Hey Hello!
Last week we started this list of Easy Eco Swaps, but it had grown so long, I decided to split it into two. If you want to see part one, please click here to see the first part of the list.
But now, without further ado, here's part two!
10. Hanging Clothes (indoors or outdoors) to Dry
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I'm a big fan of hanging clothes out on the line to dry. I tend to err on the side of hanging clothes out, even if I the sky's looking a bit grey. I do get caught out at times! But I love the smell - plus now we're back in the UK, we don't have a tumble-dryer ;-)
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However, even if we have to hang inside, I do love our dryer on a pulley, which we have in our kitchen / dining area. We do have a heated airer which we use when we have lots of washing that needs to dry fast. But I'm always surprised at how dry things get when we just hang them on this - turns out hot air really does rise ;-)
11. Cloth Wipes
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When our girls were babies, we bought Cheeky Wipes to use instead of disposable wipes. They were great - a couple of boxes: one with some water and essential oils, the other with a net bag to collect up the dirty ones ready to wash.
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Now the girls are six and nine years old, thankfully bottom wiping and nappy changes are far behind us! ;-) But we've kept the cheeky wipes, which we now use for hand-wipes / serviettes, and also to wipe down the table after we eat.
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We also use them to mop up any spills, and wipe down / dry any of the kitchen surfaces, or wipe muddy or paint-covered hands.
12. Reusable Cleaning Cloths
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As well as not using kitchen towel for napkins / hand wipes, we've also switched to fully re-usable cleaning cloths. Not much to say about these, other than we use them, collect them up, wash them, dry and re-use.
13. Paper Tape
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After making an effort to buy fully paper wrapping paper, I realised that I was still sticking it together with small bits of plastic - sticky tape / sellotape. This seemed crazy and wrong.
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So I made a switch to paper. Some are better than others - compostable, instead of recyclable. But paper's got to be better than plastic, right?
14. Choose Metal Cutlery / Bring Your Own
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One of the hardest switches to make is bringing your own cutlery. I have four sets of metal cutlery that we can take out with us, but sometimes, it feels like it's going to be too heavy and over kill, and other times we just forget.
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However, if we end up eating out, more and more places are offering metal cutlery as an option (I never understand why it is offered as an option if they have it - if you have metal cutlery, why offer plastic as well? I just don't get it...) So choose that.
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Or be better than me, and always bring your own :-)
15. Bring Your Own Containers
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More food shops are more than happy for you to bring your own containers for them to fill - fish mongers, cheese mongers and, as above, bulk dry goods.
16. Cotton Buds
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The UK Government plans to ban the distribution and sale of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds at some point between October 2019 and October 2020.
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Our biodegradable Cotton Buds, by Hydrophil, are made from bamboo and organic cotton, thus 100% biodegradable, and totally plastic-free.
17. Be creative: Covering Baking Dishes
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Now I'm trying to use silver foil less, I'm trying to be creative in how I cover meals that need covering to be baked. The answer I've come up with is to use small baking trays.
18. Face Cleaning
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I was never a big user of face wipes, but now I'm fully reusable - a muslin face cloth (I have extra cotton flannels), and smaller make-up remover pads.
Phew! What a list! And I'm sure there's more that I've missed.... reusable coffee cups, reusable bottles, etc etc.
What eco swap have you already made? What eco swap is a new idea for you? What one do you like best? What swap can you make today?
Please don't get overwhelmed. Just start with one. Keep doing that one thing, until it becomes habit and normal and not a burden. Then, and only then, move on to the next swap. There's 18 swaps listed, so maybe just pick one a month and make a slow transition over a year and half. For change to be sustainable and long-lasting, we have to make it as low a burden as possible.
Let me know any others you'd like to add to the list! And tell me what eco swap you're going to make this month.
As always, with love from our family to yours,
Elena x
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