A sustainable lifestyle is the new awareness movement. We have been demanding our government take more responsibility and action towards preserving our nature, but now it’s time for us to reflect on ourselves.
We can bring sustainability to our daily lives by becoming more conscious of our choices. Let’s start thrifting rather than buying clothes. Let’s alternate to more eco-conscious and ethical brands than relying on fast fashion. Let’s invest in eco-friendly materials and transports.
We can also bring sustainability to our homes. Here are a few tips on how to make your house more sustainable!
Beeswax Food Wrap
Indeed, you would be familiar with plastic wraps. Those thin, stretchy plastic that you use to wrap your sandwich lunches or over bowls of food. Americans have found the convenience in using the item. By 2019, over 70 million Americans have used up a roll within the span of half a year, not to mention the amount used by industrial packaging for transportations. But, unfortunately, plastic wraps are highly harmful to the environment. First, because they are non-recyclable, they also take hundreds of years to biodegrade, all the while releasing toxic chemicals to the environment.
All those waste is why you should throw away those conventional plastic wraps and use beeswax food wraps instead!
Beeswax food wraps are fabric infused with beeswax, which allows the material to stick onto itself or your bowl surface. Now, all you need to do is fold the fabric over the food or container you want to cover. You can also wash them after every use to keep them clean. Plus, if you feel like you’re losing the ‘stickiness,’ you can iron it or heat it under a hot pot! (P.S. If you do this, remember to have a layer of baking paper in between so the beeswax won’t stick to your iron or pot).
You can order your beeswax food wrap from Bee’s Wrap here! There are also a lot of other brands you can select. The video below is from the brand BEEUTIFUL to show you how to use the food wraps.
Soapberries
You may be unfamiliar with this, but this could be your next holy grail for your sustainable lifestyle at home!
Soapberries are soap berries. Quite a straightforward name, right? You can use these fruits as soaps since they contain 37% saponin, a compound that can foam with water.
But, how to use them?
You only need to soak them in warm water for 5 minutes before you can use them like any soap bar! You can also boil them to extract their liquid, add essential oils for scent, and use them as liquid soaps. Another way you can use them is by putting them in a small satchel and pop them in the laundry as an alternative for your detergent.
You can learn more about soapberry usage here.
You should consider alternating all your cleaning products to soapberries to reduce your plastic waste!
Eco-Enzyme
Another thing you should consider is making eco-enzymes. You can make eco-enzymes from fermenting your organic kitchen waste. You may not find this in the market, but you can easily create this at home with ingredients from your kitchen.
All you need to do is follow this ratio:
100 gr brown sugar: 300 gr organic waste (fruits and vegetables, preferably uncooked): 1000 mL of water.
Mix it in an airtight container and let it ferment for three months, and you would be able to use it for everything, from cleaning the kitchen sinks, bathroom, toilets, the floor, you name it. You can even use it as disinfectants and plant fertilizer!
Eco-enzyme is quite literally the most eco-friendly and sustainable exchange you can make in your homes. You would need to worry less about your organic waste ending up in landfills and contributing to methane release, and you would get something great in exchange! This way, you would be reducing your contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and minimize your carbon footprint.
You can learn more about the details of making eco-enzymes here.
Upcycling
Upcycling is excellent, especially for those of you that are fond of DIY and arts and crafts. Note, upcycling is quite different from recycling. You need to break down the materials in recycling to create new products. On the other hand, upcycling takes advantage of the current condition of waste (or discarded materials) to create something new!
It is as exciting as it sounds. You can make bags, wallets, masks, and many more. You don’t only use kitchen waste here, but you can also exploit your old clothes and create something new out of them!
There are many tips on the internet o to upcycle your waste, but you can start here.
Your home should be the place where you start your sustainable journey. From there, you would create a space where sustainability is maintained and thus motivate you to take more greener steps. By going sustainable, you can also inspire your friends to do the same, even more so if you share your journey on your social media!
We hope these tips can help you start your new sustainable life.