Without me even really realizing it, 2020 has already started to be the year of making some changes to our day to day lives that include more eco-friendly products! I don’t know if its because we live at the beach and see how much trash accumulates or what but I am suddenly more aware of all of the plastic we use and waste we produce! By no means has this been an over night change, I am not perfect and I still make mistakes and use things that I shouldn’t! But I am trying. There are six ways that I have changed already and feel really good about/am in the habit of doing. On the other hand, there about 10 more ways that I am moving in the direction of having these habits.
I am going to bullet point the items that I am already using I’m my day to day life first and then I will talk about the things that I have ordered and are on the way to make the change with.
Erase Your Face washcloths - I have talked about these a couple of times before and I love them! Not only are they much easier to remove my makeup with… they are better for the environment than the one time use make up remover wipes! If I have a lot of make up on then I use the whole thing but if I just have my basic everyday makeup on, I can use the cloth twice! Once I am done with it I throw it in the dirty clothes and wash it with everything else!
Dryer balls - instead of buying dryer sheets we switched to dryer balls. This was the first switch we made and have used them for about a year and we love it. We save money on dryer sheets and these have lasted so long! Seriously, we have only bought them once and I believe it was right when we moved to Boston. They collect just as much fur and lint as dryer sheets and if you want an added smell you can use essential oils. We don’t though, our clothes keep the good smell from our fabric softener in the wash!
Saalt Cup - Now trust me when I say I never ever thought I would be talking about a period cup on my blog but here we are. I have saved so much money and waste from this cup! It costs less than $30 and it works so well! It doesn’t feel any different or uncomfortable {which is what I was worried about}. I am so glad I made this switch!
Stasher Bags - We have been plastic baggie free since we moved to Boston, we have just never bought them here. Instead of baggies we would just use our glass Tupperware containers. But that was getting frustrating to bring like a small snack to work with so we decided to look into reusable bags. We went with Stasher bags because they were dishwasher safe and from the theme of this post I like things that are easy. Now if I want to bring a snack to work with me I can just put it into a Stasher bag rather than lugging a huge Tupperware.
Reusable portable cutlery - This is a more recent find that my friend actually introduced me to! But wow this little pouch is filled with everything that I need! It comes with a few straws, a fork, knife and a spoon {oh and a straw cleaning tool} but its so helpful. I bring it with me when I go downtown to work and I can use the fork or spoon instead of grabbing one use plastic forks and spoons. I use the straws more than anything though, any coffee or drink that I get I can just use my own straw! I can wash/rinse them in the bathroom at the restaurant or I can just stick it back in the sleek pouch and wash it with my dishes at home! This is such an easy change when you keep it in your purse or work bag.
Reusable k-cup pods - This one is pretty self explanatory but lets be real… K-cups aren’t cheap and I think that the coffee grounds taste better and make the coffee stronger! We have had these since last Christmas {2018} and I use 1-2 every single day. Plus I am not throwing away a cup of plastic every time I would like to have a cup of coffee!
Here are some things that I have either just ordered or have my eye on and haven’t pulled the trigger on yet.
Beeswax wrapping - Dustin takes sandwhiches to work and we ordered these to make the switch from tin foil to beeswax wrap - I will keep you guys posted.
Reusable makeup pads - I know that I talked about the big clothes above but these are more for wiping off eye makeup residue with micelar water after a shower rather than using the big “erase your face cloths”. I ordered these and will follow up with what I think after a few uses!
Produce bags - I bought these to take with me to the grocery store when I buy produce. This one will probably be though for me to change but I think if I set my mind to do it I will! The main thing will be just to remember to bring them! Up until now I pretty much cringe every time we grab a plastic bag to get apples or avocados. Again, I will keep you posted!
I will say that once I started making these easy little changes at a time I started wanting to do more! I also know that I said this before but you DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT ALL AT ONCE. Sorry for the all caps words but its so true! Just try one thing, once that is manageable, try another! There is no reason to spend a ton of money all at once with these new changes. With that being said, one thing that I keep noticing myself saying a ton in this post is that each of these products have SAVED ME/US MONEY as well as helping the environment. It’s a win win. Just don’t feel rushed!