Nikki Reed: once you know your impact on the planet, you see the world differently


Nikki Reed is covering the digital issue of Shape Magazine to promote her jewelry line, Bayou with Love, which has expanded into skincare and clothing. The focus is on sustainability, and the article reveals that Nikki is working with Dell computers to source gold from recycled motherboards. Outdated technology is full of heavy metals and hazardous waste along with resources like precious metals, so it’s nice to hear that some of it is being reused. (Here’s more on how to recycle your electronics.) Nikki mostly talked about her business, and how important it is to her that she minimizes her impact on the planet.

On how she tries to live sustainably
“I’m not perfect, I’m just aware of the rent I owe for the resources I use. My theory is that once you are aware of your impact on the planet, you can’t become unaware. Once you know about the benefits of reusable water bottles and grocery bags, you make an effort to bring them with you. Once you know about water shortage issues, you don’t leave the sink running. You can’t. You see the world differently. You make the extra effort because your own conscious wouldn’t allow you not to. It’s easy to be lazy, but its also easy to be considerate and compassionate.”

On running a business sustainably
“Being conscious of what we spend our money on is one of the most effective ways to create immediate change. My goal is to inspire a more sustainable and ethical approach to running a business: I now fight for causes I believe in through the non-profit space but also through the choices I get to make as a business owner.

[From Shape]

Shape also has an video on their site with a little girl interviewing Nikki. It’s cute to see them interact. Plus Nikki is surely wearing jewelry from her line, which is so pretty and dainty and makes me want to buy it. (I’ll probably just go to the antiques mall and look for jewelry instead. I have found great pieces there! Also I just checked the prices on Nikki’s site and it’s way out of my range.)

I get 95% of my clothing and jewelry secondhand, but that’s mostly because I’m cheap and love a bargain. I bring my own bags to the store with me, which is also because they fit more and are more convenient. It’s hard to shake the habit of shopping and buying stuff (because it’s thrilling frankly) but you get the same lift out of shopping sustainably. As for Nikki’s comments that “once you are aware of your impact on the planet, you can’t become unaware,” that’s only true for those of us who care. As we have seen too often, so many people ignore facts and truth and are so self-centered that it doesn’t matter to them how their actions affect anyone who isn’t in their immediate social group. They don’t care about future generations either. They’re ruining the planet on purpose.

As for Nikki’s personal life, her son daughter, Bodhi, is two and I get the impression she’s a great mom. She’s been married to Ian Somerhalder since 2015. He seems controlling and I’ll leave it at that.

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60 Responses to “Nikki Reed: once you know your impact on the planet, you see the world differently”

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  1. Lucy says:

    Where’s the money for her husband’s sanctuary gone? You know she’s also in charge of ISF? After the last 2 year and what we’ve learned about ‘philanthropy’ (see Sackler family and other celeb charities’…this just seems like a tax write-off and a branding pivot as she’s not getting any roles as an actress.

    • A random commenter says:

      She’s had at least three personas I know of, and I don’t follow her. Maybe she just grew up but it seems like she changes herself to be similar to the men she’s with.

  2. Elisabeth says:

    her hair looks awful

    • HelloSunshine says:

      I didn’t even recognize her in the thumbnail for the article. She looks like a completely human being than what I remember lol

      Question for my fellow CBers that wear quality stuff secondhand… where do you find nice pieces secondhand? I’d really like to start buying more sustainably (which I’ve started doing with other things) but I’m not sure where to start with clothes.

      • Jerusha says:

        See if there are consignment shops in your area. They generally get nicer things. And thrift shops sometimes do, also. Just need patience to go through everything.

      • Quackadilly Blip says:

        Poshmark and Tradesy. Both have an app and a website you can use. I’ve gotten a lot of great bags and shoes but they also carry clothes and accessories.

      • MeghanNotMarkle says:

        Consignment stores have higher standards than thrift shops, but if you’re in a good area the thrift stores can have some excellent options. We had a thrift store on my little island in Washington (north of Seattle) that always had some great name brand clothing, oftentimes with tags still on.

