R Planet: Live Considerately
Throughout my high school career and the beginning of college I was always frustrated about how it seemed like there wasn’t really much I could do to make a difference. I would be learning about environmental issues and all of this amazing science that I felt everyone should know, but didn’t feel like I had the power or influence to really make a meaningful difference. This may be a similar thought process that many students go through today with the availability of all kinds of information and the increasing sense that it is up to us to change the world. The sense of being a small fish in a HUGE ocean didn’t stop Raina and Rhema Wong from striving to “be the change they wish to see in the world!”
When they were in high school Raina watched a popular documentary on Netflix called “What the Health.” Once Rhema had also watched the documentary they started transitioning to a vegan diet, began their journey towards a low-waste lifestyle and eventually opened up their business R Planet. Through watching more documentaries, some personal research and social media, Raina and Rhema were able to educate themselves on the impact that their choices can have on the environment, how they can reduce that impact and be more active in the environmentalism sphere. Today these two are in college studying Elementary Education (Raina) and Travel Industry Management (Rhema) while working to expand their business and be more involved in environmental action through any means they can.
As you can imagine, it wasn’t always easy for these two sisters to make the transition to a low waste lifestyle and open up a business of their own. That said, they say that their biggest struggle in making this change, and something that they are still learning to cope with, is the different reactions from other people. When you become so invested and passionate about something it can be hard when others try to put it down as “just one plastic fork, it’s not gonna make a difference.” The sisters said sometimes, it was the lack of response from some people that was the hardest. Seeing people who you talk to and tell about the new lifestyle you are undertaking and why it is so good for the environment not make any changes or have very little, if any, response to what you told them can be really difficult. That said, R Planet is all about living considerately, which literally means being “careful not to cause inconvenience or hurt to others.” Whether those “others” are Mother Earth or people in your community all we can do is make the changes we wish everyone would make, and do our best to educate and make it as easy as possible for others to follow in our footsteps.
If you want to try going low-waste or vegan but are intimidated, don’t worry. Every small step counts, and the best thing that Raina and Rhema recommend you do to get started is to educate yourself and the waste management and recycling systems in your area. Once you know a little bit more about waste and what happens to it after it leaves your home, go through your trash and figure out where it is all coming from. Just being aware of the trash that you are creating is a huge step to reducing your waste! It isn’t about eliminating your trash altogether (or being able to fit a year's worth of trash in one jar) but being more aware of the impact that you are having on the environment. It is all about “PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION!”
For Raina and Rhema it also helped to find a community of other vegan and low-wasters on social media. Through social media they were able to learn more about being vegan, get some great recipes and keep up with the low-waste movement and other environmental movements. Today, social media is such a prominent part of our daily lives that it is becoming a more popular form of news dissemination and environmental/science communication. By following people who live a low-waste life or people who are directly involved in environmental movements we can learn even more about what is going on right now. We can even use social media as a way to share all of the crazy facts and changes we are learning about with others! Through social media each of us has a community that we can cultivate and use to share what we are learning and battle the feeling of not being able to make an impact until we are working professionals!
When I asked Raina and Rhema if they had any instagram pages that they would recommend following they had many suggestions!
They also had a few great suggestions of documentaries to watch to learn more!
Thank you Raina and Rhema for sharing your story and inspiring us to make even the smallest of changes that can have a HUGE impact on the environment! Go check out their instagram @rplanet.co and their website for all of your low-waste home and hygiene necessities!
