Month: February 2019

I understand being an environmentalist isn’t for everyone. I would consider myself one, I mean I do have and environmental blog. Sometimes it is frustrating when people don’t care or understand the problems we face revolving our environment. I truly care. I have always been shy and quite. I don’t like involving myself in other peoples discussions or life much, but when it comes to the environment I can’t help myself. I usually don’t have the courage to stand up for what I believe in, but when it’s this important I do. Saving our planet and limiting pollution should be everyones priority. Without clean air to breath, clean water to drink, and an Earth to walk on what do we have? I know switching to a bamboo toothbrushes or cutting all ties with plastic straws won’t save the world, but it’s a step in the right direction. I’m tired of hearing “I won’t make a difference” as an excuse for doing the right thing. We have to be the change. No one else is going to fix these major environmental problems for us. I might not be making a huge impact on reducing waste or pollution, but at least I’m doing something. Can you say the same?

I recently noticed the amount of plastic used in grocery stores. Not only the grocery bags, but almost every product is incased in plastic. Sadly all of the things you walk by in the store will soon be sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years. It is almost impossible to walk into a grocery store and leave plastic free. There is many ways to reduce plastic usage while shopping though. I’ll link the products from amazon. To find them visit my shop it tab.

Reusable Grocery Bags

This is the easiest way to cut back on plastic while shopping. Single use bags are terrible for our environment. They often end up in places they shouldn’t be like bodies of water or outside polluting your streets. It can take up to 1000 years for these bags to decompose. Reusable bags are affordable and so much more sturdy. I recommend keeping them in your car so you never forget them when you’re on the go. If you do forget them ask for paper bags next time.

Reusable Produce Bags

I think reusable produce bags are so cool! There are a few different types. Some are cloth but most are mesh bags. You can buy these on amazon or even at target. It is actually unnecessary to use a bag at all, but a lot of people like to. For all the bag lovers out there I highly suggest this product.

Buying In Bulk

A great way to avoid packaging all together is going to stores that have bulk bins. You basically can bring in your own containers or bags and fill them with the product. Usual bulk items are pasta, rice, beans, granola, cereal, and other dry goods. You can not only save money while buying in bulk, but the planet too.

Avoiding Unnecessary Packaging

Something I find crazy is how supermarkets sell overpriced precut produce in plastic. The real deal is two feet away and cheaper. It may be more convenient for you to buy precut pineapple but it’s not worth it. What I’m trying to say is avoid food sold in plastic when you can buy it plastic free. Also don’t buy plastic utensils and straws even though you want to.

 

Love is in the air. I am so excited for Valentine’s day! I’ll be celebrating it with my family, friends, boyfriend, and dogs. It is Stanley and Watson’s first birthday tomorrow. They will be 1 on Valentine’s Day.  For those of you who don’t know, they are Scottish terriers and so is Findlay my 12 year old dog. Stanley is super outgoing and hyper, while Watson is scared of everything. Watson is very loving though. They have brought so much joy in my life. They may be bad sometimes but I can never stay mad at their sweet faces. To celebrate I decided to make my first ever dog birthday pupcake. It’s basically a cupcake for dogs. Stanley and Watson will of course share with Findlay because they love him. I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to recreate it. The recipe is 100% dog friendly. It is an apple peanut butter cake with frosting. I got fancy and used a piping bag. I completed it with an oversized bone on top. My mom bought them two toys to open tomorrow and that’s when they’ll try the cake. I know they’ll love it.

 

Here’s a few plastic toothbrush facts for you to consider. Over 1 billion plastic toothbrushes end up in landfills every year in North America alone. Once used they take over 400 years to decompose. These toothbrushes also don’t always end up in the right place. You can find hundreds of thousands polluting oceans and beaches harming sea creatures! Luckily there is a solution to this problem. For Christmas I was gifted a pack of Bamboo Toothbrushes. I thought I would do a review over the product and brand I have been using for the past 2 months. The brand I use is Wowe, but there are tons of other brands out there. A five pack of Wowe toothbrushes is $8.95 on amazon. It is recommended that you change your toothbrush every 3 months, so this pack would last you over a year. The product comes in plastic free packaging. The box is made out of recycled material, and so are the smaller boxes that individually hold the toothbrushes. The handle is made out of splinter and water resistant bamboo, and the bristles are nylon. The type I have is soft bristles, but they aren’t too soft. The bristles and handle feel exactly like a plastic toothbrush would. It has held up great so far, but I have had one bristle fall out. The only negative thing I would say is during the first few brushes I could taste the bamboo. It wasn’t horrible and it eventually went away. I highly recommend bamboo toothbrushes. I intend to use them for the rest of my life. It makes me feel good when I make positive environmental choices. I suggest everyone reading should also ditch the plastic and use bamboo. I promise you won’t regret it!

Bamboo Toothbrush Amazon Link