Over the last few months, I’ve been making a conscious effort to be more eco friendly. We have a super hectic lifestyle with the two girls so I’ve been phasing in changes gradually over time to do my bit for the environment without putting too much pressure on us too. I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say we are not perfect – but we are moving in the right direction and introducing new sustainable swaps all the time as every little helps.
I wanted to put together this post to tell you about the 5 most recent swaps we’ve made which have been super easy to implement and ended up saving time and money too!
Toilet Roll
The first swap is toilet roll. I naively thought that the supermarket toilet paper I was buying was recycled, but when I looked into it I found out a huge amount of brands are not made from recycled paper at all. Forests are being grown and cut down purely for us to wipe our bums on and flush it away, this seems crazy. Not only are forests being destroyed but the water used to grow the forests has a huge impact AND the rolls were also wrapped in plastic. We had to make a change.
I found out about ‘Who Gives A Crap’ toilet roll from Instagram and was instantly drawn to the brightly coloured wrapping and eco-friendly message. The paper is made from either 100% recycled bamboo or 100% recycled paper, wrapped in paper. You bulk order which arrives in a huge cardboard box, meaning less impact as you only need a delivery a few times a year. The box and rolls make great building materials for a den too (says Violet). The paper is shipped from china, but after looking into the carbon footprint this is similar to supermarket bought toilet roll which is also imported from around the world too, so this is unavoidable.
Price: 48 rolls for £36 (the rolls are also double the size of supermarket brands so each one takes FOREVER to use up and they are delivered to the door so we never run out of toilet roll now!)
For £5 off your first order click here! (referral link)
Sanitary Products
One of the swaps I’ve made since having the girls is a move from sanitary pads/tampons to reusable pads and pants, (*) which can be easily washed in the washing machine and used again. I really wasn’t sure about them at first but now I’ve swapped I will never go back to using plasticy products which just feel sticky and hot against in the skin once you are used to fabric! Washing them is a breeze (it helps that I’m used to washing nappies) but I pop them in the washing machine for a rinse cycle before adding the rest of my laundry on a normal wash.
Another popular option is to use a menstrual cup, I’ve tried one and haven’t been able to get on with it as of yet, but I’m going to keep trying!
Check out City to the Sea for more info on plastic-free periods.
Crochet Face Cloths & Face Scrubbies
I didn’t realise but regular cotton pads don’t biodegrade due to the bleaching and mixing processes, plus they are wrapped in plastic so this is a double whammy for the environment. Reusable face cloths and scrubbies are the best way to avoid them. My lovely Insta friend Kate made me these 100% cotton gorgeous cloth and scrubbies (*) which are perfect for cleansing and removing make-up, they can just be tossed in the washing machine after use. Perfect!
Click here to order Face cloths and scrubbies from Kate (who is a super lovely local mum with her own business)
Cloth Nappies
I imperfectly cloth nappy with Pearl – I’m not amazing at it, but I’m trying and that’s all that counts. The better I get at it I’m sure the more we will use! I aim for around 50%, using at least one cloth nappy per day at a minimum. Each regular nappy will take over 500 years to biodegrade in landfill so even swapping one nappy per day saves 1000 nappies a year – plus the designs are super cute too.
Read my post about my simple transition to cloth nappies (with video guide)
Razors
Razors are something I only thought about recently, I suddenly realised that I was using disposable razors which are 100% single use plastic, wrapped in plastic – ARGH. Why didn’t I realise this sooner? I have now swapped to a subscription service called Friction Free Shaving (or FFS). They sent a gorgeous engraved metal razor handle then top you up with blades to your doorstep either monthly or bi-monthly. They have a recycling program so you can send back used razors in the original box to be 100% recycled. This is amazing as I was forever running out of razors and forgetting to pick them up with my weekly shop, so now there is nothing to remember or think about. At £9 per month (or bi-monthly) I think this is pretty affordable too. My subscription is every other month.
Click here to get £3 off your first order
As you can see these are really easy ways to start making a few changes to your daily routine without too much disruption! I hope you give some of them a go!
I’d love to hear your ideas for other super simple swaps!
Post contains gifted products marked with (*) and referral links for Who Gives a Crap and FFS which offer you money off your order plus I get a small amount at no extra cost to you.
Yay! Great blog! I’ve been using refillable liquids like shampoo and conditioner. You can also get hand soap, bathroom spray, toilet cleaner etc etc. There are various different options for this such as refillable zero waste shops, or!!!!! I’ve just discovered Zero Waste Bulk Foods online who I use for food shopping, and they every so often do a liquids offer. I think they have one coming up – check out their socials!
I’ve also been looking at makeup and deodorant. Switching to products that are good for the environment, and good for me!
I love this post – the toilet roll is such a good simple swap as I bulk buy anyway!! And it looks so cute as well!
Thanks for all the recommendations. I have stopped using disposable make-up remover wipes (for those rare occasions when I wear make-up!), but I’d like to stop using cotton wool pads. Reuseable, washable make-up removal scrubs sound perfect.