By Dewanga Mayarata ~
With an increasing number of companies taking on environmental best practices, the consumer culture among Gen-Z, and even millennials, brings hope for the future of our environment. As students, it’s important for us to consider the power of our spending and take the time and energy to assess eco-friendliness as a factor in our everyday buying decisions, whether from large retailers like Amazon or local businesses. Such products are made out of natural materials (cotton, bamboo, sheep wool, cork, etc.), and accessible recycled materials.
We do not realize this, but most of our daily products are not eco-friendly - including disposable single-use razors, boxes of tea bags, wet wipes, and laundry detergent! Just one example is America’s widespread use of coffee cups under the impression that any plastics and papers will be repurposed after recycling. In reality, as WWF AU states, “most takeaway coffee cups can’t be recycled as they’re made with a plastic lining.”
So what now? Stop drinking coffee and eating with utensils? NO! There are many alternatives out there to replace with eco-friendly products. Lucky for you, we have a shortlist of 4 great eco-friendly options - plus a perfect gift idea.
Pela Vision Phone Cases
Pela Vision’s accessory cases (phones, AirPods, watches) are 100% compostable. They are biodegradable and eco-friendly, and their base material for their phone cases is made out of leftover flax straw. What’s even 10x great is that you can mail back your unwanted cases to be reused/remade and get a 20% discount on a future purchase.
Eating Utensils and Straws
We have heard a lot about how plastic eating utensils and straws are unable to be recycled. According to U Konserve, they stated, “Americans discard 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour. 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in the U.S. Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day, which could fill over 127 school buses every day, or more than 46,400 school buses every year.”.
This 8 piece utensil by Devico is made out of stainless steel. Unlike the plastic utensils, which we can only use once and throw them out, these can be reused as many times and are dishwasher safe. They come in 9 different colors and contain all the utensils you will need.
Laundry Detergent
We all use laundry detergent to clean our clothes and get rid of any dirt, stains, and bacteria. Around 900 million laundry jugs are thrown away each year in the U.S. Only 30% are recycled while 70% end up in landfills. Not to mention that laundry detergent too includes dangerous chemicals, non biodegradable material, and can be dangerous for little kids. The traditional laundry detergent we use contains a type of phosphate that can block waterways and limit the amount of oxygen, killing off fish populations as a result. Here’s a short list of great eco-friendly laundry detergents that will get the job done without contributing to environmental damage.
Tide Purclean
Ecos Free & Clear
Eco Nuts
Dropps
Etee
Meliora
Cleaning Products
We have heard a lot about how cleaning products contain hazardous chemicals to humans and the environment. This Premium Starter Kit by Branch Basis includes the necessary cleaning products to make your house nice and clean. It is human safe plant & mineral-safe, fragrance-free, contains no harmful preservatives, biodegradable, non-GMO, and is not tested on animals. What a perfect product!
With around 2,292 reviews, this kit is given 4.9/5 stars and cleans wonderfully.
Zero Waste Starter Kit Gift
There are 17 goals from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Sustainable Development to create a better future and environment. Goal 12 is, “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.” To achieve this goal, we need to encourage everyone to change their lifestyle a bit and incorporate eco-friendly products to better the environment. What a best way to get family and friends involved with a starter kit.
This Zero Waste Starter Kit by HippyMonkey created a starter kit with eco-friendly products. This is a perfect gift to give to others and help encourage the use of eco-friendly products. They are handmade products that are made out of bamboo, cotton, konjac, and organic cotton.
Comments