New to eco living, or simply looking for some extra ideas? Check out our list of eco living swaps & switches!
With climate change happening increasingly quicker, and much of the Earth’s resources being continuously abused and wasted, it’s time to tackle it the best we can. Of course, the biggest changes need to come from high up, but there are small swaps we can make to help in the meantime.
Eco Living Swaps
Your Bank
It may sound surprising, but one of the smallest, but biggest changes you can make is to check and change who you bank with!
Why?
Many of the main banks are spending BILLIONS funding the fossil fuel industry. That is where your money is going by banking with these places. You can do a quick search and find out if your bank is on the list, and then make a swap to some of the new and far more eco-friendly, sustainable banks!
Your Energy Company
This one is probably one of the more obvious switches. If your energy company isn’t even remotely concerned about changing to more sustainable energy sources, then it’s time to way bye bye and switch to one who is!
Energy companies are draining the Earth’s resources at such an incredible speed, and it’s because we use it! If we stop paying them for this unsustainable fuel, they’ll stop sourcing it (hopefully!), and in the meantime, you can rest easy knowing you’re swapping some a company that cares.
Food
Of course it seems obvious that we need to reduce the amount of plastic packaged food we buy (if we can), but something less discussed is trying to reduce the miles our food has travelled.
What do we mean?
If you buy a locally grown, in season vegetable, the footprint is so much less than buying an out of season, plastic wrapped and chemically treated fruit from somewhere halfway around the world, that has to be flown thousands of miles.
You can’t be perfect, but just trying to reduce your food miles on each shop will help a lot!
Packaging
Following on from food, packaging!
Whether you’re buying, selling or sending, keeping to eco-friendly packaging as much as possible is a huge help. How often do we see surplus to requirement packaging slung in the bin? How much is discarded without a care? When that packaging is plastic it’s adding TONS of plastic into landfill, which is making its way into everywhere else. Natural spaces, the water system, countries that can’t afford rubbish filtration.
It’s our duty to take responsibility for the purchase of sustainable packaging when we send and sell, and also to recycle or dispose responsibly when we buy.
Try to reuse plastic packaging as much as possible, and if you are buying new then opt for compostable, paper and cardboard options from companies that don’t support deforestation.
Clothes & Other Purchases
This is a big one! The fashion industry is responsible for SO much harm to the Earth. From chemical leaks into the poorest neighbourhoods in the World and the disgusting treatment and abuse of garment workers, to the fact that there are TONS of garments in landfill because of the constant need for more and more. The fast fashion industry has a lot to answer for when it comes to abusing the Earth and the humans in it.
So what can you do to help? What switches should you be making?
Try to buy second hand where you can. There are so many places set up now for second hand clothes buying! And it’s so much fun to have a charity shop rummage too! An added bonus here is saving an absolute fortune!
If you have to buy new, and you can afford it, then make sure to look for slow fashion brands. Brands who have a clear message that they believe in sustainable fashion, and who pay and treat their workers well!
This also applies to whenever you purchase anything! Try second hand first, and if you can’t find second hand, then try and find a conscious brand. Of course there are times you just can’t, and you may not have the privilege to be able to. But if you can, then do.
Use what you have first and foremost
I feel like this is THE most important thing that should be stated when anyone says they want to be more eco-friendly, but it rarely is! Why? Money making.
But it’s actually far more eco-friendly to utilise the things you have, especially if they’re plastic, than it is to bin them and go and buy lots of new, ‘eco’ alternatives. If you can give a use to anything plastic you already have, it’s one less plastic thing in landfill!
There is our list of eco living swaps & switches we think are important! I know that often it’s individual items that people talk about, but you don’t need to buy more in order to be more eco-friendly. Quite the opposite!
Looking for eco friendly things to do?
Find more sustainable clothes info our post on how to update your wardrobe on a budget.
Another way to reduce your fashion footprint is to create a capsule wardrobe.
