Lesson Seven: 7 Things to "Eco-fy" Your Life
Aka the eco-newbie starter pack
While consumerism is closely tied to climate change (stay tuned for the Sunday School Christmas Edition 😉), there are a few small investments you can make to help the planet and your wallet too!
1. Reusable Bags
(and not just stockpiling them, but actually using them)
Why? 1 plastic bag takes 10-20 years to break down. The pieces are usually swallowed by animals (eg. sea turtles mistake them for their favourite snack - jellyfish). Also $0.05 adds up over time 🤔
Fun fact: the U.S. Goes through 100 billion plastic bags a year. Same goes for the E.U.
2. Energy Efficient Lightbulbs
Why? Led lightbulbs save 70-90% electricity. One bulb lasts ~50,000 hours which means you change them less and not as many end up in a landfill.
3. Compost Bin
Why? Each tonne of organic waste disposed of in a landfill releases ~one tonne of GHG/carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-e), mostly methane). Check if your building or residential area has this municipal program. If they don’t, maybe write your building manager or city councillor.
4. SodaStream/Brita
Why? When you throw a soda bottle/water bottle into a landfill, it sits there for 450 years. If John Cabot threw out a plastic bottle when he “discovered Canada” it would have only finished disintegrating in the 1940’s.
5. Metal Straws
Why? For the turtles 💁♀️🐢Also, 500 million get used and thrown away every day. To be honest, plastic straws aren’t as damaging (relatively) as other plastic items but it's a start and something simple to remove from your daily routine.
6. Dryer Balls
Why? Usually made of 100% wool, popping 3-4 of these in the dryer speeds up your drying and is better for your clothes (plus no more throwing away dryer sheets). P.s. you can add a few drops of essential oils to the wool and it will lightly scent your laundry.
7. Reusable Coffee Mug
Why? We’ve been through this before Chad (see Lesson 1: Coffee Cups). Canadians throw out ~12,600,000 coffee cups a day which sucks since they aren’t recyclable in almost all cities across Canada.
Do you have any planet-friendly products? If you do, please share below!
