With today April 22nd, being Earth Day, I thought it was about time I put together this post about being more mindful and conscious about making your everyday choices more eco-friendly. Below are 7 easy switches to help reduce the amount of crap ending up in landfill each and every day.
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- Instead of buying bottled water - Carry a stainless-steel water bottle with you everywhere and fill up at bubblers/water fountains. Cheeki* have great options with funky colours and even have a range of insulated bottles too, to keep your water cold for up to 36hrs!
- Saying NO to plastic straws – do you really need a straw? Not really, but if you can’t live without one, carry a stainless-steel/glass/bamboo straw with you in your handbag.
- While I am on the plastic band-wagon... Ditch the plastic take-away cutlery and carry some from your kitchen draw, you can even buy or make cute little fabric cutlery holders (and they even hold your stainless-steel straw too) that keep them nice and clean in your handbag (stay tuned for a little DIY coming soon…)
- Another big one is takeaway coffee cups or even smoothie cups! Always carry a reusable coffee cup with you like the ever-popular KeepCups. A lovely friend of mine who runs a beautiful eco-friendly store in my little town called Eco Addiction, has a personal rule, and that rule is, if you don’t have your keep cup, you don’t get a coffee. She learned pretty quickly to carry her cup with her at all times. Or she would take the time to slow down, sit and enjoy her coffee in-store. I’ve also started taking my 24oz (650ml) wide mouth mason jar and cuppow drinking lid with me too. If you ask, most café’s/juice bars etc will put your order into it! (Boost at Mooloolaba did it for me the other day! #winning)
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- Start a compost or worm farm for your household (or both!) and if you live in an apartment or somewhere with no garden, have a look at sharewaste.com; Share Waste is a website that connects you with people in your area, who are willing to take your household food scraps. They might have chickens, a few worm farms or a compost bin to fill and feed. Each “host” can designate what type of scraps they will and won’t take, and can “close” off their sites if they are receiving too much.
- Switch from using single use plastic bags (at the produce section & at checkout) whilst shopping to reusable bags. My favourites are the Onya Produce bags and Baggu shopping bags! The Baggu bags are super neat, they come in so many funky designs and also come in a handy little pouch, so they are folded up neatly in your bag or glovebox.
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- Where possible, buy groceries in bulk food stores like The Source Bulk Foods, where you can take your own refillable jars/bags and stock up on pantry essentials. Or switch to buying your fruit and veggies from a local grower at a farmers markets or fruit and veggie store - where hopefully the produce isn't wrapped in 2kgs of cling wrap.
There are plenty of other ways to be more eco-conscious in your life, but these are a few quick ideas that are relatively easy to transition into. I would love to hear your ideas about being more eco-conscious in the comments below!!
