WHAT'S SO UNSUSTAINABLE ABOUT MORNINGS
So it’s no surprise that here at Good Mornings, we’re pretty big on sustainability. At this point, we don’t think that this is particularly because of our brand, we think that it should be an absolute minimum for business practice; but we want to make sure we’re going above and beyond to not only incorporate sustainable choices into our business and every day lives, but to also make sure we’re educating and promoting where possible.
We have previously covered why we need to act now (see blog Why Sustainability has to start now) but it really is one of the biggest crises (amongst too many to count now) that is facing us. We want a planet that we can pass on to the next generation, a planet that can support us in the way that it was intended to. Nature gives us so much, it is literally the lifeblood of the human race, but we have been abusing her gifts and steadily depleting her resources. We have to do something now before it’s too late.
We actually built this business because we want to help people form habits for good. We also want to hold ourselves accountable for the actions we do every day. It may seem a little disjointed to have a company that focuses and informs about morning routines, productivity and wellbeing; whilst also trying to spearhead sustainability. But to us this external disjoint is the main reason we decided on this in the first place. Even if you don’t have a ‘morning routine’ that you have planned out, refined, and turned into the best start for your day. You definitely have a routine when you get up in the morning. If you are over the age of 5, you will have formed daily habits that come so easily that you don’t even have to think about them. And this is the problem we’re trying to solve. All of us are so ingrained in our ways that we could be doing unintentional harm daily, that just takes awareness and attitude to shift.
When we first started looking at our morning routines, I was surprised by how wasteful they actually were! I was so used to getting up and having a filter coffee, using five different plastic packed products, lazing over a shower or relaxing with a bath, using three cotton pads to cleanse, tone, and remove nail varnish, grabbing a bottle of water and a coffee at the station and on and on. Everything I was doing was to make my life easier, rather than to consciously do better for myself and others. I would work out in the cheapest gear, having to replace this quite often, I’d buy into the latest fad in exercise and stockpile yoga mats, ankle weights, and bands without any intention to use them. I was quite shocked at how full my bathroom cabinets were of different products that do the same thing. Or remnants of packaging that contained stuff I’d bought on a whim and then got bored of. When I think about the number of take-away coffees, juice shots, bottles of water, last-minute single-use plastic treats, it actually blows my mind. I always thought that I was great at recycling and carrying my own tote bags but a pause to look at my morning routine threw out so many harmful practices that I was undertaking simply on autopilot!
We actually built this business because we want to help people form habits for good. We also want to hold ourselves accountable for the actions we do every day. It may seem a little disjointed to have a company that focuses and informs about morning routines, productivity and wellbeing; whilst also trying to spearhead sustainability. But to us this external disjoint is the main reason we decided on this in the first place. Even if you don’t have a ‘morning routine’ that you have planned out, refined, and turned into the best start for your day. You definitely have a routine when you get up in the morning. If you are over the age of 5, you will have formed daily habits that come so easily that you don’t even have to think about them. And this is the problem we’re trying to solve. All of us are so ingrained in our ways that we could be doing unintentional harm daily, that just takes awareness and attitude to shift.
When we first started looking at our morning routines, I was surprised by how wasteful they actually were! I was so used to getting up and having a filter coffee, using five different plastic packed products, lazing over a shower or relaxing with a bath, using three cotton pads to cleanse, tone, and remove nail varnish, grabbing a bottle of water and a coffee at the station and on and on. Everything I was doing was to make my life easier, rather than to consciously do better for myself and others. I would work out in the cheapest gear, having to replace this quite often, I’d buy into the latest fad in exercise and stockpile yoga mats, ankle weights, and bands without any intention to use them. I was quite shocked at how full my bathroom cabinets were of different products that do the same thing. Or remnants of packaging that contained stuff I’d bought on a whim and then got bored of. When I think about the number of take-away coffees, juice shots, bottles of water, last-minute single-use plastic treats, it actually blows my mind. I always thought that I was great at recycling and carrying my own tote bags but a pause to look at my morning routine threw out so many harmful practices that I was undertaking simply on autopilot!
I imaging if you stopped and thought about everything from getting out of bed to getting to the office (ah the long lost times of offices) you would be shocked with everything you have overlooked. That’s why this business was born. A combined love of how we can protect our environment and create the best foundation for success, and a complete shock at how much work we can do to make our world a better place.
We started to make sustainable swaps by doing an audit of absolutely everything that we do in the morning. It’s actually quite a lot when you break it down into places, things, actions that you come into contact with. For a lot of people, this exercise is seen as unnecessary as their morning routine is to wake up, get out of bed, shower, dress, leave the house (or head to your WFH environment). But when you actually break it down to what tools are you using to wake up, how long is your shower, where are your products from, who makes the clothes you put on every morning, how do you travel once you leave the house; you realise that there is so much work we can do. And when you think that these ‘insignificant’ habits are actually recurring things that happen 365 days a year, and that if you collected all these tiny, unseen habits together you would be appalled at the effect on mass, you realise that your morning routine is the exact place to start when looking to be more sustainable.
The morning is also the best place to start as it sets the tone for the day! If you start to amend your morning habits, these will automatically overspill into the rest of the day. If your morning coffee helps you make good choices, by default those choices will be reflected in your lunch, supper and treats. It’s also the hardest place to start. Taking a tote bag to the supermarket is easy to remember once a week as a big ‘event’. Amending your ingrained routine after years and years is incredibly difficult. But once you’ve done the difficult stuff, the rest is easy!
We all have a collective responsibility to do what we can to help the environment. We also all have to acknowledge that this is something we have to fully integrate into our lives. Not just being good at recycling and remembering your bags, but consciously making a choice to hold ourselves accountable for all the little things. And remember that the little things add up. If you were to change just one habit tomorrow and it sticks, that’s 365 times that you are helping with the global effort to fight Climate Change.
We started to make sustainable swaps by doing an audit of absolutely everything that we do in the morning. It’s actually quite a lot when you break it down into places, things, actions that you come into contact with. For a lot of people, this exercise is seen as unnecessary as their morning routine is to wake up, get out of bed, shower, dress, leave the house (or head to your WFH environment). But when you actually break it down to what tools are you using to wake up, how long is your shower, where are your products from, who makes the clothes you put on every morning, how do you travel once you leave the house; you realise that there is so much work we can do. And when you think that these ‘insignificant’ habits are actually recurring things that happen 365 days a year, and that if you collected all these tiny, unseen habits together you would be appalled at the effect on mass, you realise that your morning routine is the exact place to start when looking to be more sustainable.
The morning is also the best place to start as it sets the tone for the day! If you start to amend your morning habits, these will automatically overspill into the rest of the day. If your morning coffee helps you make good choices, by default those choices will be reflected in your lunch, supper and treats. It’s also the hardest place to start. Taking a tote bag to the supermarket is easy to remember once a week as a big ‘event’. Amending your ingrained routine after years and years is incredibly difficult. But once you’ve done the difficult stuff, the rest is easy!
We all have a collective responsibility to do what we can to help the environment. We also all have to acknowledge that this is something we have to fully integrate into our lives. Not just being good at recycling and remembering your bags, but consciously making a choice to hold ourselves accountable for all the little things. And remember that the little things add up. If you were to change just one habit tomorrow and it sticks, that’s 365 times that you are helping with the global effort to fight Climate Change.
We know that this won’t be easy, but that’s why we created Good Mornings. We’re here to help you on this journey, and to give advice and honest opinions on what we can all be doing better. But we are also here for you, built to try and create a community that wants to get 1% better each day, so let us know how you’re doing, how we’re doing, and how we can help.
