In August, I shared a post on The Easy Eco Beauty Swaps I've Made and it had a great response so I wanted to gather together the home swaps we've made too. I spent quite a bit of time researching for what we could change in the home that we hadn't done already and as we've run out of those items we've replaced them with a more sustainable option.
Becoming a mum has changed a lot for me, especially how I see my impact on the earth my son is growing up on. We've all seen the documentaries and the warnings, it should be enough to put the frighteners on anyone and so here are our home swaps we've made so far.
The brand was created by two friends after watching Blue Planet II and realising they both wanted to do something about single-use plastic and boy have they created a good'un. Wakecup creates stylish alternatives to single-use plastics including water bottles, coffee cups, bags and straws. The Zero Waste Starter Kit (£58.00) was sent to me recently which includes four of their products, the vegan rucksack, bamboo water bottle, reusable bamboo coffee cup and bamboo straws.
The rucksack is made with a black paper finish that's 100% waterproof, washable and big enough to fit everything you may need. I've used this for a spa day recently and it was so much more spacious than I was expecting. The cotton straps are a great edition too! The 14oz coffee cup is made from sustainably farmed bamboo and comes equipped with a thermal insulating double-wall keeping drink hot for an hour, I always keep this in the pushchair for when I'm out and fancy a coffee.
Wakecup have a brilliant array of products and their starter kits would be fab presents especially at this time of year for someone who wants to reduce their single-use plastic use, the Zero Waste Shopping Kit is ideal!
Method Cleaning Products
The first thing we looked at was cleaning products so when we ran out of what we were using we switched to Method. I really loved the story of encouraging happy and healthy homes by using non-toxic ingredients especially as we have a young son. The product range is so much bigger than I was expecting which has meant as we continue to use up what we currently have, we'll be able to replace most things with Method. I especially love the Clementine Kitchen Cleaner, Eucalyptus Mint Bathroom Cleaner and the Lemon Ginger Floor Cleaner. I've heard great things about their handwashes but we've recently switched to using soap so I'm not sure we would try them.
Soap
Leading on to soap, I always remember blocks of soap around the house growing up and now so many of us use pump action hand washes instead. I get it though, they're easy, clean and easy to top up but we wanted an alternative so we switched back to bars of soap. At the moment we're using the Aveda Rosemary Mint Bar and a few from Lush Cosmetics as they've been sent to me this year but there are much cheaper alternatives available which we'll no doubt replace our fancy ones with once we've used them up.
Smol
Washing is something I feel like I spend my entire life doing which means we get through a number of plastic bottles and that needed to change. After some research, we switched to Smol washing tablets six months ago and have had a monthly plan ever since. The tablets are available in bio and non-bio and are packaged to fit through your letterbox. Upon signing up you just enter in how often you do a wash and Smol calculate the best plan for you. It's so easy, really cost-effective and you're going your bit for the planet because all the packaging is recyclable too.
Patch Bamboo Plasters
One thing that I hadn't considered until recently was plasters until I came across Patch in a beauty box. They're the first organic and natural plasters made with bamboo fibres and hypoallergenic pressure-sensitive adhesive. They're plastic, silicone and latex-free as well as being cruelty-free, vegan, biodegradable and sustainably sourced. The best bit? They come in ALL skin colours which is great to see.
The first thing we looked at was cleaning products so when we ran out of what we were using we switched to Method. I really loved the story of encouraging happy and healthy homes by using non-toxic ingredients especially as we have a young son. The product range is so much bigger than I was expecting which has meant as we continue to use up what we currently have, we'll be able to replace most things with Method. I especially love the Clementine Kitchen Cleaner, Eucalyptus Mint Bathroom Cleaner and the Lemon Ginger Floor Cleaner. I've heard great things about their handwashes but we've recently switched to using soap so I'm not sure we would try them.
Soap
Leading on to soap, I always remember blocks of soap around the house growing up and now so many of us use pump action hand washes instead. I get it though, they're easy, clean and easy to top up but we wanted an alternative so we switched back to bars of soap. At the moment we're using the Aveda Rosemary Mint Bar and a few from Lush Cosmetics as they've been sent to me this year but there are much cheaper alternatives available which we'll no doubt replace our fancy ones with once we've used them up.
Smol
Washing is something I feel like I spend my entire life doing which means we get through a number of plastic bottles and that needed to change. After some research, we switched to Smol washing tablets six months ago and have had a monthly plan ever since. The tablets are available in bio and non-bio and are packaged to fit through your letterbox. Upon signing up you just enter in how often you do a wash and Smol calculate the best plan for you. It's so easy, really cost-effective and you're going your bit for the planet because all the packaging is recyclable too.
Patch Bamboo Plasters
One thing that I hadn't considered until recently was plasters until I came across Patch in a beauty box. They're the first organic and natural plasters made with bamboo fibres and hypoallergenic pressure-sensitive adhesive. They're plastic, silicone and latex-free as well as being cruelty-free, vegan, biodegradable and sustainably sourced. The best bit? They come in ALL skin colours which is great to see.
Having a child means we use a lot of wet wipes. We do use cloth at home but haven't been ready to move to this outside the home yet so we use a biodegradable alternative and make sure we dispose of them correctly. We use the Mum & You Biodegradable Wipes which are 98% water-based making them ideal for little bums. They're made from naturally derived fibres which break down easily even in a landfill and they're suitable for home composting. You can buy them as part of a subscription service too which means you'll never run out!
Tea Strainer
I'm a big coffee fan and use compostable coffee pods at home but I also love a cup of tea in the winter months so recently I've switched to loose leave and ordered myself a handy little tea strainer. Discovering teabags contain plastic freaked me out enough to make the switch and something like this makes it easier for me to still enjoy a cup of my favourite tea.
Reusable Shopping Bags
Remember the uproar when everyone started charging for bags? That's around the time I made the switch to reusable bags, we had so many folded away in the cupboard so it seemed only right to put them to good use especially as I'm always given them at blogging events. I never leave home without them and if I do forget for any reason then I always make sure I get a reusable option to use when I'm out.
And there you have our at-home eco swaps! I'm sure there's more we can do and we're learning all the time about what else we can do so if you have any other advice or tips please leave me a comment and let me know.
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