Being eco-friendly is a trendy thing these days, but more importantly, it’s good for the environment and can also be easier on your budget. It also doesn’t have to be complicated or a long process. Check out these 5 easy ways to be more eco-friendly this week.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.
#1 Ditch the paper towels
This is one that I thought was going to be difficult, so I put it off for a while. Turns out, if you don’t have paper towels to grab, you grab other things instead. We stopped buying paper towels and had normal towels and rags readily available and it was so easy to stop using them.
If you think about paper towels, they really are wasteful in design. I know they serve a purpose, but only momentarily before being thrown away. Especially when we wash our hands, use a paper towel and throw it away. Couldn’t we have just used a towel?
Anyway, I’ll get off of my soapbox now, but really. It will save you money and help you leave a smaller environmental footprint. Instead, buy lots of absorbent hand towels and keep them available.
#2 Replace Ziplock bags
Ziplock bags are something that most people use a lot of. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t know anyone who reuses them. Therefore, they’re a one time use product and they end up in the trash.
I recently found these silicone “ziplock bags” and I’m a really big fan. They’re a matte finish so they aren’t clingy or sticky, which is a major plus. Sealing and opening them is really easy and they aren’t supposed to leak. They can even be frozen apparently. Basically, they are the perfect replacement for all ziplock needs that I can think of. The only downside that I’ve noticed so far is that they aren’t dishwasher safe. That hasn’t bothered me, since I really just have to rinse and let dry.
I got a 15 pack of these on Amazon for a really good price! You can find them here.
#3 Switch to Dropps
Switching to Dropps has been a breeze. We’ve always used clean/non-toxic detergent, but one thing I had never thought about before was the big plastic detergent container that we throw away (or maybe recycle) when we’re done.
The thing that drew me to Dropps was that they are so conscious of their footprint on the earth. The laundry pods ship in one cardboard box and the laundry pods are completely dissolvable, leaving nothing behind.
They don’t use any chemicals, which is such a beautiful thing. They have baby detergent, unscented (sensitive skin), scented (essential oils only), stain and odor, you name it. You simply set up your subscription based on how big your family is, how often you do laundry and then you set the frequency for it to ship. It’s a beautiful thing.
We’ve been getting the “clean” scent in the Stain and Odor laundry detergent. We currently get a shipment every 5 months. It’s super affordable and we have been really happy so far!
Another thing to add here, kind of a side note. We only use cold water for our laundry. Dropps actually encourages cold water laundry, since 70% of the energy used for laundry is to heat up the water. Switching to cold water is such an easy fix and saves energy — that’s a plus!
Click here to get $20 off your Dropps order.
#4 No more plastic wrap
I’ve heard that plastic wrap is one of the worst things for the environment that we use in our homes. Apparently it doesn’t decompose very well.
As I came into 2020, I knew that I wanted to make a few more changes in our kitchen, specifically to be even more eco-friendly and just overall more responsible with the earth that God has given us. I found these stretchy silicone lids and I thought, “why not give them a try?” They were also inexpensive, so there wasn’t much to lose.
While I haven’t used them much yet, I have to be honest and say that my main concern is that things will stick to them. They are a shiny, kind of sticky silicone and I’m just anticipating my hair, dog hair, fuzz, etc sticking to them and not coming off very easily. But we will see!
Otherwise, I love the idea of them and hope to use them often! You can even cover half of a watermelon with them, which is fancy. You can find them here.
#5 Switch to Glass
I wish all bottles were still glass and all bags were still paper. It’s become apparent to me throughout my life that I was definitely born in the wrong decade, quite possibly the wrong century. I’m an old soul 100% and I love the idea of a slower, simpler, make everything from scratch, way of living.
While I don’t know how to time travel, and really would have no intention of doing it even if I could, I do love the idea of bringing back simpler things. Glass is one of those things. Plastic is complicated. It has toxins that can leach into your food, it seems almost porous where food can stain it, I don’t know about you, but I even feel a little guilty when I throw plastic away, wasteful if you will… Basically, it’s lame, so why do we still use it? 😉 Let’s switch back to glass!
That’s my current goal in our kitchen and our house in general. Little to no plastic.
You can find the links to a few of my favorite glass kitchen staples below
Glass Tupperware with lids
32 oz Wide Mouth Mason Jars with lids
That, my friends, was a list of 5 easy ways you can be more eco-friendly this week. The beautiful thing about all of these solutions too, is that they save you money over time. Who doesn’t love that?
Thanks for reading! As always, “pin” for later below.
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