Tell us about yourself
I was raised in a humble family, in Madrid, Spain, where kindness and respect for all living things were an embedded value. I was lucky enough to have a loving family who provided me with great opportunities so I could find out how I could contribute to the society.
My highschool sweet love, who I proudly call husband today, made us travel the world and live in different countries. We moved to Dubai in 2012 with the idea of forming our own and loving family. And it’s thanks to my children that I became a better person, a more conscious consumer, someone who left selfishness behind and that strives today to make a better world
What motivated you to shift to being eco-friendly?
My children. Before being a mother, I didn’t realize the consequences of living a life without thinking how we are damaging the environment. Now that I have children, I can’t be a bystander and do nothing about their future and the planet they are living in. I’ve completed a Cambridge course on sustainability to better understand the climate change crisis and learn how we can all contribute to the solution.
The main things you do to be eco-friendly
- Inspire others on how to have a more sustainable lifestyle using my Instagram account @marta_sustainable
- I’d say refuse and reuse are the main values I try to apply to everything. When going out, I take my reusable containers to avoid single-use plastic as much as possible. I buy in bulk and reduce the amount of packaged food.
- I haven’t eaten meat for over a year now and I eat mostly plant based.
- I try to find secondhand things that I need before buying anything new. Actually, Dubai is the perfect place for buying second hand! For my kids and I, I buy mostly secondhand clothes that I find either on Facebook groups or in secondhand shops like Retold or Thrift for good.
Your easiest eco – friendly swaps
A plastic-free bathroom. I’ve been using the woman cup now for more than 6 years and I highly recommend it to anyone. And the tooth tablets, what an invention!! I don’t use anymore plastic tubes that won’t get recycled!
I can’t live without my reusable cup for my coffees on the go and the reusable bottle for my water.
What makes it hard for you to be eco-friendly?
I think changing habits is always the hardest part, but once you realize the sustainable alternatives available, it gets easier. Like saying no to things we don’t really need, like shopping bags. Just bring yours to avoid them to be eco-friendlier.
How do you plan on continuing your sustainability journey? What other aspects do you plan to change?
I’ve made sustainability the center of my professional path, and now I work with Goumbook on spreading awareness and trying to educate citizens on adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.
Being part of the change, makes me have faith in my children and everyone’s future. I wasn’t raised to be a bystander, my parents always told me “Marta, never ever stop trying, never ever give up”.