A new year provides time for new plans and new goals. I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Mostly because I'm terrible at keeping them and don't really like restrictions. Even if it is I myself who have made those restrictions. But I really like to stop and reflect on life. And that's probably what you also do around New Year's.
My reflections are largely about this place – ökofamilien.dk – and all that we have already built up. But to a large extent also about what we want with it in the long term.
Because the background to opening this business at all was basically about the desire to make a difference. And that is what drives me.
Because we can all do a lot to change the little habits we have. And we all have them. I remember what my parents said when bottled spring water came on the market. It was the most mind-numbing thing they had ever heard. Who would buy bottled water when it came out of the tap for free? But hold on, where has a lot of spring water been sold in the last several years. Because it was practical when you were on the go.
The same was true of being able to buy your plastic bag in the shop. Very practical, so you don't have to carry bags yourself. And we can all afford to give 3 kroner for a carrier bag, yo-yo. And I could go on like this.
Many of these habits that we all have or have had have arisen for practical reasons. Unfortunately, they just have huge consequences for our world and our environment. So the beginning of a new year is an obvious place to stop and think about the habits we all have – and try to change them. Not at once – that's way too big a mouthful. But a little at a time.
So here are 10 small tips for small things that make a huge difference in the big picture.
10 tips for a more sustainable and plastic-free everyday life:
- Bring your own drinking bottle with water when you're on the move – and fill it up when you meet a faucet
- Drop the freezer bag and disposable packaging for the lunch box and invest in a lunch box that can last you a lifetime. If you use just 1 freezer bag per day for your packed lunch, you have used approx. 1 kg. plastic in one year.
- Bring your own thermos when you buy coffee on the go. Then you also save a lot of redundant disposable packaging
- Bring your own shopping nets when you shop and save the 3 kroner for God's sake.
- Buy stainless steel straws that will last a lifetime – especially if you drink a lot of smoothies. Extra tip: We will have them in stock shortly :-)
- If you use a lot of ice cubes, invest in a stainless steel ice cube tray and ditch the plastic bags. You'll find it here
- Replace the classic freezer bag with organic cotton bags at home. And use take the fabric bags with you to the bakery, the supermarket and other places for shipping and storing your food.
- Replace cling film, tinfoil and also freezer bags with Bee´s Wrap and glass buckets. They can be used again and again.
- Replace all-purpose cloth and scouring pad with a more natural and plastic-free alternative that will last for many, many years. Find it here
- Buy quality instead of quantity. It makes a lot of sense to spend a little more money on the lunch box if you are sure that it can last a lifetime.
All of the above tips are not only good for the environment – they are also really good for you. Because they allow you to avoid everything called BPA (or its cousins), endocrine disruptors, phthalates and everything else good in the plastic ingredient list.
Stay tuned to the blog next week, where I will continue the series of tips. Just on a slightly more nerdy level:-)