Friday 14 August 2015

Little ways to save... the environment and your pocket

I'm always trying to reduce our household eco footprint and off the back of Plastic Free July, which aimed to raise awareness about the amount of single use plastic, I'm even more determined to do what I can to reduce house hold waste. A good friend of mine took the challenge and updated regularly about how she was doing. It was a bit of an eye opener to see how much in our daily life is single use only, and people just accept it.

See, it turns out that single use plastic is everywhere - it's in plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups, straws, food packaging... I could go on and on. It's not just plastic that I find really wasteful, but I find that society these days is always chasing the next big thing, upgrading gadgets to something bigger and better. I was raised to be frugal, and so I'm sort of ok using my current things until they're old and threadbare and then mending them and using them a bit longer instead of just throwing them away and getting something new.

Really, it's just as easy to choose reusable alternatives, to make do with what you have, to be a little self sufficient and as well as helping the environment, this can sometimes have the added benefit of helping to save you money. Who doesn't like having a bit of extra cash in your own pocket right?
Here are 10 little ways that I save with very little extra effort.
  • Instead of buying water to drink while out, I have gotten into the habit of carrying my own water bottle around
  • Instead of using disposable nappies, I use cloth nappies. Babies go through so many clothes and cloths, it really is no extra effort to wash nappies as well. This can also extend into other cloth items, such as tea towels and cloths instead of paper towels and disposable dish cloths. Using hand towels instead of paper towels
  • Instead of plastic straws, I have a glass one. Mine actually lives in my water bottle that I carry around with me anyway
  • Instead of throwing out vegetable peelings, I compost them or feed them to chickens
  • Instead of putting paper and cardboard into the recycling bin, I shred it and add it to the compost heap. For thick cardboard boxes or newspapers, I lay these down when I redo the garden beds to stop weeds from growing
  • Instead of doing grocery shopping daily, I write a regular meal plan and do the grocery list at the same time. If it's not on the list, I don't buy it! I make sure that I have the meals organised to take advantage of what is freshest and already cooked. This has the added benefit of everyone knowing what's for dinner so you can avoid takeaway on those indecisive notes
  • Instead of buying produce, I reduce cost and food miles by growing my own. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I'm proud of every food item I produce, and my children love helping in the garden
  • Instead of buying bread that is mass produced and tasteless, I bake my own. I have grown to love the process of waking the starter, feeding the dough and I'm chuffed to know exactly what goes into my bread and have it taste exactly the way I want it
  • Speaking of baking, I love to cook. I love to make my own food to my tastes and to know exactly what goes into it. I can use quality ingredients and make something really tasty that is superior to anything I could buy
  • When something breaks, I like to mend it, or repurpose it for something else. Like the time my wheat pack burst, and instead of throwing it out, I used a pair of my husbands worn out pants to sew a new cover
  • I like to sew my own clothes and other household items. This lets me reuse material, but for some items, a cover can help it last a little longer so you don't need to replace it
I'd love to hear in the comments little ways that you save!

3 comments:

  1. I love this list of ideas :-) We do some (I always have a water bottle with me, also use a glass straw, and we mend clothes and try to DIY things both in the kitchen and around the house) but there are others I'd like to try when we have a garden, and I think it's always nice to be reminded to try and make do rather than buy new.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post :))))
    Anjelica
    fashion-fitness-food.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I want to get back into baking my own bread again. There are some great thrifty tips here.

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