Eco Swaps

Welcome to my very first blog post of 2021 (I hope you're as excited as I am)!

For those of you who don't know what an eco swap is, this is also a fairly new term to me too! In general, it refers to you swapping out an item you may use on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, which isn't environmentally or socially friendly, for an item which is these things. I have made a few of these over the past couple of months and I have loved them all! So, for this weeks blog I thought I would share my experience of a few eco swaps I have made.

Natural Deodorant

Natural deodorants were introduced to me a few months ago now. Antiperspirants block your pores which means that you don't sweat - natural deodorants don't do this and allow the good bacteria which sits on your skin to work to reduce odor. This includes when you don't have any deodorant on! Non-natural deodorant's also tend to contain some ingredients which we wouldn't willingly put into our bodies such as aluminium!

Natural deodorant's can sometimes be a little bit more wet as they are sometimes spray's and roll on (not antiperspirants) BUT it really doesn't take long to get used to, they smell great and they're good for you and the environment. Winner winner, am I right?

Source: Wellinsiders

Source: Wild

Let me recommend you some natural deodorants to get you started:

Salt of the Earth - Price varies from £2.99 to £24.99 (Ranges from unscented travel sized to large scented refillable bottles).

Wild - Allow you to pick the colour of your case (with optional personalisation) and the option to buy as a one off or buy a subscription so you never have to buy deodorant in store EVER AGAIN (Prices vary from £12+).

Scence - Have both natural scented and unscented deodorants. Organically and ethically sourced deodorants which are in recyclable and compostable tubes! (Price - £12).

Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

DID YOU KNOW: Approximately 20million pounds of single use wipes are disposed of EVERY SINGLE DAY in the USA???!!! And it can take up to 100 years for a single wipe to break down when it is landfill! Sources: RealSimple and Allure

Reusable makeup remover pads are so simple and easy to use! Got makeup on that you want to take off? Grab your pads and remove your makeup as you would with a disposable pad. Then you just put them into a little wash bag (which tend to come with your pads, if not use the likes of a pillow case) and stick them in your usual washing load. It is that simple, that easy AND it saves the planet. Let's stop with the makeup wipes and the disposable cotton pads. Word of warning, when you are putting your pads in the wash, tie the bag securely so that you don't find them in your washing machine and every pocket of every item of clothes - speaking from experience!

Source: BBC - The pollution that wipes can have and contribute to detrimental environmental impacts.

And if you consider yourself to be nifty with a needle and thread, and have some spare fabric lying around the house, you can even make your own reusable pads. There are a lot of guides out there which can help you, but if you don't have some of the fabrics or equipment they suggest, why not just use what you can and try your best. I have attached a website here for some guidance. (If you do decide to give this ago, please send me your results and I will share them on my instagram: @sustainablelucy).

Alternatively, you can buy some of your own reusable pads:

@wildrose.crafts (IG Handle) and Etsy - £7 for their beautifully patterned reusable pads. And if you use code LUCY10 you can get 10% off your order!

Etsy - £13.49 for 20 reusable pads with a tie wash bag!

Reusable Straws

It is time to scrap the disposable straws once and for all. And this includes paper straws.

Let's use stainless steel reusable straws as our example (this time), what are the benefits?

• They can be used over and over again, which means we are not throwing them away and contributing to landfill.

• They are durable, and can last you a longgg time, even without going rusty!

• They are super easy to wash! Most of them actually come with a little cleaning stick which you can use to scrub out that fruit smoothie you drank. But they also tend to be dishwasher safe, so if you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher, just throw it in and wait for the magic to happen.

• Reusable straws are super easy to carry around in your bag. They aren't that big so are easy to carry, but what if you don't take a bag with you when you go out? Put it in your pocket!

• The chemicals which are used to create plastic straws are harmful to our environment, including both life on land and in our waters and our atmosphere. And if they make it into our oceans, they can enter the bodies of marine life and cause serious damage or death to our biodiversity. We don't want this, so let's reduce our plastic consumption!

Source: Simplyecostore

Next time you are at the pub or a restaurant (when we can go!) don't be afraid to get your reusable straw out! Just think, you may be saving a turtles life! And if you simply don't like using straws, you can always ask for your drink to not have one!

Some links to some reusable straws if you would like to make a purchase (All on Etsy so we can support small, and varying in price depending on your budget):

Etsy (£9.99)

Etsy (£5.56+)

Etsy (£2.25)

*I have made a few recommendations throughout this post, but there are tons of options for the three eco swaps I have mentioned.

Eco swaps are not only great steps to becoming more sustainable and saving the environment, but they also save you money. The first purchase of an eco swap item may be that little bit more expensive than the "normal item", but you don't have to keep buying them as they don't run out, so, in the long run you are saving your pennies!