25 ECO FAVOURITES OF 2025 // green skills, kitchen hacks and sustainable swaps — Transcript

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1. 0:10[music]
2. 0:10>> Hello everybody and welcome back to my
3. 0:12channel. My name is Gita Marie and as we
4. 0:14are approaching the end of the year, I
5. 0:16thought let's keep this tradition alive
6. 0:18of talking about some of my favorite
7. 0:20things, aspects and sustainable habits
8. 0:23from 2025. I've done these videos in the
9. 0:25past and you guys really seem to enjoy
10. 0:26them. So let's continue. I have 25
11. 0:29things from 2025 today that I want to
12. 0:32share with you. Are they the classic
13. 0:34cliche zero waste swaps that you see
14. 0:36everyone talk about all the time?
15. 0:38No. Absolutely not. I've tried to divide
16. 0:40this video into several categories. So I
17. 0:42have a food category, so I have a home
18. 0:44category. I have fashion and beauty and
19. 0:47then I have like activities and hobbies.
20. 0:49Let's get started. I do really have a
21. 0:51hard time imagining a world without
22. 0:53these things. It's this. So I have these
23. 0:56in bigger sizes and they all stack. They
24. 0:57all fit perfectly together like Legos,
25. 1:00which is so absolutely convenient in the
26. 1:01fridge. I do a lot of food prep both for
27. 1:03dinner parties as well as for recipe
28. 1:05videos. So having easy accessible
29. 1:08containers like this that are easy to
30. 1:09clean. Steam these, put them in the oven
31. 1:11as well. I got these from a store that
32. 1:12specializes in professional kitchen
33. 1:14equipment and these have been a game
34. 1:16changer. And you know, the fact that
35. 1:17there's absolutely no plastic involved
36. 1:19just makes it even better. And when it
37. 1:21comes to specific ingredients, I have
38. 1:23something that I have to mention in this
39. 1:25video because every time I see it on a
40. 1:28menu, I will choose it. Every time I see
41. 1:30it in the store, I will grab it for you.
42. 1:32I always have some in my own freezer.
43. 1:34Both my parents and my partner's parents
44. 1:36have them in their freezer for when
45. 1:37we're coming over. And it's the Juicy
46. 1:39Marbles steaks. I love these things to
47. 1:42bits. I think it is truly the result of
48. 1:45me being a really big meat lover back
49. 1:47when I was eating meat. Then I went
50. 1:49first vegetarian and then fully
51. 1:51plant-based mainly for environmental
52. 1:52reasons. I never stopped liking the
53. 1:54taste and texture of meat and what you
54. 1:56can do with those ingredients. And
55. 1:58having a vegan product that is so
56. 2:00similar is an absolute Godsend. I've
57. 2:03made them into vegan beef Wellingtons. I
58. 2:05serve them at Christmas. Sometimes I
59. 2:07obsess over something that takes over
60. 2:09whole weeks of my life where this is
61. 2:11just my main focus. Let me know if you
62. 2:13know this feeling. Earlier this year, I
63. 2:15was definitely that obsessed with making
64. 2:17magnolia syrup. I went to the same
65. 2:19magnolia tree for weeks to check if it
66. 2:22was blooming or not and when it was I
67. 2:23took a few of the flowers and I made
68. 2:25this gorgeous magnolia syrup. I mean it
69. 2:27there were several weeks where every
70. 2:29time we were near a magnolia tree, I
71. 2:31would point it out like when you see a
72. 2:32cow, right? So I was like, oh, oh that's
73. 2:35a nice one. Oh that is good. I also made
74. 2:37a lot of stuff this year and this is
75. 2:39something I haven't always done, but I
76. 2:41don't know what happened this year. I
77. 2:42started becoming more curious about the
78. 2:45process of producing things, making
79. 2:47things yourself. A lot of the stuff that
80. 2:49I've made has been kitchen related. Big
81. 2:51shock. So first of all, I made my first
82. 2:53spoon. I am making more spoons. I am
83. 2:57whole ass setting up a little production
84. 2:59workshop. Look at her.
