At Nectar Yoga B&B Bowen Island we try as much as possible to reduce our footprint. We use only natural cleaning products, soaps, and shampoos in refillable glass jars. Living on Bowen has made us more aware of the cycle of stuff. Everything we purchase with extra packaging has to be sorted and recycled. In the city we thought we were being “green” by throwing all of our plastics, paper products, cans into the blue recycling bin once per week. Once it went in the bin, it was out of sight, out of mind.

On Bowen island we have a wonderful recycling centre. It is extremely organized but also very manual in the sorting process. In the past we would have put all plastics in the bin (not knowing if it was actually recyclable or not). Now we have to be more aware of the products we buy and the packaging it is encased in. Not all plastic is recyclable, and recycling definitely isn’t a green answer.

We purchase local produce, pulled from the Bowen Island soil (as much as possible). We use containers that can be refilled, in fact we have been using the same dish detergent bottle for 3 years (and counting). We try to walk, and ride bikes, and Vespas. We aren’t perfect, but we try to make constant improvements to live simply and close to nature.