Sustainable switches that have worked for me

Making switches to more sustainable versions of the things you used to buy can take a quite a bit of time and research. And also a bit of trial and error.  But when you find a better alternative that works for you, it is completely worth all the effort.  So, I thought I'd share a run down of the sustainable switches I've made recently that I've been very happy with. 

1) Go Cat to Yarrah Organic cat food

I first blogged about Yarrah here, when I was looking around for more ethical and sustainable ways to feed the cat.  The company seems to have pretty good credentials, and I am pleased to be able to say that we have been using Yarrah since I first offered it to Daisy. 

She seems to enjoy it as much as she enjoys any food, ie not that much, but she eats it and stays alive, so it must be OK.  I order two bags from Zooplus every four months, and it works out at around £2 a week, which is a price I'm pretty happy with. 

My only gripe is that - as with so many organic products - Yarrah comes in plastic packaging.  (Why????) But that's the only drawback, so this is a switch we'll be staying with for the foreseeable.

2) Supermarket recycled toilet roll to Who Gives a Crap toilet roll

I wanted to try Who Gives a Crap toilet roll for a number of reasons.  Firstly, it's a good way to buy toilet roll in bulk, and I'm doing my best to switch to bulk buying whenever possible. 

Secondly, it involves minimal plastic packaging.  The rolls are all wrapped in paper, and come in a big cardboard box.  The only plastic is the tape, which I guess is fairly unavoidable.  Thirdly, the company donates 50% of their profits to providing toilets and improved sanitation for many people in need. 

Finally, my delivery guy had a bit of a laugh when he read 'You've got a nice bum' on the box as he handed it to me!

It's a more expensive way to buy loo roll, but I like this company and their ethos, so I will stick with it.

3) Supermarket recycled kitchen roll to Ecoleaf kitchen roll

Whilst I've cut down a lot on kitchen roll, I do still use it now and again.  I switched to Suma's Ecoleaf version when I found it at my local health food shop.  I like that you get one big roll instead of two smaller ones - no more shoving the second one in the back of the cupboard till the first one runs out. 

The paper is 100% recycled, and the wrap is 100% compostable, which is great.  Hopefully, I'll eventually cut out kitchen roll altogether, but until then, this is the one for me. 

4) Bulk buys from Big Green Smile

Big Green Smile is an online company that sells many household products in 5 litre bottles.  At the moment, I have bottles of washing up liquid and disinfectant from Bio D, shower gel from Faith in Nature, and toilet cleaner from Ecover.  I just top up smaller bottles of each item using a funnel, which is easy - and strangely satisfying - to do.  I wasn't sure if I could reuse my smaller toilet cleaning bottle, but it turns out you can prize the nozzle off with a sharp knife, then refill and reuse. 

Whilst this clearly still involves plastic, it's less than if I was still using the small standard-size bottles.  You can buy pump dispensers to go with the 5 litre bottles, and if you had difficulty lifting them, this would be fairly essential.  But I don't need them, which saves a bit more plastic.

And these bottles last for ages! I love not having to go out and buy more washing up liquid etc every few weeks.  A couple of orders from Big Green Smile each year is more than enough to keep me going. 

So those are a few of the switches I've made.  I want to cut down on the plastic even more, but in the meantime, I'm pretty happy with these products.  It has really reduced my reliance on the supermarket as well, which is also a cause for joy!

Till next time...