Little Ways to be Eco Friendly

Sustainability. Environmental awareness. Some people would call these fads, but climate change is not going to be short lived. Unless we take action.

Nowadays there is lots of talk about how to save our earth. Friends talk about it, family talks about it, people post about it on social media. ‘I spent the weekend doing volunteer tree planting’, ‘I joined a stream clean up’, ‘I’m going vegan, long term’, ‘I donated to a wildlife rescue organisation’. It’s easy to feel guilty that you aren’t doing all of these things too, but the reality is they involve time, money, effort and organisational skills.

Don’t worry! You don’t have to be extreme. As an individual there are innumerable ways that you can play your part in being sustainable and preventing damage to the earth. And they don’t have to be expensive or grand, just simple changes that will reduce your carbon footprint and help you have a positive effect on the world.

So many products include plastic these days. Excessive packaging, tacky toys, single use products and more. The amount of plastic we casually use is immense, and once these products have been used they end up in overflowing landfills, their toxins leach into soil and waterways, and they pollute our oceans. Here are just a few that you can reduce the amount of plastic you use and become a more eco friendly individual.

Reusable honey food wraps:

These are a great alternative to your plastic wrap or sandwich bags. They can be used for wrapping food, covering bowls and much more. You can buy them or have fun making your own.

Reusable straws:

Have the fun and convenience of sipping from a straw, without the plastic waste. They can be stainless steel, glass or bamboo. If you go out for the day and plan to get a drink, then slip a reusable straw in your bag and you’ll be able to decline a plastic one at the counter.

Reusable containers:

Glass or plastic reusable containers are great for storing snacks, leftovers, sandwiches and more. Glass is best but even a plastic reusable container is far better than repeatedly using single use plastic such as clingfilm. They can be bought cheap from kitchen and homeware stores, Kmart or the Warehouse.

Shopping bags:

Most stores are cutting out their distribution of single use plastic bags and encouraging the use of canvas bags, so definitely jump on this trend by using canvas bags for your own shopping. (Although read here about how plastic bag alternatives may not necessarily be all they seem). Something that many supermarkets are not addressing is the plastic bags used for fresh produce. You can get net bags for your fruit and vegetable shopping and they hardly weigh anything, so won’t affect the weight of your purchase.

Portable and reusable cutlery:

If eating out is something you do often, consider carrying a small set of reusable, lightweight travel cutlery with you wherever you go, so that you can say no to plastic cutlery at the counter.

Reusable water bottles:

I often see people buying plastic water bottles such as Pump bottles, then drinking the after in them and throwing them away, often not even recycling. This is a pointless and expensive waste. It is far better to buy a drink bottle to reuse. Metal water bottles are urgently trending and come in awesome designs so you can look cool using one too.

Reusable cups:

Many cafes now offer the opportunity to have your take away drink served in your own portable, reusable travel coffee cup. Some even give you a discount for bringing your own cup. If you or your parents tend to buy drinks out then definitely use this to save waste.

Bin liners:

Another form of plastic bag is the plastic bin liner, and many families will use one every day or every couple of days. Biodegradable alternatives, having no bin liner, or using a formation of newspaper are alternatives to a plastic bin liner.

Reduce plastic packaging:

So many products are overloaded with plastic packaging these days. I remember one christmas, my cousin was gifted a novelty LOL Doll. It came in a massive plastic cylinder, and when it was cracked open many components of hard and soft plastic wraps crammed inside. When all of this was torn away a minute plastic doll remained. My cousin was so excited about her doll, but all I could do was gawk at the mountain of plastic wrap. This is so unnecessary and it also tricks you into buying products as they appear bigger. When buying products you should consider how much plastic it has and choose to buy with less or no plastic packaging. Those three crackers and three slices of cheese do not need that much plastic to contain them!

These ideas in particular are based around ditching plastic in its many forms, but there are so many other things that you can do. Use more public transport, carpool or walk/bike to reduce the emissions from so many cars; eat less meat to discourage this industry which has such a huge carbon footprint; dispose with care e.g. recycle, soft plastic recycling and compost; buy local food and grow your own; support the right products which don’t contain unsustainable palm oil or harmful chemicals; and SO MUCH MORE.

I won’t hide. I’m a bit of a hypocrite for including some of these initiatives on my post, because I admit that I don’t do all of them, but I think that if you can pick up even a few of these good habits it can make a big difference.

- Eva Wadsworth