Buying a hybrid or living a totally no-waste lifestyle isn’t feasible. But what can we do past composting and recycling that will make a difference at home, without negatively impacting our day? Turns out, a lot! Show the earth some love and try to tackle five of these mini lifestyle changes this month.
1. Utilize mason jars instead of wasting Tupperware containers galore for your packed lunches or coffees. They’re the trendiest accessory this year anyway, and they’ll help you show some more reusable love to the planet.
2. Instead of dry-cleaning your suits and formalwear, steam press them! This means less toxic chemicals going into your clothes, and you won’t be wasting plastic due to that sleeve the dry-cleaners always deliver your suits in. Remember to spot clean before steam pressing, so stains don’t set.
3. Fair-trade certified coffee has been all the rage, the past few years – part of that reason is due to the fact that many fair trade labels are shade-grown coffees, meaning that they protect vital migratory bird habitats. Go shade grown and save the ecosystem!
4. Invest in solar panels! This is definitely a bigger decision than a coffee transition, but going solar and choose a utility company that focuses on renewable energy like Green-e or Arcadia Power to lessen your footprint.
5. Stop using generic store-bought detergents and cleaning agents. Those cleaners can often be really toxic and harmful to your ecosystem,
6. Try to go veggie a couple of times a week – meet is harmful to planet and unsustainable as a major aspect of your diet. try to go for free range or organic if you do opt for meat
7. Use available resources like Eco Footprint to track your environmental footprint and become more aware of your consumption and waste.
8. Try to switch over from disposable to reusable. You can try this with batteries, razors, and various types of filters (furnace or coffee)
9. The same goes for keeping a tree-free home. replace paper towels and paper napkins with cloth ones (cut up t-shirts will also do if you don’t want to go on a home decor adventure, and replacing your extra fluffy Charmins with
a high post-consumer waste content, and it’s also bleach-free.
10. Go bulk instead of single packaging. This goes for your pet food, lunches, and other home goods. Otherwise wasting a lot of single-use containers and adding to the landfill (teabags included – there are a lot of polymers in those!)
11. We know, recycling is a given. But go the extra level and recycle fruit and vegetable labels! The labels can be recycled by sticking them to a plastic container which is also recyclable.
12. Always remember to turn off your lights and electronic devices. A smart home device like Nest or Alexa can be really useful in this. Cooling and heating an empty house has no point, so adjust your thermostat and lights when you’re not home.