        I’ve used ThredUp but not Poshmark, though I hear good things about it. If I don’t buy secondhand I get my clothing from Alternative Apparel.

      • Mle428 says:

        Thred Up is my favorite! I’ve also rented clothing from Le Tote which helped me be a little more adventurous with my style. I got asked at a party yesterday if I was a stylist! I’m a nurse/grad student/toddler mom with almost no free time, so that was a huge compliment. Oh, and I was wearing a resale silk romper, and resale earrings.

      • Algernon says:

        Find the Goodwill closest to the fancy neighborhood/town in your area. Every time I’m in LA I go to the Goodwill on Beverly, and can usually find at least one quality piece, since the donations from the wealthier side of town funnel into that store. Also seconding Poshmark as a good online resale source. Local consignment shops are also great, especially if you get to know the staff. They’ll know what you’re looking for and can alert you if anything in your style becomes available.

      • Lonnie tinks says:

        I buy most things second hand, and I have lots of luck at thrift stores. Both the big ones, like Salvation Army and small mom and pop type thrift stores. If you are a smaller size, clothes will be easier to find, I am a 16-18 and those clothes are harder to find, I think because it is such a common size, so they get picked over quicker. I don’t shop at consignment shops, mostly because they are more expensive, but if you are someone who is okay with spending a little more money, you can find good stuff at them.

    • Amaryis says:

      She looks like my mom. Who is 70 years old.

    • olive says:

      so tragic. she’s aged herself decades with that hair.

  3. Jade says:

    If these people really love the planet, they wouldn’t be having children in the first place.

    It doesn’t matter how many motherboards you recycle, nothing beats an ecological footprint of another human being but let’s all just side step over population for cutesy things like recycling and thrifting.

    • Courtney says:

      They collectively have only one child. Can we save this talk for super consumer and mother of 5?6? Tori Spelling or someone similar?

      • Lucy says:

        Nah. Also stop with the private jets and going to government sanctioned conventions in Saudi Arabia and China.

    • Kitten says:

      Oh man. You will get destroyed for this but I agree with you and FWIW, so does my BF.

    • Laurita says:

      So delusional. Overpopulation is one of the biggest myths ever created. There is no end time here, and there is more than enough space on this giant hell rock to accommodate all of us and then some and then some. Stop believing the garbage they feed you.

      • olive says:

        there WILL be an end time on this planet if we keep relying on fossil fuels

      • whatWHAT? says:

        space? sure. RESOURCES, like clean water and air?…not so much.

      • Léna says:

        Laurita, common now… We all know we are way too many humans on the planet considering how we are using our ressources. Common sense

      • Mia says:

        I dislike hearing about overpopulation. It usually has racist and classist undertones with suggestions directed towards non white races. And it is often preached to the masses by billionaire white men.

        Underneath the sentiment it cleverly feeds into the whole ‘whites are going to have the lowest numbers!’ designed to incite paranoia and hatred in the competition for resources.

        Although, lawmakers in the states historically look to see which ethnic group once labelled a different race can now be ‘made white’ to up the numbers and calm the hysterics as per usual.

      • Lynn says:

        Laurita – What about all the other creatures that need to live on the planet? Habitat loss and fragmentation ARE real problems.

    • gw says:

      Speaking of her one child, I believe Bodhi is a girl and not a boy.

    • Cindy says:

      I don’t think she’s a hypocrite for worrying about sustainability while also not wanting humanity to go to extintion. I think the whole point is that we have both a livable planet and humans that can live on it, no?

      • Omelette says:

        Agreed Cindy. The whole point of being green is to enable humanity’s survival by preserving nature. If we want humanity to go extinct, all we have to do is keep wasting and poisoning our ressources (or we could nuke each other, which will be much quicker). The planet will survive anyway, it sure as hell doesn’t need us.

