Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a nice holiday season and that your holiday plans weren’t derailed too much by the crazy winter storm that seems to have swept right across North America. Every year I make a point to make a sustainable lifestyle swap for the new year. I also add sustainable swaps throughout the year, but I feel like the turning of the calendar year is a nice jumping off point. Consider it a ‘new years resolution’ in a way. I’ve never shared my swaps here on O+W, so I listed my previous new years sustainable swaps below to serve as some ~inspiration~ in addition to my 2023 swap.

I feel like people always jump to the conclusion that to live sustainably we have to vastly alter our current ‘conventional’ lifestyle habits, but that really isn’t true. Sustainable swaps can be as small as opting to buy bamboo toothbrushes or as big as committing to being a vegan, or anywhere in between for that matter. I always like to make my sustainable swaps simple, inexpensive, and therefore feasible. 

I’ll tell ya, they’re some really crazy lifestyle advice out there on the internet, which makes it so easy for us to feel bad about the way that we live. I’m personally not a fan of that and, in my opinion, making people feel guilty about their lifestyle habits is more likely to polarize them and embed those bad habits into them as a stubborn response to outside criticism. So, I give you a list of actually attainable and maintainable sustainable swaps that you can introduce into your life (sorry for all the rhyming in that sentence).

Past New Years Sustainable Swaps

2020

I have never purchased plastic wrap in my life and I hope to keep it that way. When I lived at home it was around, but I have never personally bought it. When I was in first year I used to just put my half used fruits and veggies in the fridge unwrapped or I’d put them in a container, but that took up quite a lot of space and my leftover fruits and veg got a bit crusty or droopy from being in the fridge unprotected. For the new year in 2020 I invested in Abeego beeswax wraps as an alternative to plastic wrap to store my food.

There are several things about this particular swap that I love. 1. Abeego – and beeswax wraps in general – keep food so much fresher for so much longer if properly cared for and used. 2. The wraps themselves smell lovely. 3. The wraps will save you money. Sure, it is a larger investment up front to purchase a pack of beeswax wraps than it is to purchase a box of plastic wrap, but if you take proper care of your wraps they will pay for themselves quite quickly. I still have some of my original wraps that I bought in 2020. 4. This is quite possibly my favourite feature, Abeego wraps are a waste-free product. Once your wraps reach the end of their useful life they can be repurposed as garden ties for training your garden plants, used as all-natural fire starters, or simply composted in your backyard or curb side compost. 5. Lastly, Abeego is a Canadian woman-owned company which is pretty sweet. Abeego is a pretty cool company and concept, so I encourage you to take a look at their website if you’re unfamiliar. 

2021

I’m a tea drinker and tea is a big part of my daily routine, just like how coffee is to coffee drinkers. I used to buy bagged tea, but the problem with this is that most of the time the bags that bagged tea comes in are not compostable and therefore have to be thrown in the garbage.

In fact, the fancy triangular teabags that feel almost satiny to the touch are made out of plastic (yuck). So, for 2021 I made the swap to buying loose leaf tea. I still have some bagged tea leftover and every once in a while I do receive bagged tea as a gift, which is totally fine. I have just made the conscious switch to buying loose leaf when I am the purchaser. This may seem like a really small swap to make and you’re right, it is. That is what made it so easy to do. It checks all three boxes of a sustainable new years swap for me: attainable, maintainable, and sustainable.

Tea retailers usually offer a discount for customers who bring back their loose leaf tea tins to be refilled too which saves you money and diverts packaging from the landfill. In addition to reducing packaging and diverting tea leaves and bags from landfills, loose leaf tea is usually more flavourful and more fresh and the ritual of steeping loose leaf tea is quite therapeutic.

