Our less-than-sustainable daily choices can have negative effects on our health as well as the planet. Here are 5 small and effortless eco-friendly changes you can incorporate into your lifestyle to make a positive impact on the planet and save a little money in the process:
- Switch out your plastic straws to metal, glass, or paper: you might’ve noticed many major fast food and coffee companies have banned and replaced the use of single-use plastic straws with more eco-friendly alternatives. Single-use plastic is the main type of waste that is often improperly disposed of and ends up in our oceans, causing harm to marine life. So using alternative materials can help reduce our amount of waste. In particular, stainless steel and glass straws are durable and infinitely reusable.
- Bring a shopping bag with you: single-use plastic shopping bags are another large contributor to waste, so to prevent waste, choose to reuse whenever possible and make sure to always bring a reusable bag when shopping
- Bring your own reusable cup or water bottle: having your own tumbler or water bottle is a great alternative to using daily disposable cups, which are a large contributor to litter waste and contain plastics that aren’t biodegradable and damage the environment
- Use glass instead of plastic food storage containers: plastic containers are a large environmental issue and often can’t be recycled. Glass containers are more durable and microwave safe-than plastic. And an added bonus to switching to glass is never having to scrub those plastic containers again (that are seemingly always stained from pasta sauce!)
- Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets: dryer balls are a great chemical-free and biodegradable alternative to using dryer sheets. Dryer balls are reusable and just as effective as dryer sheets at reducing static cling.