Welcome to My Little Green World
We in the Inland Empire are no strangers to climate change. We feel the effects of a warming planet every year through droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires. When I began experiencing eco-anxiety, I decided to make the switch to a more plant-based and eco-conscious life. But what the zero-waste and vegan guides didn’t tell me was that not every place has equal access to plant-based and eco-friendly swaps. It’s taken time to figure out where to find green alternatives in the Inland Empire, but I’ve done it. I’ve cracked open the shell and found a little green world within the Inland Empire, and I’m excited to share it with you.
On Planet Plant, I’ll tell you where you can find the best:
Vegan Swaps
Vegan Restaurants/Fast-Food
Zero-Waste Groceries
And give advice on:
Going Vegan in a Mexican Household
Green Cleaning
How to Reduce Food Waste
Before we begin, let me tell you more about what you can expect on Planet Plant.
Effort over Perfection.
Too many vegan spaces and green spaces are overly critical and over-emphasize perfection. Everyone can’t be 100% vegan or 100% zero-waste. Maybe you live in a food desert and can’t help that your food comes in plastic packaging. Or maybe you can’t cut out an animal product for health reasons. Or maybe your reason for not achieving maximum-level hippie-dom is simply that you don’t want to. That totally flies here. I invite you to pick and choose which tips you’d like to take from this blog and incorporate into your own life. Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you give up cheese. But I’ll tell you where you can get your hands on alternatives if you choose to.
Plant-Based over Vegan.
This isn’t a “vegans only” blog. I ran into a vegan dilemma when the low-waste living side of me wouldn’t throw away my leather shoes. To me, the greater evil was to prematurely send them to the landfill than to continue using an animal product I already owned. Some will argue that this means I’m not vegan, and I’m actually plant-based. I’m cool with either label, but I won’t force one on you. Whether you call yourself vegan, plant-based or just want to try to swap out one animal product for a plant-based one, welcome to Planet Plant.
Eco-Conscious over Zero-Waste.
I dove into zero-waste living head first. I bought the produce bags, metal straws, and shampoo bars. That was pre-pandemic. Since then, I’ve used a few single-use masks and I now purchase many foods in plastic packaging. It’s OK.
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Planet Plant is about doing what YOU can for the environment, no matter where you live in the IE. I’m excited to share the treasures I’ve found along my journey to help yours.
—Vanessa