Eight social media accounts to follow for creative eco-friendly advice

What social media accounts should you follow online for advice when it comes to sustainability? Jonathan deBurca Butler picks out eight

Sustainable social media influencers you can follow that are fun, creative, colourful and who know what they’re talking about.

As news of the already-accelerating climate crisis comes at us at an alarming rate, many of us grapple with what is achievable, affordable, and easy to maintain when it comes to sustainability in our increasingly busy lives. 

While there are tonnes of social media influencers practising sustainable living, many are either riding the latest gravy train or are overly didactic. While we would all like to live our lives a little more sustainably, it’s sometimes hard to know who to trust or who can help us without making us feel too bad about our efforts. We think we have eight sustainable social media influencers you can follow that are fun, creative, colourful, easy to like and who know what they’re talking about.

Aoife McNamara – @aoifemcnamarax

Sexy, stylish, and above all else sustainable clothes, Aoife McNamara makes items that are “inspired by nature, to protect nature”. After earning an honours degree from Limerick School of Art & Design, the 27-year-old went abroad and gained valuable experience in Paris and New York. In 2019 she came home, determined to create unique Irish garments using sustainable and recycled fabrics. 

Aoife reimagines the future of sustainable design by reconnecting the fashion industry to the natural world and her page is a celebration of that ethos. Whether she is posting from her quaint thatched cottage on Adare’s Main Street in Limerick or wowing us with new designs from her latest collections, she does so with colour and joy. A must follow for people who like to celebrate their sustainability.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Jo Linehan – @jo_the_futurist

We couldn’t really put a list of sustainability influencers together and not include Cork’s own Jo Linehan. Follow the digital creator and sustainability journalist’s journey through her personal feed for some fascinating insights and tips on following a sustainable lifestyle. And if you’re looking for more, make sure to visit GAFF, Ireland’s go-to online publication for affordable interior inspiration and advice which Jo co-founded back in 2016. Its Instagram page now boasts over 30,000 followers on the lookout for cool and groovy second-hand and upcycled furniture. 

All items are pre-approved, so you won’t find any bockety bookshelves or ragged rocking chairs here. The page also offers great insights and tips on everything from Ireland’s coolest bathroom essentials and bedroom trends to sustainable ways to shop for lightbulbs or create your very own wall prints. While each page offers something slightly different, both are stylish and super useful.

Earthy Cailíní – @earthy_cailini

Lorna Anne Tierney set up Earthy Cailíní in 2019 and today runs it with the help of friends and fellow nature lovers. The team offers followers tips, recommendations, and information on biodiversity, eco fashion, and all things vegan. They champion small sustainable businesses across the country and highlight hardworking organic farmers.

The Cailíní’s latest endeavour, The Earthy Marketplace, lays good claim to being the first and only all-Ireland resource hub for conscious consumerism — a one-stop shop for businesses and organisations that offer conscious alternatives, and services dedicated to promoting a sustainable, ethical lifestyle.

Winner of the Most Positive Environmental Impact Award Mary Fleming, Crumlin for her start-up Change Clothes Crumlin CLG a clothing reuse hub at the MTU Prize for Innovation Showcase and Awards Ceremony in the MTU Bishopstown Campus. Picture: Darragh Kane

Change Clothes Crumlin – @clothescrumlin

Change Clothes Crumlin started life as a temporary clothing reuse hub in the Crumlin area of Dublin. Not only does it run monthly clothes swaps but Mary Fleming and her team of volunteers provide upcycling and mending workshops while also supplying people with clothes mending tools. The response to this simple project has been enormous. In just six months the initiative has seen over 3,600 swaps made — that’s a lot of clothing saved from landfill. The response on social media has been pretty impressive too and its Instagram page is a great spot to see the pick of what’s coming up in the monthly swap as well as a great resource for stitching or patching up those items you’d normally think of tossing away.

When she is not planning the next swap, Mary works freelance with some environmentally focused non-profits and runs a local festival. As if that weren’t enough, she is also studying for a Certificate in Circular Economy. We expect to hear a lot more from the 33-year-old in the coming years.

Shannen Healy, aka @_greengal

Greengal – @_greengal

One of the newer kids on the block, Shannen Healy lives, works, walks, and breathes sustainability. A project manager for Dublin’s energy efficiency agency, Codema, Shannen spends her spare time discovering and devising new ways to live a more sustainable life. Luckily for us, she shares them on her illuminating Instagram page. The 28-year-old from Carrigaline, Cork has all sorts of great advice around the likes of washing clothes, batch cooking, and sustainable period products which she aims to deliver in videos in no more than 30 seconds. If you want a reliable source of sustainability then look no further.

Dillon Quinn @iamdillonq

Dillon Quinn – @iamdillonq

While there are indeed many sustainable sisters doing sustainability for themselves, there is the odd man in the mix too and there are few quirkier than Dillon Quinn. The Limerick-based fashion designer’s Instagram page is an absolute blast, full of clever creations and outrageous combinations of recycled, upcycled, and secondhand clothes. It’s not every day you’ll discover how to turn old Zig & Zag bed sheets into a shirt or repurpose a boring polo collar Ferrari T-shirt into a super sexy corset. We wish he posted some more!

Cliona O’Connor of Lean Mean Momma Blog

Cliona O’Connor – @clionaoconnor

Cliona O’Connor from Kilworth has been leaving stomachs rumbling right across the country since starting her Instagram page back in 2014. It is a delectable feast for the eyes that leaves the mouths of her 72,000-plus followers watering.

Cliona promotes local produce and shops, as well as healthy and nutritious food, and shows you how it’s all done on this top-class feed. With four kids to feed, she’s a big fan of the benefits of buying and cooking in bulk. Her dishes are simple, easy to follow and presented really clearly and professionally. Check out her recent chocolate pavlova — I suppose even healthy people need a treat every now and then!

Ceara Carney, dressed as a mermaid, joins members of the Irish Wildlife Trust and Extinction Rebellion Ireland protesting outside Leinster House in Dublin. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Book of Leaves podcast – @bookofleavespodacast

Ceara Carney grew up in the Sunny Southeast, in Wexford. Growing up in the countryside, instilled in her a deep connection and appreciation of nature. In 2019 she started her Book of Leaves podcast “as a way to highlight people and businesses that are doing something good for the planet”. She is now four seasons and 80 episodes into the series and it is growing from strength to strength. In 2022, Ceara was awarded Best Climate Podcast at the annual Irish Podcast Awards.

Her Instagram feed is just a taster of the long-form episode but they do whet the appetite. If you want to find out more about living with bears, the benefits of ivy, or the best way to approach foraging, this feed is pretty damn tasty. A hard worker who deserves more Insta love.