🌿 Save Money and Protect the Planet: My Eco-Friendly Tips 🌿
In France 🇫🇷, Ademe estimates that approximately 354kg of household waste is thrown away per person per year, or nearly 30kg per month! 🗑️
You're going to tell me "yes, but I recycle!" and that's great ♻️😊
But did you know that only 20% of our waste is recovered through recycling ♻, and that 66% ends up buried under our feet, or incinerated 🔥❌?
The Hidden Pollution of Our Products
Even by recycling as much as possible, our consumption habits inevitably contribute to the pollution of our planet 🌍.
We have the dish soap bottle, disposable sponges (breeding grounds for bacteria 🦠), countless rolls of paper towels, and garbage bags that we change too often, that tear or leak... yuck! 🙅♀️ For household cleaning, we also have window cleaner, toilet cleaner 🚽, kitchen degreaser, bathroom descaler 🛁, wood polish 🪵, air and fabric freshener, and then there's laundry detergent, fabric softener, transfer-proof sheets, and so on!
The Shift to Slow Consumption
Beyond the problem of waste management and treatment, the use of a majority of industrial products is a health hazard 💊. The composition of cleaning products is mostly synthetic, and they often contain endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic components 🚫, and other allergens 😷.
When the bottle is empty, we throw it away, go to the store, buy it again, and start all over! I ended up having a domestic burnout, and I chose to break free from the dictates of the good consumerist housewife 🧹, and switch to slow consumption mode.
Eco-Friendly Alternatives
I searched for eco-friendly alternatives that are perfectly effective for a naturally clean home 🌱. Instead of spending my Saturday at the supermarket wasting money 💸, I have time for myself and I save money! It's from the desire to share this experience and these tips that the My Better Way project was born 🌟. So here are a few eco-friendly actions to simplify your life.
1️⃣ Eco-Friendly Tableware
It's very simple: for washing dishes, I use a wooden brush with natural fibers 🪣 and a special solid dish soap 🧼, but Marseille soap works very well too. Besides being more eco-friendly ♻, I don't even get my hands wet anymore... it's the perfect solution for my sensitive skin 🙌.
2️⃣ Reusable Kitchen Sponge
And to clean the kitchen worktop, I have a washable and reusable sponge 🧽, made of fabric, which I can put in the washing machine to eliminate bacteria 🦠.
3️⃣ Composting to Reduce Waste
To make the most of my organic waste and reduce the volume of my garbage, I compost! There's a solution for every type of dwelling (house, apartment, garden, balcony...). I no longer have an outdoor space, so I opted for an indoor composter, which doesn't produce bad smells or attract insects; it's ideal when you don't have outdoor space.
4️⃣ Essential Products for an Eco-Friendly Household
When you consider that most household products we buy in stores are toxic to both the environment 🌍 and our health 💊, to sanitize the entire house and clean from floor to ceiling, I simply use black soap 🧼, white vinegar 🍶, and baking soda.
5️⃣ Eco-friendly Laundry Detergent
For laundry, I was fed up with buying heavy and expensive plastic containers of chemicals... so I started making my own natural laundry detergent at least three years ago. Made with grated Marseille soap, I find it effective, economical, and quick to prepare.
6️⃣ Replace the plastic wrap with a beeswax wrap
To keep opened food fresh, I replace plastic wrap or aluminum foil with a beeswax wrap 🐝. Made from fabric and beeswax, this coated cotton is the eco-friendly alternative to disposable food wraps ♻.
7️⃣ Cloth Napkins
We use about 3 rolls of paper towels per week per person, which adds up to over €100 thrown away every year 💰. A simple tip to reduce daily waste and save money: I use washable and reusable cloth napkins 🍽️. This way, I avoid using disposable napkins or paper towels, while also adding a touch of elegance to my table setting 🎉!
As you can see, it's easy to save time ⏰ and money 💸 by slightly changing your daily consumption habits. There are tons of eco-friendly alternatives for every budget 💚. If you have the time, you can even try making them yourself.
If this topic interests you, feel free to download my free guide "21 simple zero waste tips" available on the site's homepage, and subscribe to @my.better.way on social media to follow My Better Way's adventures and learn how to do more with less.
