a convenient tree hugger

Lately I've been aware of just how much waste my family produces, particularly plastic. I know it can be recycled, and it's easy to subscribe to the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy, but I'm starting to learn that's not good enough. I've read a number of articles that have been pretty sobering. Do a quick search for "What happens to recycled plastic?" and look for some of the newer articles. There have been some developments in the last year that mean big changes, so anything older than late 2018 is likely no longer accurate. This article was particularly startling to me.

So, what can we do about it? I've started a new campaign in my home that I am calling the "convenient tree hugger" campaign. I'm looking for easy ways that I can use to reduce the amount of waste we discard every day. Some things are so easy I regret not doing them years ago, but better late than never, right? While much of my focus has been on reducing waste, particularly plastic, I decided to throw in a little animal love while I'm at it. If I'm already doing the research to find environmentally sustainable products, I might as well spend a few more minutes learning about a company's other ethical beliefs. Usually the companies that are into zero-waste packaging and sustainability are also big on being nice to the animals, so they're pretty up front and I don't have to dig very far!

So here are the criteria as I've been deciding which products to try and which ones make the final cut:

1. It must fit in my budget. And I work with a pretty tight budget. Dave Ramsey debt snowball type budget. As much as I would love to buy the vegan/cruelty free/stainless steel packaged/refillable mascara, $38 a tube just isn't going to happen right now.
2. It must work as well as the mainstream non-eco product. I used homemade and "green" laundry detergents for years, and eventually our whites were...not so white. I made the switch back to plain old Tide and I haven't regretted it. Though I will, in the near future, continue my search for a better option.
3. I am not opposed to making my own if possible, but it can't be overly time consuming. I have little ones, after all.
4. I'm not going to throw away a perfectly "good" product to make room for a new "better" one. I have a bottle of body wash that I received as a gift. To throw it away without using it would be wasteful and contradict what I am going for here.
5. For now, "better" is good enough. Toms of Maine makes some stuff that I really like, primarily their sensitive toothpaste. They are considered "cruelty free" (manufactured or developed by methods that do not involve experimentation on animals), but they are owned by Colgate-Palmolive, a company that is not. While I am searching for a toothpaste that is in no way associated with animal testing or packaged in a traditional "throw it away" tube, for now, Toms is good enough.

I'm really looking forward to sharing my finds with you all!

If you have a product (one that you make or one that you love) that you think fits the bill, I'd love to chat with you about it!

*Disclaimer: I know you can find absolutely any information you want on the internet, and that everything has to be taken with a grain or more of salt. But even if my latest reads are total BS and there is no plastic crisis in our world, the worst that will come of my efforts is less chance that there will be a crisis in the future. Worth it.