Going green: making sustainable choices

I’ve seen a lot of inspirational posts as bloggers discuss the ways they’re going green. I’ve been feeling really inspired and wanted to write my own.

The raising awareness of plastic, the harm it’s causing and the rubbish we’re producing was highlighted more in 2019 than any other year I remember – and about time, too!

Being inspired is a great feeling – and has become easier to make changes with movements like the charge for a disposable coffee cup.

It can be hard knowing what to do in your own home, however. There are some great products out there, but what if you’re already stocked up? I can find it difficult to justify the expense when I’ve got spares in my cupboard – although it will definitely be a case of making the switch when it comes to replacing them.

With the festive time of year just gone, I thought I’d look at the way I did make a few changes – and cost-effective ones as well.

Brown paper and fabric ribbon

This Christmas, I wrapped all my gifts in brown paper and used fabric ribbon to help decorate them. The bits of ribbon not long enough to be reused when straight for textiles while the lengthier bits were kept for re-using.

It looked effective (coming from the girl who hates wrapping). But it was also cheap – 3 for 2 on the brown paper from WHSmiths and I haven’t finished a roll, despite having large boxes to wrap. The ribbon was £13 for 20 colours from Amazon – and I’ve got enough to last me for years.

Packaging

Talking of Amazon… Being a prime customer, I’m guilty of clicking buy as soon as I want something. But over Christmas, I made the effort of ticking the box that groups the packages into a minimum number of parcels, even if that meant waiting an extra day. We all know Amazon isn’t best at restricting their packaging – one big box is less than three individual ones! We’re so used to receiving products instantly, even putting in several orders rather than waiting and grouping them together.

Using an old jar for make-up brushes

Materials

I was after a stand for make-up after having a bit of a tidy up. There are some snazzy looking boxes out there, until you realise they are all acrylic. After a bit of a search, I found a bamboo shelf – and I love it, far more than I did those boxes. It fits in with my room, looks good – and is far more environmentally friendly than a plastic box.

Bathroom

Of course, there had to be some changes. There are so many options for reusable cotton pads that I was spoilt for choice, but it’s an easy way of preventing yourself from putting things in the bin!

As mentioned, there are some fantastic posts out there full of inspirational products I’d never heard of previously that I’m definitely investing in for the future. But there are just a couple of quick and easy changes I’m trying to implement myself.

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