My Eco-Friendly Tips

Keeping the earth clean has always been a priority of mine. When I was in elementary school I cleaned highways of litter with my 4-H group and other activities. I feel this passion for nature has come from my Native American heritage and the call to take care of the earth by God (Genesis 2:15). 

Source

However, I will say that my eyes were never truly opened to the detrimental severity of plastic. The documentary Plastic Paradise enlightened me to the massive amount of plastic that is in the oceans and the harmful effects it has on wildlife. 

The vast majority of plastic will take 1000 years to biodegrade and quite a bit of it will never degrade. Let that sink in... When you throw away that plastic bottle it may never go away. Now think about the amount of plastic used in just your home.. your neighborhood... America.. the world? 

I have drastically changed my lifestyle to reflect this truth and I would like to share with you some of my tips!

1. Reduce the amount of plastic you use. That sounds easy but it takes cognizant effort everyday! Bringing your own reusable grocery bags, saying "no" to plastic straws, purchase in bulk, bringing your own coffee cup to the cafe, buying unpackaged veg at the farmers market, and many more!

2. Recycle what plastic you do use. It is hard to avoid plastic entirely. I recycle plastic containers in the regular recyclable bins provided but those will not accept bags or wrappers. I have found that a few of our local grocery stores and Best Buy allow you to recycle plastic bags. I have interpreted "plastic bags" loosely and I recycle all of my plastic wrappers, packaging, and zip bags. That means washing them out and going frequently to recycle them! The picture's left is my bag of plastic bags with many wrappers and packaging and the right is the local plastic bag receptacle. 

3. Be creative! I am in the process of making my own "cling wrap" out of muslin fabric and beeswax like this one. Cook from scratch instead of buying prepackaged foods, shop at second hand stores, buy quality handmade toys verses dollar store items, and much more!

I hope you are inspired to be passionate about how you can help the environment too!