Shopping Guide: Earth Day
Photographed by Wesleigh Byrd
Happy Earth Day everyone! Let’s take a moment to appreciate the gift of this beautiful world and all it provides. Today, we’re discussing ways to show gratitude and contribute to a greater cause through small, everyday changes. We’ve gathered sustainable products and ideas to inspire action in your day-to-day life. Share your own ideas for helping the planet in the comments below!
SMALL ACTS THAT HELP OUR ENVIRONMENT…
- Being conscious of the places we shop. We love brands like Reformation, Lacausa and Sézane to name a few. There are people behind the clothes we wear, how they’re paid and treated really matters. Oftentimes garment workers are subject to awful conditions. That’s why it’s important to know who stands behind the name of a company- at their most elemental level. We love the commitment these brands have made to create a safe, healthy, and fair working environment for their teams, and for workers throughout their supply chains. The associations they partner with, responsibility audits they are making on-site and ensuring their workers feel heard within the company. “Being socially conscious isn’t counterculture, it’s cultural currency.”
- Doing a beach/road clean up with friends. This is one of the best tools to use! (you can even do this on the ocean if you have access to a boat!) It’s pretty sad how much trash is left behind, or carelessly strewn across our outdoor spaces. Taking an extra 30 minutes to grab any waste you see, not only helps our earth, but can be a big protection for animals big and small. They use our world as resourcefully as they can to feed themselves (sorry mom’s garden), imagine if someone put a soggy piece of paper in your In-N-Out burger….EW.
- Bringing a travel mug with you to work or to your local coffee shop. According to a study done in 2021 we drink about 400 million cups of coffee a day. The tragic reality is that most of these drinks are served in single-use cups that ultimately wind up in the oceans, landfills, polluting our beautiful planet. So just think: Every time you pour yourself a steaming cup of hot coffee or tea to drink in your reusable cup, you save at least one single use cup from hitting the landfill or ocean.
- Walk or try to ride your bike to dinner. Unless you’re in the midwest in the height of icy winter, walking or biking to dinner is fun! Getting to do it with others, or even by yourself provides a nice transition time and is great for your body!
- Farmer’s Market over big chain markets. Shopping locally and seasonally actually helps us all! It benefits your local economy, including all the farmers and producers in your area. It (hopefully) has more nutrient density, as produce that is grown and harvested locally is given more time to ripen. It’s good for your environment because local food doesn’t have to travel as far to arrive on your plate! Anyone want to meet at the farmers market this weekend?
- Have a go-to tote for the farmer’s market or store. It affords you more space, it’s stylish AND you’re not putting more plastic back into our landfills. Feels like a win-win to me (especially when it goes with all your outfits).
- Keep some clean re-usable straws in your car for iced coffee or smoothies. Not to go too hard on the facts BUT, here in the states we use about 500 million plastic straws a day. If you have a hard time actualizing that (like I do) 500 million straws would fill over 127 school buses per day, or more than 46,400 school buses every year. That amount of waste has nowhere to go other than landfills or the ocean. If we can hold on asking for a straw and use some that can be washed, that’s certainly a step in a good direction.
- Try to use cloth towels in your kitchen, more than paper towels. Hear me out: no matter what industry you’re in, paper towels always come in handy. For cleaning up quick spills to drying your hands more efficiently, paper towels tend to be used much more quickly than anticipated. Instead of grabbing just one, most people grab a massive handful. Before you know it, another empty roll is in the garbage. It ends up making a dent in the paper industry on greenhouse gas emissions. While this impact may feel small compared to other contributors, cutting back on paper towels is an action we all can do to create a positive impact on the CO2 problem.
- Snack on alter eco chocolate anytime! I’m serious- opting for this actually does a whole lot of good, plus it’s delish! Their products are grown in healthy ecosystems by small-scale, fair trade farmers. Their incredible taste is due to high-quality clean ingredients: always organic, no weird stuff added in. Lastly, their products use recyclable or compostable packaging that eliminates or reduces waste.
- Instead of picking out store-bought items, give your loved ones a homemade or thrifted gift! We all know the feeling of racing to an event needing to stop and get something for your host or friend. Setting time aside to prepare something intentional or go treasure hunting at an antique/thrift shop does something sweet for your own mind and consumes much less – the packaging of a store-bought item as well as its transport from the manufacturer. This small shift can facilitate creativity and can simplify things a bit. Who’s birthday is coming up next?
Each product here is linked in our picks below!