Sustainable Swaps:

Easy Ways to Reduce Household Waste

 

 

We all want to make changes in our home to help produce less waste. There has been so much more awareness in recent years about the necessity for producing less garbage and making efforts to reduce our plastic use. With many countries starting to ban the use of single-use plastics, we have realized the immense impact they have had on the environment. Per year, the average Canadian produces nearly 673 kilograms of waste. The average Canadian recycles only 20% of their total waste (about 140 kilograms.) The rest of our household waste all ends up in a landfill. This is the sad reality of the current waste production and waste processing in our country. We can all take measures to help not only reduce the amount of waste we produce, but also to ensure more of our household waste is recyclable. It may seem overwhelming to figure out where to start but the truth is that by making many tiny changes, our efforts will add up to making a positive impact.

 

 

 

One of the easiest ways to reduce your household waste is to replace single-use plastics with reusable materials. More than one-third of the plastics produced in Canada are for single-use products or packaging. In Canada, about 2.8 million tones of plastic waste end up in landfills every year. You can help to be part of the solution to this problem by swapping out your single-use plastics for eco-friendly reusable replacements where possible. Some easy ways to help you reduce plastic use are:

 

 

  • Switching from single-use plastic water bottles to a reusable metal or glass alternative, or using a water filtration system (like a Brita filter) in your kitchen
  • Swapping plastic wrap used in the kitchen for reusable beeswax wrap
  • Switching from shopping with plastic bags at the grocery store to bringing your own reusable bags
  • Instead of using a plastic straw, try bringing a reusable metal straw with you
  • Switching from plastic sandwich bags to reusable silicone bags
  • Switching from using plastic takeout utensils to using your own reusable metal cutlery
  • Swapping your disposable plastic razors for a reusable metal handle
  • Swapping your plastic toothpaste tube for a reusable silicone tube (like the one in our Earthy Good DIY Toothpaste Making Kit)

 

 

Another simple way to reduce your household waste would be to choose products made from eco-friendly materials. This ensures that once you do eventually dispose of them, they are able to be composted or recycled instead of ending up in a landfill. Luckily, more companies are choosing to respond to environmentally conscious consumers’ demands for sustainable products. In 2018, shoppers in the US spent $128.5 billion on sustainable consumer goods. Sales of these types of goods had risen nearly 20% since 2014. In fact, in 2018, sales of products with sustainable attributes made up 22% of total store sales. These statistics are great because they are showing that the demand for eco-friendly products is rising as mainstream awareness of environmental issues grows. Many companies are now starting to switch out materials such as plastic and Styrofoam for more environmentally safe substitutes. This makes it much easier these days to find eco-friendly versions of day-to-day household items. Some easy swaps you can implement in your home today are:

 

 

  • Switching from single-use paper napkins to washable organic cotton napkins
  • Switching from household cleaners that contain harmful chemicals to greener versions that contain natural ingredients such as vinegar or baking soda
  • Swapping your bath pouf made from synthetic materials to a natural loofah or konjac sponge
  • Switching your plastic kitchen serving utensils to natural bamboo ones
  • Swapping single use cotton makeup pads to washable and reusable ones
  • Switching from plastic cotton swabs to reusable silicone ones
  • Switching your plastic dental floss to a natural silk or corn fiber-based floss
  • Switching your paper towels to washable cloth rolls
  • Switching your plastic and nylon fibre toothbrush to a bamboo version (like the one in our Earthy Good DIY Toothpaste Making Kit)

 

 

There are other ways to make changes to create less waste in your household. On top of substituting more eco-conscious versions of household items, you can also change some of your day-to-day activities to generate less waste. By reducing the frequency of some of your purchases, you can be less wasteful. You can do this by taking the time to make some of your own household products instead of purchasing packaged versions at the store each time. Some simple ways you can create a more eco-friendly house are:

 

 

  • Instead of eating takeout, try cooking more meals at home
  • Try using natural ingredients such as vinegar as a household surface cleaner
  • Repurpose old clothing into household cloths and rags
  • Visit second-hand or consignment stores to purchase furniture or clothing
  • Make your own gifts and eco-friendly gift wrapping for special occasions 
  • Make a fun activity out of making homemade toys or games with your children
  • Make your own dryer sheets or dryer balls
  • Make your own cosmetic products out of natural ingredients (try using our Earthy Good DIY Serenity Spa Making Kit to make a variety of homemade spa and beauty products at home!)

 

 

 

As you can see, there are so many small ways you can start your journey to reducing your household waste. Living a low-waste lifestyle doesn’t have to be very complicated, it can be achieved by simply making tiny adjustments each day. At Earthy Good, we strive to be part of the sustainable lifestyle by ensuring all of our products are made from natural, eco-friendly ingredients. All our products are housed in containers that are meant to be re-used and re-purposed such as tins and glass bottles. Also, all our packaging is low-waste and made from environmentally friendly materials such as cardboard and wildflower seed paper. You can read more about our packaging here. We want Earthy Good’s line of products to be part of the solution, not the problem so we have made sustainability our highest priority.