3 Areas of Your Home Where Sustainability is Simple

Let’s begin the discussion by saying that making sustainable choices can start by changing even the smallest of lifestyle habits. One can also choose to make a larger shift in how you manage your entire home. Be patient with yourself and your home. Finding the right substitutions for things you may have been using for years will take time and energy. 

• Does this mean removing plastics from your family’s food prep?
• Creating a clean and organized space in your bathroom?
• Finding new ways to save money each month?
• Joining a community garden and harvesting your own food? 

There are many paths to take when it comes to the journey of sustainability. Feel into your goals and weigh how much energy you have to dedicate to making some lasting changes.

Below are the 3 areas of the home that I feel are the easiest places to start.

1.     The Kitchen

Simple Swaps:

• Bento boxes for lunches is an easy one and reusable snacks bags are a great addition to this routine.
• Old glass pasta sauce, jam, and mason jars are perfect for storing leftovers, and assisting with meal prep, instead of plastic storage containers.
• Reusable Swedish dishcloths or simple wash cloths are more effective at clean-up and save you $$ on paper towels.
•  Silicon bowl covers are cleaner, healthier and more cost effective than plastic wrap.  

For those with a bit more energy:

•  Reusable apple sauce pouches instead of the single-use pouches can be a money saver and better for our landfills.
• Homemade all-purpose cleaning spray is simple and I have the how-to here:  Lemon Vinegar All-Purpose Cleaner

2.     The Bathroom

Simple Swaps:

• Bamboo Toothbrush is an easy purchase from your local grocer or health food store.
• Refillable hand soap dispensers are prettier, and you can find a soap brand that uses metal for their refill bottles vs plastic.
• Eco-friendly and refillable dental floss like CocoFloss is made from recycled plastic water bottles, uses 94% less water during production and has a simple, affordable subscription so it’s off your mind.  
• Bar shampoo. We know this one is not for everyone but give it a try and you might be surprised. Plus, it helps you cut a ton of plastic out yearly.

3.     Laundry Room

Simple Swaps:

• Detergent sheets are making it totally unnecessary to purchase the large plastic jugs that take up valuable space in your laundry room.
• Dryer balls help dry your laundry faster, can be used with any of your favorite essential oil scents, and can last for 1,000 washes.
• This stain stick from Grove works wonders, is affordable, comes packaged in cardboard, and takes up virtually no space on your laundry counter.

Sustainability, like home organizing, is a practice not a project. It will take effort, trial and error and time to make it work for you. Mother Earth is begging each of us to take a stand for less plastic, less waste and less over consumption. When each of us does one small part, it adds up to a huge worldwide impact.