As we have entered the new year in our current pandemic state, there is a shift of awareness or consciousness that is trending across our cultures, globally. We have become more and more aware of living clean, wanting cleaner skies, oceans, earth and well healthier bodies right?
When we are environmentally aware, we are not only creating a better cleaner future for ourselves and our children but we are actually creating a healthier environment for our bodies to thrive in.
By living consciously we can navigate our focus inline with Mother Earth, now how can we go about that?
Here is some tips
Buy Re-usable bamboo based dish sponge or brush
Avoid using plastic or dish sponges anywhere where possible, even if you have a few uses out of it, and is not single use plastic, there is still manufacturing process of making the plastic goods which does carry a certain amount of carbon footprint.
Using bamboo based or other eco based products that are re-usable you are not only just saving money but you are also saving the planet. Most of the eco re-unusable sponges or brushes are a life long commitment! Yep they last a really really long time! Which is easy on the wallet and our planet.
Re-usable make up wipers
Yep! They are amazing and much cheaper! Plus a lot more gentle on your skin!
Re-usable kitchen roll
Oh yes! They are a thing, and they are brilliant too, a sheet of kitchen roll can be washed and re-used several times before you throw it away, the best thing is that they are biodegradable so when the time comes to throw it away, u can just pop it into your compost! If you have not got a compost yet, read my Blog on how to make one! It is dead easy and actually quite fun.
Use bamboo toothbrush
With their naturally anti bacterial benefits and naturally and environmentally sourced products, it is not only cutting Co2 but also supporting the right businesses and sending the right message of our demands for ethically sourced products. I love the saying ‘’is just one toothbrush, said 7.2 billion people’’
Use toothpaste tablets
I know crazy concept but you know what, I have been using them for several months now and I can hands down tell you they are so much better than tooth ‘paste’. They come in environmental friendly packaging and natural ingredients. Traditional toothpastes packaging are non-recyclable which allows them to end up in landfills, due to their inner aluminium lining and their plastic outer coat they are hard to recycle or to re-use for anything else.
Buy Soap Bars over bottled soap
Soap bars do exactly the same job of washing debris of the skin but they come in minimal environmentally friendly recyclable packaging.
Using a Cup and/or Re-usable pads for your periods
The Cups are absolutely amazing, you can wear them all day without having to change it every few hours like a tampon and they are easy on the wallet as you only have to purchase them once!
The re-suable pads just feel like your wearing slightly thicker underwear, they come in different sizes, different shapes, colours and fabrics! So you can pick the perfect one for you. Talking from experience, I feel that they have given me more security during my period and I found them to be rather comfortable.
Re-usable Toilet paper
Now I know this sounds disgusting, and trust me I have had my own reservations on them, but here is what I decided is best, as a women who drinks lots and lots of herbal teas (oops) I tend to take quite a few trips to the loo for just numbers 1s, so decided to use my bamboo based re-usable toilet paper for my number 1s and use normal recycled and environmentally friendly toilet paper for number 2s. It has worked like a treat because I get to safe a lot of money on toilet paper and saving the environment at the same time.
Now that we have touched up on some fo the re-usable household goods, let’s talk about general waste and how to manage that.
Plastic is the number one threat to our skies, ocean and number one contributor to global warming. So here is what I do, being vegan I don’t eat meat, dairy or eggs. So my main diet consists of whole foods, such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, apples, strawberries etc. and whenever I go to the supermarket all of these products are packaged in plastic, single use plastic, plastic that will go into the bin minutes after coming home and then lands in landfills. Now imagine all 7.2 billion people doing this every single week when they go shopping! Crazy right?!
So here is the solution;
Shop at farmers markets, or farmers shops or the little grocery whole foods store, most of their foods are unpacked and you get to take your own shopping bag or container with you. What’s great about these shops/markets is that the food is fresh, sometimes even local and grown with love, over commercially based GMO infused foods.
Look for products with the recycle sign on them, for instance I have 3 dogs, I use to buy a bag of dog food where the packaging wasn’t recyclable, and I was buying a bag a week, that’s 4 bags a months, 48 bags a year ending up in the landfills. So I started to look for dog foods that have recycle packaging, I made the switch and pay about the same amount of money for the product, and I get to feed my dogs in peace of mind knowing at the end of the bag, it will just get recycled into a another bag :)
So look for packaging that is recyclable, the truth is, it’s out there, and we the people with money have the power, and where we choose to spend it is what will change and shape our future.
Together we can live more consciously, create an environment that tells businesses what we the consumers are willing to stand by, and what we are willing to accept. Together we can send the message of wanting more sustainability and environmentally friendly products and packaging and all we need to do is shop a little more consciously!
Namaste,
The Earth Healer