Eco-Conscious Home Living

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tetra Pak. All opinions are 100% mine.

It’s no secret that our planet NEEDS heaps of extra love right now.

Small choices can have a big impact.

Eco-conscious home living is about sustainability, renewability and recycling. It’s about living a greener life and adopting simple, daily habits that improve the health of our planet as well as our personal health and wellness. I’m no where near perfect but have come a long way in reducing the amount of plastic I use on a daily basis, and it feels good! I’ve also become an expert in recycling!

Our usage of plastic is out of control. Our oceans are swimming with plastic water bottles, styrofoam cups, aluminum cans, plastic bags and wrappers galore that harm the environment
and immobilize sea life. As a planet, we can do so much better. This requires awareness and conscientious effort to not reach for the most convenient option to store something, and to choose reusable, sustainable products over plastic ones while shopping.

Being that April is Earth Month, there’s no better time than the present. Here are 6 tips will help you adopt and implement a greener lifestyle, today!

Choose The Right Packaging:

Support companies who support our environment and care about food safety, like Tetra Pak. They believe packaging should save more food and resources than it costs. Their cartons are made of renewable materials from sustainable sourcing, to help protect our natural resources and reduce climate impact. 100% of the paperboard in Tetra Pak cartons is Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certified; meaning all of it can be traced back to responsibly managed forests. And after they’ve been recycled, cartons can be turned into tissue, paper products, and green building materials. Not to mention they are BPA-free!

For those of us who want food and drinks in packaging that is convenient, environmentally friendly and better for our lifestyle, choosing a Tetra Pak carton over another is an easy choice. From boxed waters, soups and broths to pet food, water and coffee, Tetra Pak cartons contain a variety of products. They’re a perfect alternative to plastic without jeopardizing quality, durability or convenience, as well as the future of our planet.

You will know if a product is packaged by Tetra Pak by looking on the bottom of the carton! Here are some samples, for a visual.

2. Eliminate and Stop Buying Plastic Water Bottles

C’mon already! This is blatantly obvious, yet so many of us still buy packs of plastic water bottles (wrapped in plastic wrap) out of convenience. This will be the easiest switch you can make, just stop buying them! Save money and provide filtered water for guests from a home filtration system or choose glass/reusable/sustainable water bottles (like the Just Water pictured at the top of this post!).

Keep a reusable water bottle with you at all time for working out, driving, walking to meetings, shopping and/or traveling. Another tip for traveling: instead of buying a plastic water bottle from the convenience store in an airport, bring an empty, reusable water bottle with you and stop at a Starbucks after security to ask if they can fill up your water bottle. They provide filtered water on tap and it’s free!

3. Bring reusable or cloth shopping bags and produce bags to grocery stores

Paper or plastic? Your answer should be neither because you brought your own sustainable bags! The cloth bags are durable, less likely to break and most stores offer .10 cents off your purchase if using your own bags. You can also bring reusable produce bags instead of the plastic bags that they offer.

4. Food storage:

I’ve switched all my tupperware to glass storage containers instead of plastic. They are more expensive upfront but last forever and don’t stain. If I’m storing 1/2 avocado, I’ll use reusable food wrap instead of plastic wrap. You can wrap up fruit or cover a bowl with reusable food wrap too. Or if I’m storing fruit, leftovers, etc., in the fridge/freezer, I’ll store them in reusable silicon bags instead of plastic baggies. They keep food fresher and prevent freezer burn!

5. Packing for travel.

Utilize glass mason jars and those reusable grocery bags instead of plastic bags. I used to travel with Taz’s dog food in plastic sandwich baggies and switching to a glass mason jar was a no-brainer. Same goes for choosing his wet dog food that I occasionally buy. Instead of those cheap plastic containers, choose a paper based product like the Tetra Pak carton in the picture below, that is biodegradable.

6. Miscellaneous Tips:

Choose biodegradable doggie poop bags for walks
If you need to mail out a box or package, pack the box with shredded paper product (as shown in the picture below, made from Tetra Pak products!) instead of plastic bubble wrap or styrofoam
If you can’t go without Starbucks, bring your own travel mug instead of using one of their cups with a plastic top
Stop using plastic straws – 550 million straws are thrown out everyday