Corrina and Patrick Cunningham
Founders of Mindfluencers
Corrina and Patrick Cunningham make up the duo behind Mindfluencers—parents to kiddos who are just trying to navigate the journey toward creating a sustainable lifestyle that’s impactful (and still practical) for their Midwestern family. In partnership with Discover Wisconsin, Mindfluencers even has their own show that depicts their eco-journey in real time.
Best advice for how to be more sustainable in our day-to-day lives? The three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle. As consumers, we have the power. When it comes to being green or eco-friendly, there is a stereotype that it’s all or nothing. But small choices can make a big impact if we all come together.
For example: Reduce—find those simple ways to use less. Bring your own bag [to the grocery store], compost anything left that can be compostable. Buy in bulk and find stores that practice environmental friendly ways. Reuse—buy reused clothing. Now there are stores and online shops that allow you to buy almost new or name brands. Connect with online groups like Freecycle, Marketplace and Buy Nothing Sell Nothing. Post things you might otherwise throw away, because you never know what someone might need or do with it.
And finally, recycle—compost food items and find products that naturally compost after use. Target has compostable lunch bags and coffee mugs! Know your local guidelines and find locations close by (some right at your grocery store) that will take plastic bags and batteries. Find fun ways to learn more about recycling—how to do it as a family, neighborhood or even read a children’s book. They have the best tips that are quick and easy.
Why is it so important to be more eco-minded in our work? We are all on the same planet—and it’s the only one we’ve got. We think about our children and their lives in 60 years. And then their children and so on. We, as consumers, have a lot more power than we realize. We can choose how to spend our dollars and make more informed choices by using our economic power.
What impact do you most hope to leave on your community and the world? Make it easier to live green—and really normalize it. We want to make green living as cool as shiplap–ha! Once we all learned how great shiplap can be, we all did it—and it was easy and amazing. Green living can be the same. Let’s all do it, make it easy and amazing.