#livelagom

Hi! My name is Emma and I'm taking part in Ikea's Live Lagom project for 2017/2018. Lagom is a Swedish word which means "just the right amount". We get workshops, advice and free Ikea products and in exchange we need to demonstrate the changes we've made to become more sustainable. Welcome to my blog!

I was very excited when I was chosen to participate in the third and final year of Ikea's Live Lagom project. I'm vegan, I always try to recycle, I use LED bulbs and so on, but I was sure there was more I could do. My main challenge in entering this project is that because of long term health problems, I struggle with having enough energy day to day. If anyone has heard of Spoon Theory, they'll know what I mean! So, any changes I make need to be easy and low effort to maintain.

I have decided on two New Year’s Resolutions: Firstly, I want to eat more healthily and try to reduce food waste. There are days when I can barely make it out of bed, so obviously I'm not going to be able to cook an elaborate three course meal. If I'm going through a rough patch, a lot of meals I've planned in advance just don't happen and that means I end up wasting food by having to throw it away. Being realistic, there's not going to be a magic fix, I just need to focus on getting well and hopefully I'll reach a point where these rough patches happen less frequently and maybe even eventually stop. In the meantime, I've been picking up little tricks to be able to eat healthily even when I'm very short on energy and I want to discover more.

Secondly, I want to save money on electricity and water bills. I live in a lovely flat in a converted factory and although it's great in the warmer months, it does get incredibly cold in the winter. I have storage heaters which I have found hard to understand and I don't like to turn them too high for fear of what it would do to my electricity bill. The windows are huge and single glazed; they let a lot of light in and give a great view, but obviously don't help with the heating situation. So, I need to find ways to keep warm that don't use up too much energy. I also want to save on water bills; I have a water metre and always thought I was sensible with my water use, but having looked into it, it seems there are lots of simple things I can do to reduce my water consumption.