My Top Five Eco-Friendly Purchases
One thing that everyone seems to be talking about lately, and rightfully so, is how we can be more eco-friendly & conscious of how what we do & things we buy affects the environment. This is something that is personally on the top of my list of important things, right next to being kind to animals. I know it seems like the world is against you all the time, and people are constantly looking to beat you down every time you aren’t doing zero-waste, or veganism, or whatever it may be, perfectly, but I’m here to tell you two things:
1) I will never judge someone who is learning these new things & trying to better themselves. I’ve been vegetarian for about five years, and on a journey of being cruelty-free for almost the same amount of time now, and it’s something that I’m still working towards all the time. It’s a hard transition to make, and it doesn’t happen over night, so if anyone is ever looking for words of encouragement, or interested in asking what I know, I’m an open book and here to help!
And 2) I saw a quote that went a little something like, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero-waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing zero-waste imperfectly”, and that is true of everything from zero-waste to veganism, and everything in between. Remember that when you’re on your journey! The goal is to improve, not be perfect.
So, if you’re reading this because you’re someone who’s looking to make improvements in your life, and lead a more a more conscious lifestyle, I’m here to share my personal favourite, top five eco-friendly products I’ve purchased:
Reusable Make Up Removing Cotton Pads
This one is actually pretty new to me. I didn’t realize that reusable make up removing cotton pads were something that I could buy, and it honestly never occurred to me that my cotton pads were going in the garbage and being wasteful. Of course, it’s garbage - that I knew, but I always thought “well, they’ll break down, they’re natural”, but regardless of that, I was happy to find something that I could reuse and reduce on the amount of waste I throw out.
I’ve purchased two different sets of make up removing pads. One is from Freon Collective - they are a typical cotton pad sized round, and because I chose to purchase them in a light colour, this is what I use to apply my toner in the morning and evening. The second set I’ve bought are from Terra20, and they are slightly larger than your average cotton round. I use these ones to remove my eye make up since they’re plain, I’m less concerned about staining them with my eye make up when I remove it. After I remove my eye make up, I run them under the sink with a little splash of soap just to get the heavy eye make up staining out, and use my washer bag that comes with the Freon Collective pads to put them in. With my Freon Collective ones, I just put them directly in the bag because there’s no staining from applying toner. Once it’s the end of the week, and time to do the laundry, I take the bag and toss it in the wash with my towels. Easy peasy!
For myself personally, replacing regular cotton pads with these has made it that I no longer throw out 4-5 of regular disposable cotton pads on a daily basis, between my skin care regiment and removing my make up, which when you calculate it, if I wore make up every day for a year, saves 1460 to 1825 cotton rounds from going in the trash a year, which is a fantastic improvement if you ask me!
Reusable Stasher Silicone “Plastic” Bags
I am absolutely obsessed with the Stasher silicone reusable bags to replace plastic bags for both food storage, and my lunches. Stasher bags come in various sizes including snack, sandwich, half gallon, and even pocket sized & standing bags. The snack and sandwich sized bags are what I opt to put my fruits & vegetables in to store in the fridge or even crackers to bring in my lunch. I generally use my half gallon bag to keep larger vegetables or larger quantities of fruits or veggies in, and sometimes, when I buy salmon, I’ll even put the salmon in there too.
Another great plus to these bags is that they are dishwasher safe (which is how I recommend cleaning them, if you can, since the zipper has lots of crevices that a dishwasher can reach better), and they are also freezer safe, and are even heat safe so you can put it in the microwave or a boiling pot of water. The only downside to these bags, is because they’re silicone, they of course carry a silicone smell & taste - yes, taste. I don’t necessarily recommend using these to store things that absorb smells around it like cheese or soft breads. For cheese & bread, I generally would opt for a fabric reusable bag, or beeswax reusable wrap.
