As we live in such a wasteful society, its hard to think of changes you can make to be a little more considerate of the planet. Everything is disposable. Everything is just used and tossed out. But there are substitutes for every day items that can help you live a more eco-friendly life. These are my four favorites:
Eco Dryer Balls
They are a natural/chemical free, reusable substitute for dryer sheets and fabric softener. It's a good eco-friendly item because it saves more than just the use of dryer sheets. There are many different brands and many of them are made from wool. These cute little guys come in all different colors or colorless. They are designed to also help cut down on drying time (by 10-25%) and static. Also, they decrease the amount of wrinkles. These work through a process of general friction, which allows the clothes to separate, causing faster drying as well. This could save you money on dryer sheets, fabric softener and electricity! The easiest place I have found to get these are online, with a variety of brands at reasonable prices.
Low Flow Shower Head
Low flow shower heads are a good eco-friendly item because they use about 2.5 gallons of water per minute, versus the average of 6 gallons per minute that a regular shower head uses. These tend to vary in price, which also depends on if you buy an attachment (like the photo above) or if you buy a whole new shower head. Although water doesn't seem like an issue for us, there is water shortage; Over 1 billion people are left without water daily and this would help conserve water for us to use in other ways, like providing clean drinking and bathing water to those in need. This would also help you save on your water bill. Your hardware store or online would be the place for these.
Solar Phone Chargers
This one seems like a stretch, but in all reality it isn't. Instead of plugging your phone into an outlet, it can be charged by the sun while you are outside! Even leaving this charger by a sunny window would get the job done all without a cord. They do make many different types of solar chargers, ones that plug into your phone, ones that have a pad that sticks to the window to collect the sunlight or ones like this that fit over as a case. A plus side to the cases, they are also waterproof! This would also help you save on electricity. These vary in price depending on what you are looking for. The cases are on the cheaper side since they do not require the device to hook up to the window and the cords. Online would be my suggestion for these just because you can find better deals.
7 Year Pen
These pens are great. They have a big top because there is enough ink in them to write for two meters a day for seven years. This is a great eco-friendly device because it saves the harvesting, manufacturing, and resources that go into making new pens all the time. These guys come in all different designs and are about the same price you would pay for a pack of pens. Since they last for seven years, you only need one! But all the cool designs they have make you want them all. Now you don't have to buy pens all the time when they run out of ink! These are easily found online as well, as almost every website sells them.
These are four of my favorite easy, at home products that help you to be a little more eco-friendly. Not only do this help the planet, but they help my pocket, too!
