Eco Friendly Products To Reduce Your Impact On Our World
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Life is getting busier and busier these days. By the time you finish work, run errands, cook a healthy dinner and get in some exercise there’s hardly any time left to really think about all of our life choices.
I’m convinced this is one of the fundamental reasons that so many well-intentioned people make horrible decisions for the planet.
It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that we hardly even realize all the damage we’re doing in the moment when it counts.
I’m glad to see that we’ve got a lot of companies coming out offering to do things like plant a tree for every product sold, commit to reducing waste and using organic materials.
I decided a couple years ago that I was going to do everything possible to help protect the planet.
I realized that one of the ways I can make the biggest impact is share software, products and ideas with you that will help reduce your waste and do good for the environment.
On this page you’ll find some of the easiest to implement and highest impact products that you can change in your life to reduce your impact so we can stop this madness that we’re doing to our world.
I hope you can give them all a try and make a lasting change. But even if you just try one and you stick with it, I’ll count this article as a success.
Without further ado, here are my current recommendations:
Bees Wrap
I’m officially naming this the coolest invention in the world.
You see every time I used to package up leftovers, take something to go or just cover ingredients for later I would feel like an absolute goblin for using plastic wrap.
You know how it goes. It comes off that roll so silky smooth and perfect and makes an airtight seal against whatever you might want to cover.
But then it comes time to take it off. It’s moist, it’s wrinkly, it’s impossible to get in a decent shape. It’s disgusting.
The last thing in the world you want to do is reuse that filthy plastic wrap.
Enter Bees Wrap.
Bees wrap is an amazing material made with beeswax that fills the role of that plastic wrap that you’ve so slowly killed the environment with over your lifetime.
It’s washable and reusable and it feels just like new when you do. It’s a much thicker and stronger material than plastic wrap, but it still has the miraculous cling-to-anything abilities of plastic wrap.
It’s also fully compostable so you can feel good about replacing them with the washcloth every now and again.
Each pack includes a small, medium and large wrap which really surprised me that it was enough. The habit of constantly using new plastic wrap had me confused into thinking that I needed a ton of different wraps when in reality you rarely use more than one or two at a time.
Save the world with the best kitchen invention since the veggie noodle spiralizer.
Reusable Bags
We’ve got a two-for-one double-whammy here. Let’s break it down:
Reusable plastic food baggies…
How do I put this nicely?
If you’re still one-time using your plastic baggies and you know these suckers exist, you should put a big old bumper sticker on your car that says “MORE OIL, LESS AIR”….
OK that might be a bit far.
But really there’s no excuse for not using reusable food baggies.
They’re made of a durable material that will not only last for a long time to save you money, but you won’t be dumping enough plastic to kill a whole school of fish every month.
Canvas bag for your grocery & shopping runs…
This one isn’t quite as much of a no-brainer but it’s still easy.
Ever see those folks at the checkout who with a big earth-loving-smile on their face turn down all bags as they pull out their canvas bag?
This used to be a really unique kind of person who would do this (looking at you mom).
If that isn’t you already, what’s stopping you? I know, people say it’s a hassle to carry the bag around and you’ll forget it and blah blah blah…
But so what if you forget it one day?
Then you use the plastic bags that you would have used anyway… or be the crazy guy like me and carry way more than you should in your arms and tucked into your pants… where was I?
Right, these things are great for the environment, last, and if you’re the hoarding type you won’t have that closet full of 68,466 plastic bags.
These two are pretty easy no?
Bamboo Toothbrushes
People doubt bamboo toothbrushes. They just do. Something about the fact that it’s a completely different material makes people think it’s going to be an insufferable experience.
I’m here to tell you this isn’t the case. And in fact, it’s kind of weird that you’re still scrubbing your mouth with plastic every day.
There’s so much research out there that plastic is unhealthy for us, it’s crazy so many people are still putting it in their mouth like clockwork.
I had the same concerns when I made the switch to bamboo a couple years ago and I can report back that it’s been nothing but a pleasure. The bamboo is so smooth, so natural.
Not to mention I’m no longer throwing away a few pounds of solid plastic every year.
Mother Earth will thank you.
Smart Thermostat
This one is a double whammy. If you pay to heat and cool your home then you’ll be pleased to hear that The US Department of Energy says smart thermostats provide up to a 10% energy savings.
It gets even better though because that’s an old study and the technology has progressed a lot in recent years. ecobee says you can get up to 23% savings on your bills.
Why’s that a double whammy?
Well if you’re spending $200/mo or more on energy bills like most folks are that means your investment will be paid off in less than a year (assuming the worst case 10% in the old government study — only about 6 months if you go by ecobee’s more recent numbers).
This means that after a year, you’ll have a free smart thermostat, 10% lower energy bills, and 10% less impact on the environment. Boom!
Now I’m the type of person who shops around like a mad man when I’m looking for a new electronic device.
I go crazy reading every single product description four times, selecting my favorite 2 or 3, reading them a bunch more, ordering more than one to see how they work in person, and sending back the ones I don’t want.
To make this easy for you, I’ve already filtered down the best smart thermostats to one: the ecobee SmartThermostat.
The only gripe I have with this company is that they don’t have any capital letters in their name. Beyond that, this thermostat is top notch.
It has its own app for iPhone or Android to control your home from wherever you are.
So if you decide to do something spontaneous and you won’t be home for another 8 hours (look at you you romantic) you can shut off your air conditioning and really reduce your impact on the environment (and save some serious cash).
The ecobee comes with Bluetooth, upgraded WiFi, and Spotify Connect. It’s also Amazon Certified so Alexa will work flawlessly.
Are you wondering if a smart thermostat is right for you? Here’s a one question quiz to see if it makes for the environment and your wallet to get one:
Do you pay for energy in your home?
If so, what are you waiting for?
Reusable, non-plastic water bottle
Are you ready to feel horrible about humanity? Are you aware that the world consumes 1 million plastic bottles per minute.
Do you feel that in the last few years people are changing and that it’s not that important for you to change yourself?
I’m sorry to inform you that in fact the amount of plastic bottles the world consumes has doubled since 2014, throwing that theory out with the bath water.
Doesn’t that make you angry? The whole world is well aware of the fact that plastic bottles are destroying our oceans, contaminating our water and causing problems with our hormones. Yet we not only carry on as usual, we actually dramatically increase the amount of plastic bottles we consume.
I hope if you decide to change nothing else in your life for the environment, you make the decision to get a reusable water bottle, and use it.
The best part about it is beverages actually taste better when they’re stored in natural containers. This is especially obvious with water.
Luckily there are some super cool water bottles available. Take your pick between the classy glass & bamboo bottle by Yomious (available in many colors) and the indestructible stainless steel bottle by Tree Tribe.
Not one to stop short on the mission, Tree Tribe plants a minimum of 10 trees for every purchase.
Join 20 million people planting trees with Ecosia:
**FYI -- this link has patharoundtheworld in it but it is NOT an affiliate link, I do not earn anything for you installing. Ecosia simply gave me the link so I could know how many trees this article has helped plant.