Sustainable Living Tips From Eco Friendly Friends
One of my favorite things about writing Eco Friendly Mama is hearing feedback from my friends and readers across the globe. Whether it’s how my posts have helped them to discover sustainable living tips or the eco-conscious changes they’ve already made to their lives, I love knowing that others are doing what they can to help the planet.
Recently, I posted a question to my Facebook page asking people to share what kinds of eco-friendly efforts they’re making in their lives, whether big or small. The responses I got back with sustainable living tips were incredible! So I thought it’d be fun to share the feedback from the Eco Friendly tribe on their best sustainable living tips.
If you’d like to be included in a future round-up post of advice like this, please comment below with what you’re doing in your life to be more eco-conscious!
Eco-friendly travel tips from Maggie Alexander at Milana’s Travels:
“Bring your own reusable water bottle when you travel to cut down on plastic waste.
Use packing cubes instead of a million ziploc bags (I can’t believe people do that!).”
Easy Reduce-Reuse-Recycle tips from Karen in New Jersey:
“I hoard and don’t throw much stuff out. It’s a terrible flaw of mine but less waste in the landfills. 🙂
I reuse Bounty – yep, I’ve gotten lots of weird looks on that one, but if I used a piece of paper towel to wipe off milk on the counter, why can’t I use it again when it dries to wipe some water off the floor?”
Eco lifestyle changes from Kristen at Earth Friendly Tips:
“We’ve been making a bunch of little changes around our home to reduce our waste as much as possible. When we go out, we all have our own reusable straws we carry with us. I also make sure I always have a reusable bag in my purse that I can use when I shop.
In the kitchen, we use dish rags and cloth napkins to completely eliminate using paper towels, and we started a compost bin to stop food waste.
I’ve switched to using soap nuts to do our laundry, so I’ve eliminated using laundry detergent and fabric softener – and I can compost the soap nuts when they’re done! I’ve started making soap, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion bars to use in the bathroom so we can eliminate all of those bottles as well. The great part is, even though these changes have been small and simple to make, we’ve noticed a drastic difference in the amount of waste leaving our home!”
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Green advice for the office and home from Renee in Los Angeles:
“First off, I try to buy products with as little packaging as possible OR that are packaged with recycled/recyclable materials! I reuse as many containers as I can. Beauty product containers are great to reuse for traveling!
I use glass food containers (for fridge storage & work lunches) which are sturdier than plastic and don’t stain/smell. Cloth towels instead of paper towels as often as possible, bring my own bags to stores and take out places (I let them know ahead of time No Bag Please!).
I also declined getting business cards made, politely refuse cards/flyers, and changed all of my bills to paperless! I carry metal straws in my bag, so I always have one handy (again, let them know ahead of time No Straw Please!). Metal bottles for water, instead of plastic.
I’ve also found is that when you are making an effort to be eco-friendly, people can observe your methods which will hopefully inspire them to be more green!”
Cat-friendly tips from Despina at Fashion Novelist:
“I started investing in a few cat toys of better quality that will last significantly longer than a bag of $2.00 mice. They include mice made of natural wood, sisal, elastic, and feathers. But to be honest, I don’t think there are any toys my cats love more than things I’ve accidentally dropped on the floor. Little bundles of rolled up paper and colorful felt balls are their two favorites. Not to mention the balls of yarn that continuously go missing from my room.
So instead of throwing small objects like toilet paper rolls or hair clips away, I toss them to the cats to see how they react. Sometimes they disinterestedly pat it with their paw and walk away. But other times they take off with it, whooshing it through the apartment. So, before you throw away a broken hair tie, ask yourself if it looks like something your cat would enjoy. They might love it better than anything you could ever buy them.”
Some really excellent and specific sustainable living tips from Heather in Orange County:
“I cut the regular sponges in half! This serves two functions: 1.) It cuts down on waste, and, 2.) It fits in your hand better and allows you to get into the corners better. (I have a friend who does the same, but takes it a step further and cuts them into thirds, because she has smaller hands.)
Photo courtesy of Heather.
Also, party favors! I am on strike. No more “junk.” If I send something home with guests, it will be something practical and reusable (like a basket or lunchbox) and a treat parents are generally okay with their child(ren) receiving, such as a homemade cookie. Plus, parties, in general, have become over-the-top and excessive in all aspects (thank you, Pinterest and Instagram!).
We are bidet users! It is much better for the environment, not to mention MUCH more hygienic than toilet paper and/or those wasteful wipes!
Photo courtesy of Heather
If you don’t want or have a bidet toilet or attachment, a good ol’ watering can works just as well! Just keep a supply of clean hand towels for drying. Some people also mount hose attachments with sprayer near their toilet paper/toilet.Photo courtesy of Heather.
Also, I think a huge tip for people to save money and also significantly cut down on food waste is to learn how to cook. As in genuinely understanding how to put meals together in a thoughtful way to cut back on waste by being able to adjust/tweak food items over a few days to make different tasting meals with leftover food/scraps. Considering how disgustingly large our (US) food waste problem is, I think this is probably one of the best ways we can help the environment. Lower consumption, less going to landfills, and more money in your pocket and (likely) healthier meals and probable weight loss.”
From Valentina in the UK, who just completed her first #plasticfreejuly challenge and had this to share about her journey:
“I often buy my fruits & veg from my greengrocer which is almost exclusively plastic free. I admit I am sometimes too lazy/busy/short of time to make the extra trip if I am already shopping at the supermarket but I have now promised myself I will make the little extra effort. Same for cheese and bread (we have an amazing cheese shop nearby and we have never bought sliced bread anyway).
Treats such as croissants comes plastic free already from the bakery counter and whipping pancakes together is really quick…so no more plastic wrapped ones! I have started taking my own containers to the supermarket for the fish counter.
I have found a couple of shops selling loose products but they are neither very well stocked nor convenient. I’ll do my best to try and at least do one big nuts/grains shop per month and try as much as possible to replace other food items that comes in plastic with non-plastic alternatives. Veggie stuff is the hardest: there are only a handful frozen veggie sausages that comes in cardboard boxes but everything else – quorn, tofu – comes in plastic….”
And this brilliant DIY upcycling idea from Amanda Avis, owner of Mala Motion:
“I made these for [my daughter]…two dozen of our favorite books that mean so much and have given us beautiful and meaningful mommy/daughter memories. All of them from family and dear friends. I’ve been collecting hard cover book jackets since she was born.”
Photo courtesy of Amanda Avis.
You can find some of the eco-friendly products mentioned in the sustainable living tips above in my Amazon Shopping List.
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Elise
Happy to report that Quorn is not packaged in plastic…
I buy as much secondhand as possible: clothes, handbags… I belong to a local Buy Nothing Facebook Group and stop there first when I need something or have something to get rid of. Once a week I pull all the food out of my fridge and cook something that uses as much of it as possible, so that nothing goes to waste.
Eco Friendly Mama
That’s good to know about Quorn! And so cool that you’ve got a local group like that. I regularly make something I like to call a garbage salad with whatever veggies and proteins we have hanging out in the fridge. Smothered in a fresh salad dressing. These are actually some of my family’s favorite meals! : )