Often, we talk about sustainability being too expensive or time-consuming but it doesn’t have to be that way, says Dr Anita Vandyke.
Dr Vandyke is a rocket scientist turned medical doctor, best-selling author and the powerhouse behind a ‘zero waste’ Instagram account, where she shares easy tips to help others make small changes to live more sustainably.
Dr Vandyke started her professional career as a rocket scientist, also known as an aeronautical space engineer, where she worked for 7 years climbing the corporate ladder. By the age of 27, she became disenfranchised by the hierarchical nature of the job.
“Looking at my boss, my big boss and my big, big boss, I realised that the trajectory that I would have to go on would be similar to this and it was very hierarchical and very finite,” Dr Vandyke told Women’s Agenda recently.
“I felt that I still had so much to learn, grow and develop, and one of the key things I loved about engineering was problem solving and the ultimate problem solver is actually being a doctor because you’re solving the biggest problem of all, which is why are you sick?”
With that, Dr Vandyke chose to make a career switch and go back to university to pursue medicine. So when did a passion for sustainability and zero waste living come into the picture?
“I was going back to uni, we were dropping down from a double professional income, my husband and I at the time, to a single income,” she says. “I had to learn the frugal ways of my Chinese immigrant parents again, of what not to waste, how to save money, no food wastage, shopping second-hand. And fundamentally, all these values are actually very sustainable.”
“People talk about sustainability being expensive but I always say sustainability has to be sustainable for you. For me, a great way to do it is by shopping secondhand. Everything that I wear, everything in my house is secondhand. It’s a much cheaper option because you can buy better quality items at a cheaper price point.”
Dr Vandyke is now the author of the best-selling book, A Zero Waste Life as well as A Zero Waste Family.
How electric vehicles can help us to be conscious consumers
Recently, I met Dr Vandyke at the Australian launch of Renault’s new electric vehicle, the Megane E-Tech. She spoke about how electric vehicles are one of the next large transitions many of us will start to make in the coming years towards a more sustainable future.
“I think the next big purchase item that most families will look at in the near future will be an electric vehicle,” Dr Vandyke said. “It is an investment not only for their family, but also an investment to the planet.”
“The great thing about it is that it is what we call a small change, but think of the cumulative effect. If you change to an electric vehicle, if I change to an electric vehicle, the ripple of that and the cumulative difference it makes over a lifetime is hugely significant.
“So I think as conscious consumers, and also as consumers of a large investment, we need to think more clearly about what, how, where our dollars are going.”
Dr Vandyke said that when she first took Renault’s Megane E-Tech for a drive, she was coming from the point of being a “conscious consumer”.
“I’m upgrading from my non electric vehicle to an electric vehicle and I’m looking for something that has the sustainability aspects that I really align with, but also a safety aspect for my family. I also want to be driving something that’s a bit zippy, a bit fun, particularly from my day to day commute,” Dr Vandyke says.
“As soon as I got in, I understood why this was a luxury but also a sustainable vehicle. The great thing about it, is that the interiors feel really comfortable, feel really luxurious, but they’re made of recycled materials.
“A lot of the interiors, particularly the soft furnishings, are made from recycled bottles that would have been sent to landfill, but they feel great and it’s great that they’ve been diverted from landfill.”
Dr Vandyke also said she loved using the car’s “eco mode”, which allows you to reduce your electrical consumption and also monitor how you drive.
“For me, that is an easy, quick tip for the sustainability aspect. Because as a busy mom, I don’t want to have to be thinking about that — someone’s done the thinking for me,” she said.
“As an aerospace engineer, I could appreciate the aerodynamics of the car. The smooth laminar flow, the speediness of it. I felt low to the ground but also felt comfortable at the same time.”
So what are Dr Vandyke’s best tips for easy ways to reduce waste?
Outsource what you can and get fresh food delivered
“Don’t be afraid to look at a farmer’s boxes, organic delivery boxes or imperfect picks boxes, or whatever it is within your price range and get that delivered to you,” Dr Vandyke says.
“The great thing about that is that you’re going directly from the farmer to yourself, so you’re saving money in that way. But also you’re getting fresh produce delivered to you seasonally so that’s a cheaper option as well.”
“It’s less plastic packaging and a lot of these services allow you to return the cardboard box and reuse it again.”
Be prepared but be flexible
“What I like to do with my said food is chop it all up and put it in containers,” Dr Vandyke explains. “So you can quickly make stir fries, make curries, whatever you want with the chopped up veg or put it in lunchboxes, so it’s all prepared. You just need to spend half an hour to 40 minutes.”
“Being flexible is understanding that when you cook seasonally, you have to be more creative. So it might not be a zucchini that day, it might be a parsnip instead. So what are you gonna do with that same sort of vegetable? It’s about being flexible at the same time.”
Make an ‘eat first’ box
“Another tip for being flexible is what I call making an ‘eat first box’. So, on the top shelf of your fridge, put a box and label it ‘eat first’ so everyone in the family can see.
“Then whenever there is a lonely banana or a half eaten cucumber, put it in that box so everyone can see it and use it up.”
Shop second-hand when you can
“Shop from the circular economy. For example, everything that I’m getting for my baby if I haven’t already gotten it from my older child, I’m looking at Facebook marketplace. I am looking at thrift stores. I’m asking friends and family for secondhand gifts, whatever it might be.
“By choosing the second-hand option, you’re preventing it from landfill, but also you’re saving money at the same time. And often these goods are very high quality.”