Earth Day 2020

10 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint

Happy Earth Day! For a few months now I’ve been compiling a list of 10 easy ways we can all reduce our plastic consumption / environmental footprint. We as humans have a massive impact on our planet, and I know we all want to do better. I would love to see big companies going zero waste, as of course they’re the “big guys”, but we all need to take individual responsibility. It’s easy to feel like our footprint doesn’t matter, or we don’t know where to start helping. Sometimes we just need a little direction!

These are small tips, but if you make these few changes and put them into practice they will help tremendously.

1. Bite Toothpaste

First up on our list is this awesome zero waste company! Did you know over a billion tubes of toothpaste is thrown away each year? The number is the same for toothbrushes. This company has an awesome system of refilling your glass jars with these toothpaste bites. They’re healthy, sustainable, and affordable!

2. Lush

I always recommend looking locally and shopping small business for soap/hair bars if you can, but Lush is an awesome reliable company that has 200 store locations in the U.S.

I highly recommend Lush soap bars for your hair and body needs. They have reusable tin cans like the one pictured below that are travel size friendly, and zero waste! Ditch the plastic shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles, and go for the good old fashion bar option instead!

3. Zero Waste Bulk Grocery Shopping

When I first found out about zero waste grocery shopping, I was so fascinated by the idea! It’s something I explored and researched in college as a potential business idea. While doing more research I recently came across this article from Litterless that has a fantastic resource to zero waste grocery shopping, bulk shopping, and where to find local produce!

Buying your produce locally, is honestly one of the best things you can do for your community! Be smart, bring glass jars, and get to know your farming neighbors. Plus who doesn’t love an afternoon at a farmers market, grab a friend and have fun!

4. Metal Straws

This is an obvious one I’m sure you’ve heard before, but I’m making it easy for you and inlcuding a link to our metal straws. These straws are $10 from Amazon! We chose boba straws but you can use it for non boba drinks as well! We love this set, it comes with a cleaning brush and super cute packaging. Enjoy!

5. Slow Fashion

“Slow fashion, the alternative to fast fashion and part of what has been called the "slow movement", advocates for principles similar to the principles of slow food, such as good quality, clean environment, and fairness for both consumers and producers.”

I heard the term “slow fashion” for the first time a few months ago while discussing climate change with a University of Dayton professor who attends our church in Dayton. The idea is to buy clothes that you will not grow out of style wise, and can wear for many years to come. I’ve been a minimalist for quite some time, but I usually go through and buy/donate clothes every couple months while keeping the closet small. I’m now turning away from that, and instead buying very few items I will wear often.

Below are 4 different outfits all using a black pair of jeans and black shirt, but with different layers/accessories to make them look different each time. Also, all the clothes I own fit into the bin I’m holding in the first picture!

6. Oat Milk Recipe

I personally believe there is more wrong with the dairy industry than the meat industry. One way I have chosen to cut back on our dairy intake, is to choose alternative milk. I was drinking almond milk for a while, before I learned it’s harming the bee population, which we so desperately need. So, I switched to oat milk. The best thing about oat milk, is that along with being delicious, it’s super affordable to make yourself! Here’s the recipe I use:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole rolled oats

• 3 cups water

• 2 teaspoons maple syrup

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ⅛ teaspoon sea salt

Blend, and strain using a cheese cloth. Strain twice if needed, put in a glass jar to chill in the fridge, and enjoy!

7. Thrift!

The clothing industry is unnecessarily huge. Buy second hand! Thrifting is a super fun + affordable activity. My friend Mallory is a huge thrifting inspiration to me, she’s based out of Cleveland and dedicates a majority of her Instagram to thrifting. I recommend following her and keeping up with #ThriftyThursday for the best tips and thrift inspiration!

8. Towels

This one is admittedly the hardest one for me. I really love Chlorox wipes, but fact is I know I can reach the same level of cleanliness from using a towel and spray bottle filled with cleaner solution. Paper towels are also a non necessary item, use regular hand towels!

We have our towels color coordinated for their use. White is drying towel, blue is body wash/bathroom towel, and yellow is dish washing. Again, still struggling with this one, but the point is to try our best :)

9. Bring your own cup to get coffee.

Obviously, this isn’t a very timely tip as currently we are in a worldwide pandemic and this isn’t allowed. But most coffee shops encourage you bring your own reusable cup, and you can even get a discount! This is for all you coffee drinkers, invest in one or two great cups and it will save tons of non reusable cups. Here’s some cute ones I found from Pinterest!

10. Grocery Bags

Bring your own grocery bags to the store and eliminate the need for plastic bags! I would love to see big brands like Kroger and Safeway start functioning the same as Aldi, but for now we must do our own part.

Our favorite grocery bags we’ve purchased from national parks, and since I know most of you are national park lovers as well I’ve included links to several companies with awesome totes!

Olive & Thread

Cafe Press

Yosemite Gift Shop

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog, your interest in implementing these tips is a huge step towards reducing your footprint!

Jeremiah and I live in a van, and being environmentally friendly is a big part of how we live our lives and conduct our business. I wanted to add, that we are all imperfect, and will make mistakes. Being environmentally conscious is not a weapon of shame to be used against those who are falling short, it’s meant to be a tool of support.

We need to be kind to our planet, but also each other. Please share this article with anyone everyone who could benefit, and thank you again for reading!