Simple Ways to Live More Sustainably

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EnviroBuild teams favourite top tips for living a more sustainable life.

Use a Reusable Water Bottle

Unsurprisingly, the answer we received the most was using reusable water bottles. Just walking into our office, you will see them strewn around. From the iconic aluminium Chilly’s bottles to more unique ones found in independent shops. Carrying around your favourite water bottle is perfect way to not only save money on bottled water but a great way to make sure of the free refill stations around the UK. Helping save you money and save plastic at the same time.

Sustainable Food Containers

Sustainable food containers are a great way to reduce your single use plastic usage. Whilst also being a good way to save money. Instead of pooping to the shops every lunch time, try brining lunch in from home in your new sustainable lunch box. Alternatively many city restaurants and lunch spots allow you to 'bring your own container' when buying your lunch with some even making it cheaper if you do so. Helping making sustainable food containers a win win.

Support your Local Farmer's Market

Supporting your local farmers market is a great way to reduce the carbon footprint of your produce. As it requires less refrigeration, transportation, storage, plastic and less fuels. Resulting in less carbon being produced in the process. It is also a great way to support local farmers and sellers. Visiting your local farmers market allows you to connect with where your food comes from. Meeting and talking to farmers and food artisans is a great opportunity to learn more about how and where food is produced and a good opportunity to get some expert cooking tips.

In addition to all of that, shopping locally and seasonally is often cheaper, fresher and tastier. Eating in season produce is great for your health, as they retain a higher nutritional value and help to support your body's natural nutritional needs. Helping make it both the more sustainable and healthier choice.

Tip: Bring your own reusable bag along with you to avoid being given any single use plastic bags.

Reusable Cutlery

Purchasing a reusable cutlery kit is a fantastic way to reduce your single use plastic. A small kit like this one, can easily be taken around with you and is perfect for meals out, food markets or for office lunches when you can never seem to find a knife of fork. Bamboo cutlery is easy to clean, antibacterial and look beautiful, making them the perfect addition to your workbag.

Grow your own fruit and vegetables

Growing your own fruit and vegetables can be a great way to reduce your carbon footprint, save money and enjoy more time outdoors. Freshly picked, organically home grown products benefit from a much higher level of vitamins, nutrients and flavour. Helping to make them a healthier alternative, getting out in the fresh air to sow and tend to your garden is also beneficial to your mental and physical health and a good source of exercise. Many crops not only taste great but look beautiful in your garden and can help transform the look of your garden or patio. Mixing edible plants into your garden design is becoming an extremely popular trend.

Many food lovers aspire to eat more seasonally, which becomes much simpler when growing your own. Growing your own fruit and vegetables helps you become more attuned to gardening cycles and seasons and allows you to know what crops are in season and be able to eat many fresh from the garden. With the cost of living continuing to rise, growing your own food can be a good way to save money and become more self-sufficient. Seeds are inexpensive to buy and will yield a new crop year after year. With a little care and attention, you can enjoy watching your investment grow from tiny seeds into homegrown crops. Continue sowing at regular intervals to maintain a harvest right through the summer months. All of which helps to growing your own a great sustainable option.

Mix up your Bathroom Routine

Mixing up your bathroom routine is a fantastic way to reduce your environmental impact. There are numerous simple ways you can help make your bathroom routine more sustainable.

Switching to more sustainable toilet paper is a great way to make a big impact, luckily there are numerous sustainable brands on the market to choose from like
who gives a crap who sell luxury 100% recycled toilet paper with carbon neutral shipping.
Experiment with zero waste shampoo and conditioner bars.
Opting for refillable products, many products now come with refillable options.
Beauty Kitchen are a fantastic example.
Switching to bamboo toothbrushes, you can now even purchase bamboo and sustainable toothbrush heads for electric toothbrushes.
Try zero waste toothpaste and mouthwash, you can now get both toothpaste and mouthwash in tab form, helping to reduce plastic, water and unnecessary packaging.
Switch to sustainable and chemical free cleaning products
Opting for recyclable, biodegradable and reusable razor options.
Ditch the makeup wipes and swap to zero waste pads of muslin cloth
Opt for more sustainable period products, there are a variety of more sustainable alternatives and brands specialising in helping make your period more eco-friendly.
DAME are a good example.

These simple swaps can help make your bathroom routine more sustainable. The key thing is to avoid single-use items as much as you can and find the swaps that work for you. Supporting sustainable business is great but purchasing items that you'll never use is not.

Be Mindful When Buying New Clothes

Sadly The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world. The most suitable clothes are the ones already in your wardrobe, so that is always a fantastic place to start seeing if you can upcycle or bring new life to any of your pieces is a great option. But when you do need to purchase new items supporting sustainable and ethical brands can and will make a positive impact on the planet and people within it.

A few fun and cost-effective ways to revamp your wardrobe are:

Thrifting
Exploring charity stores
Arranging clothing swap parties
Upcycling your wardrobe
Utilising apps like vinted and depop

When it does come time to buy new items, opting for more sustainable brands, or looking for products with good sustainable credentials can be a good way to reduce the environmental and human impact of your clothing.

Good on you is a great app and website to check how sustainable a brand is. Lastly, avoid ever throwing away old clothing, instead, you can recycle or donate them to charity.

Cycle to work

Cycling work is a fantastic way to save money, increase your fitness and help the planet all at the same time.

We are cycling UK say that cycling produces more than ten times less Co2 emissions than a car and significantly less than taking the bus. Which is good for both fighting climate change and helping improve air quality in the city centre. It can often also be quicker and more enjoyable way to get around the city. Cycling has proven to be beneficial for your mental health and many cyclists report that cycling is important for their mental health and helps them destress and clear their minds. It is also a great way to fit exercise into your busy schedule and a simple way to fit in your daily exercise, a 15 minute cycle to work each way meets the government recommended guidelines for exercise of 150 minutes a week.

Cycling is a very cost effective way to get around the city and a much cheaper alternative than driving or most forms of public transport. While there are expenses involved in cycling to work, the cost of maintaining a bike is far lower than the equivalent costs of running a car. Research by Blackhawk Network, an employee benefits platform, found that commuters can save £750 a year by biking to work. The saving rises to £1,100 per annum if you live in Greater London. While there are of course costs in buying and maintaining a bike it's reported to still be less than alternative modes of transport and the cost of purchasing your bike can significantly reduce through utilising your company's cycle to work scheme. Cycling to work is a very popular option at EnviroBuild, with many employees reporting its help increase their fitness, save them money and positively impact their mental health. Making it a great sustainable swap.

Be mindful and kind to yourself when making sustainable swaps, focus on making one at a time to avoid overwhelming yourself. Making just one simple swap to your regular routine is a great way to reduce your impact on the environment and live a more sustainable life.

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