Many current technological advancements come with a costly side effect: destroying our Earth. If we don’t do anything about it, sooner or later this world will become a wasteland. At our current pace, this desolation will come sooner rather than later. Thankfully, there are many ways that we can work to make this world clean  again, but not everyone can make big changes like buying solar panels or buying an electric car. Everyone knows about the plastic straws and how they’re harming the environment, but there are many other things that need to be done. We can’t just stop at straws!

One small change that anyone can make is reusing. Instead of using plastic bags from the store, bring your own bags. If you have plastic bags at home or do not have a bag with you and need to take a plastic one, reuse those too. Single use plastics are very harmful to our environment. 

Another change that isn’t hard to make is wrapping gifts with scarves or handkerchiefs instead of single use wrapping paper that will be thrown away after the gift is opened. Also,  instead of buying plastic soap bottles every time you finish one, it is more environmentally friendly to buy a glass jar with a lid and a big bottle of soap for refills. Better yet, you can also use soap bars as they don’t have any plastic, and most don’t come in a package either, so less waste for the environment. 

Old clothing that cannot be sold should not be thrown away, but instead can be given to Goodwill, reused to make rags for cleaning or made into a blanket. 

The last two easy changes someone can make are specifically for plant people and the British. For people with plants, any water in your cup that you did not drink can be used to water your plants rather than dumping it out. For the British people, or just people that like to drink tea, using loose tea is better than the ones that come packaged, because tea bags are made out of plastics and are not biodegradable.

A step up from all these simple changes is buying eco-friendly products or making your own. Some things that you can make on your own are cleaning concentrates, beauty products and even paper. With homemade cleaning concentrates and beauty products, you can reuse the bottles over and over again and can be certain of   what is being used to clean your own household. Many beauty products actually contain harmful chemicals, and most people don’t know it because they don’t think to check what is used in their skin care. Not only that, but the packaging for your products is usually made of plastic and will be thrown away once you’re done with it. Making your own products allows you to know what you’re putting on your skin and also helps the environment by reusing cases for the products. If you are incapable of making your own products, there are companies that sell refillable and package-free skin care products. For making your own paper, that can be done by taking scraps of used paper and soaking them in water (more thorough instructions can be found online). 

If you are ready to make big changes to your life for the safety of the environment, some things to think about are using glass or metal food containers instead of plastic ones, using a bamboo toothbrush, compostable dish cloths, reusable cotton rounds, eco-friendly safety razors, toothpaste tablets and rechargeable lighters. 

Using glass or metal containers is better than using plastic because they can be reused and repurposed for a long amount of time. Likewise, plastic toothbrushes can be reused up until a new one is bought. At that point, the toothbrush is thrown away and will not decompose for years. Bamboo toothbrushes work just as well as plastic ones, but they are better for the environment and are 100% decomposable, meaning they will cause no harm to our environment. Similarly, compostable dish cloths are preferable to sponges because they are reusable and biodegradable once they’re worn out. Reusable cotton rounds are also better for the environment because they have multiple purposes and can replace many disposable items. Though these are not biodegradable, they can be reused for years on end and do not wear out easily. Investing in a reusable razor is also a sustainable decision. Plastic disposable razors are terrible for the environment, but if everyone switched to using reusable, eco-friendly safety razors,  this would lead to much less waste and would be so much better for the environment. Toothpaste tablets are also extremely helpful for the environment because they don’t come in a plastic tube; they are package-free tablets that you pop into your mouth and use as normal toothpaste. Lastly, rechargeable lighters are also helpful for the environment because they reduce plastic waste and lighter fluid refills.

Companies that provide the eco-friendly goods mentioned above:

Leaf: plastic free razor

Bite: zero waste toothpaste tablets

Marley’s Monsters: washable and reusable “unpaper” towels

Reel: tree-free toilet paper

Miscellaneous sustainable companies:

Earth Hero, Thrive, Grove, BLK+GRN, Uncommon goods, @Stasherbags, @packagefreeshop, @ayapaperco, @meowmeowtweet, @fatmoon, @ecovative, Rms, Elate, Aether, Good Earth Tea, Numi Organic Tea, Golden, Moon Organic Tea, The Tao of tea, Golden wattle tea, Republic of tea, Clipper tea, Pukka herb teas, Yorkshire tea, Tielka tea, Teapigs, Tea tonic, and Natures cuppa