Habits to Help Mama
Earth Day! Every day should be Earth Day! Here are 3 quick switches you can implement, like - today. If you want some more, you can read this article too!
Collect Water for your Garden and Plants from your Shower
This one is SO easy and it makes a big difference in the long game of conserving water. You know when you turn the shower on for a minute before stepping in to get the water hot? Well, take a bucket or large mixing bowl and place it in the shower to collect the water. There! You’ve got enough water to make your plants very happy. My man and I have a pretty lush urban garden on our patio and with an every day shower, we rarely have to fill up our watering can via the sink. If you live in California or another area of the world that has gone through a drought, this trick is huge! 4 liters, 4 times a week is 16 liters a week. 64 a month. 768 a year. That’s a hot tub full of water you are saving! OK now the math if everyone who reads this does it! Oh the dolphins will be so happy.
2. DIY Laundry Bleach
I started making my own bleach for my white laundry cycles last year and I’m not kidding - I haven’t bought bleach since. It’s so easy, I mix it up in my mason jar, ingredients are all house hold and it does the best job of keeping my whites super bright but without wearing out (pun) the fabric. Grab a standard sized mason jar and fill it up with the following:
1/4 cup 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
0.5/4 cup squeezed Lemon Juice
6-8 drops of Essential Oils (lemon grass, lemon, orange, etc.)
1/4 cup Baking Soda
2-ish cups of Water or just fill to the top
Give it a good shake so the baking soda doesn’t settle on the bottom. You can use up to one cup for a load, I do about half a cup. You’ll also notice how much money you save after a couple of batches!
3. Recycling & Reusing Tips
Don’t try to recycle pizza boxes - the grease on them contaminates other recyclables and they can’t be broken down in the facilities.
If you’re about to throw out towels, sheets or blankets - take them to your nearby animal hospital or shelter!
Don’t put plastic bags in the recycling as apparently they jam up the machines. Even more reason to bring your own bags because plastic bags can’t even be recycled!
Wash out your glass jars and plastic bottles and remove the lids for the trash.
If you have the ability to compost… You are so lucky and should totally start!
Here are some sites if you want to take it to the next level. All of these sites have been tried and tested by me so I can confidently say they make a big difference in my household waste accumulation. Every few months it takes an extra 20 minutes on a weekend and I feel it’s very worth it.
Contact Lens Cases - all contact lens wearers rejoice! Bausch and Lomb has an easy to follow recycle program.
Beauty Products - this one is major!
For Your Next House Party - Solo cups!!!
Grove Collaborative is an amazing company that creates low plastic use containers and has a recycling program within the company. They send you a prepaid label upon request and boom! No trash. If you’re interested signing up with them, send me a message via instagram and I’ll send you a link that will give you a discount and a welcome gift of Mrs. Meyer’s products!
