10 Stupidly Simple Sustainable Swaps To Begin The New Year (Under $40)
Going green doesn't have to be difficult! With these 10 simple swaps, you can reduce your waste and feel good about living a more sustainable life in 2023.
Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes
You’ve heard it once and you’ll hear it hundreds more times. So here it goes: The new year is a time for new beginnings.
Seriously — it’s science! It’s called the ‘Fresh Start Effect’ and who are we to argue with science?
Whether you’re all about resolutions and new goals at the beginning of the year or prefer to sit them out, thanks to the social representation of Jan 1 and the fresh start effect this is a good time for you to regroup, recalibrate, and restart.
And how do we recommend starting the new year?
With (easy) sustainable swaps of course!
Why Make Sustainable Swaps? For the New Year Or Anytime
Image by Pok Rie from Pixabay
No matter the time of year it is, whenever you’re ready to make sustainable swaps in your life, it also becomes a great time to stop, evaluate your waste, think about your sustainability goals, and come up with a plan to make positive changes.
We know it’s ultimately up to huge corporations that need to cut back on pollution and emissions, not the little guys like you. But change needs to start somewhere and by making sustainable swaps, you’re using your dollars and your spending power to show you care about sustainability.
By choosing to spend your hard-earned dollars with a sustainable company, organization, or product, you’re showing where your values lie. That there is a market for more earth-friendly products and you want to see more of it!
You’re also showing you want more beaches that look like ⬆️ and less like ⬇️.
Image by H. Hach from Pixabay
How Do I Get Started Making Sustainable Swaps, It’s All So Overwhelming
Image by Micha from Pixabay
That’s why we created ZeroWasteStore! To help take the overwhelm and intimidation out of sustainability. Not only do we release content (like this) to educate around sustainable products, every product and brand we sell has been vetted for multiple factors.
To name a few, we vet for:
- Packaging
- Waste
- Plastic
- Ingredients and ingredient sourcing
- And End of Life
Once you’ve decided to make sustainable swaps, you have to implement them! There are countless ways to go about incorporating sustainable replacements, but here are some of our favorite ways to do so.
1. Pick A Room (Any Room)
Pick a room in your house, make a list of everything in that room, then list everything that could be swapped out for an eco-friendly alternative. Swap everything in that room, then move on to the next one.
2. Replace Any Routine
Pick any routine you have and begin replacing the products in that routine with sustainable ones. It could be a skincare routine, a dish cleaning routine, or a laundry routine, you get the idea. Pick one routine, swap until it’s fully sustainable, then move on to the next routine.
3. The Empties Replacement Method
Any time you run out of a product or household item, replace it with a sustainable alternative. That’s it!
Okay, I’m Ready! Show Me 10 Sustainable Swaps I Can Make For A Fresh New Year Start
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
1. Zero Waste Weekly Calendar - Small ($38)
Stickers, metal spirals, plastic covers, make planners cute, but they also make the unrecycleable. For that reason, none of these features are found in a Wisdom Supply Co zero waste planner. Made with 100% recycled paper (cover and pages), these planners save tons of trees (literally), thousands of gallons of water, and are completely compostable or recyclable at the end of their life.
2. Zero Waste Shampoo & Conditioner Bar Bundle ($29.98)
Breaking up with products that have stood by you through too much chlorine, dry winter hair, I-don’t-have-time(energy)-to-wash-my-hair-this-week, and more can be difficult. So start small! Grab one of our best-selling shampoo and conditioner bar bundles and experience for yourself the luxury that comes out of this bar. Your hair will be so clean, so healthy, and so happy, you’ll never go back to plastic!
3. Mouthwash Tablets — 62 count ($20)
Can we all agree mouthwash bottles are obnoxious? They’re big, they’re bulky, they’re hard to store and annoying to carry. PLUS plastic. So ditch the giant plastic bottle and get your mouthwash in tablet form instead! It’ll take some getting used to but like any great innovation, when you do, you’ll be a tablet-chewing, plastic-reducing hero among us all for life.
4. Zero Waste Body Care (Soap, Soap Dish, Soap Saver Bag) ($29.47)
One place you can easily swap in high-quality (affordable) sustainable products is into your body care routine. Grab this pre-bundled kit that contains a sudsy and moisturizing zero waste soap, a soap saver bag to store it in (or use as a loofah), and a soap dish to store it in (plastic-free too of course). You’ll be saying ‘bye forever’ to plastic in the shower in no time at all!
5. Hand Soap Paste ($22.50)
You wouldn’t guess it strolling down the aisles at your average supermarket, but you don’t need plastic to refill your hand soap. *cue a Monica Geller I KNOW!* This is probably one of the easiest sustainable swaps to make this year. Just one of these 3.5 oz blocks makes up to 1 gallon of hand soap! You can make it all at one time or break off what you need.
6. Reusable Paper Towels ($24.99)
The average [American] family uses 5-7 rolls of paper towels each month. One roll of reusable paper towels, made from a sturdy cotton-flannel fabric blend, can replace hundreds of rolls of paper towels and last for years. You can use them in the kitchen, around the house, in the garage, anywhere! Simply wipe, wash, and repeat!
7. Zero Waste Sponge Cloth — 4 Count ($23.99)
Sponge cloths can clean dishes, soak up spills, wipe down counters, faces, and hands; they can do it all! If you’re unsure where to start with your sustainable swaps, start with these cloths. (They make great gifts too). Each cloth can absorb 1 cup of water and dries with no gross dish towel smell. Ever. They’re dishwasher safe and will last for years but ultimately backyard compostable at the end of their life.
8. Organic Body Lotion Bar ($16)
It’s hard to find a good body lotion and it’s harder to find a good one without plastic. So we did the hard work for you and found these organic lotion bars from Sustain Yourself! Totally plastic free, super moisturizing, and easy to travel with, one of these bars makes a super easy sustainable swap.
9. The Everything Stick — For Eyes, Lips, Face ($36)
When you find something that works, you buy a lot, right? So why not combine everything that works into one product that you can use wherever place you need it most? That’s what PAPR decided to do with this Everything Stick. Use it wherever you need it (eyes, lips, cheeks, elbows) for an instant, nourishing hydration boost!
10. Eyeshadow Refillable Makeup Crayon ($24)
When you find something that works, you buy a lot, right? So why not combine everything that works into one product that you can use wherever place you need it most? That’s what PAPR decided to do with this Everything Stick. Use it wherever you need it (eyes, lips, cheeks, elbows) for an instant, nourishing hydration boost!
No two sustainability journeys look the same — and that’s okay because we’re here to do the hard work for you! We’ve cut through the greenwash, done the research, the vetting, and the testing to bring you the best sustainable and zero waste products.
Whenever you’re ready to add more sustainable products to your life, we’ll be here with the best sustainable swaps for every new year, new month, or new day.
Other Blogs You Might Find Helpful:
- Starting a Zero Waste Lifestyle: A Beginners Guide to Going Zero Waste
- 17 Things You Can Make Plastic Free ASAP For Plastic Free July
- ZWS Essentials - A New Spin on Everyday Basics From Zerowastestore
- 17 Best Environmental Documentaries [and books] to Check Out in 2022
- 5 Best Selling Zero Waste Products Straight From Our Community
Written by Lauren Plug, content creator for ZeroWasteStore & Sustainability Enthusiast!