Eco friendly swaps - intermediate/advanced

[XjustagirlX]

Hi

I’ve been on my eco journey for a couple of years now. I’ve already used up and swapped most of my kitchen and bathroom items for eco versions. I keep going through my rubbish to see what I can replace for more eco friendly versions. I’m reducing my meat consumption. We only have one car and will replace with electric after a few years. Milk delivered. I buy most of my food from the local zero waste shop. I’m with a green energy supplier.

I’m trying to find inspiration for my next steps which people don’t really talk about or are less well known. Every time I research eco swaps I get the standard items which I have already changed (coffee cups, reusable water bottle, plastic bags etc). Does anyone have any tips they would like to share?

Also I like to buy from businesses who are trying to do some good in the world. Does anyone have any small businesses or causes worth sharing?

The reason I post this is because I recently read on Mumsnet about changing banks to an ethical bank. I had never even considered this!

TIA

The hardest but probably most effective change I’ve made is the reduce part. So just not buying and consuming as much of anything. I think once you’ve gone through all the obvious ones and made your choices about changes you’re not prepared to make (mine is keeping to conventional deodorant I’ve spent far too much money and far too much time being a bit sweaty) then it’s probably the most positive impact you can make.

It is difficult though as even though I do have a tendency to be a little minimalist it’s difficult not to buy something you would like/use/make your life easier.

So many good ideas above, thanks OP, have bookmarked!

• If you menstruate - period pants or other resusable san pro.
• paper tape for gift wrap and parcels.
• compostable loofah's for washing up e.g www.etsy.com/shop/alrightmyloofah/

-depending on where you live, using any old bags (e.g from bread, shopping bags etc) in council food collection bin - they don't need to be compostable where I live.

I am planning on having an eco Christmas this year. I’m buying less presents and will buy more experiences or consumables (alcohol, local treats). And buy one present instead of lots of little ones. I already wrap in brown paper but I’m going to look into reuseable bags for immediate family.

We also moved from gousto to able and Cole for our food delivery as it is mainly organic. I can’t quite go vegan just yet. But that is the goal eventually.

I downloaded tree app which plants a tree a day to help offset carbon footprint.

I’m used to going on holidays abroad but I am researching U.K. holidays for next year.

I’m also going through an exercise to delete old emails. I had no idea how much energy they used.

Thanks for everyone’s tips. Keep them coming

I forgot to add, does anyone have any tips for toothpaste? I’m anxious about moving from our usual sensodyne to toothpaste tablets. I don’t want to mess up the health of my teeth.

I’ve also been through my wardrobe and picked out clothes I like but they are not quite right anymore. For example, they need altering or fixing holes or dyeing a different colour.

I’m going to take them all to a seamstress to alter and then I can wear them again.

When you say your worried about toothpaste, is fluoride the issue? Lots of the ‘green’ toothpaste doesn’t contain fluoride.
Fluoride is added to water at different levels in different localities so it might be worth checking if you have fluoridated water anyhow.

An Eco Christmas sounds good! I think I might campaign for this in my house.
We normally buy whatever hunk of meat is reduced to a fiver on xmas eve anyhow, and view this as avoiding food waste.... but is it really???
If the supermarkets rely on us sweeping up cheap bargains in order to ‘avoid waste’ are we not propping up their wasteful system?

However I really don’t know how I will wean DP off bargains.

@Igneo I’m worried from moving from a well known toothpaste brand to a smaller brand as I don’t yet trust that the toothpaste tablets have all the ingredients to help the health of my teeth. My understanding was that fluoride is better to be in toothpaste though?see I know nothing about it

This weekend I have been trying to find eco Christmas cards. It’s so difficult. I don’t want to pay £££ for ones of Etsy as I have about 25 to buy for different family members. I was checking the back of each card and so many of them were not recyclable. I’ve managed to get about half of them so far.

So long as they're not glittery or have plastic on them I'm sure they can be recycled? I mean the best option would be just don't send them... They have put a stop to them in my kids' primary school to avoid all the unnecessary waste.

So many Christmas cards have glitter on them which is why it was so hard to find recyclable ones. A lot of them said they weren’t recyclable and they were like shiny card instead of paper card.

All of my cards I buy are key family members. I don’t have children so no school cards and I don’t send cards to friends.

I was discussing with my husband that we might buy a big card for us and then we can just add a new message to the same card each year. Hopefully that would be a lovely thing to have after a few years.

I don't see how any of the rich and greedy banks could be considered eco.

Use pearl barley instead of rice. It is locally grown, so there is a smaller carbon footprint from transport. It doesn't release methane into the atmosphere. It is cheaper than rice. It has fewer carbohydrates than rice, so is better for your health. For us, there is the added bonus that our local organic shop sells pearl barley so we can buy it in paper instead of plastic. Pearl barley needs to soak for ten minutes before you boil it or you will need to boil it for a longer time than rice.

Switch to compostable bin bags.