#LastWeekInVegan Great Canadian News!

I'm so happy about all of the positive Canadian news this week!  Let's just jump right into it.

As always, watch it right here or hop on over to YouTube!

PUT YOUR COFFEE DOWN AND DO IT
https://dianebakermasonblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/put-your-coffee-down-and-do-it/

Doomie's parent company is opening a boutique
https://nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/doomies-store-imperative-toronto/

Vegan Big Mac-Maker Opens Brick-and-Mortar
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8753&catId=1

New Vegan Butcher Shop to Open in Canada
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8756&catId=1

Major Canadian Company Just Banned Fur in Nearly 1,100 Stores
http://www.peta.org/blog/major-canadian-company-just-banned-fur-nearly-1100-stores/

Trump Just Wrapped Up a Nice Double Gift to the Meat Industry
http://m.motherjones.com/environment/2016/12/trump-just-wrapped-nice-double-gift-meat-industry

Solar power just got mindblowingly cheaper. That's fantastic news for the Earth.
http://www.upworthy.com/solar-power-just-got-mindblowingly-cheaper-thats-fantastic-news-for-the-earth

Beans Satisfy Hunger More Than Meat
http://www.pcrm.org/health/medNews/beans-satisfy-hunger-more-than-meat

Tesla Expands Vegan Interiors to All Models
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8769&catId=1

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Until next time,

Decluttering My Shoe Collection

Today I'm taking you along with me as I declutter my shoes!  I have already gone through my shoes and minimized my collection twice before, but there were still shoes lingering that I never wore.  

It's time to change that!

I've cut out a good number of shoes to be donated and also have a good number in my maybe pile - shoes that will get a chance to stay, but if they don't get worn in the first few weeks of the season they're suited to they're out!

I don't think I'll ever be the kind of minimalist to only have one pair of shoes.  Probably not even ten, at least not while living in Canada with four pretty extreme seasons!  But I know I can get my collection even smaller than where it is now.  I hope this video helps any of you looking to minimize your shoe collection without going too extreme!

As always, watch the video here or on YouTube!

I'm proud of letting go of 15 pairs, and can see getting down another 10 or so over the next 6 months as I filter through my maybes.

Don't forget to check out my other videos on minimalism for further inspiration!

Until next time,

Eco-Friendly Wedding Thank You Cards!

Welcome back for another wedding post!  As you know, Jason and I felt it was important to have an eco-friendly wedding.  The fact that all of the food eaten was vegan helped a lot in that area of course, but we wanted to do our best to make the other aspects of our wedding equally green!  Which brings us to the topic of paper products at weddings.  

We all know how much paper goes into a wedding... save the dates (which we did digitally to save paper)... invitations (which we also did by email to save paper)... menus (which we skipped)... signs (which I DIYed so we could reuse the frames)... programs (which we also skipped)... and so much more.

But what about thank you cards?  Something about thanking our guests for participation in the most special day of our lives by email seemed inappropriate.  And so, I went in search of eco-friendly options.

That's where Artifact Uprising comes in.  Their cards are customizable, gorgeous, well-priced, and made entirely of recycled paper!  Win-win-win, if you ask me.

Full disclosure, Artifact Uprising reached out to me and offered a gift card to purchase my wedding thank you cards from them.  All opinions are still (as always) my own!

The process of designing and ordering the cards was really easy.  The hardest part was deciding which of Mark and Melanie (our awesome photographers from Karmel Kreative)'s beautiful shots should be on the front! (See some of the others here!!)

We ended up going with this one, because I mean, look at it.  It's incredible!

I was so excited when I got them in the mail!

We went with the untreated brown envelopes to use fewer resources than it we would have had we purchased bleached envelopes.

If you take anything at all from this post, please let it be to start your thank you cards as soon as you get home.  If you're like us and you want to use photos from your wedding in the shots, you'll have to wait to get full resolution files from your photographer to order your cards.  But even if this is the case, get working on them as soon as you can.  Our lives got crazy busy right after the wedding and we ended up putting it off for far too long.  It's much better to do it right away and get it over with!

I got really nervous to start because I hate my handwriting.  I apologize, friends and family, if your card is illegible!  At least half of you will be getting cards written by my husband, who has much nicer handwriting than me.

So if you're looking for an eco-friendly card option this holiday, for a loved one's birthday, or for your wedding, check out Artifact Uprising!  I'll definitely be ordering from them again if we ever need nice custom cards.

What are your tips for throwing an eco-friendly wedding?  Let us know in the comments below!

Until next time,

#LastWeekInVegan Seaworld Lays Off Hundreds of Workers

Here we are again, back with episode 8 of #LastWeekInVegan!  This week we have a lot of good news, so I hope you’re ready to feel all warm and fuzzy inside for the Holidays! 

Remember, as always, you can watch the video here or on YouTube!

SeaWorld Lays Off Workers...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-seaworld-layoffs-20161206-story.html

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8724&catId=1

Processed Meat Cancer Warning...

https://cspinet.org/news/cancer-warning-label-urged-processed-meat-poultry-20161201

Dairy Farmer Fined $15K for Breaking 200 Cows' Tails...

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8729&catId=1

Yale Embraces Cutting Meat Consumption as Core Value...

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8725&catId=1

Last Fur Farm Closes in Japan...

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8731&catId=1

Lung Cancer Higher in Slaughterhouse Workers...

http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=8730&catId=1

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What do you think about today's stories?  Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,