Today I want to talk to you guys about how we can do better when it comes to saving the nature, fauna and climate as we know it. It’s one of the things that was prominent in my upbringing and it’s still a big passion of mine. The products I’m discussing I have all bought with my own money, so none of this is sponsored. I just wanted to give you some tips on reusable products that you might not have thought of yourself yet! Note: I’m not a scientist, nor perfect in my journey to living life with less waste, so these are just all the things I’ve seen coming by and wanted to try myself!
Let’s get on with the products! ππΌ
1. Reusable to-go cups, bottles and lunchboxes
These were the first things that I bought. For a long time I used plastic bags to carry my bread in when I went to school/work, but those you only use once. So one week would mean 5-10 plastic bags (I was a nerd who used their plastic bag two to three times, but it still ended up in the garbage). I now switched to a box with different compartments, so that I can take both my bread and some fruit/cookies with me!
I currently work in a “to-go” shop at the train station and it shocks me how many to-go cups are used in a day, and they are only used once! Luckily I have noticed a shift in this and I now see more and more people using a reusable cup for their coffee and/or tea. And what’s extra nice is that you get a discount on your coffee when you use a reusable cup in a lot of stores nowadays π
Bottles are the same as these to-go cups and plastic lunch bags. Most people only use them once and throw them away once they’re finished. Again, every day I see how many plastic bottles are still sold and end up in the garbage, or even on the streets.
2. Reusable (metallic) straws
Last year I bought my first couple of reusable straws and I’m still very happy with them. I prefer the metallic ones, because the paper ones feel weird on my lips and are often a bit sticky. Most of these metallic straws can go in the dishwasher, but I also got a little brush included so you can wash them by hand.
3. Bamboo toothbrush
Recently I discovered the bamboo toothbrush and I immediately bought some. Bamboo is, of course, organic, so it’s biodegradable and doesn’t have an infinite lifespan like plastic. My toothbrushes from By Olive are made of a bamboo sort that grows about one meter a day and is CO2 neutral. *Plus* it’s a sort that’s not eaten by panda’s, so with these you won’t be robbing panda’s of their food!
4. Shampoo bar
Now that I am more serious about my ecological journey, the personal ads on instagram have also changed. I now get more ads on ecological products, like the natural products by Nunc8! The first product I’ve bought there is a coconut shampoo bar. These bars can be compared with four bottles of regular shampoo! Four bottles! It’s also really easy in use and it doesn’t contain harmful ingredients, like SLES.
5. Reusable teabags and loose leaf tea
I’ve always been a fan of the look of loose leaf tea. In these you can always see all the ingredients and sometimes a little flower here and there and it looks lovely π₯° But besides the aesthetic, it’s also better for the environment to use loose leaf tea instead of teabags. Lots of teabags are made of plastic and are only used once. That’s why I also bought some reusable tea bags over at Sostrene Grene! You can fill them with loose leaf tea, wash them and use them over and over and over again.
Big plus: the loose leaf teas at Sostrene Grene are packaging free. Well, of course you take it home with you in a paper bag, because you don’t want to be traveling with all these loose tea leaves inside your books ππ»ββοΈ What I mean is that there are these boxes against the wall, filled with tea and you can scoop it yourself! And you get quite a big bag for less than 2 euros!
I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a shampoo bar. Definitely gonna look into that!
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I didnβt know about them myself either until I found this one! ππΌ
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Thanks for the tips…the pics are beautiful…
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Youβre welcome! And thank you!! β¨
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Oooh, I’ve not heard of shampoo bars, but I’m keen to look into them. I also have a bamboo hair brush, and it is the BEST brush I’ve ever had. I use paddle brushes as I have straight hair (and no matter what I do it never stays curly, but plastic paddle brushes have those stupid plastic dip knobs on the end and once they come off, it feels like you’re brushing your hair with needles. The bamboo one just has little bamboo bits with rounded ends, so nothing comes off, meaning the brush lasts far longer anyway! I am 100% down for more bamboo products!!
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Oooh that sounds great!! I have to look into bamboo brushes now π
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I love this post, Romi! These are all helpful tips that many people should hopefully be able to implement because they don’t take a lot of time or effort. I was aware of a lot of these, like the reusable cups, and I’m glad that a lot of companies are also being mindful of this sort of thing and offer non-plastic straws, etc.
A bamboo toothbrush isn’t something I’ve considered yet, but I’ll look into it when I next need to replace my toothbrush! Also, I confess I never thought about tea bags being made of plastic… I suppose it’s because they don’t have the usual ‘shiny plastic’ appearance like a bottle or something. I drink loose-leaf tea and have little infusers that I then wash, but reusable tea bags are a neat idea too!
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Thank you Steph! Those infusers are great as well ππΌ
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Thanks for the tips! I love shampoo bars, I always buy them at Lush, which is a great store for eco friendly products.
Some other things I use are chopsticks. We order sushi quite often but we always send a note saying we don’t need chopsticks or soy sauce, since we have our own. And to be honest, the ones we have are way nices than the ones you get with your order π No more single use chopsticks π
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That’s a great one! And I agree, the ones you get with your orders are often a little dry π We have chopsticks as well, but unfortunately we don’t order sushi that often π’
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I didn’t knew , reusable metallic straws are available – how durable are they? . i have been considering reusable bamboo straws , https://briutessentials.com/product/new-bamboo-straws/, and they are durable.
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They are quite durable, because you can wash them and they’re made of metal so they don’t break that fast! I think bamboo straws are great too!
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