We grow up learning to do things the way our parents and guardians taught us. There are some time-honored traditions that have stayed relevant today, like the golden rule, or general thriftiness. But some of the habits and practices of an older generation don’t actually save as much as they’re supposed to, and, in fact, can actually be wasteful and even dangerous. Below are a few tips to upgrade your household and methods of taking care it during this generation.
Cleaning cabinets are frequently overloaded with different chemicals and products for every room and appliance. Your selection only needs a few basic items and many of these can be made at home with popular products you likely already have, like baking soda, vinegar, or lemon. Not only are homemade, all-natural products better for the environment, but they’re inexpensive, too. Heavy duty cleaners like oven and drain cleaners are chock-full of nasty chemicals that leech into the environment, water table, and aren’t great to breathe in or get on your skin. Be sure to use a soft cloth or rag made from old clothes and skip the paper towels.
Growing up, there was probably a drawer filled with rolls of plastic wrap and tin foil, and you likely have one right now. Single-use, soft plastic gets thrown away in mass quantities across the country, clogging landfills, destroying ocean habitat, and leeching toxins into the earth’s ecosystems. It’s important not to waste food, just like your mother and grandfather taught you, but there’s a better, all-natural alternative. Instead try reusable beeswax wraps to cover your bowls, trays, and containers, and to wrap up food in to take on-the-go. Even plastic containers have unacceptable levels of BPA, so you’re best to go with a portal food wrap that can be washed and reused many times and that has great versatility for food protection and storage.
Don’t stop at leftovers – go reusable across the board. Bring reusable shopping and produce bags to the store. Have your coffee or tea made in a travel mug at the café or make your own at home (and if you have to use k-cups, get the compostable kind!). Ditch the brown sack and plastic baggies and take your Abeego-wrapped lunch with you in a cute lunchbox or bag that can be cleaned or laundered.
Parents seem to have closets filled with multiple sheet sets and towels piled high. While it’s good to keep things as long as they’re in fair condition, bed sheets only need one extra set per bed, and, if you can manage to clean and dry them in one day, only one is truly necessary. Use towels and sheets as long as you can before changing and washing them to reduce energy and water used for so many loads of laundry. Hanging laundry to dry on the line in the fresh air and sunlight will never go out of fashion.
Something this generation is surely worse at in terms of waste is mass consumption of electronic devices and tossing them within a couple years or less! E-waste has an impact that is much more dire than paper towels and the occasional extra load of laundry. Use your home computer, laptop, mobile, and tablets as long as you can, because they use a lot of energy and resources like plastic and metals from war torn areas to make and throwing them away is bad for the environment and poses a risk for identity theft.
So often, the convenience of disposable items becomes a habit. It’s useful every once in a while to look at what we’re throwing away and try to find ways to decrease what we put in the landfill. Thanks for giving us something to think about.
Good to do our part to make the generation as sustainable as possible for the future !