Sustainable Swaps
Living a more sustainable lifestyle can seem daunting, especially if you don’t know where to start. We at SteadyState think it's a great idea to start small, with household swaps that make living a more ecofriendly life simple and sustainable. As you start incorporating these changes into your daily life, hopefully you find that living more sustainably can be creative and even save you money.
Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets- not only are dryer sheets bad for the environment, but the chemicals in them soak into your clothes and transfer onto your skin. Wool dryer balls are a safer, more cost-effective, and reusable alternative.
Use a tea strainer - some paper tea bags are wrapped in plastic and can be full of pesticides and non-biodegradable materials. Switch to buying loose leaf tea in bulk and use a tea strainer for healthier, toxin-free tea!
Bring reusable bags to the store - we all know plastic bags are a huge generator of plastic waste, and switching to cloth totes is an easy way to cut down on plastic usage. Keep a few cloth totes in your car and at the ready for your next trip to the grocery, hardware, or clothing store. To do even more, use upcycled glass jars and reusable silicone bags instead of single-use plastic baggies at home!
Use reusable food wraps - reusable wraps made from cotton and beeswax work just as well to protect your food as plastic wrap, without the plastic waste. With good care and washing with cold water, one wrap can last well over a year!
Ditch plastic water bottles and other plastic containers - by switching to reusable water bottles, you are not only decreasing the amount of plastic waste, but you’re also saving yourself a significant amount of money due to the high markup put on plastic water bottles. Go even beyond eliminating plastic bottles and bring reusable thermoses to coffee shops or glass containers for restaurant to-go orders.
Buy bar soap instead of liquid soap - liquid soap comes in plastic packaging that is hard to recycle, plus you’re paying for water! Concentrated bar soap comes without the wasteful packaging and the lack of a dispenser makes it more sanitary than liquid soap.
Bake with silicone mats instead of parchment paper- most parchment paper is bleached and can contain toxins that are harmful if ingested. Silicone baking mats are a safe alternative that can be washed and reused again and again. Bonus- they are non-stick!
Cut up old t-shirts to use as rags - although paper towels are convenient for cleaning, they create a large amount of waste and are often packaged in plastic. To save money and resources, cut up washed old t-shirts or towels into cleaning rags.
Start composting - if it came from nature, give it back to nature. Use your fruit and veggie food scraps and yard waste to create nutrient-rich soil and decrease the amount of biomass going to landfills. Keeping your organic scraps out of the landfill's anaerobic environment means less methane production from the break-down of these scraps, too!
Make the switch to homemade household cleaners - Cleaners made with simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils pack a punch. Making your own is a healthier alternative to the chemical toxins that can be present in common store-bought brands.
Let us know what sustainable practice you use in your daily life by tagging us on social media, DMing us, or sending us an email at support@newsteadystate.com.