Sustainable living seems to be the ‘in’ thing at the moment.
It’s not an unfortunate trend to participate in, and it doesn’t even require too much commitment or effort. Just a few small changes here and there from as many people as possible can make a world of difference when it comes to taking care of our home – Earth.
Here are a few simple things that can be done at home – let’s start in the kitchen.
Coffee
A morning coffee might seem like one of life’s only pleasures, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of the Earth. While using coffee pods in specialised machines is the easy, cheaper option than spending your hard-earned cash on a coffee shop espresso every day (not to mention the single-use paper cups!) they, too have their negative impact on the environment, as they are seldom recyclable, and often end up in the landfill. An old fashioned coffee pot with ground coffee is just as delicious and brings the joy of sharing back into drinking coffee. Just make sure you don’t have to clear blocked drains by not disposing of the granules properly. Coffee grains make excellent compost for homegrown tomatoes as well. Simply fill the pot with water and use the grainy water to feed the plants–never put them down the sink.
Water bottles
Drinking water is good for you and hosts many benefits to the body. But can you imagine how many plastic water bottles you get through in a week, month, YEAR to get your hydration fix when out and about? Let’s just say that it’s an awful lot. There are a lot of ways to make sure you get enough water, without the use of single-use bottles. Reusable bottles can be a design feature as well as a vessel for your life-liquid. There are some available with pop out straws so you can take sips throughout the day, as well as those that keep your water refreshingly cold for up to 24 hours. Buying plastic water bottles in the shops when there are so many economical and ecological alternatives is almost nonsensical nowadays.
Tupperware
Not just an old fashioned housewife favourite, Tupperware is a fantastic, simple way to promote greener living. It’s surprising how much good food is wasted each day simply because of a lack of storage solutions for leftovers. Put your leftovers into a tub and chuck it in the fridge or deep freezer- it’ll keep for a while in there and makes thinking about lunch the next day a lot easier! With so many shapes and sizes on the market, these plastic pots are designed to be used and reused over and over again–so they promote ditching single-use containers once and for all.
Trying to live greener isn’t about a few people trying to live completely waste-free and doing it perfectly every time. It is about as many people as possible making small changes to their day-to-day living to make the planet a happier and healthier place to live.
And if that’s not enough, there’s more of a wealth of information about how to live eco-friendly, like with these other four tips.