Midst of Madi

3 Household Ethical Alternatives

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

As some of you may know, sustainability, slow living, and ethical industries are significantly important to me. As a relatively young human, I have been exposed to plastic all of my life. Plastic is everywhere, and I never gave it a second thought because I never had to, or so I thought. Everyday things like sandwich bags, tupperware, toothbrushes, etc, all are made of plastic, and while I knew this, I didnt automatically think 'PLASTIC' with red flashing warning lights... I simply continued to use plastic products into my adult life as I had been raised. Though there are certainly plastic products which we cannot yet avoid easily, there are definitely some good alternatives available nowadays which are both ethical and sustainable. I have recently integrated 3 of these alternatives into my daily routine and household.

The first change I have made in my household is using jars for storage. I have always had jars around, but I have slowly integrated them into my pantry storage. Jason and I purchase most of our 'dry food' from bulk barn where they have plastic bags and plastic containers to hold and contain the items. We have began to take jars to bulk barn and put our dry items in them rather than in plastic bags! Most of our spices, grains, beans, nuts, and things of that sort are now kept in jars. I used to buy items at bulk barn using the plastic bags they provided and then would transfer the items in to jars once home, but I realized that it was such a waste of plastic and quite unnecessary in the first place! Most bulk barn locations are familiar with using jars in store, so there has never been an issue for us.

I grew up using dryer sheets in the laundry, I love the smell of freshly dried laundry and I thought dryer sheets were the only way to get that fresh scent. A few months ago I heard about dryer balls made out of wool and I thought it was genius. I began to read up about them online and learned that they never deteriorate, meaning that they will last for many many years. Not only are they made of a natural material, but they are intended to last a lifetime. I purchased mine at Pure Earth Organics in Red Deer. In order to maintain that fresh scent that dryer sheets give, I have put a drop or two of essential oils onto the dryer balls and that has created a similar, if not better effect than dryer sheets! Lately I have been using eucalyptus oil, but citrus, and lavender oils have also created a wonderful fresh scent. I have been loving using the dyer balls and I am so happy to have integrated them into my household.
You can also find dryer balls on Etsy, or Amazon, though I prefer to support the smaller businesses on Etsy : wool dryer balls.

Lastly, Jason and I have transitioned into using bamboo toothbrushes. I had seen them online several times, but I always found that shipping them was so much more expensive than we would have liked - that deterred us from making the switch earlier than we have. Recently I was in Pure Earth Organics and found these gorgeous toothbrushes. Not only are the toothbrushes completely ethical, but the packaging is as well. I have found that they feel completely normal, and brush as well as any other plastic toothbrush that I have used. We will definitely continue to purchase and use these!
You can learn more about these ethical brushes here.