10 Ways to Be Eco-Friendly on a Budget

More and more people are going green, trying to consume green products and become eco-friendly. There are plenty of reasons to go green in this era, a cleaner and greener environment, cleaner air, better future for our kids/grandkids, saves our ocean and land animals and saves money in the long run. I mean, nature took care of us; it’s time to pay back.

Although becoming a ‘greenie’ can be quite pricey, there are a few affordable ways you can use on a budget, or no budget at all to be eco-friendly. Many eco-friendly activists are getting more and more people to become aware of the environmental issues that people are causing, and more businesses are trying to find ways to adapt into a more eco-friendly business.

Here are 10 Easy Ways to be Eco-Friendly on a Budget:

1. Invest in reusable products

• Bamboo/metal straws: plastic straws are becoming a big environmental issues, keeping a reusable straw in your handbag and using it wherever you go can save a lot of plastic straw waste.
• Reusable water bottle: A lot of households buy packages of water which wastes a lot of plastic. Assuming each household uses 2 bottles per day: 576 million × 365 days = 210 billion bottles per year. Instead a household can get a clean water system and use reusable water bottles instead of wasting so many plastic bottles.
• Bamboo toothbrush: Get a bamboo toothbrush instead of a plastic one.
• Reusable shopping bags: A lot of grocery stores sell reusable bags that you can use over and over, instead of using a ton of plastic bags.

There are plenty more zero waste products you can use, here are online ‘zero waste’ shops you can take a look at: The Zero Waste Collection & Greenlight.

2. Buy products degradable packaging

Buy food without packaging or zero waste packaging & products with degradedable packaging.

Lush is a body product company that make handmade cosmetics and that focuses on making less packacging and tries to turn liquids into solids to decrease the use of packaging. They also use recycled materials for in-store packaging and hope to reach the dream of Zero waste one day.

3. Get LED lights

Change your lightbulbs to LED lights, they tend to use less power and last longer, which makes changing lightbulbs less. We use solarpannel LED lights which are free in the long run.

4. Start you own vegetable garden

Starting your own vegetable garden has many benefits for the environment and especially for you. Growing your own vegetable garden is healthier and higher in nutrients as it hasn’t travelled so far, it gives you or your children responsibility, it saves money and it gives you a sense of appreciation to nature.

Not everyone has the best ground to plant a vegetable garden in, that’s why the next tip will help you to start making your own compost for your vegetable garden.

5. Get a recycle bin

You can have a recycle bin, compost bin and a waste bin where you seperate all your waste from each other and take it to a recycling company or you can recycle it yourself by using this guide on another blog.

Instead of wasting your food, you can compost it and use it for your own vegetable garden, or even sell the compost. Here’s a guide on what and what not to compost, and easy 4 steps on how to compost it.

6. Start building habits

Start getting yourself use to habits that are enviromentally friendly such as:

• turning the lights off when you leave the room
• closing the tap when you brush your teeth or wash you face
• checking if all the taps are closed properly
• collecting all your coins in a jar, instead of letting it lie around
• buying products with the least packaging

7. Be part of an orginization

Nature isn’t just our home but also the animals that live in it. We should protect wildlife. Our beaches, forests, oceans and parks that people litter make it an unsafe habitat for the animals that live there.

We can become part of an organization that helps the wildlife, even if it’s just a small organization that picks up litter from the beaches. You can also start your own organization where people join hands and clean the environment.

8. Use card instead of cash

Paper is being wasted in so many ways, not only do we use paper for documents and work, we use paper for cash. To become more economically aware you can start using your credit card more and less cash, many businesses are starting to develop a no cash system.

9. Save water

We depend on water to survive, and the growing population can put a strain on our water. For us to conserve water and save energy and money we can use the following tips in this article.

You can gather water by collecting rainwater, collecting shower water(grey water) and putting a bucket under a leaking tap. You can use this water for many purposes such as for toilet water, watering plants and for laundry.

10. Buy 3/2 in 1 products

2 in 1 Product don’t only save money, but also saves waste. One product that can serve many purposes save a lot of space, shampoo and conditioner you can find in stores in one container, so instead of buying two containers you can buy one that serves the purpose of two.

Basic life utensils like pencils with a rubber on it, instead of a rubber and a pen instead can also be very handy. You can find 2 in 1 product everywhere. there are products that we never could’ve imagined that existed.

There are a variety of reasons to go green. There are a limited amount of resources and people are using them up by littering them. Going green will make the world a better place and save a lot of money. It is also healthier as less or none chemicals are used in eco-friendly products.

Thank you for reading my blog. Go Green!