2016 was all about hygge, the Danish concept of calm, cosiness and simplicity, and it was something I embraced over the winter months. Snuggling up with blankets, candles and hot chocolate just seemed sheer bliss. For 2017 though, a new Scandinavian trend is sweeping over us Brits: lagom.
Lagom comes from Sweden and is more of an ethos, rather than just being about blissful moments. It's about finding balance: about not having too much or too little, but having just the right amount in life. Rather than finding time to squeeze a bit of lagom into your day, it's about finding balance in your whole life and with the world around us, making it more enjoyable, more sustainable and less expensive.
Contact Numbers UK have a vast directory of customer service contact numbers that cover a variety of different industries including IKEA, who have recently launched their Live Lagom project. Incorporating lagom into your lifestyle doesn't involve making any extreme changes, and it doesn't mean you need to go without anything either. It's easy to make small changes that will make your life healthier, more sustainable and are much more cost-conscious. I've always been keen to try to live more sustainably where we can and when I heard about Contact Numbers UK's #LagomLifestyle campaign it made perfect sense to take part.
When I think about it, Ian and I already embrace lagom without realising. After having children, our priorities really changed and we became much more aware of our impact on the rest of the world around us. Things like recycling and upcycling became so much more important, and we now also try to use more sustainable materials. We rarely buy things on a whim and usually ask ourselves, "do we need this?" Our clothes are, for the most part, ethically made and made to last, so that for the children in particular they last a long time and can be passed on instead of ending up in landfill. Little things like remembering to take bags to the supermarket instead of buying more 5p bags makes a difference to; it might seem a small gesture but if we all do it then the impact is huge!
The #LagomLifestyle campaign has made me think a bit harder about what more we can do, and there are two things I'd like our family to really focus on this year. The first is to grow our own fruit and vegetables. We did grow a few things last year but after I fell pregnant I lost the energy to keep it up. This year I'd really like to get going again. Home-grown produce is always so much nicer and it's great for the children to learn about where their food comes from.
The second thing I'd like to focus on is reducing our energy use around the home. We currently rent, so we are limited on bigger tasks like improving the windows and insulation, for example. But we could all do a lot better when it comes to turning lights off around the house, reducing our water waste, and using other means of warming up instead of cranking the heating up.
What do you think of "lagom"? Do you already live a lagom lifestyle? Are there changes you could make to live more sustainably? And do you have any tips for me?
This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Contact Numbers UK.
What a great concept. We have just moved into our new house so have a clean slate from which to grow our new home. Great post
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