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The 5 Easiest Eco-Friendly Swaps to Make This Year
Buh-bye 2018 because 2019 is upon us! If you haven’t gotten on the eco-friendly train yet… what are you waiting for?! I know it can be intimidating at first so (in honor of the new year) let’s take it back to basics. If you are completely new to the zero/low waste world, welcome, and let’s get started on THE simplest, easiest things you can do to start your journey this year. Ditch paper towels for both cleaning and dining. Have old hand towels, rags, those random towels you get at basketball games? Use them to mop up spills and clean your countertops. For dining, either grab a pack of cloth…
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Online Zero Waste Buying Resources
Depending on where you live, it can oftentimes be difficult to find some items in bulk (i.e. without packaging) or even plastic-free items — particularly when it comes to cleaning and certain body care products. Here’s a list of places you can order online for either package free or plastic free products. Note: I will update this list as I find more shops online! Package Free Shop: Home, personal, and travel products. The Refill Revolution: Home (including essential oils!), personal, containers, and pet. Zero Market: Home, personal, and containers. Tiny Yellow Bungalow: Home, personal, and containers. Wild Minimalist: Home, personal, pet. The Good Fill: Home, personal, and containers. Common Good:…
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My Zero Waste Car Kit
First off, what is a zero waste car kit? Basically — it’s the collection of items you always have stored in your car that’ll help reduce your waste while you are out and about in the world. This includes items needed for grocery shopping, coffee buying, eating out, etc. I love having a car kit because it keeps me from forgetting anything at home and I’m always prepared for any scenario. So what’s in my kit? And how do you create your own? Gather the following: 1. A cardboard box. I use this to corral all my items together in my trunk so things don’t roll around all over the…
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Fall Zero Waste Swaps
It’s officially fall! My absolute favorite season of the year. Give me all the “basic” — sweaters, pumpkin spice, candles, pumpkin decor. I have no shame. But truly. I love this time of year — the anticipation of upcoming holidays (including my favorite, Thanksgiving), the camaraderie behind football, respite from 100+ degree days, quiet weekends spent baking and reading, abundance at the farmer’s market, the State Fair of Texas… the list goes on. With all that goes on this time of year, sometimes it can be difficult to remember your New Year’s resolution from January that involved producing less waste. Never fear. Here are a few small things you can…
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My Favorite TerraCycle Programs
I love TerraCycle’s free recycling programs. It allows me to recycle items that otherwise would end up in the landfill. This doesn’t mean that I purposely pick a packaged item over a bulk one in order to TerraCycle it BUT it is exceedingly useful for those items that I don’t have much of an alternative for. TerraCycle also has paid programs (where you pay for a box to fill up with various items and then ship back to them to recycle) but I’ve had great experiences with the free programs. Some programs do have a waitlist but I’ve gotten into most within a few months. So how does it work?…
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Top 5 Eco-Friendly Laundry Swaps
Continuing on with our little eco-friendly swap series… we’re on to the laundry room! I think the laundry is one of easiest areas to make eco-friendly swaps because there are so many good, effective alternatives. The item: Liquid laundry detergent in plastic jugThe swap: Powder detergent in boxI personally love the JR Watkins powder detergent (linked above). It’s a bit tough to find but it’s usually available somewhere online. One box lasts me about 9 months and it’s worked just as well as my old Tide detergent. The item: Dryer sheetsThe swap: Wool dryer balls + essential oilsAnother super easy swap. A couple drops of essential oils on a wool…
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Top 5 Eco-Friendly Food Swaps
Last week, we talked eco-friendly kitchen swaps. And this week, we’re drilling down even further to food specific swaps! We all know that if you can find a specific item in the bulk section (grains, spices, oil/vinegar, tea/coffee, candy/chocolate, baking ingredients), you should go for that and stick it in your own containers. But here are some other food items that usually aren’t in the bulk aisle that I’ve found some alternatives for. The item: Yogurt in plastic container The swap: Yogurt in glass containers My husband goes through A LOT of yogurt. Which also means a lot of plastic cartons. I found this brand at Whole Foods and Central Market…
