11 Ways I’m Doing My Part to Help Mother Earth

I’ve been quite eco-conscious as long as I can remember. I’m not sure if it’s something we were taught in day care and school, or was it learned at home, but I’m always concerned about the wasteful lifestyle and doing harm to earth. My mantra is the well-known “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuse” and my intention is to get better at it every single day. From everything I do, not eating meat has the biggest impact on planet, so start with that (I can help!). Here’s the other 11 ways I’m doing my part to help the dear Mother Earth:

• 1. Recycling

We try to recycle as much as possible and I’m hoping to get to the point where we only have to empty our regular garbage once a week instead of twice. Then when we get to that point make it once every two weeks and keep improving. My big inspiration is Anne Marie from Zero-Waste Chef. Please check her out!

• 2. Bees Wrap

I’ve stopped using plastic cling wrap already years ago and absolutely hate aluminum. I saw Bees Wrap on my Facebook feed one day and immediately clicked to buy it (FB advertising works sometimes!). Now I wrap my to-go-sandwiches in it, bowls with salad or stuff marinating in them, half a lemon, and leftovers.

• 3. Lifefactory

Talking about glass containers, I got Lifefactory bottle when I started doing hot yoga years ago because it just felt quite toxic to drink water warmed by the hot yoga studio from a plastic bottle. Yuck. I love that they also make baby bottles and a whole bunch of other products making plastic-free living easier.

• 4. Walking / Riding a bike

Not driving a car everywhere is a huge step reducing my carbon emission contributions. As I’ve mentioned only like a million times before, I live on an island that’s perfectly flat to get around with a bike. Plus I bought my bike pre-owned on Craigslist. I ride it to the gym (10 mins), beach (5-10 mins), closest shopping center (10 mins), ferry terminal (15 mins) and Trader Joe’s (15 mins).

• 5. No single-use items

I cannot stand single-use items and even a paper towel makes me feel guilty. Another thing that makes me cringe: single-serve coffee pods. Aaargh! And of course: plastic cups, plates and utensils. Did you know your paper ware is actually lined with plastic/wax and because of that it cannot be recycled? I just recently realized that and stopped using them at work. As much hot tea as I drink, no wonder I was toxic from all that leached stuff.

Same goes to buying coffee/tea to-go from coffee shops. You have no excuse not to bring your own reusable coffee cup. I’m guilty of this even I don’t do it often, but I still do it, maybe once per month. No bueno.

I’m big on straws because my teeth are sensitive to cold, but I use stainless steel and glass straws now.

• 6. Canvas shopping bags

I cannot stand when cashiers automatically put every single little item in those thin plastic bags (especially at the pharmacy), often double-bagging too. I’m quick to say “no plastic bag please!” and always carry my own eco-bag in my purse. I mean how cute is this bag?! When ordering take-out from restaurants they often put it in a plastic bag before you get to say no (should say it when ordering I guess), and those bags we use for cat poop. At the farmers market I just use my bike basket so I don’t need any plastics for my produce. You can also make your own canvas produce bags.

• 7. Eco-friendly cleaning supplies

I still buy my cleaning products although I’m convinced that I should start making my own. It’s also very important not to use toxic cleaning agents when you have pets and children. For kitchen, bathroom and floors I use Mrs. Meyers and Method, for laundry Molly’s Suds detergent or soap nuts, and dryer balls. We also use Method for hand washing. I buy refills for Mrs. Meyers and Method so I don’t have to keep buying more and more little plastic bottles.

• 8. Dryer balls

I received these balls from MightyNest and love them! You can also get them here. Trader Joe’s has Lavender Dryer Bags that can be reused up to 10 times and I use them sometimes together with my balls.

• 9. Glass Tupperware

When we moved across the country last year I threw out all our plastic Tupperware and replaced it with these oven-, freezer- and dishwasher safe tempered glass containers. I love that they’re so multi-functional!

• 10. Not buying shit

This one is pretty big. Since our move I’ve been fighting the urge to buy decorative things for our home, and flipping through cute homes on Pinterest isn’t helping it at all. I used to have a walk-in closet plus two other closets in our old house filled with shoes, purses and clothes. I went shopping almost every single day on my lunch break or after work. I was an addict. It was painful to donate so many things, but I feel so much better now with only a couple of things in my closet. I’ve bought very few items in the last 4 years or so and don’t really even have interest shopping for clothes. I’m over it.

• 11. MightyNest

MightyNest handpicks content and products to help you build a non-toxic, eco-friendly and stylish home for your family. That’s a perfect fit for me because for years now I’ve been slowly getting rid of anything that’s bad for our health or the environment. MightyNest delivers earth-friendly surprise package to your door step once a month and so far I’ve gotten Bees Wrap, dryer balls and dish brush with exchangeable head. Each month I’m allowed to send two free MightyNest gifts for friends to try so let me know if you’d like one. 

What I wish to do in the near future:

Electric Car

Kia Soul EV was reaaaally nice to drive and I wish that one day soon I can afford it. It is 100% electric and had so many cool, smart features.

Cat litter

There’s many eco-friendly alternatives to clay litter like my favorite wheat-based and 100% biodegradable sWheat (the clay, or sodium bentonite, is obtained via strip mining and can be harmful to cats if they ingest it). Our cats don’t mind what they do their thing on, but it would be cool to train Miina and Moses to use the human toilet instead of scooping their stuff out of the litter box multiple times a day and cleaning the litter from all over the house. Do you think it’s too late to train 10-year old cats?

Compost

I’m planning on buying a cute little counter-top composting bin like this and have a compost in our yard (that’s when we’ll buy our California bungalow :)).

Moon cup

Recommended warmly by my friends, I’m ready to test this.

Tea bags

I’m working on this. I already have a tea infuser and buy loose leaf Yerba Mate. We also have a wonderful tea shop and cafe in town called Julie’s Tea Garden where they sell all kinds of loose leaf teas. I have not seen Pukka, Yogi or Organic India teas in loose leaf form yet though. This Hibiscus Ginger tea sounds delicious as well.

How do you do your part for the planet? Please let me know in the comments and inspire others as well.