85. 3:01And there is tons of mistakes. Also, can
86. 3:04you see that I recently used her for
87. 3:06something with turmeric in it? I can't
88. 3:07remember, but
89. 3:09clearly. But I would have liked there
90. 3:11was a bit more like a curved arch here.
91. 3:13I would have liked this part to be
92. 3:15smoother. Overall, having zero
93. 3:17experience, I was very happy that this
94. 3:20was the result. So
95. 3:22my own homemade spoon is going on the
96. 3:24list. A more recent obsession has been
97. 3:26Japanese milk bread or shokupan. So I
98. 3:29made this a couple of times. I also have
99. 3:31a recipe for it now if you want to make
100. 3:33a plant-based version because I couldn't
101. 3:34really find that anywhere. So I thought,
102. 3:36hey, I should make that. I love a nice
103. 3:38fluffy piece of bread. So this was
104. 3:40absolutely
105. 3:42chef's kiss. Really serious part of this
106. 3:44list which has a very silly execution
107. 3:47has to be the plastic spice from
108. 3:49Greenpeace. This is by far the funniest
109. 3:51thing I have ever received. Back in the
110. 3:53summer, I did a campaign with Greenpeace
111. 3:55where the point of it was to draw
112. 3:56attention to what's increasing
113. 3:57microplastic in our food. And in order
114. 4:00to show that, they sent me this little
115. 4:02spice blend of microplastic. These are
116. 4:04just sprinkles, but I poured them all
117. 4:06over my pasta sort of to symbolize
118. 4:09microplastic in our food. It's just
119. 4:10standing there next to all my other
120. 4:12spices. So sometimes someone looks at it
121. 4:13and just goes, what is that? I have to
122. 4:15put a specific wine brand on this list
123. 4:18because I went to the vineyard this year
124. 4:20and I'm making a video about that visit
125. 4:23and the impact of wine. So stay tuned
126. 4:25for that because
127. 4:27that that serious this was so
128. 4:28interesting. I have to put Oé Wine on
129. 4:30there. They sent me a whole box of
130. 4:32different wines to try. I still have one
131. 4:33of their reds. They are organic,
132. 4:35pesticide-free. They are also B Corp
133. 4:37certified. They're really just doing
134. 4:38tons of amazing things both in terms of
135. 4:40their own recyclability of bottles and
136. 4:42their takeback program as well as
137. 4:44regenerative farming. If I'm to put a
138. 4:45restaurant on this list and I really
139. 4:47want to, it has to be the restaurant I
140. 4:49have visited by far the most times and
141. 4:51I'm kind of biased here because I'm also
142. 4:54good friends with the owner. So I'm sort
143. 4:56of gravitating towards that space
144. 4:58because I know the people there as well,
145. 4:59but they still deserve a shoutout. If
146. 5:02you're ever in Copenhagen, go to Bistro
147. 5:03Verde. It is a 100% vegan restaurant.
148. 5:06And what I really like about them except
149. 5:08for them being 100% plant-based because
150. 5:10already that's fantastic. While there
151. 5:12are tons of whole food options on their
152. 5:13menu, there are also more experimental
153. 5:15dishes where we use vegan steak or vegan
154. 5:17salmon and I think that is just really
155. 5:20really cool. Okay, maybe this is a
156. 5:21gradient category of food, kitchen,
157. 5:24home.
158. 5:25Just stay with me here because I made
159. 5:26another thing that I am so stinking
160. 5:28proud of. I worked with clay this year
161. 5:30and this is the first time I have done
162. 5:32it. I was invited to this ceramics cafe
163. 5:34where sometimes you can paint ceramics.
164. 5:35I've done that many times, but the thing
165. 5:37is there's sort of pre-made designs that
166. 5:39you have to paint and in my experience,
167. 5:42it's fun to paint them, but I don't
168. 5:44really want them to go home with me
169. 5:47>> [laughter]
170. 5:47>> because I have an aesthetic and I have a
171. 5:50style in my kitchen and having
172. 5:52hand-painted stuff made by me, I I'm
173. 5:55just simply not talented enough for that
174. 5:57to be something I want to look at every
175. 5:58day. It's kind of the same with the
176. 6:00Legos, right? It's fun to build, but do
177. 6:01I want an 11,000 piece Millennium Falcon
178. 6:04in my living room? No, absolutely not.
