3 Ways I Changed my Habits to be Greener

 

Hey friends,

Hope you are having a fabulous day no matter where you are. This is not necessary planner related, but I wanted to share some of the ways I stopped over consuming products and some green swaps we’ve made. We are not zero waste by any means and if you are looking towards getting better at ecominimalism I highly suggest Shelby on YouTube, I watched her dumpster dives years ago and her Eco content has changed my life and made it easier to really start to incorporate things into my life.

I would like to say I was always trying to be better but honestly until about 2019 the best I did was insure my company I was at recycled the paper we used since we went through so much. I would say around end of 2018 I was realizing where my money went and I kept accumulating so much stuff. I don’t even know how or where most of it came from. I donated and sent stuff to friends all the time. I hated it but didn’t where it was all coming from.

So I started changing my spending habits.

 

I stopped over buying

I use to go to the dollar tree all the time for snacks and just random holiday crap I wanted. I spent way to much there, so I stopped going unless I needed something specific from there. I do love dollar tree and they have some specific good items. (I use to go for utensils but now I thrift them!)

I also stopped going into Target. They introduced their pick up program and I have not looked back. I can probably count on my hands how many times I have probably been inside a Target in the last 4 years. Not that I don’t spend there, just I now focus on household and groceries. I sometimes do buy their pens and notebooks D: as I am weak. I’ve gotten so much better about this it has probably saved me hundreds of dollars over the years. Probably just in dollar spot items.

I also started making my own planner stuff. I still pick up some items here and there, for example I totally bought the witchy bundle box. But by making my own I can control the paper and quantity, and print exactly what I need or want. I have so much unused HP paper it’s sad. So many stickers too. I wish I could stop myself in the past but I cannot, so I’ve donated and given away a lot of it to friends and try to make use of it. I also give it away in orders.

I also worked to never buy from Amazon again without trying to find an alternate. My partner still does, but remember you can only change yourself. I realized I could google the products on Amazon and just buy from the company directly or through another provide I did like.

I still spend way to much on outside food. It’s just too easy and I need to be better about it. I don’t have a good excuse, just lazy. I would say I spend a fraction of what I use to merchandise however, and this alone helps the environment and your pocket book. I also try to focus on where I spend that money, for example I won’t use Door dash, only local or I’ll pickup. Spending less on things you don’t need will always be a good way to start.

 

I stopped trying to be all or nothing

I started making easy environmentally swaps. Such as soap; I knew soap was bad to get in the water but I didn’t really know a solution or honestly have the energy or time to research that problem – which is why I really recommend finding influencers you trust who talk about this. We use better dish soap, laundry soap, and hand soap now. I use a shampoo bar, though I do alternate between an old soap set we had originally every once in awhile, I prefer the shampoo bar though on my hair as I see less flakiness.

I use Grove Collective for household purchases now, many are available at Target as well, but anywhere that has done the research for me is a win in my book. It’s important to find some sources your trust to lean on.

We use mop pads in addition to the disposable ones. Where we live we don’t have laundry in our apartment so if they are dirty we can still clean with the purchased ones. I also got some of those Swedish dish clothes to clean the stove and counters with, though I still use Clorox wipes just a lot less so they last longer. We are not perfect, as you can read. But we started where we felt we could easily.

Cleaning was the easiest for us as we both know chemicals can be harsh for getting into the environment and they were mostly mindless swaps, a wipe is a wipe. I try to keep adding to my collection of cleaning items to try – just got some wool balls and I want to get a plastic catcher (since we don’t own a washer or dryer).

 

Keeping a better handle on what goes in and out

Next, we are working on reducing our trash. This is hard as again, as we live in an apartment and have no outdoor space or patio. If we did I would love to compost. There are methods you can utilize like donating it but its just not feasible right now for us. We started by sorting our cans, it was an easy one as we had just gotten a new trash can and made one can only. This actually helped dramatically as apparently we consume a ton of bubbly water.

We’ve always used big grocery bags – I actually use laundry bags as it’s easier to get all the crap in the house in a big ol’ bag vs all those smaller ones. Denver also passed a law recently for charging for them, which I think is a win.

We also started sorting cardboard out, and we flatten and take it out as we can. We are lucky to have a few spots to recycle these things. We are pretty good with food waste – we’ve always been food frugal so we’ll good at not leaving leftovers or buying items we don’t eat.

Also, if you did not know – you can freeze a ton of things. We freeze bread, prepped meals – like chili, etc. You can also freeze a good chunk of vegetables, didn’t know this until recently. We freeze spinach, avocados, bell peppers, and more. I use to cut them before hand but turns out you can freeze things solid. The avocados one has been a life saver, 10/10.

I would love to reduce our trash more but its pretty much packaging now. Occasional paper towels, and food scraps; but we’ve reduced it for us. Which I am super happy with. If we get to move to a place with a yard, like ever, I plan to compost our food waste and garden with it.

 

It doesn’t have to be perfect, just start with what you can. I am looking to add ways all the time, for example I don’t plan to buy any new clothes NEW this year, thrift only. Aside from underwear. I thrift things we need for the house too, where my partner is OK with it. It needs to be reasonable for everyone in the home remember. I got the cutest silverware at the thrift store, with flowers and mushrooms. I love them so much.

I need to pick up some more plates eventually too, but we are buying new towels this year we decided. We are looking for reasonable ones that will last us a long time and are made well, but we want to buy those new. I am going to try out those beeswax cloths as well – I have reusable silicone lids now and we use glass storage containers we’ve had for years, they rock. I want to continue to reduce my consumption of meat; I love meat, but I try to swap it out in places I won’t notice and use less with more veggies in dishes (like tacos, or pasta). I am so excited to try out my wool balls this next wash as well, they were a gift.

And of course I use my water bottle.

 

Happy planning, I know this was a bit off topic but I think its important to discuss how it’s okay to not be perfect at these things if you are really interested in reducing your imprint, start small where you can.