Short answer, I’m trying to be a good human being and take care of what I’ve been given.
My Philosophy
When trying to make a switch to a more eco-friendly product, the replacement needs to be just as convenient or more convenient than what I was doing before, otherwise it just won’t ever get done. That being said, I’m very open to trying new things and investigating new products to see what works best and what doesn’t. I also like to spend time when I do make a switch understanding the fall-out, meaning if I make a change, it may effect other aspects of my life, so how do we come up with solutions for that? I try to be thorough, reasonable and complete when I make a decision. Obviously I don’t know everything, but this is what I’ve come up with after hours of researching and personally testing.
Am I Really Being Eco-Friendly?
Honestly, I’m not sure that everything that I’m picking is truly “eco-friendly” or just me buying into the latest trend. That’s one thing that I would like to explore more and be better about doing. But, I’d like to believe that I am making a valiant effort and doing what I can with the information available to me. I happy to change and evolve as more information becomes available and as I have more time to digest it all. Baby steps :)
Why Create Yet Another Blog?
It’s true, there are a million blogs and articles out there that extensively review various eco-friendly and sustainable product options. However, they sort of leave a lot of the decision making up to the reader without any personal anecdote. I wanted to create a blog that had the type of information I used to determine how practical and effective various products are based on my own criteria. I also wanted to include prices and alternatives and why I didn’t pick the alternatives. I think is much more interesting and practical information for anyone whose on their own eco-friendly journey.
My Process
When I started becoming “eco-friendly” I started with just one thing at a time. My focus has been primarily on reducing packaging waste sent to landfills. So this includes things like plastic laundry detergent bottles, shampoo, conditioner, excess plastic wrapping, etc. Being eco-friendly is such a huge topic and can be an all-consuming life style to maintain. I’m not quite ready for that level, but felt that I could make a difference by being more conscious of what I was buying and the packaging it came in. As I’ve slowly found, most things that come in eco-friendly packaging usually come with the labels of “vegan,” etc… (fill in more here).
I also just started with things I needed to replace now or soon. I didn’t want to throw out perfectly usable stuff, even if it was in a plastic bottle, or not the best eco friendly option. Throwing stuff out prematurely seemed directly against my goal of reducing waste. What this means is that my journey to becoming eco-friendly started a year and a half ago, and I’m still using up that last drop of liquid soap. This also means that I may have some incomplete sections or things that I haven’t quite gotten to yet because I haven’t needed to yet.
As part of this journey I am also curious to see how much it’s directly effected our budget, so I’ve included a price breakdown for each eco-friendly item and what I replaced. This should show whether or not being “eco-friendly” is actually more expensive.