179. 6:06So I found that making the ceramics,
180. 6:08glazing it is so much more my speed
181. 6:10because I can make something that I will
182. 6:12actually use and that takes it from just
183. 6:14being a fun afternoon to being a fun
184. 6:16afternoon and then with a result that
185. 6:19I'm actually going to use. And so I made
186. 6:21this thing that is exactly something
187. 6:22that I'm missing. It's both like a
188. 6:24little milk jug that you can use for
189. 6:25tea, coffee when you have people over,
190. 6:27but moreover, it's for gravy. You fill
191. 6:29this with sauce and then you dispense it
192. 6:31from there. I love this and I am just so
193. 6:33excited that I made this.
194. 6:36This goes on my list because this is not
195. 6:38the last time I'm making ceramics. So
196. 6:40this year me and my partner went to
197. 6:41Paris as a part of a journey of going to
198. 6:44the vegan surf camp and they could also
199. 6:45be on this list because the vegan surf
200. 6:47camp in the southern part of France, 10
201. 6:49out of 10. And it is a recycling,
202. 6:51upcycling glass store that use recycled
203. 6:54materials to make this amazing
204. 6:56glassware. And I fell head over heels
205. 7:00for this glass. I sat there through the
206. 7:01entire journey just la soupirer. Does
207. 7:05that sound right?
208. 7:06I'll I'll double check and put it on the
209. 7:08screen. This is one of those souvenirs
210. 7:10that I will use every single day. It's
211. 7:12not something that's just chilling in a
212. 7:14corner where I forget about it
213. 7:15eventually. This glass I use every
214. 7:17single day. It is my preferred glass to
215. 7:19the point where I'm also drinking wine
216. 7:20from it. I don't care. I love it. And
217. 7:22speaking of glass, this might be the
218. 7:24most cliche zero waste thing, but the
219. 7:27reality is that I use it all the time. I
220. 7:30use this several times a week and I do
221. 7:32this routinely. This is exactly what I
222. 7:35mean. I'm literally editing the video
223. 7:36now and this is my morning coffee. Um so
224. 7:39I use it either for water, for iced
225. 7:41coffee, I bring it with me. This might
226. 7:43very well be the last evidence of the
227. 7:46classic cliche zero waste living
228. 7:48aesthetic, but since I have it and I
229. 7:50have accumulated many a metal and many a
230. 7:52glass straw from the time of being very
231. 7:56aesthetically zero waste. The method,
232. 7:58the habit, all of that still exists for
233. 8:00me, but the aesthetic of zero waste
234. 8:02perhaps doesn't to the same extent
235. 8:04because that's sort of hyper focusing on
236. 8:07the wrong thing, I reckon. But this just
237. 8:08goes to show that some habits just die
238. 8:10really hard and I still use this all the
239. 8:12time. I feel like it's 2016 again.
240. 8:14Moving further into sort of
241. 8:17house category, one of the things that I
242. 8:19have to put on this list are the door
243. 8:21knobs in my new house. The door knobs
244. 8:23are original from 1968 and they are so
245. 8:27bloody gorgeous. But the thing is so
246. 8:29many people have asked me if we're going
247. 8:31to replace them because they think
248. 8:32they're sort of retro in a tacky way and
249. 8:34it's really made me think about how what
250. 8:37we think is retro and vintage and cool
251. 8:39and what we think is just
252. 8:42really depends on what generation you're
253. 8:44from because my parents' generation,
254. 8:46they see those kinds of door knobs as
255. 8:48what were in their grandparents' house
256. 8:50and they just go, it smells like
257. 8:52cigarettes and child neglect. I can't.
258. 8:56So many people from that generation sort
259. 8:58of said to me they can't with that. They
260. 9:00would have changed them into something
261. 9:02sleek and aluminum or chrome steel, that
262. 9:04kind of thing, which is not surprising.
