With the environmental effects of consumer culture and wasteful practices becoming ever apparent, many people are looking for ways to live more sustainably.
The following ideas focus on making small changes that are easy to maintain, encouraging the development of a long-term eco-friendly lifestyle.
Begin with a ‘waste audit’
Conducting a ‘waste audit’ is simple: keep all household waste for a set time and separate by material. You can use this method to identify problem areas.
If most of the waste is food packaging, then look to address your grocery shopping habits. Mostly beauty or hygiene product empties? The bathroom is your first target.
Turn off taps and showers between rinses
Water conservation is often overlooked when examining ways to reduce household waste, but doing so saves energy and relieves pressure on the sewerage system.
Reducing your shower time by two minutes can save 30 litres of water, so consider turning off the flow when applying soap or hair products.
You could also collect the cold water that runs through initially, while waiting for the water to heat up. This can be used for household cleaning, watering plants, or even flushing the toilet.
Save and reuse glass jars
Glass jars can be repurposed as storage for dry goods, such as pulses and grains, or upcycled with ribbon or recycled card into candle holders or decorative coin jars.
You could also fill a jar with solar-powered fairy lights for dinner table ambience, as seasonal decorations, or eco-friendly nightlights for children.
Plastic-free beauty regimes
As consumer habits drive change, companies are increasingly addressing the waste generated by makeup and other beauty products.
Some large retailers have recycling schemes for empties, while cosmetics companies have begun selling refillable products in metal or wooden casing.
You could try using natural cotton or bamboo pads for your cleansing routine. In addition, you could round off a sustainable dressing table with:
- wooden or metal haircare tools, such as combs and hairbrushes
- wooden makeup brushes with natural fibres
Lunchbox essentials
A ‘to-go’ kit made up of a refillable water bottle, reusable straw, a metal lunchbox, and non-plastic cutlery, will allow you to eat away from home without the waste footprint that ‘convenience’ often introduces.
Even if you are unable to bring food from home, refusing disposable straws and cutlery, even those that are paper- or plant-based, will help reduce the billions of straws discarded every year in the UK.
Sustainable self-care
Soap, shampoo, and conditioner in bar form reduce plastic bottle waste. They also tend to use more natural ingredients, introducing fewer chemicals to both skin and drainage systems.
Disposable razors and changeable blades are a consistent source of non-recyclable household waste. A cost-effective sustainable swap to reusable, plastic-free safety razors will mean the handles do not need replacing unless damaged, while the blades themselves will be recyclable.
Many millions of toothpaste tubes and plastic toothbrushes are also thrown away in the UK each year. A natural, wooden toothbrush, and toothpaste or tooth tablets in glass jars, can help reduce this issue.
Shop for food according to recipes
Food waste from UK businesses and households totals in the tens of millions of tonnes annually. This includes inedible peelings and scraps that could be composted rather than discarded. Reducing food waste also conserves the land, water, and resources used to grow and ship it.
Check cupboards and fridges before shopping, and make a list based on recipes for planned meals to avoid overbuying. Bulk buy herbs and spices – these can be stored in repurposed glass jars or grown fresh to reduce food packaging waste.
Turn off lights and unplug devices not in use
Much of our energy is still generated by fossil fuels, which often requires further exploration and environmental destruction to acquire.
Simple ways to conserve energy include:
- choosing efficient appliances
- only running full washing machines or dishwashers
- using energy-saving lightbulbs
Ready-to-wake devices such as voice assistants consume power while ‘asleep’. You could unplug these until needed or while away from home.
Repair clothes instead of throwing them away
The amount of global textile waste sent to landfill is equivalent to a dust cart full of clothes every second.
Buying second-hand saves landfill waste and conserves the water and resources used in manufacturing new clothing. Learning simple fixes for light damage, such as holes or tears, also improves the longevity of clothing.
Rely on natural materials over synthetics
Waste generated by common, everyday items can easily be overlooked. For example, a plastic-based kitchen sponge releases microplastics into water during use, before the sponge itself is discarded as waste.
Microplastics from items like these pollute waterways and the wider environment. Though the long-term health effects are unknown, the environmental impact of plastic is evident. The amount of microplastics in soil and water means a total clean-up is unlikely.
Long-term waste reduction
An entirely zero-waste lifestyle may seem daunting, but small changes help over time. With a bit of mindfulness, you too can become a more conscious consumer and live more sustainably.
At FOOGO green we seek to balance the environmental impact of our products with the need for convenience. Our 100% natural and home compostable dinnerware allows you to host events with sustainable style, while reducing the waste you create.