By Lindsey Shay
Most of us take part in practices that we may or may not be aware are harming the environment around us. But, to be more environmentally friendly does not mean you must make drastic life changes.
There are small choices that can be made to your everyday habits that can have a big impact on the world around us.
- Become more aware.
Start by living with a greater awareness of the resources that you use in your daily life. Try to pay closer attention to how you choose to heat, to travel, to use water, and which foods and manufactured products you use.
- Turn off your lights.
With your newfound awareness, make it a habit to turn off the light switch every time you leave a room or your house.
- Buy locally grown products.
Whether at the farmers market or in the grocery store, try to replace general grocery items with ones that are sourced locally by your community farms and farmers.
- Recycle!
Recyclable items include metal (scraps, clean silverware, clean bottlecaps, hairspray bottles, clean aluminum foil), plastic (bottles, jugs, rinsed yogurt cups), paper (magazines, newspapers, mail, business cards, carboard, sticky notes), glass (bottles, jars, vases), electronics (printer cartridges, washers and dryers, drills, microwaves, VHS tapes, DVDs), and batteries. Non-recyclable items include shredded paper, plastic grocery bags, broken glass, food-worn cardboard and plastic, used paper towels, and used plates.
Go to your city’s website for details on local recycling practices.
- Cut out single use plastics.
Invest in reusable water bottles, reusable straws, and reusable grocery bags to cut down – or cut out – single use items.
- Bring your own to-go container.
It might feel a bit awkward at first, but bringing your own storage container to a restaurant will cut down the necessity for a food container that can no longer be recycled once it has come in contact with certain foods. Fringe benefit: Bringing your own container also maximizes fridge organization!
- Choose your companies wisely.
Choose companies that create products made with eco-friendly, recycled, sustainable ingredients packaged in sustainable packaging. One of my favorites is BlueLand, a company whose entire purpose is cutting down on single-use plastics by creating “forever bottles” of all your home cleanliness necessities, including hand soap, counter cleaner, dish soap, laundry detergent, etc, and providing refill tablets to replenish your supply. CEO and Co-founder, Sarah Paiji Yoo
says that BlueLand products have helped eliminate over one billion single-use plastic bottles from landfills and oceans since 2019.
Our mission is simple: make it easy to be eco with innovative products in reusable packaging that are convenient, effective and affordable.