263. 9:06But people from my generation do not
264. 9:08have those same associations, I reckon.
265. 9:10Everyone my age thinks this is [ __ ]
266. 9:12cool. So I think that's a little bit
267. 9:14funny. What will we have as that kind of
268. 9:16reaction?
269. 9:17I don't know. Do I have that kind of
270. 9:19reaction honestly with low-rise jeans?
271. 9:21Yes, I absolutely do. But I love those
272. 9:23door knobs. This is a really simple one,
273. 9:25but drying laundry outside
274. 9:27is on my favorites list for 2025. This
275. 9:30isn't just a cool little habit. This is
276. 9:32actually one of the key features in
277. 9:34making sure that our clothes last as
278. 9:35long as possible because when we put our
279. 9:37clothes in the dryer, we break them down
280. 9:39much faster. So when we air dry our
281. 9:42clothes and now that I have a garden, I
282. 9:43can air dry outside which is absolutely
283. 9:45phenomenal. The freshness that comes
284. 9:47from that, unmatched. This is such a
285. 9:50boring one, but it is unfortunately just
286. 9:52one of the most effective things that we
287. 9:55can do to lower our individual carbon
288. 9:58footprint, especially if we live in a
289. 9:59house. And it is a circulation pump. In
290. 10:02the beginning of 2025, I did this
291. 10:04amazing collaboration with Grundfos.
292. 10:06They make a really, really massive chunk
293. 10:08of the world's circulation pumps. And
294. 10:10one of the things that I learned from
295. 10:11this collaboration was that sometimes
296. 10:13invisible, super boring swaps and
297. 10:16changes actually has the biggest impact.
298. 10:19Older models tend to be a lot less
299. 10:20effective and optimized, which means
300. 10:22that a lot of hot water is just wasted.
301. 10:25Where newer models don't waste those
302. 10:26resources, which means that individual
303. 10:28houses with newer circulation pumps
304. 10:30require fewer resources, which is really
305. 10:32smart. And there are so many outdated
306. 10:35circulation pumps in buildings today,
307. 10:37which means that we're using a lot of
308. 10:39energy and resources completely
309. 10:41unnecessarily. So, I will always be a
310. 10:43hard advocate for the circulation pump.
311. 10:45It is unsexy, but damn it, it works.
312. 10:47I'll leave some resources down below if
313. 10:49you want to know more about that. Okay.
314. 10:50And where would this video be without a
315. 10:52little shout-out to thrifted frames. I
316. 10:55uh I have here a thrifted frame, which
317. 10:58I'm not going to try and say any more
318. 11:00times because my mouth don't want to do
319. 11:02it that way. This is one of those things
320. 11:03that is absolutely mental to go out and
321. 11:05buy from new. Both because they are
322. 11:07super expensive, but also because they
323. 11:10are so widely abundant in thrift stores.
324. 11:12I printed out this little picture of the
325. 11:14beach that I took this year, added some
326. 11:15nice passe-partout cardboard, and into a
327. 11:18thrifted frame it went. And I love how
328. 11:20this turned out. We are moving into the
329. 11:23sort of fashion and beauty aspect. When
330. 11:25I repair something, I end up loving it
331. 11:27way more than I did before. And this
332. 11:29year I sat on a pair of my glasses, I
333. 11:31took them to a repair shop, and they
334. 11:33said, "It doesn't really make sense to
335. 11:35repair these because of the materials.
336. 11:37It's a thrifted pair of glasses, so like
337. 11:39who the [ __ ] cares? Just buy a new one."
338. 11:40I care. So, I glued them.
339. 11:44Look at that. Um so, this bends and this
340. 11:46does not. [laughter]
341. 11:48Now, I love wearing them even more. It's
342. 11:50a great repair, you know, really. Wow.
343. 11:54But hey, it works. If it works, it
344. 11:56works. And this
345. 11:58works. Can we give it up for visible
346. 11:59mending because this is also on my list.
347. 12:01Overall, feels like I'm becoming way
348. 12:03more interested in a lot of these
349. 12:05craft-related things to sustainability
350. 12:07than I was just a couple of years ago.
