I remember being young and my Nan talking to me about looking after the planet. She was the Nan who took you to the zoo, loved being outdoors and yelled at people who littered. I think I’ve always been conscious of finding ways to live greener, but have used money and ease as an excuse to not. For years, non-eco-friendly items have been cheaper and more accessible in shops compared to products that do not harm the environment.
With reports recently suggesting that we don’t have long to save our planet, I feel as though if I can’t start living greener then earth’s bad health is partly my fault. Classic guilty conscious.
Brands are becoming aware that sustainability is important to customers, especially young people. There are plenty of ways to live greener and more eco-friendly products can be found in popular supermarkets now too.
So this year I have made a few small changes in my day to day that are environmentally friendly, because I really do care about finding ways to look after this exceptional, sometimes scary, wonderful planet.
Reusable bottle
The easiest lifestyle change I have made. I drink a lot of water and I especially like it to be cold, so Chilly’s was the brand of reusable bottles for me. They’re quite pricey and there are cheaper, just as good quality brands out there, but I had admired these designs for so long.
Whenever I’m on the go, I want cold water which use to mean buying a plastic water bottle from a shop fridge just so it was chilled. These bottles keep liquid cold for 24 hours, which is ideal for me, and keep liquid hot for 12 hours. I use a smaller bottle for hot drinks, but usually have to remove the lid for 30 minutes because it stays red hot.
A lot of shops and places will fill your bottle up for you. Like Costa, London Euston station and Gatwick Airport – just a few examples of places I’ve been able to fill up mine. This means there is no reason to buy a plastic bottle of water anymore, even if it’s just for cold water. There are apps like Refill that show you were you can fill up too.
Like I said, an easy way to live greener.
There are similar bottles on Amazon/eBay, along with these: Sho | S’ip by S’well | 24 Bottles | Stay Sixty
Reusable bags
When the plastic carrier bag charge came into effect, I noticed a change in how people shop. Reusable bags have become fashionable and using them instead of throwaway plastic bags is such a simple way to stop using plastic.
Bars of soap
I’ve always been a shower gel person, but I’ve realised bars of soap foam up better and there’s no plastic bottle left at the end. They can be a bit messier, but overall there have been no disadvantages to switching from bottled shower gel to a bar of soap.
I no longer buy bottles of hand soap either, just a bar. I have seen some brands do eco-friendly bottles of hand soap that can be refilled, another product I’m keen to test in the future.
Reusable cleansing cloth
Since purchasing my reusable make-up removing cloth, I’ve seen shops sell them for less. Mine is from a 2 pack by Magnitone and I’m hoping I won’t have to buy more for a long time.
It’s a cloth, like a dusting cloth, but when wet (I find with hot water, not warm, works best) it removes every ounce of make-up. Even waterproof mascara!
I use a fraction of the cloth then hang it up to dry and pop it in the washing machine with my towels whenever it needs cleaning. Mine manages about 8-10 uses, depending on how much make-up I’ve been wearing, before I need to wash it. They say the cloths last 1000 washes.
It’s not just the environmental factors that are a plus, they save you money as you only need to add water for it to work. Bye bye make-up removing cleansers and wipes!
There are tons of these on the market. Boots | Revolution | John Lewis | W7
These are not game changing environmentally friendly ways to live, if anything I imagine this is the norm for a lot of people. But for me, it’s been a start.
I’ve purchased a handful of eco-friendly cleaning products recently and am looking into skincare and make-up that is environmentally friendly too, all of which I want to test.
There are so many ways to live greener and I’m curious to try them all. I think with how reliable we are on the products and ways of living that has been ingrained into us from generations before, it’s impossible to live 100% green, so we can’t be too hard on ourselves. The tiniest changes can make a huge difference and that’s what I’m slowly trying to do.
A great blog proud of how you are thinking of your future & hopefully your children’s future
Thank you. There’s so many extra benefits to living a little greener too, not just for the planet but healthier products with less nasty ingredients, kinder to skin, etc… Everyone can help a little bit.