- Always have a reusabe bag with you – or many in your car for grocery shopping time! I hardly ever leave home without a reusable bag on me, this way I will not have the ‘necessity’ of using one. I also have specific ones for fruits and veggies with a fabric that is pretty similar to mesh, this way they will remain fresh. * a reusable bag takes approximately 20 years to be recycled
- Carry your own containers and/or utensils – I always, always, ALWAYS have my water bottle with me. It is literally part of my essence, and I carry it everywhere. With no shame, rather with pride! Mine is a Takeya one (@takeyausa) it has the best lid ever. It is also easy to ask for a refill everywhere -and you will be saving a lot of money-. Additionally, you can always find in my car extra containers in case I take something to-go and my Monbento (@monebnto) utensils in my purse
- Say #NoStrawPlease or have your own reusable straw – truly, the use of straws is such an unnecessary habit. Nowadays I don’t even use mine, I simply got used to not using one. But I did love my glass ones, the brand is Hiware, got them from Amazon. *Straws take minimum 200 years to be recycled AND KEEP IN MIND, straws won’t stir you away from germs! If there are germs in the glass then they will be all over the glass not only at the top… Plus they will also reach your straw. And, why is it that you do not have this thought-process when using silverware? Which goes straight into your mouth, both silverware and glasses will be washed in the same manner
- Buy in bulk – or at least in the biggest package possible. This way you will have a longer-lasting product, will create less waste, less trips to the supermarket and you will be saving money
- Choose glass, paper and/or recycled material packaging (classified biodegradable) – When it comes to glass, the product has a longer and better life, plus the taste remains fresh! This also means that these products need either none or less preservatives = less chemicals! Avoid cans! *Like beer cans for example, cans in general take approximately 200 years to be able to be recycled, furthermore, plastic containers take up to 450 years to be able to be recycled
- When it comes to fruits and veggies, go to markets instead of supermarkets – my favorite ones are farmer markets! This kind of produce comes with much less chemicals and you are contributing to small-family businesses. Pursuing this further, you can bring your own containers and bags, causing less waste. *Specifically avoid cytrofoam containers, the time required for these to decompose or to be able to be recycled is UNKOWN, in other words they are thought to be impossible to decompose!
- Make your own milk – I can share one of my recipes! You will be avoiding tetra-pack, which is highly difficult to recycle due to the required separation of aluminum and cardboard, plus many countries still do not do this efficiently, or at all
- Invest in reusable cotton and reusable cleaning cloth – not only you will save money but you can make sure these are good quality products, not exposed to chemicals and you will stop waste. I recommend reusable cotton from BamBaw (@bambaw.zerowaste), and whether I am looking for a regular cotton or something more like wipes, I will decide the quantity of product I apply to it. Specifically for cloth, you will avoid paper-towels and created less waste.
- Invest in bee-wax – or utilize containers in order to avoid the use of aluminum foil or plastic wrap
- Switch to bamboo toothbrushes – I recommend Brush Naked (@brush.naked) since you can also buy a bamboo case for them, great for traveling! I also like the ones from BamBaw (@bambaw.zerowaste) *Toothbrushes have a specific-efficient life-spam of 3 months. NOTE that they do not classify as plastic for recycling, given that the brushes are made out of other materials, hence other polymers. Recycle them into the “other” containers
Vivid Healthy 