Welcome!
My palms are a little sweaty writing this but yes.. I’m starting a blog! Well, to be honest I am restarting my blog because as some of you may know, I first set up my webpage back in 2020. But at that time so many things in my life were just so chaotic mentally and professionally (mind you, we were also in a pandemic!) that I just couldn’t continue. But here I am again revamped and pumped. It took me a long to re-conceptualize and make this a good blog so that’s helpful and beneficial but also fun for everyone interested.
So let’s start with who am I?
My name is Lika, I am an American of Japanese-descent, originally from San Francisco. But for over 15 years I’ve been living abroad all over the world in 3 continents. For the past 8, I’ve been living and working in Western Switzerland. My 9-5 day job is in the area of sustainable development. My past clients include the UN, World Bank, and the EU commission to name a few. It’s an area that I love and I wholeheartedly believe that leading a sustainable life for everyone would lead to world to be more sustainable.
But I had a very different life until about a decade ago.
I was a junior trader at a global investment bank. You know, the kind where you have 6 computer screens with ticking stocking prices and you’re yelling on the phone the whole day (imagine a scene from the movie Wall Street, yes that was me) and environmental issues was at the bottom of my priority list.
A lot of things happened to me personally during those years (future posts on this coming soon 😉) and in 2013 I found myself in Cambodia. There I was working for an educational NGO. helping manage the administration of the English language school while doing relief project for the community. While there I got interested in sustainable development and how it can be a lever to not only get people out of poverty, but also restore the environment as well as bring better infrastructure to the communities. Thus was my starting point on my passion for sustainable development. I enrolled in getting my Masters in Sustainable Development as well as a certificate for CSR and here I am almost a decade after!
You might be thinking, oh gosh another sustainable blogger
Well yes and no. I have read a lot of sustainable/ecology/environmentalist blogs and my honest reaction is.. seriously? Don’t get me wrong, I love reading about people shopping only at bulk groceries or not having any plastics in their life. But I know for a fact that I am not able to lead that life. And this is coming from a person who actually works in sustainability and the environment. I am sure many of you can also relate to this. Unfortunately in our modern world, being sustainable is very difficult.
But just because I can’t lead a life like these bloggers/influencers, does that make me an unsustainable person? No. I strongly believe that it’s small steps, simple habits, and tiny mind shifts is what ultimately leads to a sustainable lifestyle.
The path to sustainability is journey. I am on this journey myself and want to share this with you. It’s an honest and realistic journey and I want to you to come along with me. There’s always ways to improve it and there’s always new technology and information that can help along the way. I want to document my journey of sustainability, all while balancing the life as professional living in an urban setting.
Something that’s also important on your path to sustainability is to get accurate resources and information. Sadly I have found that while many of these sustainable blogs (and a LOT OF social media) have good intentions on raising awareness on sustainability but unfortunately don’t always have the correct information and/or they have very skewed views. As someone who has been in working in the sustainability sector for many years, I want to share with you information that is backed by science and experts as well as different perspectives so that you can get a holistic view.
A lot of my articles and blog posts will also focus on food waste.
You may be thinking, food waste? Why don’t you focus more on the “big” stuff like biodiversity loss and plastic waste? While those issues are certainly crucial, it’s not something we can all tackle as individuals. Rather we need the collective efforts of policy makers, activist, academics, companies, and communities. And this is precisely what I do in my 9-5 job.
Food waste is an area I am passionate about because it’s an issue every single one of us can tackle and have an effect. Did you know that 40% of food waste doesn’t come from supermarkets, restaurants, or farms, but actually from our own households? That’s an enormous amount of food which is shocking. But it’s not something that’s impossible to tackle. You just need simple hacks and tricks on how to do it. Some articles I am planning publish in the upcoming months are:
How I cutting down on food waste saves me $1000 per year
The 5 step grocery plan that leads to less food waste
Is becoming vegan really the solution to climate change?
Any of these articles sound interesting to you? Then stay tuned, I will be posting every Saturday
This blog is for everyone who wants to incorporate and adapt into a more sustainable lifestyle but think that’s impossible. It only takes small steps and I want to help you lead the way and also show how I do it as well. And no I am not a vegan, zero-waster, flygscam, nor treehugger. I am just a regular 30-something professional living in the city. But I claim and live a life that is sustainable. And this is coming from a sustainability professional who has been in the industry for over 7 years so yes it is possible.
My goal of this blog is to become go-to resource place where you can learn tools and methods on how to lead a sustainable lifestyle. I want to show that you do no have to live off the grid to lead a sustainable life, but it’s all about the small changes you make.
But before you bore yourself out completely, I’m not just only going to talk about sustainability. I will also be talking a lot about Switzerland, a place where I have been calling home for the last 8 years. Switzerland is a very well-known as a country but little know about the culture and what’s it really like to be here. I always get a lot of questions about it so I would love to share with you my stories that can may be help you if you are considering moving here or live here already. Some articles I have lined up in the future are:
10 things in Switzerland that shocked me as an American.
Tips on surviving Switzerland as a poor grad student
6 ways to travel sustainability and frugally in Switzerland
So stay tuned and thank you for joining on this journey with me.
