An ordinary family trying to live a more sustainable life

In the spirit of setting intentions for a New Year I’ve reflected on some of the changes our family made in the last year to live more sustainably. Some changes are small but the marginal gains will be significant in the long term.

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Vincent Van Gough

Changes

Ditched plastic water bottles

As someone who used to buy a bottle of water on a daily basis this makes a difference to my bank balance as much as reducing waste.

In our house we have Chilly’s Bottles. I expected them to make the water taste funny because they are metal but using a bottle brush keeps them fresh.

I have used the same bottle for over a year now.

No more take away coffee

I had a once-a-day habit of buying a coffee in a single use cup.

Now we own 3 reusable coffee cups and brew our own coffee. One cup is bamboo, the other is glass and the third is metal. The glass cup is the one we fight over so that’s our favourite. My friend has a Huskee cup and it gives me major cup envy but we don’t need a fourth cup right now — sob.

We get coffee from ManCoCo. It’s Manchester’s best kept secret. They sell coffee by weight so I presume you can take your own container. Something we need to start doing!

Switched to renewable energy

We switched to Bulb who supply 100% renewable electricity and gas is 100% carbon neutral.

Switching was foolproof. The service is transparent and clear, which makes a change to previous suppliers and their complex tariffs.

Bulb has a referral scheme that gives you £50 credit for everyone who joins using your code.

Feels like a no-brainer.

Reusing gift bags

Last year featured a lot of gifts because we had a baby. I kept all the gift bags and reused them at Christmas. Once we’d given gifts I scrounged back all my bags for next year.

Anything that didn’t fit in a bag got wrapped in a muslin or bedsheet.

No gift wrap waste feels like a big win.

Hankies not tissue

This is a minor change but a satisfying one. How did paper tissue ever become popular in the first place? Great marketing? Try hankies the next time you get a cold. It’s much nicer.

Meat free more often

Our favourite veggie and vegan recipe book is The green roasting tin. Who knew roasted sprouts and broccoli could taste so good and be so quick and easy to make? It’s comfort food but also really good for you. Win win.

Also Meatless burgers are nicer than beef burgers. We get ours from Morrisons.

Food shopping

I go out of my way to avoid food wrap and buy groceries from shops like Unicorn Co-op where you can take your own reusable packaging. It’s not easy though — I wish big supermarket would take responsibility for this.

Second hand baby stuff

Let’s keep this brief. Marketing around what babies “need” is incredibly effective.

Also, I can’t believe how quickly babies grow out of things.

We’ve had some absolutely amazing second hand stuff. From a huge bag of newborn clothing that has been passed on to us as the 4th users, to getting a second hand, good-as-new, travel cot for £40 from Gumtree that retails for £160.

Bamboo baby plates

This is minor but it wasn’t long ago these things were plastic by default. We have two Bamboo Bamboo plates. Baby loves exploring what’s in each of the sections.

Bars of soap

As an eczema sufferer I got into cold pressed soap bars to try to alleviate some of the problems I have with my skin. It made a difference and it stuck. We are now packaging free when it comes to soap and no longer use bottles of body wash.

Bars of shampoo

I’ve not seen many of these around but we use Godiva from Lush. It’s another great way to avoid plastic bottles and my hair feels in as good a condition as usual.

Refill washing up liquid

Bought a pump from Muji and we can get eco washing up liquid from the local charity shop.

Bamboo socks

I didn’t realise cotton needed so much water to produce so I tried bamboo socks. They take a little longer to dry after washing but they are durable and sweat wicking. I prefer them so now I only have bamboo socks.

Wash clothes less

With the arrival of my daughter last year, washing has become uncomfortably frequent. To start with I washed her outfits after just one wear (she’s messy). Since then I’ve been making a conscious effort to reduce this. It feels like a game to see if we can make outfits last whilst she still has maximum messy freedom.

For the adults in the house, unless it’s really soiled we rehang it for another day.

Bonus if it’s summertime and I can air clothes to extend their use. Cherry on top if I can peg it in direct sunlight — it makes them even fresher!

Intentions

Plastic free periods

I feel like I have choice paralysis with the number of different products out there. I intend to start with bamboo pads for the night time. Then level-up by trying a menstrual cup for the day. Is there really any difference between the different brands of menstrual cups? Serious question.

Cloth nappies

The upfront cost feels fairly prohibitive. I’m not sure where to start. What’s the difference between a “close pop in” and a “hybrid” nappy?

I also washed a pile of them for my friend who came to stay. The smell nearly made me vomit.

Having spoken to other reusable nappy users they can be quite hard work, cause nappy rash and some nurseries won’t accommodate their use.

An idea would be to start with a small number of nappies then at least we start to cut down on some of our nappy waste.

Beeswax cling film

Again the upfront cost feels fairly prohibitive. I’m putting these beeswax wraps on my birthday list.

What are you doing to reduce waste? Have you got any hacks we can try?