        Also the best way to control population growth is definitely not to guilt-trip people who want to have kids, but to provide equal rights and education to women everywhere, not to mention healthcare and childcare. It stabilizes the birth rate to two on average, so you neither get seven or eight kids to a family, or so few kids that the economic burden disproportionally weighs on young people (like in Japan).

    • snappledietpeach says:

      ITA @jade – people will always find ways to justify what they want

    • sammiches says:

      Abso-freaking-lutely. People bang on about not using straws and taking public transit, yet have kids. Like, what??

  4. CooCooCatchoo says:

    She look worryingly thin in a few of these photos.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      that’s what I noticed, too. she looks beautiful on that mag cover, but that pic in the red jumpsuit is a bit scary.

      • dj says:

        I did not even recognise her she is so thin. It does not even resemble the actor from Twilight (yes. I know she was blonde too).

  5. Lynn says:

    Her website has a lot of information about their gold sourcing and waste management but nothing that I can find about the stones. I’m curious.

  6. Tweetime says:

    Yeah, if we’re talking population control, one child from two people is fine.
    I will say that as I become more focused on sustainability I get more uncomfortable with the fact that even the green movement is so capitalist-driven. I love shopping as much as the next person, but I’m trying to remember that one of the best things we can do for the planet is to buy less stuff.
    Yet everyone who discovers sustainability lately creates a products-based business. It’s great that she’s recycling materials for it, but maybe just promote sustainable jewelry companies that already exist instead of starting up a whole new one?

    Edit: this is a reply to the comment above about having kids

    • My3cents says:

      Agree.
      The best thing you can do consumer wise for the planet is to consume less.
      While recycling is nice even recycled products create an ecological footprint, the energy used to produce, package and ship that product is often almost equivalent to new merchandise.
      Buying second hand is a much better choice.

    • Esmom says:

      Buying less stuff would go a long way. I feel like it wasn’t that long ago that people were more frugal about buying things like clothing and furniture, probably because it cost more. We’ve become a society where everything is disposable and replaceable and it’s really disconcerting to think of all that discarded crap continuing to pile up. It’s hard but I’m trying not to succumb to the “fast fashion” retailers anymore, now matter how cute and cheap something is.

      Freecycling is another good movement to support. We already have so much stuff on this earth that if more people used passed along things they didn’t need to someone else, maybe we’d slow down on demanding more new stuff. My BIL runs a free cycling site and it’s amazing how much great stuff passes through. He and my sister pretty much furnished their whole house with free, really nice, stuff.

      • Jerusha says:

        I’ve never bought a piece of furniture. Everything I have came from my grandmother’s house or his grandmother’s house or my parents, etc. I like old things with some history or sentiment to them.

    • Kitten says:

      My friend started up a company called Stay Vocal many years ago. Originally he was printing designs on old, second-hand t-shirts. Now he uses overstock from companies that went out of business. https://stay-vocal.myshopify.com/

      These are t-shirts that would just go in the trash if someone didn’t buy them so I think this is a decent compromise.

    • Algernon says:

      Yeah but then how would Nikki Reed make money?

  7. jenny says:

    omg that instagram photo. you have to see this skit, it’s more tooling on her husband but I can’t take either one seriously after seeing this. multiple times.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR9FALnLFQ8

  8. Lola says:

    Pretty sure Bodhi is a girl

  9. Slacker says:

    She is beautiful but she looks so skeletal. I hope she’s ok

  10. Lizzie says:

    she looks terrible. there is no other way to say it.

  11. Valiantly Varnished says:

    Bodhi is a girl. Not a boy.

  12. FHMom says:

    That bottom photo is super scary looking. I hope she is okay.

    My town has a fb page where you can offer up used items for free. It makes so much sense to give away clothing that no longer fits or items you no longer need. I’m sure most people will find something similar where they live.

