Eco Misfits: the Story So Far (and Our Plans!)

Eco Misfits Kaya, Matilda and Will standing in front of a picturesque pond with the title 'Eco Misfits: The Story So Far'

We are excited and proud to welcome you to our brand new Eco Misfits blog.

We’ve been thrilled at the response to our Instagram page, where we’ve been sharing our journey towards a more sustainable way of living. You can follow us here ↓

Eco Misfits on Instagram


We’ve decided to launch a blog to go into more detail about what we are doing. Eco Misfits was dreamed up after the War on Plastic series aired on the BBC, which is when we started taking a long, hard look at our lifestyle and decided to make some changes…

Where Eco Misfits started

Kaya and I (I’m Will πŸ‘‹) were living the typical city life:

  • Coffee shops β˜•
  • Restaurants πŸ”
  • Takeaways 🍟
  • Fast fashion πŸ‘—

In short, general careless consumerism was a part of our lives. We weren’t as bad as some, but we were guilty of adding to the world’s waste and pollution problems more than we needed to. Then, something changed…

Matilda-Niamh was born! πŸ’š

Photograph of Matilda-Niamh walking on grass in a picturesque park, carrying a musical instrument.

Thus, we found ourselves thinking more about the future of the human race beyond our own lives. We began taking stock of the challenges we’ve had to face growing up:

  • The global economic crisis
  • Years of austerity
  • Brexit uncertainty

It made us think about the challenges Matilda-Niamh might face in her future. And there was one thing we just couldn’t ignore: the potential for humanity’s destruction of the environment to ruin the world for her generation. As you can imagine, we didn’t want this.

Finally, we watched The War on Plastic on the BBC and became completely unable to ignore the issues…

Supermarkets and retailers selling products in needless plastic packages and containers. Countless throwaway items like wipes, cigarette lighters, nappies and other single-use consumables that will take centuries to break down. Chemicals and gases being pumped into the land, sea and air. Deforestation. Over-farming. The list goes on!

A Widespread Problem

Industry, hospitality, aviation, energy, and just about every other sector of society is guilty. They add billions of tons of waste and pump incalculable toxins into the land, sea and air. Even for a climate change sceptic, there can be no denying the damage being done to habitats and our own surroundings!

So we decided to make changes to the way we live, shop and eat. It’s a journey that we will be taking for the rest of our lives. Kaya had the idea of sharing it with others in hopes of inspiring and motivating more people to do the same. We aren’t radical people – we don’t fit the mould for the classic stereotype of an “eco-warrior“. Hence the name Eco Misfits – we are a normal family trying to make an effort to live sustainably. 🌱

And everyone can do the same!

Changing Perspectives

From exploring the eco-conscious community we have found some great people to inspire and educate us. But one thing that has become clear to us is that certain elements of the community can put people off. For example, we once saw someone announce on Facebook that they were considering buying a hybrid car to try and reduce their carbon footprint. This announcement triggered hardcore members of the eco-community to jump in with harsh criticisms. Apparently, this person’s efforts were not good enough…

It isn’t a good look, and it will alienate many people from the cause.

This is why we want people to see that we are just your regular, “normal” family – there is nothing exceptional about us! We understand that many people are not ready to simply jump into a zero-waste lifestyle with both feet. Instead, we advocate small, gradual change for individuals. After all, it is governments and corporations whose decisions have the greatest impact on the environment – not individuals. ♻️

Photograph of factory pumping pollution into the air.
Photo credit: Patrick Hendry

The best we can do is hit them where it hurts – their wallets – by making different decisions as consumers. We don’t expect you to live in a wooden hut wearing clothes you made from leaves and eating nothing but seeds! But there are countless small changes you can make that will reduce your waste, lower your carbon footprint and apply pressure on corporations and governments to make the necessary changes.

And we, the Eco Misfits, are here to help you make those changes by sharing our experiences and lessons from doing it ourselves!

Eco Misfits: Eco Swaps

We’ve made lots of small changes to our lifestyle. The things we’ve done include:

  • Buying less
  • Reusable nappies and wipes for Matilda-Niamh
  • Reusable water bottles
  • Refusing products in plastic packaging
  • Bamboo toothbrushes
  • Many, many more simple eco swaps
Eco Misfits Eco Swap: Replace plastic bottled shampoo with unpackaged shampoo bars.

We’ve had some funny looks from people when we’ve told them we’re using cloth nappies – they assume it’s a hardship. In reality, they’re actually better to use, and the money we’ve saved (as well as the waste reduction) is a welcome bonus!

Sometimes, the changes seem like they will be tough, but once you make them, they are actually far easier than expected. We have shared some ideas for eco swaps on our Instagram – expect to see more in future!

Moving forward, we are taking our first steps in growing our own vegetables/herbs🌿. We aren’t blessed with a big garden but we are going to make it work. We want to prove that anyone can do these things, no matter the limitations life imposes on you.

Matilda-Niamh is our guiding light and we are learning a great deal through her! We hope to inspire and inform to do our bit for the cause – our journey will show that anyone can live more sustainably without upending their lifestyle.

Join the Eco Misfits!

Please follow us on Instagram, Twitter and/or Facebook and keep up-to-date with our journey. Alternatively, contact us and ask us anything you like. What have you been doing to improve your sustainability? Let us know in the comments or on social media and join the conversation! 🌍

Eco Misfits: The Story So Far title over a background of an image of an unusual tree.

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[…] be reviewing more of the UK’s zero waste shops as we explore them on our journey. We’d love it if you would follow us and hopefully gain a little inspiration. Perhaps you […]

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[…] you can probably tell, we care about the environment – that’s why we started our eco journey. We are admirers of Extinction Rebellion and their current actions are the most powerful way to […]

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[…] often speak about how our own daughter made us start to think about the future of the planet. We brought her into this world we love, and we want it to be a beautiful place for her to grow in. […]

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