Simple Eco-Friendly Swaps We’ve Made to Become a More Sustainable Home

Now, we’re nowhere near perfect when it comes to being a sustainable family. The truth is, I don’t think anyone can be. But, the world needs more families making small simple easy swaps to help save this planet. We don’t need a handful of people doing it perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly. There is tonnes of room for improvement for us, but I want to speak out to ‘normal families’ that you don’t to have grass for hair and own no shoes to take more care of your planet. You don’t have to be vegan or any kind of ‘hippy’.

I would love to make bigger changes in our lifestyle, but nobody can do everything. For example, I would love to swap to reusable nappies. They are hitting up a storm and I am so happy to see more and more people swapping to them. But honestly I can’t get Bradley on board with the whole idea of them, and I’m not going to make him feel uncomfortable or make him do something he doesn’t want to do. This is our child and decisions like that should be from both our parts. I have been looking into creating our own reusable wipes though out of muslin cloths to use both at home and when out and about.

Some of these swaps are pretty recent and others we’ve been doing since the day we moved in, but I hope you can find something you might consider doing in your home.

Shampoo Bars

Shampoo bars are hitting up a storm at the minute. Using one not only helps the planet but helps your head of hair too. I find using one of these leaves my hair in the best condition, like I’ve just had it washed at the salon! I remember trying one from Lush a few years back and I got on with it really well but just didn’t keep it up as I couldn’t find a scent I liked. This citrus bar from Shine has such a lovely fresh clean scent and is totally suitable for both me and Brad as he complains at scents that are too floral. Keeping it in the handy tin means it stays fresh and is easy to take away with us on holidays.

Washing Powder

Now, we definitely don’t use the most eco-friendly option, at all. But we use whats suitable for our family and what we can afford. We much prefer using laundry powder over the capsules that come in the plastic packaging. Our laundry powder comes in huge cardboard boxes, meaning they are recyclable and actually last a whole lot longer in terms of washes compared to the plastic packaged pods.

Compost Bin

Something we’ve used since we moved here a year ago. There are SO many benefits to having a compost bin and here are a few:

– You have your own ready made compost for your garden and flowers

– You’re saving food waste going into landfill 

– You’re creating a lovely little home for lots of creepy crawlies 

– You are not filling up your kitchen bin as quickly, meaning less bin liners!

Plastic Straw Alternatives

We use glass straws at home and usually out and about but we tend to not choose to use a straw at all when we’re eating out. At first I found the idea of using a glass straw strange, until I tried these from GlassStraw. It makes any drink taste SO much better. The cold refreshing feeling of drinking though the glass is something you’ve got to try. Obviously this is a brilliant alternative to using single use plastic straws, which clog up our oceans and kill sea life. You may have noticed a lot of fast food restaurants have swapped to paper straws, which can be okay as long as you drink quickly! Otherwise you’re left with a soggy bent mess. Purchasing a reusable straw means none of that!

Make up remover cloth

You might have seen me post about this on Instagram last week and that’s because I bloody love it and I’m amazed. I really had no faith in this before I tried it. Because nothing can lift mascara JUST with water. Boy I was so wrong. Somehow, only this cloth from Magnitone and water lifts of a whole face of makeup. No cleanser or micellar water. This cloth and water. Then you just throw it in the wash with the rest of your things and BAM it’s sparkling clean and ready to go again. You get two cloths in a pack, and the cloths are LARGE, I can fit four face’s of makeup on it before needing to wash it. Meaning in a pack I can get 8 washes! I had been looking for an alternative to cotton pads for a while and this is it. No more cotton pads, no more bottles of micellar water. Saving my money, and saving the planet.

Reusable Swim Nappies

Now we’ve used reusable swim nappies ever since we started taking Theodore swimming when he was 5 months old. We’ve only used disposable ones when we went on our holiday to Centreparcs and we knew we’d have no access to a washing machine to keep the nappy clean between swims. To me it was always a no brainer – why wouldn’t you? Konfidence sent me their aqua nappy to try out and this is next level reusable. It grows with your baby, with poppers and velcro you can use this all the way from birth up until 54cm waist. No having to buy new ones every 6 months and you don’t get that pre-swim worry “what if this doesn’t fit him anymore?!” because it’s full adjustable! One purchase will last you their whole nappy journey. No disposable nappies in landfill, no wasting your money over and over again. The Konfidence neo-nappies are wonderful too, made to match and are certainly the best quality of happy nappies I’ve tried with Theodore.

Plastic Free Tea

You heard me right. The majority of tea bags are made of plastic! How many cups of tea do you have a day? How many little balls of plastic are you stacking up in landfill? Have a little research of your usual go to tea brand and see what their bags are made from. Then think about the packaging they come in? A plastic bag? A box wrapped in plastic? Can you see the mounds of plastic stacking up here? teapigs are certified plastic free. No plastic in the tea bag, no plastic in the packaging. Win win. They have so many flavours to tickle your fancy, even cold brew teas. I’ve personally been loving the superfruits myself. We’ll certainly be taking some of these on our holiday with us.

Have you made any simple swaps at home like we have? Or would you like too? Let me know if there are any other extras you think we can change around our home. There are tonnes of extra small things we do including buying less plastic in terms of other household items pegs/baskets. We also try our hardest to only buy wooden toys for Theodore, meaning his toys are of better quality, last longer and are usually open ended play.

 

9 Comments

  1. July 20, 2019 / 8:36 am

    I think it’s a shame that some things are so much more expensive, to go eco friendly. But, you’ve created a list here of friendly swaps that won’t break the bank and will probably help save money, in particular using washing powder in boxes and the resuable wipes and swim nappies. I’m going to check out shine shampoo now as I’ve yet to find a bar shampoo that I like.

  2. July 21, 2019 / 8:24 am

    You’ve made some great swaps! Some I hadn’t even thought of myself! I love the idea of the make up removing cloth!

  3. July 21, 2019 / 6:10 pm

    I really want to get some good straws to keep in my bag instead of using any when I’m out and about.

  4. July 22, 2019 / 5:40 am

    I never knew about tea bags containing plastic! We too have been taking small steps especially with bathroom products and cleaning products. We can all help make a difference.

  5. July 22, 2019 / 5:53 am

    I am learning more and more about eco-friendly products to buy. My friend has just subscribed to an eco-friendly toilet roll brand, which I am hoping to give a go too.

  6. July 22, 2019 / 7:58 am

    Wow! That make up remover cloth sounds fab – definitely going to look into getting on of those! I used to use shampoo bars when I was a student so I’ll look into getting some of those again too!

  7. July 22, 2019 / 11:49 am

    What fab switches and great tips for those wanting to do the same. We are also making changes in our household too.

  8. July 23, 2019 / 11:45 am

    These are such great swaps and it’s great you’re doing your bit for the environment! I already use shampoo bars and find it abnormal using liquid shampoo now. I need to try the Magnitone cloths out and I’ll be taking a look at the glass straw – I have been using paper ones but if you leave them in your drink too long it tastes like chemicals! x

  9. August 8, 2019 / 7:11 am

    Such great swaps on your list! We love Morrisons own washing powder that comes in a box, like yours, ours isn’t the most eco friendly option in terms of the chemicals that must be in it, but like you say it works for us as a family and keeps our bill down to a normal amount!

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