Our easy, eco-friendly lifestyle swaps

I’m not even gonna start with my usual apology for not posting in ages… cause ya know, life! Maternity leave is over for me now, and it’s been all guns blazing back to work which has been lots of fun, but also mega difficult at the same time. We are still working out our routine around the house and childcare and I thiiiink things are working so far. I’m just tired, eternally tired. But I guess that’s adult life for you eh? Especially with babies and animals thrown into the mix! Over the last few months we’ve been having an epic de-clutter of the house (funny how the more time you spend at home, the more things you’d never noticed before begin to annoy you) We’ve also made a few lifestyle changes, especially when it comes to shopping and where we buy stuff from. I guess lockdown made us look closer at how we function as a household, and what we consume as a family. So this is how I’ve ended up compiling a list of some initial eco friendly lifestyle swaps we have made at home, however I have a wish list as long as my arm. The ideas I share below aren’t exactly ground breaking, but they’re some small steps in making little positive changes which are friendlier for the planet (and surprisingly still friendly on your bank balance)

Who Gives A Crap

The last few tv productions I’ve worked on have always had Who Gives A Crap toilet paper in the loo for us, and I promised that rather than buying plastic covered 4 packs every other week at the supermarket I would take the plunge and start to buy their 100% recycled toilet paper in bulk instead. Who Gives A Crap donate 50% of profits to help build toilets, as they believe that access to a safe, dignified loo is a basic human right. And as of this month, the company has become 100% carbon neutral! I also bought their kitchen roll with my last order, which is made from a blend of bamboo and sugar cane. Both the toilet paper and kitchen rolls are much longer than what I usually buy for the super market, so although they seem more expensive I am content I’m getting my money’s worth. 48 rolls of toilet paper cost £36, and 6 rolls of double length kitchen towel cost £14.

Estrid razor*

I was sent an Estrid starter kit, worth £7.95 which contains a steel handle, wall holder and two cartridges. Four replacement cartridges come in at £9.95, which is considerably cheaper than the Venus Spa razor and cartridges which I’ve been using for years. All of their packaging is fully recyclable, and although Estrid are not carbon neutral they take responsibility for their emissions by climate-compensating every kilo of C02 emitted via transport to customers. As for the product itself, I posted a video on instagram stories to show how bloody brilliant it was at gliding through some impressive lock down leg hair! The blades provide a very close shave, and the soothing strip along the back is lovely and conditioning – and 100% vegan! Estrid also donate a portion of their sales to Kvinna till kvinna, Medica Mondiale and Fawcett Society.

Dantoy bio-toy front loader tractor*

I feel guilty at Christmas and birthday’s saying to family “please don’t buy the kids any toys”, as since Reuben was born we have tried to make very conscious decisions on what we buy for him (and basically not filling the house with plastic crap!) One, we don’t have the space for it, and two, there are lots of more sustainable options out there. Reuben has lots of wooden toys and to be honest they are not much more expensive than their plastic counterparts. But are better for the environment, and tend to be more hard wearing and therefore better for passing onto friends once Reuben has outgrown them. Reuben does have lots of plastic toys but never bought new, only ever passed down from family and friends. We try to think of quality over quantity when it comes to his toys. This tractor is from the Dantoy bio-plastic range, which is made from sugar cane and is a 100% sustainable raw material. Dantoy really push the idea of buy less, buy well, which is what we are trying to do across our whole household but it’s refreshing to see that it can be implemented when it comes to buying toys as well.

Glass bottle milk delivery

At Pete’s coffee shop, he gets milk delivered from Mossgiel, and at home we get deliveries from McQueens Dairy twice a week. Home milk delivery has saw a decrease in the last 20 years, until very recently where there’s been a huge spike in demand. We consume a lot of milk in this house, so having it delivered is a massive convenience, along with the fact that the glass bottles are reused by the dairy over and over again. Compared to plastic milk cartons which can take thousands of years to degrade. Again, just another small change but all of these small changes come together to make a (hopefully) positive impact.

Refillable coffee tins

In Black Pine Coffee (Pete’s shop) the retail tins he sells are refillable, so once you’re finished you can come back and the tin is cleaned and refilled with your choice of bean or however you need your coffee ground! Including bigger 1kg tins for the serious coffee drinkers (inevitable when you’re working from home eh?) These refillable tins are from his main coffee roaster, The Good Coffee Cartel, who are also based in Glasgow. TGCC are pioneering new approaches to sustainable packaging to get as close to Zero Waste as possible. They are also Scotland’s first coffee business to eliminate single use packaging and single use cups completely. Nice one guys!

Reusable straws*

A sad day but a very important product to share, as my friend Shannon is hanging up her straws (lol?!) and moving onto ventures new with a huge closing down sale over on her website, Pockit Strawkit. These straws are telescopic and made from food grade stainless steel. They come in little holders and with telescopic brushes to clean the inside after use. We have some at home but I always carry one in my bag, and Reuben also has one in his bag too (because he’s reached that peak toddler “I WANT A STRAW AND A BIG CUP” stage) I am not a fan of paper straws which go soggy after a while, so for ages I would just go without, however the steel ones are ideal and very convenient to carry around with you in their own wee cases. Best of luck to Shannon with ventures new, and I’m sure she will keep fighting the good fight, the eco fight!

To summarise, I am absolutely no expert eco warrior, and I know a lot of my lifestyle choices (being a meat eater, driving a car etc) may seem to contradict any other small changes I am trying to make. However I don’t think there is anything wrong with trying to live more consciously at your own pace, and committing to making changes which are within your own personal and financial means. Next up on my list I’d like to start thinking about more ‘naked’ health & beauty products, along more naked and refillable food, drink and household products. Reduce what we purchase, reuse as much as we can, and continue to recycle (maybe even get our compost heap on the go again) Please feel free to share any suggestions in the comments! I want to know better and do better.