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How Olympic Athletes Are Advocating for Climate Action
With the Winter Olympics in full swing, it’s an interesting time to think about how climate change might be impacting the future of winter sports. When the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics were in our backyards, we saw the need to truck in dozens of loads of snow to build up the venues as warm weather caused snow to melt. This year at the Milano Cortina games, we’ve been hearing the complaints of warm weather heating up the ice tracks for luge and skeleton. With such weather dependent sports and the clear impacts changing climate is having on them, many Winter Olympic athletes are using their platforms to join the climate…
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44 Ways to Give your Loved One the Gift of Time this Valentine’s Day
I’m always looking for ways to give gifts that don’t involve a huge amount of “stuff.” It isn’t easy though, because gifts of stuff are often easy–especially when things are always being advertised and wish lists are often being updated. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I’ve been thinking of ways to give the give of time instead of the gift of stuff–or at least maybe a bit of both. What is the “gift of time”? There is a basic idea out there that everyone receives love a different way, more specifically in one of five ways: acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts, and quality time. I’ve mentioned the…
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Looking Back at our 2025 Blogging Year
This January has been not only full of reflection but also looking ahead towards what 2026 will hold. In the moments of reflection, we are taking some time to pause, reflect, and appreciate the journey this blog has taken over the past year. Our 2025 Year of Blogging 2025 held a big milestone for us–we had our five year anniversary of creating A Sustainably Simple Life! What a journey it has been from coming up with an idea in Krista’s living room to having tens of thousands of people reading what we are writing. Last year we had over 22,300 visitors to our blog, which is humbling! It is also…
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How to Shop Less this Year
There’s nothing like the holiday season to remind us of how easy it is to spend money. It’s also the season to remind us of our budgets and possibly just how stretched those are. Since money might be on the top of your mind too, I thought I’d ponder the idea of shopping less this year. Whether you are looking to spend less money in general or are trying to save money, shopping less is an important part of that journey. How to shop less this year and why it matters Shopping less is going to have a number of positive effects. Shopping less will help you stay within your…
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2 Great Canadian Small Businesses to Shop this Christmas
We’ve just come through the retail madness of Black Friday week and I am feeling like I need a breather. A little cleanse, perhaps, from all of the mass marketing campaigns of large corporations and a refocus on small businesses. As we’re still in the midst of holiday shopping season, I wanted to share about two Canadian small businesses that have some great sustainable products–Uncle Mike’s All Natural Products and More Than Lips. So whether you’re needing something to gift to others or something to gift yourself, these two Canadian small businesses might just be the place to look! No affiliate links in this post, just some straight up love…
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Stretch your Dollars this Season with these 6 Easy Budget Challenges
We are about to enter one of the most expensive seasons of the year and, with prices skyrocketing everywhere, there’s potential for the holidays to break the bank. It can be difficult to figure out where to cut costs and save money, so I have some budget challenges that can help inspire you to save. Budget Challenge #1: The Pantry Challenge What is a pantry challenge? A pantry challenge is a way to use up items that you purchased in past grocery shops but have been sitting unused in your cupboard. How does it work? Shop your cupboards! (And maybe the back of your fridge too). This is a way…