351. 12:09Maybe it's because I'm experiencing an
352. 12:10inner calm that it really takes to have
353. 12:13the patience to live out a lot of these
354. 12:15projects, but I don't know. But I like
355. 12:16it way more. Here's a little example of
356. 12:18something that I made recently. I
357. 12:19spilled something with turmeric on my
358. 12:21shirt. White shirt, it's not going off.
359. 12:24So, I embroidered this little leaf
360. 12:25design on it. It's a little bit messy,
361. 12:27but you know, she's still learning. This
362. 12:29is the dress that I wear to weddings and
363. 12:31formal occasions, apparently. But I like
364. 12:33that this is the dress. It is super
365. 12:35comfy, it is really flattering. So, when
366. 12:37you have something like this, you should
367. 12:38wear it as much as possible. So, I don't
368. 12:40give a [ __ ] if the same people see me in
369. 12:42the same thing. Honestly, no one else
370. 12:45gives a [ __ ] If you have friends that
371. 12:46think that's sad or bad to wear the same
372. 12:49thing all over,
373. 12:50girl, you know what you have to do. I
374. 12:52think you should wear You bought it. You
375. 12:53should wear it. It's not disposable. You
376. 12:55know, you should wear it. I could not
377. 12:56make this video without talking about
378. 12:58the coat that I wear
379. 13:00all the freaking time. This is a Saks
380. 13:03Potts coat. It's a brand that is no
381. 13:05longer operating, but even if they were,
382. 13:06I wouldn't recommend buying from them or
383. 13:08supporting them. I got this coat
384. 13:09second-hand. I am really stoked about
385. 13:11it. I will wear this until it completely
386. 13:14falls apart. It is a long, brown, patent
387. 13:16leather coat that I got back three or
388. 13:20four years ago. And during that part of
389. 13:22winter that isn't so freezing cold that
390. 13:24I have to layer up way more, I wear
391. 13:26this. I wear this. It has to be on this
392. 13:28list. One of those things that you buy,
393. 13:30those things that you keep wearing over
394. 13:32and over again to the point where it
395. 13:33becomes kind of a signature look, where
396. 13:35it becomes like a part of your
397. 13:37character. So, every time I talk about
398. 13:39any kind of cosmetic beauty and cat eye,
399. 13:42talk about the Beauty Made Easy Le
400. 13:44Papier lipsticks. It has to be on this
401. 13:47list. You can get these from a few
402. 13:49different distributors. I got this from
403. 13:51a Danish beauty store, but you can get
404. 13:53them from international stores as well.
405. 13:55And And the gist is, if if you've seen
406. 13:58my videos before, you're probably tired
407. 13:59of seeing me explain this. It is
408. 14:01paper-wrapped, no plastic, and they are
409. 14:04so nice. I have I have these in multiple
410. 14:07colors. I mean,
411. 14:10you know what? I have to put FlixBus on
412. 14:12this list. I have spent so many hours on
413. 14:16a FlixBus this year. It's actually not
414. 14:18even funny.
415. 14:19>> [laughter]
416. 14:19>> So, they have to be on this list for
417. 14:21better or for worse. Sometimes it
418. 14:23Sometimes it's a little bit of a have
419. 14:25love, have hate relationship because is
420. 14:27it always the comfiest experience? No.
421. 14:30But we do appreciate fly-free travel
422. 14:32whenever that's possible. And there's no
423. 14:33denying that FlixBus has made this
424. 14:35extremely available to so many people. I
425. 14:38have to put my forest on this list as
426. 14:40well. I've been running a lot this year.
427. 14:42I've been loving it. It's sort of the
428. 14:43place and the time where I can
429. 14:45absolutely just clear my mind when
430. 14:47nothing happens inside my head. And I
431. 14:50definitely need those moments as a
432. 14:52self-employed environmentalist. Those
433. 14:54moments are crucial. I've tried doing
434. 14:56the winter to run on a treadmill, and
435. 14:58that just does not do the work for me.
436. 15:01It actually makes my brain even louder.
