Happy Earth Day Friends!!! I wanted to create a quick little (yet mighty) Earth Day round up full of products & businesses that prioritize the health of our beautiful planet Earth.
If you're anything like me, when I started swapping out things around my house to be more eco-friendly I was wanting quick, easy, non-time-consuming swaps. So that's what I'm going to share with you today...some easy, peasy, lemon squeezy swaps. Plus, this blogpost is NOT sponsored so these are all products that I truly love, and respect.
I know I usually share about Blueland Products or even Package Free Shop, but I wanted to talk about other companies that I equally adore and find helpful in everyday life.
Let's start with Outlines, an amazing company that focuses on creating & recycling shower liners. Yes, those shower liners! The ones that get all moldy and gross and you need to toss out every few months. By focusing on responsible replenishment Outlines takes necessary measures that guarantee proper discarding of their products. According to their website it's stated that 36 MILLION TONS of plastic waste are generated each year in the U.S, and 91% of that waste isn't even recycled.
So let's get into how Outlines Works - you buy a shower liner from them (you can even get it sent via subscription which I would highly recommend) and then once you receive your new shower liner, they include a bag for your old shower liner to be sent back to their facilities and recycled. Easy as that, and makes a HUGE impact.
Next up, let's talk about Ridwell. I personally LOVE this company, as it specializes in collecting hard-to-recycle products (such as plastic bags, candy wrappers, light bulbs, batteries, etc.) right from your doorstep. Very similar to a trash pick up, but make it cute and earth friendly!
Once you sign up, Ridwell will drop off your very own collection bin for you to leave on your front porch (or somewhere else accessible for pick up days). Inside the bin they provide you with a variety of canvas drawstring bags for each product category that they recycle. You will use these bags for all your wrappers, plastic grocery bags, produce bags, etc. Keeping things separate within these bags help with sorting purposes after collection.
We personally like to hang our Ridwell bags up in our pantry, next to our trash, to make it easily accessible for all our empty wrappers & plastic bags. Then every 2 weeks we put our Ridwell bags into our bin (the night before collection), and they come straight to your front door without any disruptions and collect your items. They will then provide you with new canvas bags for you to start using for your next pick up. It's so easy and makes me feel so empowered and like I'm making a big difference in this world! Plus they have this fun app to see how much of an impact you are making by using their company. My husband and I have been happily using their services for about 10 months or so, and we have saved 95 POUNDS OF WASTE since starting! How cool is that?!
Another product I have loved to use over the years is my Flex menstrual disc. I know I may get some faces (my sister being one of them), but don't knock it until you try it! I stopped using tampons back in 2016, and not only has this saved me so much money, (and helped me with some PCOS symptoms) but it's also saving the earth! So it's a win, (win), win!
According to the Augusta Chronicle, plastic menstrual products generate more than 200,000 tons of waste per year. It's said that tampon applicators take anywhere from 500-800 years to decompose in a landfill. So maybe those stats alone will get you a little more interested in making the swap from tampons to Flex! If you're not into the idea of using a reusable menstrual cup or disc, Flex also offers bamboo liners & pads!
Let me tell you, I have tried out a lot of different menstrual cups from a variety of brands, and I highly recommend Flex over other companies. However, every body is different so if Flex isn't for you, keep trying other options!!
Next up, I want to highlight both Plant Paper & Who Gives a Crap for toilet paper & paper towels! Plant Paper is toxin-free, tree-free toilet paper made from organically grown bamboo pulp. We personally used Who Gives a Crap toilet paper for YEARS before we made the swap to Plant Paper as we feel it's just a liiiiittle softer compared to Who Gives a Crap. Plus they aired a sponsored post with Alicia Silverstone and it completely influenced me to trying it out. Turns out, I really like it!!
However, we still have a subscription for Who Gives a Crap as they have 100% recycled paper towels, and compostable food scrap bags, and 100% recycled trash bags. Now don't get me wrong, eliminating paper towels all together is great, however we found that it just didn't fit into our household routine (aka they would sit in the dirty laundry forever and I never seemed to remember to wash them, leaving us with zero clean wash rags). And I'm all about making earth-friendly tweaks that are not only sustainable to the earth, but also sustainable to your routine and lifestyle! There is no point in implementing a earth-friendly product if it ends up being too much mental or physical work. Start with where you are and add more or adjust as you go.
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