The climate crisis is certainly becoming the source of anxiety for each and every one of us. While forceful change is better considered, the overwhelming feeling of helplessness can stun us to inaction. We all have busy schedules, where’s the time to make a real difference?
For a long time, we have eased into the habit of easy disposal, so much so it’s hard to keep track of what we’ve wasted. It’s never been so important to take stock, think about what you’re consuming, think about what you’re disposing of and make adjustments to lead a more sustainable life. Breaking old habits and new adjustments can feel daunting but a little really does go a long way. Here are a few suggestions which can be easily implemented into your life to establish an eco-friendly home.
Food
Though shops and wholesalers are generally becoming better when it comes to transparency, they have a VERY long way to go. Be curious, take a closer look at the packaging and be a bit more thoughtful about the provenance of your food. Supermarkets conveniently keep all varieties of fruits and vegetables on the shelves throughout the year, making it challenging to align with the seasonal ebb and flow of produce. Educate yourself a little and look into what's in season each month! Coinciding with the seasons is beneficial for so many reasons. Fresh produce loses it’s nutritional value from the moment it’s picked so the sooner it’s on your plate the better. For this reason too, it’s better for the environment. It requires less energy and resources to travel, reducing air miles and carbon emissions. If you're struggling to understand how nutritional or ethical a packaged food product is, download Yuka which provides easy to understand information for thousands of food and cosmetic products.
Lowering your food waste is another solution to your environmental conscience. Research has shown that almost half the food waste in the average rubbish bin could have been made into compost (www.recyclenow.co.uk). Contribute less to landfill and more to your soil at home. You can use raw fruit and vegetable peel, loo roll tubes, cereal boxes, egg shells and more. Green and brown produce makes for the perfect combination to create a nutrient rich compost!
Cleaning
Cleaning products containing a cocktail of harsh chemicals, none of us can pronounce has become a norm. Chucking away plastic bottle after plastic bottle is much the same. It’s time to consider refills! Refill hubs like The Source Bulk Foods are a perfect solution to make dry ingredients shopping more sustainable. Known to offer everything from pasta to paprika, bicarbonate of soda to bulgar wheat, refill stations now supply refillable household products too. Laundry detergent, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets and more, all made without harsh chemicals and are available to refill with your own empty bottles.
They also sell a sustainable alternative to sponges and wire scrubbers. Normal sponges release trillions of microplastics into our water systems every month, posing serious health risks and environmental damage (acs.org).Biodegradable sponges made of cotton, wood pulp and flax emit no micro-plastic pollution and can then be home composted after use. Copper scourers are long lasting and recyclable, offering an eco-friendly solution to those tough marks on pots and pans. Washing clothes less frequently on colder washes and using non-bio detergent are small yet effective modifications to help reduce carbon-footprint.
Fashion and Beauty
Some clothing brands are now offering repair services, encouraging their customers to fix their loved pieces before throwing them away for good. Fixing clothes is an age old tradition we’ve lost touch with but by learning to mend and sew instead of chuck, our clothes not only last longer but can be embellished with a creative edge!
Choosing clothes which contain sustainable materials such as linen, hemp, recycled materials and bamboo is also a good way to start collating a more sustainable wardrobe. Additionally, instead of buying a new dress for every wedding or smart event, why not rent your outfit from an app like By Rotation, or HURR? It's a fraction of the price and avoids slipping into the single use culture surrounding outfits for smart occasions caused by that annoying acquaintance who will ALWAYS say, “didn’t you wear that at the last wedding?”
As far as beauty products are concerned, sticking to products with natural ingredients is a good place to start. It's a minefield out there, so to cut through the mustard you can quickly assess products using an app like yuka. Making use of reusable makeup pads and using a moon cup too, helps to reduce that carbon-footprint. They also help cut down your costs, waste and offer a more long lasting solution! Bamboo toothbrushes, earbuds, deodorants like Wild are all also sustainable alternatives to break the habit of disposable culture.
Conclusion
These suggestions are a mere tip of the iceberg when considering changing to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle. Reshaping your those habitual choices however, is a productive step towards fighting the climate crisis. Those small changes, those small ripples will eventually encourage the big wave our planet's crying out for.
Written by: Katie Beales