Today, I'm sharing 5 green changes I've made over the last handful of months, and thought with Earth Day right around the corner that now would be just the right time to highlight them. My consciousness over climate change has been heightened 100 fold after reading this book, which was so (scarily) eye opening and such a page turning read. I can't recommend it enough.
Let me know if you too have made any of the changes, above! If you have other simple changes to share, please do! Sometimes changing one small habit is all it takes to make a positive change for the environment. Happy Earth Day, friends!
1. I've finally jumped aboard the reusable grocery bags train, which is one of the easiest changes you too can make! On the days I forget them, for whatever reason, I make 100% sure to take my plastic bags back to the recycling bins placed outside the grocery store. They also accept produce bags, Amazon packaging, and plastic bags from other stores.
2. Diva Cup: This one's self explanatory and I won't go into more detail here, except to say that it is worth ALL the hype. Absolutely no waste, and so much less risk than traditional tampons, which go straight to the landfill and are non-biodegradable.
3. The book above mentioned that a third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste. When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to
grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And if food goes to the
landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas even more potent
than carbon dioxide. Which really made me pay more attention to how much we were throwing away every week. This one is considerably difficult with 2 picky toddlers, but I've truly come to make the amount of food I think they will ACTUALLY eat. If they want more, I make more at that time. I've also always been a bit of a vegetarian and don't eat meat often, but even Matt has cut it way back. Which is better for us and better for the earth alike. Finally, it's also very beneficial to buy local produce, especially with farmers markets starting to pop up in the warmer weather months.
4. Recycling the right way. Which means only including items that are accepted and rinsing cans and jars and reattaching lids. The entire recycling batch can go to waste if one person doesn't follow the rules. Also, fine print on packaging or a simple internet search will sometimes provide you with a recycling program for items (often with a prepaid label provided for free shipping) that aren't accepted into your local recycling collection. Examples: Crayola markers and GoGo Squeeze Pouches. Take advantage of these!
5. Two of my recent and now most used items are reusable ziplock bags and a reusable water bottle that I love. The ziplocks go into the kids' lunches or thrown into my purse on weekends when we're heading out for the day. They're washable and durable, and save us from tossing so. much. plastic. Similarly, I used to drink sparkling water by the case, and while I recycled the cans, it was pricey and still produced waste. I now fill my water bottle to the top and add lemon juice, and drink it throughout the day.
Let me know if you too have made any of the changes, above! If you have other simple changes to share, please do! Sometimes changing one small habit is all it takes to make a positive change for the environment. Happy Earth Day, friends!
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