The Ecofriendly Life 101

Photo by me 😊

Hello Lovelies,

My name is Ellie and it’s so good to see you again. Mother Earth is essential to human life but to be honest we treat her terribly. I want to do better but it’s confusing to figure out what a single consumer can do on a day to day basis to work towards a more ecofriendly lifestyle. Making a huge change all at once is difficult and typically unsustainable. So for today let’s just dip our toes into easy changes we can make in our daily life. I will leave links to the items to any Ecofriendly alternatives I’ve found!

The Obvious:

•   Do not put garbage anywhere but into the can, duh. If you drop something pick it up, this isn’t debatable. If you see garbage left behind throw it away, we are all responsible for taking care of the Earth

• Another easy change is to find out if your garbage collection provider also takes can of recyclables. Some providers will even take composting but that’s a bit less commonly some even take composting. Recycling the large amounts of plastic, cardboard, and paper that is usually thrown away will reduce your footprint immensely. A ton of what we consume is recyclable, to learn what is visit Waste Management’s website. They go through in-depth into the recycling world.

•   Eating less meat and dairy or having a 1 meat/dairy free day a week is helps to reduce greenhouse gases.

•   Turn off lights and electronics when not in use. This will also help you save money on your electric bill. Along with this lowering your heat in the winter and raise the air conditioner temperature in the summer also saves the environment and your wallet.

• If you own your land plant trees! Plant, Plant, Plant as much as possible!

• Walk or ride a bike as often as possible. This will also help with exercise!

Can you buy it without plastic? Can I recycle it? If you can’t recycle it is there an alternative you can recycle? I found a few Ecofriendly Alternatives:

Did you know that dish washing sponges are made of plastic? I did not, and these guys get replaced a lot in my house. I cannot imagine this sponge in the landfill for the next 500 years. Crazy enough I have purchased Scotch-Brite Greener clean without even realizing they are the ecofriendly option. They are biodegradable, minus the scrubber which easily pulls off and, in my experience, starts to pull up when it’s ready to be thrown away anyway. There is a bit of a price difference normally priced on Amazon they’re $8.47 for 6 while the originals are $6.99 for 6. I bought mine at Meijer but for convenience sake you can find them on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/31Z0hc9

Floss is recommended by your dentist to use daily. Unfortunately, it is typically made out of waxed nylon. It’s not as bad as plastic but it still takes 50 to 80 years to decompose. WHAT!?! I can imagine filling a whole dumpster with the amount of sponges and floss I use alone. The ecofriendly alternative to this is Silk Floss. Normal floss is 55 yards in the plastic tube it comes in. A 2 pack of these runs about 5.79. Ecofriendly floss is 100 yards and comes with a glass jar. You can also get refills that come in a biodegradable box for it. The refills cost $9.97 and includes 2 rolls of 100 yard floss. The glass container plus floss is $12.99. In this case it’s actually a better deal to buy the ecofriendly option. I’m not sure where you can find them in person but the Amazon link is https://amzn.to/2wkAhMx

Horrifying realization number 3: our toothbrushes… They should honestly make reusable bristles to change out it we’re going to continue using plastic ones. But until we figure that out there are biodegradable options. My favorite is Bamboo Tooth Brushes they’re $6.99 for a 6 pack which I think is a great alternative to standard plastic brushes. https://amzn.to/2OVPA4D

Grocery stores sell reusable grocery bags so we don’t have to keep hording the plastic ones. They also can actually handle the weight of groceries and the occasional sharp edges. I try to keep mine in my car.

Now that we know some of the basics to work on, I’ll be back soon with more complex options! If you have any Ecofriendly alternatives let me know in the comments below.