About Me

Well hey there...first off thank you for stopping by Low Impact Fashionista! My name is Claire and I am an undergraduate pursuing a degree in Art and Art Education.

I live in a surprisingly large apartment (for college at least) with 4 other roommates in the big city of Minneapolis. I love running, making art, good music and I strive to to live a life of low impact on my health, bank account and the environment.  But in the end, I am just a college student and sometimes that coffee in a disposable Starbucks cup that costs $5 and goes against all my budgeting and environmental ideas, wins out.  So this a blog about my hopeless addiction to all things trendy, my life, and my attempt to find that illusive balance between living a healthy life and having the time of my life.  I never try to be perfect.  I am all about making progress, and adapting to whatever life throws at me.     

Feel free to e-mail with any questions/concerns/comments/stories at lowimpactfashionista@gmail.com!



As a compulsive list-maker here is my sustainable goals list, I try to follow this but as a I said before life often gets in the way, but I keep this here to remind myself of what I am capable of doing for the environment :)

Sustainable Goals List

1. Compost (This has proven to be very hard, check out this post about how composting is almost mission impossible in an apartment)

2. Buy no new clothes and as little new stuff as possible. Second hand stores first. (This is hard, and definitely still a work in progress. Although this year I have significantly reduced the amount of mew clothes I have bought. But being an art major it is hard to truly environmental when I feel like I'm continually replenishing my stock of pencils, charcoal, paints...etc.)

3. Walk/Bike/Bus/Stairs (I do not own a car...this is easy!)

4. Buy local or bulk bin food as much as possible. (I have learned to love my local farmer's market and co-op. I found a farmers market on my campus!)

5. Reduce meat and animal product consumption.(I am almost 100% vegetarian now. I occasionally have fish(really I love love love tuna) and only eat meat when I'm eating at a friends house.)

6. No disposable containers/packaging (SO. HARD. I have converted from canned beans to dried beans, and I have started buying everything I can in the bulk bins with my reusable bulk bin bags. Still a work in progress.)

7. Learn to make my own soap, hair styling products, and cleaning products. (I now make my own hair products!)

8. NO more gum chewing (Success! I no longer chew gum. I bought a pack the other day...and haven't really chewed more than one piece. Addiction = broken!)

For the full detailed goals list (with all the sliiight exceptions I am making to these rules) see my first blog post.

Disclaimer: I am no expert on nutrition, the environment, or finances.  SO take my advice with a (large) grain of salt :)