Reusable Metal Straw
Yeah, I’m on the bandwagon of the reusable metal straws. Now, if I’m being perfectly honest, I actually don’t end up taking this out too often because I don’t generally buy drinks like iced coffees, and most restaurants where I live have changed to either no straws, or paper straws. However, I’m always thankful to have my straw on hand, and I totally recommend grabbing one. It’s an easy thing to pick up, and of course, like I said, the more people doing what they can, the better.
Reusable Lunch Containers & Accessories
This one seems pretty obvious, and something that a lot of people have been doing for a long time, but I promise it’s not as common as you may think. I used to be really guilty of buying those packages of 4 or 6 yogurt containers, and individually wrapped cheese, and I never really cared about how much garbage I was throwing out. That all changed, and I’m glad it did. I can’t say it’s completely plastic free, because the lids of my containers are plastic, and of course, lots of food comes wrapped in plastic, but it’s an improvement, and it’s an improvement I’m proud of! Here are the containers & accessories I use daily to keep my lunch as waste-free as possible:
I purchased my daily reusable glass containers with plastic lids from Ikea. They’re great since they’re reusable, and affordable! They also come in various sizes and shapes, but I went for a rectangular shape that could fit a good sized meal in it.
I have a glass container with a metal lid that I also use daily, which I purchased from Chapters Indigo (no longer available, similar product linked here). It is a small mason jar-like container, that I usually fill with either small snacks like crackers, but most often it’s filled with yogurt.
Another container I’ve purchased from Chapters Indigo (no longer available, similar product linked here), is an Ever Eco stainless steel, 3 compartment container. I fill this up daily with fruits, vegetables & cheese!
Lastly, my favourite purchase of all, is my cutlery from Klikk. It features a fork, spoon & knife that all click together to stay compact, but it is reusable, and is biodegradable at the end of it’s life!
Eco-Friendly (+ Cruelty Free) Household Cleaners
Last, but most definitely not least - household cleaning products. For a bit of a back story, I went through a phase when I was about 10 or 11 years old where I was petrified of household cleaners or anything that could be toxic if I consumed it - don’t ask me why, I was not throwing Windex in my cereal - I mean, let’s be honest, it’s probably not super far out there to be a little freaked out by those products since they’re loaded with chemicals. Now I will definitely touch & use it if I have to, but I still don’t love it, so over the years as eco-friendly household products have come out, I’ve been so thrilled, and on board with it. To get you started, here are some great brands to check out, and are available to be purchased online:
EcoBar at Terra20, which offers an All Purpose Spray, Glass/Window Cleaner, Hard Floor Surface Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, Dish Washing Liquid, Liquid Laundry Cleaner & Fabric Softener.
Saje Natural Wellness, which offers Bathroom Cleaner, Glass Cleaner, Dish Washing Liquid, All Purpose Cleaner, Sweet Sheets Laundry Blend (apply to wool dryer balls) and Linen & Fabric Spray.
Method, which offers All Purpose Cleaner, All Purpose Cleaning Wipes, Anti-Bacterial Cleaner, Bathroom Cleaner, Floor Cleaner, Specialty Surface Cleaner, Laundry Detergent, Laundry Liquid, Dryer Sheets, Fabric Softener, Fragrance Booster, Stain Remover, Dish Soap & Dishwasher Soap.
I promise, if you decide to make the switch to a more natural, and eco-friendly household cleaner, you’re going to feel a lot better both consciously, and you’ll quickly notice how chemically your other regular household cleaners smell - especially when you walk down the cleaning aisle of the store. Most of these products are not much more expensive than a usual cleaner as well, so it won’t be too hard on your bank account.
Phew! That was another long one. I hope this gave you a little push to get to the store and invest in some awesome, reusable & eco-friendly pieces to add into your every day life, and like I said, this is 100% a judgement free zone, no matter what stage of your journey you’re at, because well, I’m still not at the finish line of any of my journeys either! Also, I apologize for the sad photos - we’ve had nothing but rain for like, a week so all of the photos look very cloudy & depressing. Here’s to the next one!
