With Earth Day approaching, it’s the perfect time to look for some simple ways to ditch things like single use plastics and find smarter alternatives. Going green has never been easier and many of the market gaps have been filled by innovative people who have created some pretty cool things! In this post I’ll share some easy eco-friendly swaps you can make and I’ll talk about some beauty brands who have creatively packaged their products with minimal plastic or without it all together.
Easy Eco-Friendly Swaps
I’ve talked about these before, but we use them for so many things. A great alternative to single-use plastic ziplock bags, these can store leftovers, help you pack toiletries, organize vitamins and anything else you can think of! You can find them at a lot of stores now and you can find them on Amazon.
While these are still single-use, they’re plastic free and they biodegrade. These are perfect to pack in lunches when your child has a bad track record of bringing your nifty eco-friendly containers back home or for times when you need a completely disposable lunch, which is what my kids’ school requires for field trips. Find them at Whole Foods or on Amazon.
Another smart way to store food without the plastic. Use this in place of plastic wrap and reuse many times over! It clings to bowls and containers well and also wraps around things like sandwiches nicely.
Plastic straws aren’t recyclable and have proven to be quite a problem, especially to marine life. Instead choose a reusable straw and stash it your bag for when you need one on the go. We love these stainless steel straws and also use these silicone straws for our kids.
So many plastic forks and spoons get their 20 minutes of use and then get tossed only to sit in a landfill for hundreds of years. Instead, get a pack of bamboo travel cutlery and stash it with the straws in case you need it on the go. Here’s one similar to ours. Here’s one from Beauty Heroes that includes a straw too!
One single-use plastic you may not have thought of is band-aids! Yet another recyclable product that sits in the landfill forever. Patch Strips are made from bamboo and completely biodegrade. They’re also made with a different type of adhesive that doesn’t cause any irritation like regular bandages can. Plus, they’re pretty cute! You can find them here.
Brands Thinking Outside The Plastic Box
It’s so hard to find products without plastic somewhere in the packaging these days, but here are a few innovative brands who have found ways to package all or at least a majority of their products without plastic.
Ok, you know I LOVE their eye palettes, but what I also love is that they created them with no plastic at all. They even ditched the mirror to ensure the palette was 100% recyclable and nothing went to the landfill. Find them here.
They have really worked hard at keeping their varied products as plastic free as possible. From soap wrappers to cardboard, push-up deodorant dispensers, you’d be surprised how many products really don’t need plastic at all! Find them here.
Another brand really thinking outside the normal packaging to come up with creative solutions. Push-up products in plastic tubes and even some chic bamboo options are there! See what they have here.
They have some of the prettiest packaging due to the fact that they try to use bamboo whenever possible. It not only makes their compacts look chic, but it cuts down the amount of plastic used dramatically! Find them here.
A whole new way of doing packaging! They have a simple system that lets you swap the empty aluminum containers, which are then clean and sterilized, refilled, and reused. They even cover the shipping! You can read more on it here. Also, use code MAISONPUR for 10% off!
Stay tuned for some fun giveaways for some of these over the days leading up to Earth Day on Instagram! And if you’re in the mood to shop, AILLEA has something special just for Earth Day. From April 19-22, 2019, customers can bring in their toxic products and get 3% off per product (up to 15% total) to swap out for clean, non-toxic brands at any of the 5 AILLEA locations – 2 in Denver, 1 in Atlanta, 1 in Charleston and 1 in Raleigh. Or for those not located in one of those states, they can simply shop online and still receive a discount:
- Code EARTH10 for 10% off orders over $50
- Code EARTH15 for 15% off orders over $100
Happy Earth Day!
