It's been a while (almost a year) since I've been able to pause and appreciate the sustainability shifts I've made in my life. The past year has been a whirlwind for everyone, and sustainability was pushed to the wayside. Unfortunately, where we are now, sustainability is a privilege and a challenge, so when there's turmoil, let alone health-conscious turmoil, it's one of the first things to go. As an aside, this was one of my motivations to apply and pursue a business school degree -- to learn how sustainability could be implemented into every aspect of a business, not only in a way to maintain business success but also to show that it is integral for business success. But this will be for another blog post...
Since my move from Boston to DC, this morning is the first time I've been able to pause and reflect on some additional shifts I've made to my personal consumer journey of living a little more conscious of the environment. There are two main wins, which, funnily enough, both revolve around cleaning.
Win 1: Sustainable paper products (tissues, paper towels, toilet paper)
What I have now: Who Gives A Crap toilet paper , Seventh Generation tissues , Marley's Monster's Unpaper towels , reusable cotton dish cloths from Ikea
Why a challenge: Change of mentality and routine, accepting a higher price
Paper towels are a staple, and very cheap. Switching to reusable cotton (and thus compostable) paper towels was the hardest shift because some messes felt gross to clean up and I just wanted to just throw them away. So the challenge here was shifting the mindset and routine and getting comfortable with rinsing the non-paper towels after use and working them into my laundry routine (since they're machine washable)
The other thing about unpaper towels is that they're pretty expensive. It was hard to justify at first, but the savings add up when you consider the additional costs of refilling paper towels (transportation, shipping, materials, waste disposal).
The second we finished our Costco bulk toilet paper, we purchased WGAC and it is WONDERFUL! Highly, highly recommend.
Win 2: (Some) all natural cleaners
What I have now: Method and Beautycounter for hand soap, Seventh Generation for dishes, Blueland for surface cleaning and sponges, Trader Joes for dishwasher detergent
Why a challenge: Finding the right process
This was a slow roll because we had a lot of cleaners to finish using first
There are a lot of natural/sustainable cleaning options now, and it was challenging to find the right routine shift and cost for us.
My full Consumer Journey checklist and finds can be found here!
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