  13. SJR says:

    She looks very pretty in the magazine pic. The other pics look terrible. She and her Hubby look like siblings to me.
    I could not care less about any of these celebs and their product lines.
    I don’t buy any item because of whatever celeb is shilling it, and frankly, I am tired of these celebs preaching to me about how the rest of us should live.

    I live within my means, give to and support charities of my own choice and IMO that is private info. I do not redecorate my house to match the trends, drive a 2005 car which I hope to get 275K miles out of, or more, I wear 100% cotton clothes because I like comfy not stylish.
    I recycle as much as I can.

    Celebs and this Holier than Thou attitude about lifestyles and save the planet, etc. are nothing new. I miss the old days..Audrey Hepburn did a LOT of charity work for UNICEF decades ago. I realize many people need to travel/fly for their jobs but these celebs who preach endlessly and yet private jet/jet constantly drive me bonkers. Harry andMegan have jetted 4x in 11 days and I am the devil for drinking bottled water and recycling the bottles? no.

    • Algernon says:

      “I wear 100% cotton clothes”

      Be careful with cotton, the water needs of cotton crops is awful, and there tend to be a lot of pesticides used, too. If you can, try and buy from companies pledged to the Sustainable Cotton project (you can google it, and they keep a list of companies working to meet sustainable goals). If you’re into comfort over style, consider second-hand shopping as it is the best way to limit new cotton production.

      Also, I am not sure how Audrey Hepburn’s UNICEF work is different from today’s “preachy” celebs? She traveled frequently and without the benefit of carbon offsets. She was the face of the UNICEF campaign, so she was certainly making public statements/appearances for the cause. It was admirable work, to be sure, but I don’t think she was any less “preachy” than any celebrity today.

  14. Renee says:

    Other than the magazine cover, she looks unrecognizable.

  15. Tonya says:

    God what what did she do to her hair. Tragic hair cut. I would cry myself to sleep every night, remove all the mirrors until it grew out type-of-haircut.

    I’m glad she thinks of her impact on the planet, thats nice.

    I find her ironic. Her whole business is about expensive celebrity (IMO) jewelry – the epitome of materialistic.

  16. Sophie says:

    My mom (from whom I am estranged), will only drink from single use 12 oz plastic bottles. She won’t use the fridge filter, or purchase large arrowhead jugs, or even use larger size single use bottles. She insists that it tastes better and it’s what she wants. When we were in contact, she’d fill our recycling within hours of staying at our house. Some people are willfully ignorant.

  17. Leonz says:

    the short haircut is tragic. She looks like a boy now. I would be devasted if I did that to myself. Ugh

  18. Puffy says:

    she doesn’t have the face for that haircut. She’s got a very strong jaw and I thought she was a man in makeup in that thumbnail picture.

  19. Kittycat says:

    I’m getting a Karen Carpenter vibe from that thumbnail pic. She looks so unwell.

    • Lala11_7 says:

      Me too…and considering her husband…who comes off as psycho and controlling AF…

      These are NOT good things….

  20. 2lazy4username says:

    After going through a split, I had to refurnish. LetGo and FB Marketplace are my new meccas and I will pretty much never pay full price again. Icing on the cake? Learning the stories my “new” furniture comes with has been so cool.

  21. sammiches says:

    ?????? she has a kid. If she really cared about the state of the planet, she wouldn’t have a kid. I am so tired of people being giant hypocrites.

  22. endlesscircles says:

    I 100% support enacting simple, daily things to make planet Earth better and safer for all. But honestly it’s so incredibly tiresome and truly STFU when you’re rich, a celebrity, and preaching this stuff. Most of America is trying to get by paycheck to paycheck, and the stress is enough to kill us, so pardon me if I’m not concerned if the planet is going to die first. Bitch to the Big Corps, who are really fu*king sh*t up. I don’t eat meat, I recycle, I use bags, I don’t shower/bathe twice a day nor flush constantly, I try to walk everywhere, I support local businesses, etc.

    Just trying to survive out here. So yeah. STFU.

  23. T says:

    Guys, Mercari is another good option to go along with Poshmark.