5 ECO HOUSEHOLD SWAPS FOR THE NEW YEAR - WITH NO SKIN OFF YOUR NOSE
So after probably the most excessive time of the whole year, are you feeling the need to pare back and bring in some balance?
New Year is a natural time to rethink about your hopes, dreams and beliefs. At this time in the calendar, the Kapha depths of winter, we naturally start to turn in — even if it’s just because we’re low on funds to spend time out!
Here are 5 easy swaps to get on board with for a more eco lifestyle — some of these may seem very simple to those already on board, but they’re a great place to start if you’re new to the idea of living a more eco lifestyle or just haven’t got around to properly implementing some changes. These swaps require zero extra energy from you other than getting used to a slightly new way of using, perfuming and purchasing, but take way less precious energy from our planet. Let’s help make the world go round that much better.
1. Swap regular toilet paper for recycled toilet paper
Recycled loo roll is quite easy to find at most supermarkets now (check out own brand options from Sainsbury’s through to Waitrose), and doesn’t cost much more than the average loo roll — while it’s more than the very cheapest paper, it’s less than the very plush stuff. Recycled loo roll avoids the use of virgin materials, and makes use of recycled paper waste. Unfortunately, like most toilet paper it does come wrapped in plastic (buy bulk where you can to reduce the amount of plastic per roll!), but this plastic wrap is widely recyclable.
If you’re in America, you might want to check out Who Gives a Crap, a plastic-free option whose proceeds go to build toilets in communities that need them. Cute as their packaging is (and with great messaging!), I don’t go for these over here because they’re shipped from abroad, which negates the benefits for the planet. We need someone to start this idea here in the UK — spread the word!
2. Swap kitchen roll for fabric napkins at mealtimes and microfibre cloths for mopping up spills
Kitchen roll is another household item we don’t think twice about and it’s about as single-use as it gets — think of the seconds it takes for a piece of kitchen towel to be used and trashed, and usually just to wipe up a quick spill, blow our nose, dry our hands or dab around our mouth. While it’s not plastic, it doesn’t get to biodegrade anytime soon if it goes to landfill. If we look to the past, before kitchen roll and paper napkins were so readily and affordably available, we would have used tea towels, wash cloths and fabric napkins. If you’ve got a cold by all means stick to something you can dispose of easily but for the rest of the time let’s look to those more sustainable options that have served us well thus far.
3. Swap detergent for eco, try soap nuts and wash at 30°C
There are more and more options for eco detergents on offer at the supermarkets and local health food stores — and these brands are usually embracing the big picture, improving on their offerings as they go with advances in eco packaging (look for both recycled AND recyclable) and creating concentrates which require less packaging. Check out Ecover and Method, or you could make the swap to soap nuts (or soapberries), a natural and age-old “detergent” that literally grows on trees! It’s economical, too, because one bag will last you years — both Ecover and Ecozone sells them for example. They won’t have your washing smelling of meadows but then nor do commercial detergents — what you’re smelling there are actually synthetic chemicals. I like to use soap nuts for everyday items to give them a refresh and save my eco liquids for washes that are more heavily soiled or stinky (read: Nick’s gym kit and the dog blankets), while many would argue that soap nuts can handle both — I’m still in transition stage!
Another easy one: set your washing machine to the lowest heat setting — some will have a “cold” setting while others will only go down to 30, but either option will wash your clothes just as well as the hot water does while saving energy. If you do a lot of dry cleaning, then I’ll just put it out there that (but please don’t sue me if it goes wrong), if you have a “handwash” delicates wash on your machine, I’ve washed EVERYTHING on this setting, from cashmere to silk, and I’ve won. Eco dry cleaners are expensive and few and far between (check out Blanc in London) but dry cleaning chemicals are something that I want to avoid for myself as well as the environment.
4. Get a guppy bag for your washing machine
A guppy bag, basically a large mesh bag, will stop synthetic microfibres that shed during washing from clogging up your machine as well as our waterways. Simply place your laundry in the bag and pop it all into the machine! I recommend getting multiples since you must only half-fill them and you still want to make use of the full drum.They also work to prevent snagging — you can separate bras or delicate tops from snagging on zips and jeans buttons.
5. Swap cling film for beeswax wraps and/or vegan eco wraps and stainless steel and/or glass food storage
Cling film — that brilliant, sticky wrap that chefs in professional kitchens use to cocoon items by wrapping again and again and again, and households use willy nilly — now gives me the heebie-jeebies. All that plastic seeping into our food and all that plastic waste polluting our environment and clogging up the wildlife that inadvertently eats it... Is there an eco version that can replace cling wrap as easily as we can choose an eco toilet roll or eco detergent? No. But there are solutions worth working with.
Beeswax wraps are treated cloths that keep your food just as fresh and come in loads of different patterns, while non-plastic alternatives to Tupperware such as stainless steel and glass will easily store all your leftovers without contaminating foods by leaching — and still look good in years to come, unlike faded, scratched plastic. There is also a vegan alternative that’s a great option as well. Has anyone tried those silicone lids yet? DM me if you rate them! You might have seen them advertised in Instagram videos and they certainly look the business, but I’ve seen reviews saying how they’ve split or that they don’t cling once condensation kicks in, while others have fallen in love with them. I’m managing fine with the beeswax wraps and sticking a plate over a bowl so I’m skipping trying out this plastic reusable option.
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For more ideas, check out the shop page for lifestyle, kitchen and beauty. Please tag me on social if you make any of these changes!