't really understand it, but it's really honestly just put your phone down, go outside, sit there, even in your backyard. Because some people will tell me, well, it's too hard to go in nature. I'm like, the park's right there. And they're like, well, there's something there. I'm like. If you sit there for a bit, you will see how many birds there are or what if there's a cool worm you saw or look at this bee that he was whispering about this flower, you know? And like, again, I get made fun of because I get all crazy pants about it all. uh But honestly, like, that's all it is. Have that little bit of more gratitude. And the second you start doing that, you're going to see everything through a different lens. And it's going to be very eye opening. to slow down and notice what's there. As a person who's been monitoring suburban birds for the last 12 years, yeah, there's a lot of birds. And so I'm loving seeing this surge of middle-aged women online getting into birdwatching. I was like, yes. Yes, because it really does cause a bit of a mindset shift, no matter how you find your way into it. I'm thinking right now about your sustainable summer activities guide that you have out. Because we still have like two more months with hot weather here in Canada and then folks everywhere. Tell us about what's in that. So that one really is just an activity ebook. so, because lots of parents I know like, oh, what am I going to do with my kids? Like, I saw one person once, I think it was an accountant ended up unfollowing because I was just like, what? And they're like, this is my schedule for the summer for my kids. And two hours of schoolwork, two hours of screen time, one hour of screen time, just doing art. And I was like, what is happening right now? And I'm like, to each their own, to each their own. I'm not going to judge, but I was just like, okay. but you could just send them outside and tell them to go count the bees. See how many bees you could find in five things. Do you know what I mean? So this e-book is just for the parents that don't know what else to do in the summer. it mostly, think almost all the activities are outside or at least something to do with nature. It's so simple, so ridiculously simple, which is also really nice. So you don't have to go buy things. I don't want people to go buy things. That is the opposite of what I want people to do. uh And it's really just the super simple activities to get everybody outside. You can do it with the kids if you want to, or you can just say, here, do these five activities today, and they'll go and do it. Right. And so it is nice for any ages too, which I also really like to try to make it like, so it's not for, you know, two to four year olds. It's from literally like two to 16 year olds, like anybody can do it. Um, but yeah, it's just that little bit of extra fun for your summer to try and get that, get outdoors and love nature a little bit more and keep busy at the same time. Yeah, it's great. There's like structured activities in there, but I think that there's so many opportunities for like jump off unstructured play that can come from that as well. So it's really fantastic. I'm going to link it for everybody in the show notes. Are you also thinking about doing one for like fall or winter? I do actually have one for winter. okay. Yeah. That one I'm not going to lie is probably my favorite. We, well, because we live in Canada. So of course I have not a choice, but to like winter because we have so much of it. uh But we make it a mission every year when it's like minus to go outside for longer than an hour for at least one day. And we usually do it for a couple of days. Um, cause of course it's pretty cold here and people always think I'm insane. I'm are you frozen? I'm like, no, you bundle up. You just have your little eyes poking out and that's basically all that you see. And no, it's great. so, right. Exactly. No, the change is bad weather. And so, um, and people have a hard time in the winter, um, getting outside, right. And I think you need to get outside at every time of year. which is why I created the winter activity ebook. Have you heard of A Thousand Hours Outside? Yeah, so that's kind of where all of this started. We started A Thousand Hours Outside actually in 2020, I think, when of course the pandemic hit. And we've been doing it ever since. And so that's where all these activity ideas came from for me because we were just always outside and I was like, what else can we do? And decided to share it with everybody because like I said, sometimes it can be hard to think of what to do outside or to get the actual urge to go outside in the first place. So, yeah. I love how much intention and care goes into the resources that you've created. So I will link them below so that folks can check them out. It's so clear how much heart you bring to this work. And I know that caring about this so deeply can feel really heavy at times. Like living sustainably and taking climate action, trying to raise children in the middle of a climate crisis. It isn't always easy. is there anything in your journey that just feels too hard right now. You know, it has at times because I feel like I'm not actually making a difference at times or nobody's listening. But then I've kind of had a revelation in the last couple of months and I'm like, you know what? I don't care. This is my passion. I love being curious with my kids and educating other people at the same time and trying to encourage other people to live more this way. Make fun of me all you want. when I'm sitting here in tears because I just saw the coolest bee ever on the planet. This is who I am and I hope that more and more people will love the planet as much as we do. Right now, I don't think there's anything. I mean, you can go down a rabbit hole with all the climate stories because it is terrifying and it's truly sad. But then I take my kids outside and like I said, we go look at our garden and we're happy all over again. I don't let myself get to that super negative point because