13 Sustainable Swaps You Can Take to Help The Planet

 

As we've entered a new year, I thought it was about time that I pulled together a list of sustainable swaps that we can all make in the the coming months to live a little more sustainable life.

Whether you only want to make one switch or ten each and everyone one will be a small step.

So lets start in the bathroom, a room filled with bottles for all our lotions and potions.

Swap your bottles for bars - I was a little skeptical about shampoo and conditioner bars at first, but after trying out a shampoo bar from lush, I am completely on board. Additionally, you can get sustainable cork holders to put them in. Bathroom upgrade, complete.

Buy Big - If you don't want to swap everything like body wash to bars, why not buy in big. If you have grab a bottle with bigger volumes, the amount of plastic required will be a little less than a whole new bottle.

Swap your normal toilet roll for recycled version -  Most toilet roll isn't made of recycled paper, something that completely baffles me. An alternative option is Who Gives A Crap, have a read about them here; they donate half their profits to charity, they don't use any plastic and their products are fab looking.

Swap face wipes for cloths - I've not tackled face wipes on my blog (yet) but one of the easiest swaps is changing your skin care routine from wipes to resusable cloths and flannels. You can even make your own. Once the cloths are dirty all you need to do in throw them in the washing machine. Easy.

Swap regular tampons for knickers, cups or organic pads - What many people don't realise is that regular tampons and pads have plastic in them. So why not buy an alternative that's a little better for the planet. This can start from organic pads (you can get these from tesco), or you could opt for a menstrual cup or try out some period pants.

Now onto the kitchen swaps

Swap carrier bags for reusable - Obviously remembering your reusable bags at the supermarket is one of the easiest things we can all do to reduce our waste.

Don't use the thin plastic bags - Those thin little bags you use for veg, don't bother, just rinse your veggies when you get home.

Bulk Buy -  not everyone has access to a bulk store but if there is one near by, be sure to take some containers with you. Not only will it be cheaper than your normal stores but also way less plastic.

Swap cling film for beewax wraps and containers - Easy swap, but instead of wrapping in cling film why not opt for beewax wraps or just small containers. There are loads of options now available to help keep your veggies fresh for longer which are reusable and this helping to reduce our waste.

Loose Tea and No Plastic Coffee - Did you know tea bags have plastics in? Or that most coffee comes in plastic. One easy switch is to move to loose leaf like T2 or for your coffee, grab a bag of Percol, easy! And if you want more information on sustainable coffee, here's my post from last year.

Compost and recycle -  Lets be honest, people have gotten pretty lazy with their recycling, we aren't rinsing our things out, we aren't separating things out as much and really, we have no excuse. So this year lets try and separate them out, to gain a little knowledge on what is or isn't recyclable. One thing that many people don't tend to do though is compost. It's a really easy thing that we can all do to reduce our waste and create fab compost.

Reduce your meat consumption - Yes you may have seen this in the papers but it really is one of the biggest things we can all do. So why not try to only eat meat once a day, go veggie twice a week instead of once or just try to ensure that you eat a more varied diet with more vegetables.

Go organic - Organic meat, fruit and veg is something that many don't really consider. But for fruit and veg, the reduction in pesticides on crops means less chemicals entering the soils and effecting the ecosystems. For meat, organic is the animals which are more likely to have been kept outdoors instead of in small cages, they will have been fed a more natural diet, and also had a longer life. 

So there you have it, a list of easy changes you can make. 

What do you think you'll do first?

Love 

Erin