Hi, my name is Catherine, part of the Parenting Expert team and I have been looking at easy ways to go green at home.
Plastic seems to have found its way into every aspect of our lives. However, nowadays, reducing your plastic waste at home isn’t as difficult as you may think. From cleaning and laundry products to rubber gloves to toilet roll, there are so many brands on the market now which offer greener alternatives. A lot of these products all go to lowering your carbon footprint too.
Cleaning Products
Switching your usual cleaning products which come in single use plastic bottles to more sustainable refillable plastic or glass bottles is a simple step on your journey at home to start to make a change. A lot of the products on the market are also much better for the environment by using more natural ingredients.
Products which use more natural ingredients can also help to slow down the nasties which go down our drains everyday. These nasties can potentially find their way into the environment which will impact on wildlife. Most of them also smell divine, leaving your home smelling more like a spa than a doctor’s waiting room.
I tested a couple of brands which I absolutely loved.
Purdy & Figg
Purdy & Figg cleaning products smell beautiful, fact. You receive a glass bottle for life and the naturally scented eco-concentrate in 20ml glass bottles. The bottle arrives empty for you to pour in the eco-concentrate and then top up with tap water. The luxury microfibre cloth is super soft and premium quality, (I’ve actually bought a second cloth I loved it that much).
If you like your house smelling like a luxury spa after cleaning then you will love this product. All their products are plant based which is a big tick in my book as I am vegetarian.
Nookary
Nookary products come in forever glass bottles which are refillable. On first glance it may look quite expensive but the refillable pouches contain 10 refills, that’s only £1.80 per refill so comparable to a standard cleaning product in a single use plastic bottle. All their products are vegan and cruelty free, another big tick.
The products are probiotic, which means it keeps on working even once you’ve finished cleaning, so you can actually clean less, another big tick in my book! Your house will also be left smelling like a spa after cleaning with these products.
Laundry Products
Swapping out your usual laundry detergents for more sustainable products can save on plastic, reduce nasties going down your drain and still leave your clothes smelling divine!
Ask yourself this question; do fabric softeners contain animal fat?
Answer; YES!!
Almost all standard softeners you buy on your weekly shop contain tallow dimethyl ammonium chloride, which is a misleading way of saying ammonia mixed with the rendered fat of cows, sheep and horses. Imagine washing your clothes in animal fat?! (If I could I would insert the vomiting emoji here!!).
So switching not only saves on single use plastic, it reduces your carbon footprint by reducing the use of animal derivatives!
Laundry Egg from ecoegg
I do think this is fabulous idea! The box contains a plastic egg shaped vessel and packets of pellets. Fill the egg with the pellets, lock the egg and place it on the top of your washing. The pellets last up to 70 washes (which won’t take long in my house of 5!), but this really is a stress free way to wash. The pellets do not contain enzymes, chlorine bleaches, phosphates, parabens, SLS/SLES or palm oil, super great for the environment. Its vegan too so big tick once again from me!
The Laundry Egg is currently on offer at £6.99 so if my maths are up to scratch that is only 9.9p a wash!
Wilton London
WOW is all I can say! I have tried Wilton London for the first time this week. They are the first carbon neutral laundry brand on the market!
Made in the UK, their laundry detergents are concentrated so you only need a small amount and they smell absolutely divine thanks to the use of natural essential oils. It’s kind to your skin and gentle on your clothes, chemical free, tick, and they don’t use animal fat, big tick. Reuse your plastic bottle using their 4 litre refill box, another big tick.
I have been using smol for a long time for my laundry but I may be changing to Wilton London I loved it that much!
Shop Wilton London here. (Get the Jasmine scented one, it smells divine!!).
Doing the dishes
There are lots of environmentally friendly washing up liquids, dishwasher tablets and natural cloths and sponges on the market now. I used to go through a plastic loaded sponge a week for washing my pans, but now I try to use something a little more natural and sustainable. Try to use an alternative natural, compostable sponge or an old school white cloth which can be washed in the machine rather than put in the bin. Cloths and sponges can hold a lot of bacteria, so being able to wash them is ideal.
Seep
I tested a pair of rubber gloves from seep, they were fab! I got stuck into giving my range cooker a good clean wearing these and being completely honest I was a little sceptical. Ther performed amazingly well! They are made from FSC certified rubber, 100% plastic free and the best bit for a big tick, 100% compostable! Amazing! They are also vegan which as you know for me is another big tick.
If you purchase their Clean Conscience Plastic-free Cleaning Kit you can grab a pair of these gloves for free!
I also tested their natural, cellulose sponge which has a loofah scourer on the other side. It is 100% plastic free, comes from natural sources, vegan and compostable! Lots of ticks! The only thing which would make this sponge better would be if it was just a touch larger.
Smol
I’ve used smol dishwasher tablets for a long time. They are delivered through my letterbox in their child-proof cardboard box, they use less chemicals than standard dishwasher tablets, plastic free and vegan. They leave my dishes clean and sparkly!
To finish I just want to mention Koh. I didn’t test any Koh products for this article but I have been using it for a number of years. It is amazing. It works on any surface at all including glass. I have a Koh mop too which is great, especially with two doggles in the house!
So there are my top tips for a clean, green home, saying goodbye to single use plastic and some fabulous tried and tested brands for you to give a go!
If you have any tips for easy ways to go green at home please let us know! HAPPY GREEN CLEANING!
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