you easily can. ah And that's not going to help anybody. Right? I was going to ask you how you like, how do you cope with the despair of it all? Because I can definitely get in that place. And again, it is that feeling like that nobody's listening and nobody cares. And then the way that I interrupt that is I think who profits from that. Yeah, I don't know. Like I said, it is hard. I can see how people get to the despair part and like stay in that hole. But that's not going help you. That's not going to help anybody. So try not to stay there. Don't get it wrong. Feel the feelings. That's definitely valid. Just try not to stay there. And the coolest thing about climate work for me is that it is inherently joyful. You know, you're like, wow, I made this, I repaired this sock. I saw a bald eagle. Like, yeah. Yeah, it feels good, right? So is there anyone that is inspiring you right now, like in the sustainable living space or where do you go for ideas or encouragement? That's a good question. I follow a couple of good people on Instagram, yourself included. Like you actually are the one inspired me to circle in to bulk burn to read Will. And then when I started with Will, I'm like, what, why have I not done this for years? I was almost upset with myself. So I do have quite a few people online. And honestly, I, my mom and my dad have been calling me grandma lately because my grandma was at the time, we didn't really think anything of it that she was sustainable. And we teased her. She's like, you don't need to keep that gift bag. You don't need to fold up the tissue paper. Like, why are you keeping that aluminum foil? And now I'm like, right. Like, this is why. She didn't tell us those things. And then so now they're starting to call me grandma. So I guess maybe she was my inspiration and I just didn't realize it until recently type scenario, right? But I do find too, you have to follow the right people online. Like I've unfollowed a lot of people because I'm like, no. You're not my vibe, you're negative or whatever the case is. you definitely, got to listen to the people that make you feel good. Absolutely. That's what's going to fuel you. And honestly, being compared to your grandmother is such a flex. Right? I I would be like, my gosh, like it's so nerdy. And now I'm like, that's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Like, yes, I am knitting dishcloths. Thank you. yeah. You know, like what would Nana do? And like my grandparents were raised during the depression, right? So all of those things, those saving everything just came very naturally. And so I just think about that. Like, what would my actual Nana do if she were confronted with this problem in the kitchen? Like she would never use a paper towel. Never. you know, when tea towels exist and then mend the holes in the tea towels and all that. And now I find myself doing that. I used to be like, oh, that's so cheap. That's so gross. Why don't you just go buy new ones? And now I'm like, I'm taking this tea towel to the grave. I know the feeling. Yeah. Okay. So I like to end every episode with a segment that I call one small shift. the idea behind it's really simple. It's that sustainable living can feel really overwhelming and it doesn't have to be. As we've mentioned several times today, small changes can really add up when they are consistent and intentional. So if you could leave listeners with one small shift they could make this week, what would it be? I'm going to go with what I said before, go outside. You know, go appreciate something out there. Even if you can't go on a big, beautiful hike that we just did recently, go into the front yard if you have anything out there. And if you don't have anything out there, maybe think about what you can do. Or take the kids to the park and instead of playing at the playground, go hug a tree or sit for five minutes, you know? And I know I know some people are going to roll their eyes when they're listening to this. Okay. But no, I'm serious. Like go try it. Like just go outside and just start appreciating our planet because it's right in front of you. when the kids say touch grass, like that works. You have rights, literally. So where's the best place that people can connect with you and find your work? Definitely on Instagram is where my main source is. And then my little store link is in there for all my eBooks. So, yeah. and the free seven hours printable is there as well. Yes. So absolutely grab that. All of that's going to be in the show notes for you. Thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so happy to talk to you. Thanks so much for having me. so honored to be on your show. Thank you so much. Thank you so much to Talaina for this thoughtful and honest conversation. I love connecting with other eco-minded parents about what sustainable living really looks like in real life and strategies for raising kids who care about the earth. So be sure to go follow Talaina and check out her eBooks and resources for families. They are such a great starting point if you're looking to bring. more connection and care into your everyday life. And you can find all of those linked down in the show notes. And if you're looking for more practical tips, low waste ideas, or you just want to keep the conversation going, you can find me over at sustainable in the suburbs.com and you can sign up for my newsletter while you're there. All of that other ways to support the podcast are all linked for you in the show notes as well. Thanks again for listening until next time, start where you are, use what you have and live a little greener. Thanks for tuning in to Sustainable in the Suburbs. Every small step adds up and I'm so glad we're doing this together. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to follow the show, share it with a friend and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. You can find me at sustainableinthesuburbs.com or at Sarah Robertson Barnes on all the things. Until next time, start where you are, use what you have and live a little greener.