437. 15:04And now I have a forest so close. I am
438. 15:07so excited about that. But running
439. 15:09outside, being out in nature, not only
440. 15:11turns off my brain and makes me actually
441. 15:13relax and unwind, it's also a great
442. 15:16reminder of the season. And it's also a
443. 15:18great reminder of the nature that we're
444. 15:20trying to conserve and protect. And the
445. 15:22last two things in this hobby category.
446. 15:24First of all, the book that has made the
447. 15:25biggest impression on me this year.
448. 15:27It's The Grace Year. I talked about this
449. 15:29book in my FlixBus Travel Through Europe
450. 15:33video because I finished it while I was
451. 15:35on the bus, and I was sobbing. I tried
452. 15:37to not be super obvious about it, but
453. 15:40the ending especially just tore me to
454. 15:43pieces. There are also moments that are
455. 15:45slightly spicy, which is fantastic. And
456. 15:48then there is a bunch of violence and
457. 15:50gore. Um and some people might find it a
458. 15:53little bit too violent, which I get. I
459. 15:56do love violent literature. That is sort
460. 15:58of where I'm at. Last year, my favorite
461. 15:59book was Tender Is the Flesh. So, you
462. 16:02know there's
463. 16:02that. She's a psychopath. It's great. If
464. 16:05you are into stories about rebel girls
465. 16:07in societies that oppress women, um
466. 16:11this is for you.
467. 16:13Okay. And the last thing. So, this year
468. 16:16I got a second-hand tablet. And I got it
469. 16:19because I thought I could bring it on my
470. 16:22travels whenever I work outside of my
471. 16:24office, and edit my pictures, my videos,
472. 16:27answer emails. It's a lot easier to have
473. 16:30it on a tablet than to bring my massive
474. 16:32laptop. Also because my laptop is
475. 16:35extensively heavy.
476. 16:37Um so, I got a tablet, which is not my
477. 16:40last thing of the year. What is now
478. 16:43primarily on my tablet, on the other
479. 16:45hand,
480. 16:46>> [laughter]
481. 16:47>> it I The obsession lives. I am playing
482. 16:51Stardew Valley like nobody's business.
483. 16:53This is my unwind game. I play my game
484. 16:56on the bus, on the train, in my couch.
485. 16:58This is what resonates with me.
486. 17:00Okay. Now that it is in the video, it
487. 17:02also makes sense why the game is on the
488. 17:04work tablet.
489. 17:05Aha. Hello. This is once again me
490. 17:07editing, and I realized that I forgot to
491. 17:10mention number 25. Anyways, so number 25
492. 17:14is my grandmother's ring. This is an
493. 17:16amethyst in a gold band, and she got
494. 17:18this on her 18th birthday. She wore this
495. 17:20ring every single day that I knew her. I
496. 17:23lost my grandmother this year. I lost
497. 17:24her in March. I held her hand the day
498. 17:27she passed away. We had a really special
499. 17:29bond. I also made a video sort of trying
500. 17:31to work through this kind of grief. This
501. 17:33year has been massively affected by
502. 17:36losing my grandmother. I think about her
503. 17:38every single day. And if you recently
504. 17:40lost someone, or not even recently, but
505. 17:42just if you're working through some kind
506. 17:44of grief, just know I'm right there with
507. 17:46you. Sending you a big hug because
508. 17:49God, it sucks. [laughter]
509. 17:50But I think it honestly might be the
510. 17:53object that matters the most to me. So,
511. 17:55it does make sense to not use it in this
512. 17:57video. Also because I've actually gotten
513. 17:59a lot of comments from people asking
514. 18:00where it's from, and sort of saying that
515. 18:02it's really nice, and like where did I
516. 18:03get it? It's my heart.
517. 18:05So, that was number 25. And that is
518. 18:07everything. That is my 25 favorites from
519. 18:092025. Thank you so much for watching.
520. 18:11Let me know what your favorites are,
521. 18:13both on my list, as well as what your
522. 18:15favorites are from your own list. Thank
523. 18:17you so much for watching. Have an
524. 18:18amazing day, and I will see you guys
525. 18:19next time. Take really good care of
526. 18:21yourselves until then. Bye.