5 Easy Sustainable Swaps

SUSTAINIBILITY

Sustainability is a growing buzzword in our society at present and it is an ever-present reminder that we all should be somewhat responsible for thinking more consciously about our lifestyle and question, is it living in a way to support the rapidly evolving climate change? Let's be honest, the list of sustainable swaps is never ending - but here are 5 simple swaps - that I have also taken up in recent years - for you to try!

1. Bamboo Toothbrush - Plastic toothbrushes are one of many products that are contributing to our landfills each year. According to research by Foreo, 1 billion toothbrushes are thrown away annually in the United States. This is 50 million pounds of waste added to landfills. Relating this further, if we assume that people change their toothbrush roughly every three months, that means we’re throwing away about 200 million plastic toothbrushes each year in the UK. One way of combatting that is through using a bamboo toothbrush which is biodegradable and can be put in the compost. These are available simply on amazon and also in lots of plastic free shops.

2. Reusable face pads - Cotton face pads aren't plastic so must be okay right? Well not quite, according to WWF the production and processing of cotton uses a large amount of water. Some experts state that cotton is the largest user of water among all agricultural commodities. "The conventional production of cotton uses substantial fertilizers and pesticides. Pesticides threaten the quality of soil and water, as well as the health of biodiversity in and downstream from the fields. This can also lead to the heavy use of pesticides which raises concern for the health of farm workers and nearby populations". Therefore, lets swap our cotton pads for reusable ones that you can simply stick in the washing machine! These can also be purchased on amazon or plastic free shops!

3. Wax food wraps (either with soy or beeswax) - Cling film may or may not be an obvious source of plastic waste. It is one of the most common sources of plastic waste. "Cling film is difficult to recycle, information about where specific types of cling film can be recycled is hard to find, meaning the majority of it still ends up in landfill where it takes hundreds of years to degrade and risks leaching chemicals into groundwater". Using soy or beeswax wraps are a super easy alternative to using cling film, they are easy to use and clean - and avoid that annoying point of losing the end in your cling film roll and having to sit for ages to find it! I bought mine off Etsy, but you can buy them in places like Lakeland or other online shops.

4. Reusable water bottle - Sounds a simple one by now doesn't it? However, when you pick up even just 1 plastic water bottle, remember that these water bottles aren't biodegradable and instead, "a combination of the sun’s energy and environmental factors like rain will continue to degrade plastic down into smaller and smaller pieces". These pieces of plastic (also known as microplastics) will always remain on Earth as plastic, meaning that all animals, even one's as small as plankton can ingest these microplastics. I have a Chilly's bottle as I love the fact it keeps water cold for so long! However there are loads of different brands out there for you to choose from!

5. Reusable coffee cup - A paper by UBC states that, every year billions of single-use coffee cups are being used and thrown into the landfill. The disposal of the single-use coffee cups is the most complex issue of the life-cycle. This is due to the polyethylene layer around the coffee cup which renders it difficult to separate the plastic lining from the paper layer which renders the paper cups challenging to recycle. Many coffee shops encourage their customers to bring their own reusable coffee cups by offering an incentive of money off their coffee by using them! This has been restricted by the covid-19 pandemic but it will hopefully not be long until we can start using them again for our coffee's out! I love my glass Keep-cup, but there are also a huge amount of options out there to choose from!

Lots of Love

Ruth xxx