I’ve been doing a few sustainable things since before I even knew what zero-waste living was. This was partially because it was simply cheaper to do so, or it was just something that was normalized in my community. I have five easy things to share with you that I do and that you can do too!
Reusable water bottle
I don’t recommend drinking tap water if you are on city water, but there are ways to purify your water so you don’t have to buy cases of water bottles that can add up in price quickly and are very bad for the planet. Many people who drink out of plastic water bottles don’t realize how many chemicals leach into the water from the plastic bottle, and then they end up drinking those chemicals! I recommend your first swap to be a reusable water bottle because it helps reduce a lot of plastic waste, and you’re no longer drinking chemicals from plastic. That being said I do recommend a stainless steel water bottle, my personal favorite is HydroFlask, but Yeti and Klean Kanteen are a few other great options. However, using what you already have is always the most sustainable option, so use those freebie water bottles you may have lying around from various events!
Canvas shopping bags
We did part of our grocery shopping at a store called Aldi which doesn’t use any plastic shopping bags and requires you to bring your own bags. This resulted in us bringing our own bags into Walmart and other various shops as well. I didn’t even realize that this was good for the environment, but by doing this, we ended up saving a lot of plastic waste by not using those bags. If we did ever have to use plastic bags, then we saved them to reuse as garbage bags, for dirty shoes, and other various things. If we ever had an excess of them, then we would take them to the recycling bin at our Walmart.
Reusable k-cups
When my mom first got into coffee, she had a coffee mate with the paper filters, and then eventually, we ended up getting a Keurig. We both liked the ground coffee we were using, so we got some reusable K-cups that we found in the coffee aisle at Walmart. By using the K-cups, we were still able to use the Keurig, which is convenient for single servings of coffee but also prevents a lot of plastic waste that the Keurig pods create.
Using things until no longer possible
As I mentioned earlier in my post, using what you have first is the most sustainable option, but it’s also important to use things until they are absolutely not possible anymore. This means making repairs when needed and continuing to use an item to the very end of its life, whether that be until all the product is gone or until it can’t be repaired anymore.
Shampoo bars
I was gifted a shampoo bar for Christmas during my senior year of high school and wasn’t sure how to feel about it because I was so used to bottled shampoo. I thought the concept was weird for shampoo to be in a solid form, but I was open to trying it. It took some getting used to, but I ended up loving it! The bar I was gifted was from Lush, and I ended up buying another one from Lush after I finished that one. After that, I found a shop on Instagram called ZeroWasteStore and decided to try their shampoo and conditioner bars. I completely fell in love with them, and I’ll probably never buy from anywhere else now. The lush bars got super soft to the point where I couldn’t use them normally and had to scoop the product out even though they were out of direct water contact, and the bars just didn’t clean my hair the same in this state. That’s why I decided to try some bars from another company, and I’m very glad I did. The takeaway from that is to try out a few companies. If you don’t fall in love with the first shampoo bar you try, I believe there is one out there that will work for you! I may be a little biased, but I would recommend trying out the bars from ZeroWasteStore because they are great quality, and they have different bars for different hair types or concerns.
Let’s chat!
I want to know which of these things you already do and which ones you want to try. Leave a comment, and we can chat about it!