As you learn more about the harmful consequences of climate change, you might wonder if there’s anything you can do to care for the earth a little more. It’s always beneficial to start practicing more eco-friendly habits.
But where do you start? When learning how to be more eco-friendly, it’s important to start small. You want to incorporate these habits into your daily life, which takes time.
Find an area of your life that is easy to change. Or, pair an eco-friendly habit with another healthy habit you’re trying to adapt.
For example, if you want to drink more water, you can practice carrying a reusable water bottle with you everywhere you go.
Whatever areas of your life you decide to make more earth-friendly, there’s a variety of options to consider practicing. Keep reading to learn more about some of the top eco-friendly lifestyle changes.
House Cleaning Products
There’s an alternative cleaning product for almost every harmful chemical product. Plus, many earth-conscious cleaning products are scented with essential oils, so they make your home smell amazing.
You can also make some natural cleaning products out of items already in your home. The recipes are usually simple and don’t require a lot of time.
Using cleaning products that are gentle on the environment not only helps protect the planet, but it’s often healthier for kids and pets, too. But, as always, check the ingredients before letting a child or pet help you clean.
Toilet Paper
Instead of buying toilet paper made from trees that take decades to grow back, consider purchasing bamboo toilet paper.
Bamboo grows at a much quicker rate and can better keep up with paper demands. And it can do so without desecrating as much wildlife habitat.
Shampoo and Conditioner
You can find similar products for all your hair and body wash needs that are eco-friendly. Biodegradable shampoos are also much less harmful to wildlife and waterways.
Again, the companies that sell earth-conscious products make an extra effort to make sure they are good for your body, as well as the planet.
Gift Wrapping
Eco-friendly packaging isn’t as hard to come by as you might think. Instead of stocking up on rolls of gift wrap that you’ll rarely use, consider wrapping gifts in recycled paper.
You can use paper bags or reuse old gift wrap. If you’re worried about brown paper bag wrapping looking boring, it’s a perfect opportunity to stretch your creative muscles and get decorating.
Water Bottles
As mentioned above, buying a reusable water bottle is a great way to encourage yourself to drink more water.
You might try to buy one that is transportable, so you can bring it everywhere, even on airplanes. While you may not be able to bring it into the airport full of water, you can bring an empty one that you can fill once you get past security.
Given that single-use plastic water bottles pile up in oceans and end up hurting aquatic life, you could quite literally save lives with this simple lifestyle change.
Reusable Straws
Single-use straws are another common item that ends up floating in the ocean.
Consider bringing a reusable straw when you go to restaurants and wish to use a straw. You can even find collapsible straws that pack up and attach to your keychain for easy transportation.
Compost Bin
Using a compost bin for food scraps can not only provide healthy mulch for your garden, but it can also make your trashcan smell less.
Small compost bins can be kept right in your kitchen and then brought out to a bigger compost area outside. Even if you decide not to use your compost for gardening, it can biodegrade or provide nutrients for insects and worms.
Freeze Fruits and Veggies
Learning to be more eco-friendly also involves recognizing what waste you’re creating without even thinking.
When you go grocery shopping, do you find yourself often buying more than you will use in a week or two? Do you often clean out your fridge and find expired items and rotting fruits and vegetables?
Instead of letting food go to waste, purchase fruits and vegetables to freeze at peak ripeness. Then, all the nutrients will be stored inside, and you can thaw them when you’re ready to cook with them.
These items are also known as IQF foods. To learn more about the benefits of this practice, read this article.
Clothing Purchases
Your eco-friendly habits can also extend to clothing and gift purchases. Make sure to research the brands that you regularly buy from. Some companies make a real effort to support the environment by creating quality clothes.
Depending on which brand you buy from, the clothing may be durable and last for years, which reduces textile waste. Or, other retail brands create clothing from recycled materials, which is even better.
But be aware of brands that greenwash.
Some businesses will promote an eco-friendly mindset without actually backing it up with the actions behind the scenes. Again, do your research and find ethical brands that care about the earth as much as you do.
How to Be More Eco-Friendly
If you have wondered how to be more eco-friendly for a while now, it’s time to commit to some of the changes you’ve been thinking about. It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, and it is a small step to preserving the planet.
For more ideas on how you can build a healthy lifestyle and support a healthy planet, take a moment to explore our page.
