Welcome to the 30-day Eco-Living Challenge!
We’ve been doing an eco-activity every day for thirty days, and sharing the results on social media.It’s not too late to join in – and there’s a prize at the end of the 30 days to the best Eco-warrior! Just tag us in your pics of small wins and share what you’re doing – we’d love to see it and it might be helpful to others too.Here’s a recap of days 7-12!
Day Seven
Cotton buds
The Marine Conservation Society have described cotton buds as one of the most prevalent varieties of pollution on beaches in the UK. They are often mistaken for food by marine wildlife and birds causing perforated stomachs and death.
As part of the BBC’s #OurBluePlanet project, Justin Hoffman took the shocking photo of a seahorse wrapped around a cotton bud in Indonesia. The shocking image went viral as we became more aware of the heart-breaking reality. Cotton buds are used for seconds, but last for hundreds of years in landfill or in our oceans.
Bamboo is the world’s fastest naturally-renewing resource which is also inherently anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, which makes it a great plastic alternative for many products.
Make the switch, like I have, to compostable bamboo cotton buds. This eco-friendly option is a great alternative to the ocean-polluting plastic cotton buds.
Day Eight
Dog poo bags
Even if you don’t own a dog, its all too familiar to see little black plastic bags littered on the pavement or thrown into bushes. After a good search online we found Adios Plastic.
We discovered Adios Plastic on Instagram and ordered one of their Sample Packs (you only pay P&P).
Adios Plastic poo bags are:
- home and industrial compostable
- biodegradable
- available with or without handles
- 20 microns thick, totally leak proof
- large enough for dogs of all sizes
- unscented
We have been using them for walkies with our German Shepherd and I’m 100% impressed. They go into our compost bin, rather than our regular waste.
They are made from corn starch which feels like plastic so it makes you far more confident when cleaning up after your dog and keeping clean hands!
While researching local businesses and were happy to find this Manchester-based company, FetchIt! They designed these compostable poo bags which are made from cornstarch. This means that the bag degrades in your compost bin within weeks into natural elements which aren’t harmful to the environment. They have also made every effort to make everything about our product eco-friendly, including the packaging.
They’re also the only company on the market with tie-handle poo bags on a roll!
Day Nine
Paper waste
Constantly looking for a pen and scrap paper? Why not invest in a chalkboard…
It ticks all the boxes: they are reusable and it cuts down on your paper waste, clutter in your home and plastic waste from pens that end up down the back of the sofa and up the hoover. And lets face it, a lot nicer looking! You can use your chalkboard to write reminders, shopping lists, and events, as well as doodling!
Day Ten
Printer ink
Printer ink cartridges are made of plastic, but cannot be recycled in the home recycling system. HP send ink to our home on a subscription basis, which includes a prepaid envelope to send back our empty cartridges for recycling.
You can download freepost labels from the internet to send your ink cartridges to be recycled properly and not added to the pile of landfill.
Day Eleven
Gardening
We’ve had some beautiful weather and like many others we have taken to doing jobs in the garden. We’ve been weeding, cleaning, tidying and recycling and composting!
I’ve been researching what can go onto a compost heap and was surprised to find the Do’s and Don’ts of what can go in.
I’ve decided to dedicate a whole blog post to composting – it will surprise and hopefully inspire you to start your own heap.
Day Twelve and Thirteen
Water bottles & Fruit
On a mission to stay healthy whilst at home I dug out all the forgotten water bottles at the back of the cupboard, gave them a good scrub and now they are ready to go!
This is actually a 2-in-1 day, as not only are we reusing water bottles and not using single-use plastic, I am also adding fresh fruit to my water rather than squash, so it cuts down the plastic of the squash bottle and saves money.
So, I’m up early on Day 13, finishing off this blog post and, on reflection, this challenge has been great to make small changes to the planet, and I have enjoyed researching how to live a little more eco-friendly; it has shown me what alternatives there are available.
