Throwing away all your plastic Tupperware, leftover Halloween candy, plastic bags, conventional makeup, and single-use razors is not only wasteful, but also expensive. That may seem like a random list, and you might be thinking, "Now she's coming after my Halloween candy?!", but bear with me, and keep munching on your candy if you please. When a person decides that they want to start living a healthier and more sustainable life, many might purge their house of all things they deem to not fit the mold of "healthy." This may work for some people, but for the vast majority it usually doesn't. To truly change your lifestyle and make it stick, it can be beneficial to gradually make small, doable changes that you know you can realistically make happen. By gradually adding to these changes, you will will see your habits start to change and the more likely you are to not go back to your old ways.
The reasons why I combine a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, is that these two ways of living compliment each other beautifully and when you pursue one, it is hard to avoid the other. Generally the healthier you live, the more sustainable you are living as well. If you reduce your consumption of meat, you are also helping the climate by not giving your money to animal agriculture industries who are not helping this mission. By buying pots and pans that are made without Teflon, and instead use natural non-toxic materials, you are also choosing the healthier option because you are not exposing your body to carcinogens. Sustainability and health are both important in life, so why not take a dual approach to bettering your lifestyle? You might be thinking, "What's wrong with a few things here and there, a guilty pleasure? Everything is going to kill me anyways." No one is forcing you to live a healthy and sustainable life, and you can certainly live a long time while not being near perfect. However, to me, a big part of my self-love comes from loving my body enough to give it the best whenever I can. I know that many of our grandparents got to their current age by eating the standard "American diet" and using good old-fashioned products ladened with chemicals. Many of them have heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other ailments, but many are also still kicking and seem perfectly healthy. So why do I care so much about making small changes that may not yield a considerable difference? Well, fueling my body with good food and using non-toxic ingredients on my body makes me feel good. Simple as that. Plus, I care a lot about the earth, so I'd also like to do my part whenever I can.
Many might feel like shifting their lifestyle is daunting, but it doesn't have to be like that. Here I will list out some small ways that you can work to becoming more sustainable and healthy that I promise will not uproot your life.
Forfeit Your Febreze
Do you have a container of Febreze in your bathroom, a Glade vent clip in your car, one of those hanging scented trees, a wall plug-in, or a Yankee candle? It might be time to reconsider your air-scenting choices. The products I have mentioned are great at covering up odors and scenting your air so you don't have to breathe in plain air (how boring, right?) However, these are all chemicals! When we spray, burn, or diffuse these products, we allow them to enter our air, and consequentially our lungs. Febreze contains chemicals linked to hormone disruption and developmental problems. One chemical inside Febreze is Benzaldehyde, which is a neurotoxin which also irritates the skin, eyes, and lungs. That is just one of the many chemicals inside Febreze. Doesn't sound too good, huh? Many conventional air fresheners are advertised as natural, but they don't disclose all the ingredients. A 2007 NRDC study tested 14 air freshener products, and while none put phthalates on their lists of ingredients, all companies had them. Phthalates cause birth defects, reproduction problems in both men and women and many other adverse health effects.
These fake fragrances we pump into our air may offer momentary pleasure from unwanted odors and make our spaces smell nice, but they also release toxins into our air and cover up odors rather than solve the root issue. So what are some alternatives?
Essential oils - I think that this is the best way of adding a fragrance to a space. There are multiple ways to use these. You could heat them up using a wall diffuser, diffuse them using a humidifier, get a vent clip designed for the oils, create your own mist to spray your space, and more. There are so many different scents, so you can get really creative with your combinations. My favorite combinations are;
Vanilla and Jasmine (Sensual)
Peppermint, Eucalyptus, and Vanilla (Invigorating!)
Sage and Lavender (The best to create a calming space)
Sandalwood, Vanilla, and Amber (Grounding and smells so good)
Cloves & Cinnamon - Get some cinnamon sticks and dried cloves, put them in a little cloth bag, and hang in from your car mirror or throw some under your seat for a great all-natural anti-odor aid! You can also boil some over a wood-stove or on your stovetop to humidify your house and make it smell yummy
Citrus Peels - Don't be so quick to throw away your peels, and instead put them in a bowl and let them sit for the day around your house. They make whatever space they are in smell lovely. One thing I like to do, especially during the holidays, is boil cloves, cinnamon, and orange peels to make a very festive scent that elevates the holiday vibes in my house!
You might see that I mentioned Yankee candles on my list of no-no's. Yankee Candles are one of the most popular candle brands with the most chemicals such as leaded wicks, paraffin wax, and synthetic fragrances, however, if I'm being completely honest, no candles are "good" for you. Whenever you burn anything, you are contaminating your air with particulate matter, a mix of extremely small liquid droplets and particles that enter your lungs. This isn't great because it can lead to health problems with your lungs and even your heart. Whenever you distill anything into the air, even essential oils, you are inhaling particulate matter. That being said, it is best to limit burning of candles, but if you must (I love candles), it is best to go for an all-natural soy wax blend made with essential oils instead of artificial fragrances. At the end of the day, if you can find a healthier version of something that you love, then I say go for it! You have to pick and choose what you want to eliminate all-together in your life.
Buy Better Bread
Martha walks into Dale's Discount store, in search of some bread for her morning toast. She wanders over to the bread isle, and places a bag of bread in her cart that says, "Heart Healthy Whole Grains!"
