This post was sponsored by Full Circle. All opinions and creative content are mine.
With the environment being high up in the news cycle lately, I’ve been thinking about small changes my family could make to help the earth. I’ve started to get into that a little bit lately on my platforms, but it’s something I want to dive into a lot more in the future. This is all very timely, as my oldest (who is in fourth grade) has recently also been learning about our carbon footprint.
As a family, it’s easy to choose “easy and cheap” over everything else. What I’m finally realizing is that easy isn’t always the right way, and cheap isn’t always best in the big picture. Sometimes it’s worth our time and effort to contribute to the greater good and ultimately, to future generations. That said, when you mention helping the environment, it seems overwhelming and even insurmountable. BUT. I have a few tiny changes you can easily make at home that will create a BIG impact in the long run.
Just think about how the world could change if ALL of us made several small changes! I can tell you it would be a bigger difference than if only a few of us changed EVERYTHING.
1 | Go Paperless
Almost every company that sends something in the mail, also has the option to get the correspondence via email and/or text. From paying with our phones to getting our receipts electronically, in 2019 there almost no reason to not go paperless.
2 | Reusable Snack Bags
I don’t know about your family, but we fly through snacks… meaning we fly through snack bags. As one of the top plastic sources being used here, this is one of the things I really wanted to cut out. I finally found a brand I love, that has them in all the sizes I use most frequently. They are super quick and easy to clean out, too. This has been one of the easiest small changes we’ve made so far. We swear by these Ziptuck Bags from Full Circle.
3 | Donate Clothes
You can research the major trash crisis we have and how a lot of it comes from CLOTHES. Yes, clothes. Wild, right? Buying and donating to thrift stores is a great way to cut down on this waste. I would advise doing your homework to make sure you are donating to a company that is ethical with their practices. Donating clothes and shopping secondhand are easy ways to help combat excess waste.
4 | Have Meatless Meal Days
The demand for meat and livestock contributes negatively to climate change, so cutting down on that demand- even a little- can result in big impact over time. Just having “Meatless Monday” or something similar is a small change that you can feel really good about.
5 | Reusable Shopping Bags
When I lived in California, if you didn’t bring your reusable bags to the grocery store, you had to purchase your own. I loved this, actually, because it reminded me what a waste they were. The average American family uses 1500 single-use bags per year. (source) That’s bananas. This is another cheap and easy way to make major change.
Have you felt overwhelmed by feeling like there are too many changes to make? Do these five feel attainable? Let me know what you’d add!
