If you want to be more eco-friendly and cut down on your daily clutter too, I have the answer for you! The first step is to start with your daily habits. That’s right. Daily living habits are your contribution to both climate change and clutter!
You’d be surprised by how much eco-clutter we each create. From shopping to disposal, our daily activities and shopping habits can wreak havoc not only in our homes but the wider world.
The choices that we make are where our own personal actions can either help or harm our environment. Below are some ideas that will help you change the direction of climate change . . . and they also save time and energy in managing your home.
1. stop wasting food
Okay, food as clutter? Yes. Of course. Food piles up in the fridge and without proper maintenance, you know how bad that can get! But, how much food do you waste because it went bad before you could eat it? AND . . . how much food do you throw in the garbage? Did you know throwing food in the trash contributes to climate change and unhealthy air?
Below are some ideas that will help you to stop wasting food, save you money, and are eco-friendly.
- Meal Planning – Set aside time to plan weekly meals; make a list & stick to it.
- Buy less perishable food – only buy enough fresh food to last for a few days. Chances are that you’ll be more likely to eat it.
- Move fresh food to the freezer if you won’t be able to eat it before it goes bad.
- Set intentions to make eating leftovers a priority.
Tip: Check the stock of your refrigerator, freezer, and food cabinets while planning your meals. While the stock is low, take the time to purge and organize them.
Related: How To Reduce Wasted Food
2. Change your shopping habits to reduce packaging
It’s no secret that when you shop at big box stores, you also bring home lots of packaging materials to recycle. But, if we change how we shop then we can reduce our household clutter and the environmental impact as well.
- Ditch the big box stores – The products come with too much packaging. Buying perishable foods in bulk creates the perfect environment for wasting food.
- Shop close to home – Shop for fresh food at your local farmer’s market. Shop at grocery stores that offer bulk bins.
- Bring Reusable Shopping Bags – This will cut the clutter at home from plastic bag buildup. It will also cut down on the need for recycling.
- Good to know: Plastic bags cannot be thrown in your recycling bin. You must take them to a special location, usually found at a nearby storefront. Or you can donate them to local thrift stores.
Related: The Truth About Recycling.
Read later: Recycling in the U.S. is Broken. How do we fix it?
3. STOP buying personal care products that harm your health and the planet.
From sunrise to sunset we use personal care products. But, have you ever thought about how safe your personal care products are? The truth is, there are very few governmental regulations on personal care products. For this reason, I recommend the following steps:
- Awareness – understand that personal care products in the U.S. are not well regulated.
- Make a list of your personal care products “essentials”: What products do you NEED every day?
- Research data from EWG – How do your “essential” products rank for human safety?
- Gather – gather all other products and put them away in a separate box until you have time to go through and check everything for safety. This is a good method to see what you actually use, as well.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP’S (EWG) Database contains over 10,000 personal care products. They have a special safety rating system. You can plug in your product name and check it for safe ingredients. If your products aren’t listed, you can input ingredients to check for safety.
Related: How Many Personal Care Products Do You Put on your Body?
4. stop Impulse Shopping with a capsule wardrobe
A capsule wardrobe is a limited wardrobe. It consists of 30-40 mix and match pieces. When you create a capsule wardrobe, you will do less impulse shopping. Plus, it makes clothing care and management easier. This eco habit will reduce the environmental impacts of the fast-fashion industry. It’ll save energy at home by washing and drying less often and it’ll save your energy too!
To make a capsule wardrobe, divide your clothes into groups by season. Then, remove all clothing except the current season. Next, divide the remaining clothes into categories; pants, tops/shirts, skirts/dresses, sweaters/jackets. Choose up to ten items from each category and remove the rest. You now have a core wardrobe that is concise and easy to manage.
The capsule does not include pajamas, athletic wear, under-clothing, shoes, or accessories.
Related: How Do I Make a Capsule Wardrobe?
5. stop picking up free pamphlets & newspapers
Our homes get bogged down in paperwork from a lot of places. Paper clutter is so overwhelming! But . . . there is also an environmental impact in producing paper and also in recycling paper. The process uses a lot of water, chemicals, energy, and of course, trees.
Stopping this one habit might make a difference to our paper clutter and the environment!
- Refuse free printed materials – Refuse flyers, brochures, and local free newspapers and magazines. If we stop accepting them, there will be less of a demand for them in the future. This new eco habit will save trees and energy while reducing clutter at home.
Related: How Do I Reduce Paper Clutter
Well, this is a beginning. There are lots more things that we can each do to help climate change and clutter. I know it’s a lot, but small changes over time will make a big difference.
Do you have any ideas that you want to share? Leave a comment.