I'll be the first one to admit that I am a sucker for marketing. I saw a video from a clothing brand called Reformation that depicted a woman in a desert with a badass hat on striking a pose and I immediately wanted her outfit. However, with all marketing we must understand that the goal of marketers isn't necessarily to help the customer, but to sell to the customer. Some brands are awesome and they sell great products that are designed to help you, but their sole purpose is to make a profit before anything else, that's just business. The food industry is one of the best industries at using deceitful marketing to get consumers to buy their products.
Many conventional brands of bread that claim to be "healthy" are loaded with sugar, milk powder, partially hydrogenated oils, and other unnecessary additives - All filler ingredients or preservatives that do not benefit to your body, and oftentimes do more harm than good. If you are interested in the specifics of what ingredients to avoid when buying bread, there's a great article here.
My advice is to take a look at the ingredients list a bit more carefully, and decide which breads are the best for you. Oftentimes, but not always, the longer ingredient list, the worse it is.
My favorite brands of bread are Dave's Bread, and Rise Organic Bakery. Healthy bread doesn't necessary have to be too expensive. You can buy Dave's bread at most grocery stores, not just Whole Foods!
Time to Try Different Toothpaste
With so many options of toothpaste out there, most of us just pick a random one that promises teeth so white that we'll blind our friends if we smile for too long. However, choosing toothpastes should be done with much more consideration. There are ingredients in commercial brand toothpastes that aren't the best for our bodies, or the environment. Some less than okay ingredients include;
Artificial sweeteners and colors
Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)
Triclosan
Propelyne glycol
Aspartame
Dyes
Many of these ingredients are used as preservatives, foaming agents, and for taste and appearance. There have been studies done on each of these ingredients that show negative effects on the human body that can be found with a simple google search. My current toothpaste is by the brand "Hello." "Toms" is also a good option that can be found in most drugstores or grocery stores.
Ditch the Dairy
I am a big proponent of going fully vegan, but to many this can seem daunting. So... I'm not asking you to give up your cheese and cookies quite yet (although I would love if you did), but why not milk? Nowadays, non-dairy milk like oat, almond, and soy, are comparable in price to dairy milk, and tastes very yummy! Also, aren't we a little old to still be drinking milk? Breastfeeding is for babies! Many plant milks are fortified with vitamin D and B12, so the plants have you covered! My favorite milk brands are Oatly, Pacific, and Elmhurst if I'm feeling fancy. You can do a non-dairy milk switch in many foods, and you probably won't even notice a difference! Here are some foods you could substitute in your non-dairy milk...
Cookies, cakes, & baking in general
Oatmeal
Smoothies
Cereal
Coffee/Tea
Say Seeya to Single Use
It makes my soul a little sad when I get a disposable coffee cup from a cafe, or even use tin foil or plastic wrap on top of leftover food. I try and use reusable things as much as possible, and limit single use products. It may not seem like it, but by using just one less plastic bag, you are making a difference, even if it's a small one. All those small actions add up at the end of your life to reduce your carbon footprint. A few items you could consider switching to reusable items are;
Razor
Water bottle - The best part about getting a reusable water bottle are the stickers! 6
Toothbrush (They sell electronic toothbrushes, but also non-electronic at Whole Foods where the brush is removable so you keep the handle. It cuts down on plastic waste!)
Shopping bags - There are so many cute tote bags and reusable shopping bags out there!
Learn to Love Loose Leaf
This one kind of falls under the "single use" category, but I thought it deserved its own section. I am a hugeee tea drinker. I drink a minimum of two cups a day. I used to always use tea bags, and I still have a huge bag of them sitting in my pantry, but within the last year I found out that tea bags aren't the best for us, or the environment. Researchers at McGill university tested four popular brands of tea sold at grocery stores and found that a single tea bag can release 11.6 billion micro plastics and 3.1 billion nano plastic particles into the water. The particles come from the propylene that many manufactures use to seal tea bags closed. These particles are also found inside water bottles, but tea bags were revealed to release more plastic than other plastic products. Plastic isn't good for the environment because it doesn't break down, but it also isn't great for us to drink either!
So how do we avoid drinking plastic? Two options:
Opt for completely biodegradable, plastic-free, organic and plant based tea bags
Or my preferred option...
Use loose leaf tea!
Tea bags were an American invention first patented in 1903, and they've been used around the world ever since. However, there are still many people in various places that scoff at the use of tea bags.
Using loose leaf tea cuts down on your overall waste. Even if you use biodegradable tea bags, that is still waste, and you are buying a box each time too. When you buy loose leaf tea in bulk, you save money and cut down on your waste, even if it's just by a marginal amount.
Another reason to switch to loose leaf is that it is simply a very relaxing experience. Measuring out your leaves, choosing a method to steep your leaves, and choosing cute containers to store your leaves in is an incredibly fun and ritualistic process. To me, the small act of putting time and care into preparing my tea is a moment during the day that causes me to slow down. One cannot angrily or anxiously make tea, the two simply do not coincide. Tea time is a moment of pause that forces me to give rest to whatever is on my mind and focus on the leaves and nothing else.
So there you have it! These don't sound too terrible, right? There are so many little swaps you can do in your life, these are just the tip of the iceberg. If you make small changes, one at a time, you will wake up one day and not even notice how significantly your ways have changed! Many of us live busy lives, and it is easy to take shortcuts with the products we use and be thoughtless about our seemingly small choices, but if we pay just a bit more attention to what we are putting in our bodies and what we use, it is an act of self-love and also love of our home - the Earth. So go forth and be healthy and sustainable! Your body and planet will thank you... And me!