Ecology: 5 unsuspected tips for getting started, thanks to a blogger from the North

Marie Petit is a school director and teacher in CM1, based in Curgies (Nord). This mother of three children has made ecology her priority, to the point of recounting her experience in a testimonial book.

Blogger and speaker, ambassador of zero waste in the Valenciennes Métropole area, Marie Petit had 30,000 subscribers on her Instagram account "Les petits ecolos" when several publishers contacted her to write a book.

It is out of the question for this 30-year-old to release "yet another guide to ecology", rather a testimony, that of her ecological transition. "Of course, I tell how with my husband Mathieu we started with zero waste, after coming across the blog of a family who were all in!"

"But I also say my doubts, she adds, my questioning. Like when the children were born, first Marcel, 7 years old today, then the twins Victor and Suzanne, 4 years old. .. When they were babies we had to slow down, without feeling guilty, before we got back to it and completely changed our way of life."

These doubts, Marie is sure, should not be swept under the carpet. "My idea was for people to be able to recognize and project themselves."

A good idea, since his book Colibri, and after? published by Éditions Leduc has already sold 2,000 copies since its release last November and is being reprinted. The Instagrammer who has since gained 20,000 subscribers tells how she has placed ecology at the center of her life.

"Half of my book, says Marie, deals with small, simple things to do, reduce waste, plant a vegetable garden, take your bike instead of the car, take a shower instead of a bath... Hummingbird gestures like we call them."

She describes how, little by little, she started cooking, shopping, sewing and even making furniture with old pallets… "Initially, my book was to be called " The green pill". Because ecology is a bit like a drug. We always want to do more!"

So to do more, Marie Petit gives you five tips to reduce your carbon footprint. "Unsuspected ecology tips... and very impactful!"

Mary has chosen to put her money in what is called a green bank. For her, it's a very easy gesture, which "takes an hour of paperwork and that's it".

"Each euro invested for a year in a bank that supports polluting sectors such as oil or aviation has a carbon footprint."

With her new bank, she receives once a year the list of all the projects that the bank has supported, "a farmer who goes organic, an alternative Montessori-type school... sustainable projects, which make sense for The world of tomorrow."

Again, the manipulation is quite simple. After doing a simulation on the Internet, Marie and her family changed supplier for guaranteed electricity produced in Europe from wind turbines and solar panels.

At the same time, they have reduced their electricity consumption.

In the book, we learn that consuming content on the networks, publishing a video of cats, uploading a Youtube video, watching Netflix or simply scrolling for an hour pollutes.

"Each email stored for a year with an attachment is like leaving a light bulb on for 24 hours, explains Marie. Sending an email is already 20g of CO2. Imagine all the people deceased who will never be able to delete their account!"

Another necessity: sorting out and unsubscribing from email chains. "It's crazy how many messages we store without even opening them!"

Another simple way to reduce digital pollution: "Leave the screens aside! It's not necessarily a question of depriving yourself, but why not, once or twice a week, swap the TV evening for a book It's good for the mind and the planet, it always goes together!

"I spent a lot of time on the networks, but the basis of humanity is not to stay for hours in front of the TV or to scroll on your phone. Today, I understood that the ecology is a return to life. It is putting down roots."

Less TV and networks is also an opportunity to reconnect with nature, to go into the forest, for example, without a phone. This is what Marie does several half-days a week with her students, in addition to having introduced, like at home, zero waste at school.

Today, we know that eating meat is polluting. "What we don't know is the richness of a vegetarian diet. Before, my plates were all the same in the end... A meat, a starchy food - potato, pasta or rice - and a vegetable, peas , green beans or carrots."

"I discovered vegetables I didn't suspect existed! And then, in a tartiflette, if you replace the bacon bits with mushrooms, it's no less good."

When she was a student, Marie worked in a fast food chain. "The little I earned, she remembers, I spent on clothes, make-up, parties... and prepared meals to eat quickly. The basis of humanity, however, is to eat. It's So it makes sense to spend time there."

"When I was younger, I thought that ecology was a thing of sores who wanted to give themselves a genre, especially for food, remembers Marie. Until I cooked carbo pasta for my friend Stephanie and tell me she was vegan. I didn't even know the word."

"When she explained to me, I thought she must be living in hell. No meat, no eggs, no milk, no wool, a nightmare! An empty, frustrating life… More I got to know her, the more I saw that on the contrary she was sunny, energetic, passionate, alive."

It was then that Marie understood that ecology is not a form of diet full of deprivation. "On the contrary, it's nourishing. I asked her lots of questions, and she had solutions for everything. She broke the myth of the eco-boho that I had built for myself."

Marie advises to start by not eating meat every day, for example to introduce one meal a week without meat, then two.

"It doesn't look like it's eco-friendly, and yet it is!" exclaims Marie, who babysits her neighbours' children, swaps clothes with them and barters. "And then, we lend each other equipment. A screwdriver, we use it in all and for five minutes in our life, ten seconds here and there. No need to have one per household... "

Finally, the most important thing is there. It's the human connection. "Being in solidarity with each other is a key for the world of tomorrow."