Eco Friendly House And Garden

Several continuous small steps are better than one big single one.

I have put together some simple steps in the ‘beauty & fashion’ department that can help you make a move over to more environmentally friendly products without too much hassle.  And it can be a bit of fun too.

Many people are worried about which brand of this they should chose or what brand of that is better – but really the answer is to change bits of your lifestyle not just swap one thing for another.

It is always easiest to Reduce – this is the key to sustainable and eco friendly living.  Reuse comes a close second and of course never forget to Recycle – but focus on the life cycle of the items you are buying or thinking of buying and follow it from production, through use and then to disposal.

This brings me to the first fashion tip:

1) Stop Shopping!  The greenest products and clothes are those items you already have.  They have already been made – and it’s up to you to use them or recycle them.

If you decide to become ‘green’ overnight and go and buy something ‘organic’ or ‘bio-degradable’ instead – you are wasting all the energy, transport and ingredients that have gone into the one you already have, but are going to leave on the shelf.  Wasted.

We need to Reduce our consumption, so make sure that you keep wearing all your old clothes, use the last of that old shampoo or bubble bath, and don’t throw something away because you want something new.  Or, try Tip 2:

2) Have A Swap Party. There are many people like you who grow tired of the same shoes/top/beauty products/etc – so why not give them to your friends in exchange for something they ‘don’t want’.

You could come away with a whole new outfit, and change of facial regime or some household ingredients that your friends would otherwise have wasted.  Similarly, your ‘waste’ finds a second life!

3) Simplify Your Life.  Another things to consider when going to purchase a new item, is whether you actually need it right now.  I mean, rather than buying some nutritional supplements – why not actually consider eating more healthily instead!  Buying fresh local fruit and veg produces far less waste that factory-made tablets in tiny plastic bottles!

Similarly, technology out-dates itself overnight it seems – so rather than make that rash purchase – think about ways you can make do with what you have until you really have to upgrade.  Otherwise, you could be disposing of something that was perfectly usable for something that will be out-of-date in 3 months anyway!

And, most technology and appliances come ‘eco friendly’ these days.  With low energy rating listings and reduced-chemical electronics readily available and at a similar cost to the short-use energy-hungry models we brought last time!

4) Back To Basics.  Why do we need everything so perfumed and highly specific these days?  Can’t we just use unscented nappy-sacks, hygiene products and ‘exotic’ air-fresheners?  Use natural instead: tea-tree oil, lavender, along with other plants and herbs all have their uses – and without the chemicals!

Try Aloe for sun care, oats for facial scrubs, cucumber slices for eye recovery – and many many more.  I have seen quotes that ladies apply, on average, 126 ingredients and chemicals in daily beauty regimes!  That’s amazing really – and seeing as so many of those are potentially harmful to us.

Babies are particularly sensitive to chemicals yet we use an array of man-made (and potentially hormone-affecting) toiletries for them without any real reason – other than ‘we saw the advert’ and it said ‘this does this…..’.  Well warm water and an organic cotton cloth cleans even the dirtiest of bottoms!

See Part 2 tomorrow for further eco friendly tips…….