Top 5 Easiest Ways to Go Green in 2018
Happy 2018! Since there are still about nine months in this year, there is still plenty of time to add goals and resolutions to your list. Maybe you want to eat healthier, go to the gym more, or even make your lifestyle more eco-friendly 😉
Here I’m sharing my top five easiest ways to go green in 2018 (I bet you’ve already made a couple of these swaps)!
- Swap your plastic water bottle for a stainless steel or glass one.
Stainless steel water bottles are so much cuter than plastic! Plus, they don’t have all the icky chemicals plastic ones do (BPA isn’t the only harmful chemical in plastic). I have this one from Swell in Milky Way and love how pretty it is! It keeps liquids cold for 24 hours and hot for 18. Swell has so many pretty colors and patterns, plus three sizes of water bottles and other stainless steel to-go containers. Their products are great quality and I highly recommend them, but they are on the more pricier side. If you want a more budget-friendly option, you can find them literally almost anywhere else…grocery stores, drug stores, T.J. Maxx, online, you name it. Bonus points if it’s not coated in any sort of toxic paint!
I’ve also been eyeing glass ones lately. I love how you can see light shining through the pretty contents of the bottle. Like, if you make detox water or fruity tea….its so pretty! Check out this one or this one.
- Get a couple of reusable (preferably non-plastic) grocery and produce bags.
You can eat healthy without using plastic bags when shopping for produce. There are lots of options for reusable produce bags. I recently discovered ECOBAGS and am looking forward to trying some of their products! Made in the US, ECOBAGS make all kinds of bags from produce and lunch, to wine and travel. They come in different sizes and styles, plus they are all made out of 100% organic cotton so you can just throw them in the washing machine when they need to be cleaned!
- Say “no” to plastic straws.
Whenever I go to a cafe, restaurant, or friend’s house that uses straws (cringe), I always ask for “No straws, please”. Most places are very nice and accommodate the request, but sometime waiters/waitresses forget (they’re human, too). It is always worth trying!
If you are a straw person and can’t stop sucking (pun intended), I suggest keeping a reusable one or a pack of paper ones in your bag. They are affordable, sustainable, and so much cuter than plastic! These glass and stainless steel options both come with a cleaning brush, and these paper ones are just one of the many pretty options…and they’re from Amazon so who wouldn’t want to get them haha (free 2-day shipping anyone?). There are lots of options out there, so it will be easy to find one you like!
- Recycle empty makeup (& skincare) containers at Origins.
When you have used all of your foundation, mascara, facial serum, etc. take the empty containers to your nearest Origins counter (mine is in Macy’s). They have a drop box where you can deposit your empties of ANY BRAND to be recycled. I try to rinse mine as clean as I can get them before dropping them off. I seriously LOVE this about Origins! I take all of my empty containers that I’m not wanting to reuse there.
- Use glass containers and waxed paper bags instead of plastic Tupperware and plastic ziplock bags.
I say this mainly for at-home use because I know that carrying your lunch in glass containers to work/school can be very heavy and cause back/shoulder/neck pain. But for putting leftovers in, glass is perfect. I love pretty much anything from Pyrex! For sandwiches, crackers, cookies – basically anything you would put in a plastic sandwich bag – waxed paper bags are great. These ones come in a pack of 200 for less than $13 from Amazon! That should last you a while, but if you want to make them last even longer, shake any crumbs out and reuse them as long as they remain clean (I do that with any plastic baggies I use,too)!
And there you have it, my top 5 ways to go green this year. These are so easy and honestly will probably save you money in the long run. There are endless ways to make your home and lifestyle more eco-friendly, and I think that (if you haven’t done so already) 2018 is the perfect year to GO GREEN!
Questions? Have great go-green product suggestions? Leave them in the comments!
XOXO