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Dec8

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

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While we’re all spending more time at home these days, here’s how to reduce plastic in your everyday life!

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

Hello again A Foodie Stays Fit followers! Courtney here again from McNaughts in the Wild to give you a few ideas on how to reduce plastic in your home. Let’s be real, we’re all spending more time at home these days, not eating out or traveling as much! And there is so much we can do within the walls of our own homes to make a difference! (Remember, recycling isn’t the answer!)

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

I know that this has been a wild and crazy rollercoaster ride of a year for all of us and I want to make a few of those earth-friendly decisions a little easier for you. So, today I’m going to share some products with you that are plastic-free and easy to access during a worldwide pandemic.

Bulk bins and bulk shopping in general have been put on hold, as have other simple things like bringing your own produce and grocery bags to the store, but there ARE other options out there, HALLELUJAH! I have tried each and every one of these products myself, most just in the last few months as we have tried as a family to settle into a new normal of getting eco-friendly products amidst shut-downs and all manner of ever-changing restrictions.

How to reduce plastic in your home

Ok, ready for some mind-blowing eco-friendly products?? Let’s go!

1. Who Gives a Crap? Toilet paper!

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

This company!! Where do I even start? It is so dang hard to find toilet paper that’s not packaged in plastic, and add to that the fact that some popular brands of “tissue” products (think TP, paper towels, tissues, etc) are actually made from virgin boreal Canadian forests and wow, choosing a good TP brand becomes daunting! But look no farther than Who Gives a Crap, they have TP made from either recycled paper or quick-growing, sustainable bamboo (the “premium” option) – I have tried both and they are both great! Literally no complaints at all! The toilet paper comes in a large cardboard box with each roll wrapped in a thin layer of (beautiful!) paper. And if you still need convincing…they donate 50% of all profits to building toilets for those in need. Don’t hesitate on this one. *btw, they also make paper towels and tissues!

2. Dropps Dishwasher and laundry detergent pods!

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

We love these dish detergent pods in our house! We find they work just as well as other dish detergents we have used in the past (even better than some actually!), and they come in a tiny, efficient cardboard box straight to your door instead of a big plastic jug or tub. Their laundry detergent is great too and comes similarly packaged and with different scent or scentless options.

Another perk? In their own words, “We’re proud to offer effective green cleaning products manufactured right here in the United States. We believe in supporting local jobs, communities, small businesses and fair wages.” Made in the USA!

Still need convincing? Their shipping is carbon neutral! And they are FUNNY. Do yourself a favor and watch that commercial.

3. Tru Earth Laundry Strips

How to Reduce Plastic in Your Home

Tru Earth is another great company that specializes in laundry products. They are unique because their detergent comes concentrated into small strips that can be placed directly in the washer or in the detergent dispensing drawer of your washing machine. Because their strips don’t contain liquid like other detergents, they are VERY light weight which means they’re much less carbon intensive to transport. They also come in super compact cardboard packaging that’s easily recyclable. Win win!

We find this detergent to be very effective but offer two important tips to make sure it works right for you – 1) if you have a front loader make sure to put the strip in first before the clothes so it quickly makes contact with water and breaks down properly (not just thrown in the middle of all the clothes) 2) for larger or more heavily soiled loads we use 1.5 strips – you can just rip them in half, something you can’t do with pods!

4. Ethique Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Bars

If you’ve been wanting to get into the “bar” game but haven’t quite been sure how to go about it, Ethique is here for you! These amazing bars are sold in little cardboard boxes and might even be available at your local Target store (doesn’t get easier than that people!).

We have loved every bar we’ve tried from Ethique, but specifically recommend a few of them:

  • their Frizz Wrangler bar (love it for my 3 year olds’ long unruly hair!)
  • the Oaty Delicious shampoo bar which we used on our kids last winter when we lived in NZ as a body and shampoo bar (good for dry skin!)
  • the Guardian conditioner bar
  • the Lime and Ginger bodywash bar

Ethique is an amazing company started by an equally amazing woman in New Zealand but they just opened up a US warehouse this year that significantly decreases their carbon footprint in delivering to the United States! Everything from the product to the shipping and packaging are thoughtfully considered by these guys. Highly recommend! *Tip – get the in-shower container also sold by Ethique to go with any bars you’ll use in the shower. It helps them last soooo much longer! And the containers are plant based, ie: compostable at the end of their life cycle 🙂

Ethique Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Bars Ethique Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Bars Ethique Shampoo, Conditioner, and Body Bars

Alright, that wraps up my round up for today my friends. Please let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions for easily accessible, eco-friendly companies, or have any questions at all about any of these products!

Xoxo,
Courtney

Teri’s Favorite: Zip Top

One of the items I’ve loved for over a year are Zip Top products instead of ziplock bags! Not only do they reduce the use of single use plastic baggies, they also take up less space in my fridge for meal prep. Use TERI15 for 15% off your purchase!

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