2022

For 2022 I set the intention to purchase more sustainable shower products with a mission to find a sustainable alternative to the traditional loofa, which is made out of synthetic materials. I must admit that I am still trying to find a loofa substitute that I love, but I have found some good options. The first product I purchased was a loofa made from 100% natural materials from the Truth Beauty Company in Waterloo, a fantastic retailer of organic and natural beauty, hair, and lifestyle products. It was a good product, but didn’t get as ‘foamy’ as a traditional loofa, so my search continued. My next purchase was the an agave mitt made by Sayula. Similar to the first product, this one doesn’t get super foamy, but I like it a lot because it nicely exfoliates your skin as you use it. I’ve stuck with this product and am quite happy with it.

2023 New Years Sustainable Swap

Recently I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what sustainable swap I should make this year. After pondering for a while, I’ve decided to commit to finding a sustainable alternative to conventional dental floss that doesn’t break the bank and doesn’t break in general. I tried out one brand over the summer, but it wasn’t very durable and would just break, so I ended up using way more product for a single floss. I’m open to any brand recommendations that anyone may have.

Other Sustainable Swap Ideas

If you need a bit of inspiration, the following ideas are swaps that I’ve made in my life over the years that I have found to be very attainable, maintainable, and sustainable.

Ditch your traditional razor for a safety razor

Why? A safety razor will stop hundreds of plastic razor handles and razor blade refills from hitting the landfill. The metal handle of safety razors will last a lifetime and the double-edged blades don’t have to be replaced nearly as often as traditional razors. Anyone who shaves knows that traditional razor blades usually have a useful life of a few weeks, depending on volume of use, before they have to be thrown out. I’ve had my safety razor since the summer and have only had to change the blade once and that was only because it got taken away at airport security. Note: safety razors cannot go in your carryon if they have a blade in them (oops!). Also, refill razor blade cartridges are expensive! A pack of five safety razor blades can cost as little as $2. Save your wallet and the planet, double win!

Invest in a set of reusable produce bags

I purchased a set of reusable produce bags when I was in first year and I’ve used them ever since. I keep them in the trunk of my car with my reusable shopping bags so that I never go to the store without them. They’re great for storing food in your fridge too and can be thrown into the wash once you’re done with them and used again.

Switch out plastic bags for a set of Stasher Bags 

Stasher bags are reusable silicon bags that can be used in place of ziplock plastic bags. I have a bunch of Stasher bags that I’ve acquired over the years and I love them! They’re dishwasher, oven, stovetop (in a pot of water), fridge and freezer safe. I typically use my Stasher bags to store pantry and freezer items as well as to store my snacks for work. I love them. I’m just waiting for them to come out with a bag that would be large enough for me to freeze my sourdough bread in and then I could make the full transition to 100% Stasher bags and 0% plastic bags.

Visit a refillery

Refilleries seem to be popping up everywhere, which is awesome to see. We have a few near where I live which has made it pretty convenient for me to invest in refillable shower products such as shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. For anyone not familiar with the concept of refilleries, they are stores that sell home and bathroom products – and sometimes food – in bulk quantities encouraging customers to bring their own containers or to purchase a reusable container at the store to fill with product. The idea is to create circularity by having the customer continuously return to refill their product rather than throwing it away and buying a new one. My mom has gotten on the band wagon with this one and now buys pretty well all of our household cleaners, soaps and detergents at our local refillery.

Final Thoughts

Well folks, I hope that I have inspired you to make a commitment to a more sustainable 2023. Just remember, sustainable swaps don’t have to be huge and daunting. If you stick to the criteria of attainable, maintainable, and sustainable, I’m sure that you won’t feel overwhelmed. If you’re not sure where to start, there are so many great resources available online about sustainable lifestyles and products. A good place to start is with the links I have here in this post. As you can imagine, the companies I mentioned in this post have sustainability engrained into their purpose and therefore tend to share quite a bit of sustainability lifestyle content on their individual sites.

Wishing you all health and happiness in 2023! Thank you all for reading along. I’d be happy to hear about any sustainable swaps you’ve committed to for this year or that you’ve previously made in the comments if you feel liken sharing 🙂

xx

Ashley

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