I’m welcoming my mom to Sustainable Steps with another interesting article — this one is all about her new (better) life after giving up Amazon (for reasons some of us here might sympathize with). I admit, I’m not there yet. I use it way less than before — and as a last resort, not a first easy choice — but after reading my mom’s piece, this is a sustainable step I plan to double down on.

Here she is:

Eco-Mindfulness and Life Post-Amazon

I worry about climate change and I believe in the importance of practising sustainability wherever I can. I’ve been working hard to reduce my consumption, to reuse things I do buy, and to recycle when I can’t reduce or reuse. I avoid plastics as much as possible, and I prefer to shop locally in small independently-owned and operated shops.

I’m also Canadian. I am outraged by Donald Trump’s attitude to my country. I won’t repeat any of the insulting things he has said about us, but I am one of those people who have cancelled all trips to the US, and are doing our best to buy Canadian, and not American.

All that being said, I developed a bad habit during COVID when I didn’t want to go into shops. I began to use Amazon. A lot. It was so easy just to notice something I thought I needed, find it on Amazon, put it in my basket, and click “Proceed to checkout” when I’d collected a few things. My stuff would arrive the next day. Housewares, birthday gifts, office supplies, books, sometimes even clothes. I hate to admit it, but Amazon-shopping became so much a part of my life that it might reasonably have been called an addiction.

My Awakening

But when Jeff Bezos cozied up to Trump at the beginning of his second term as president, that was my last straw. I’d been squeamish about Amazon before as a mammoth enterprise that was damaging small local creators, producers, retailers, and manufacturers everywhere, but in late 2024, it became a glaring symbol of everything bad. Environmentally callous. A murderer of small local commerce. A noisy symbol of American consumerism, arrogance, and greed. Along with avoiding American travel and broccoli, my identity as a good Canadian and global citizen meant that I had to bite the addiction bullet and boycott Amazon.

It hasn’t been easy. There have been days I’ve thought, “The behemoth is not going to notice my boycott. So why bother?” But I have persisted. I have found some great local sources for books. They cost a bit more, so I buy fewer books, but I’m more selective, and I read more books from my building’s book-sharing shelves. I have discovered that it’s not just more politically satisfying, but it’s also less expensive and all-round better for me when I shop locally.

The Cutting Board

We needed a new cutting board. In the old days, I would’ve found one on Amazon and had it the next day. I resisted the temptation, and wondered where I could find one. I asked a few friends for suggestions. One told me about a kitchen shop only a few blocks from my apartment. That’s where I discovered Cookery, a small Canadian shop that aims to source high quality sustainable Canadian-made products at affordable prices. I found exactly the cutting board I wanted. Made in Canada of beautiful Canadian wood, the right size and shape and price.

After buying it, I checked on Amazon, and discovered that I’d have to spend almost double to get a same-sized board of the same quality. Take that, Jeff Bezos!

The Popcorn Maker

My husband and I love popcorn. It’s a good healthy snack (when it’s non-GMO) and we eat a lot of it. I was buying big bags of already-popped popcorn, but I wasn’t happy with the waste. Packaging, shipping, and handling are not only expensive, but they make popcorn (like all processed snack foods) environmentally problematic.

I discovered that my locally owned supermarket stocks eco-friendly—non-GMO and organic—Canadian corn for popping, and I heard about a silicone popcorn maker that goes in the microwave. My new friends at Cookery no longer stock it, but they told me about Starfrit, a Canadian company that sells them for $9.99, and I ordered one online. As with my cutting board experience, my Amazon search yielded similar products at double the price. Even though I had to pay for shipping for the Starfrit popcorn maker, I feel like I came out ahead. I’m supporting a small Canadian business and avoiding a mammoth destructive business, all while getting a product I’m happy with.

And All That Stuff I Don’t Really Need

My Amazon boycott means I have to think harder to find products I think I want. It’s been eye-opening seeing how many things I can do without, or borrow from someone, or create by repurposing something I already have.

Maybe an Amazon boycott won’t work for you, or isn’t the right thing for you right now, but I’m finding that my boycott is having all kinds of unexpected benefits for me. It’s changing the way I experience being a consumer, making me more mindful of how I spend my money, and that’s a good thing for my wallet and for the planet.