Eco-friendly products
Courtesy : www.cnet.com/
Implementing small changes to your lifestyle can make a major impact on the environment. Whether you use a reusable shopping bag, choose recycled goods, clean with green products or replace single-use products with reusable, biodegradable or sustainable alternatives, opting for environmentally-friendly options helps reduce your carbon footprint and protect the planet and its water.
This shopping list of best eco-friendly products available online will help you cut down on plastic waste in product packaging, reduce your reliance on non-sustainable goods, skip the beef and harness the sun — all things that benefit the environment.
Read more: Best Filtered Water Bottle to Remove Bacteria, Sediment and More
Amazon/Kleen Kanteen
Stainless Steel Straws (3-pack): $10
The single-use plastic straw war is heating up. Starbucks announced an eventual ban in 2018, and hundreds of stores and retailers have followed suit. You can join the movement by picking up a reusable straw, like these Klean Kanteen stainless steel straws with silicone ends. The set includes a brush for cleaning.
The Good Pencil Company
Pencils With a Purpose: 12-pack for $4
The Good Pencil Company, a certified B-Corp that supports a range of educational and environmental causes, makes pencils out of wood sourced from responsibly managed forests. It also donates a pencil for each pencil you buy and includes a spruce tree seed in each package so that you can plant a tree at home.
See at The Good Pencil Company
Sarah Tew/CNET
Green Toys: $12 and up
It’s reported that 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean from the land every year, and by the year 2050, it’s estimated that plastic in the oceans will outweigh the fish. Green Toys makes toys from plastic that would have ended up in the water, collected from coastlines and waterways. It also makes a wide range of other playthings from 100% recycled plastic materials — mainly milk containers. That’s a sustainable system. They include:
Sarah Tew/CNET
Rocketbook Core Notebooks: $18 and Up
Americans consume an estimated 208 million tons of paper in a year, so even if you’re using recycled paper, it’s still a lot of waste. Cut back with the Rocketbook Core reusable spiral notebook. The glossy paper works with special Pilot Frixion erasable gel pens (and they come in several fun colors).
Writing on the pages is a little wet at first, like using a marker on a slick greeting card, but after 10 seconds the ink bonds with the paper and won’t smudge. Erase as you go with the pen tip, or clear a whole page quickly with a damp cloth. (Cloth and pen are included.) The Rocketbook app makes it easy to scan and save your notes as a PDF to multiple cloud storage services or email — and it also can convert your handwriting into text.
Rothy’s
Rothy’s Recycled Shoes: $55 and Up
Single-use water bottles have become an environmental plague — Rothy’s transforms them into a range of stylish and environmentally friendly products for men, women and kids. Though plastic water bottles aren’t usually particularly colorful, Rothy’s offers shoes in a variety of tasteful options, starting at $55 for kids; mens’ and womens’ styles start at $125. The company says it has repurposed millions of plastic bottles that were originally destined for landfills.
Adidas
Adidas Primeblue Shoes and Clothing: $20 to $230
Adidas takes upcycled marine plastic waste, found along the coast, and uses it (instead of virgin plastic) in all its Primeblue line of apparel. The company currently sells shirts, shorts and shoes made from Parley Ocean Plastic, and has the goal of making its entire product line free from virgin polyesters by 2024.
Nimble
Nimble Phone Cases: $25 and Up
Nimble makes these phone cases from 100% recycled plastic bottles and donates 5% of the proceeds to a range of environmental programs, including the Coral Reef Alliance, Carbonfund.org and SeaSave.org.
Amazon/Stasher
Reusable Silicone Sandwich Bags: $13
If you pack lunches for work or school, you could be going through an alarming number of disposable baggies in a lifetime. These reusable silicone Stasher storage bags can withstand the rigors of microwaves and freezers, and are also just happy to hang out in a lunchbox. Pop them in the dishwasher to clean.
Art of Lunch/Amazon
Art of Lunch Reusable Sandwich Baggies: $28
Here’s a slightly different approach to the plastic baggie conundrum. These designer bags are made from cotton lined with food-safe polyester. What makes them engaging are the designs: kitties, squids, turtles and mermaid scales make it fun to go eco-friendly. And, yes, they’re reusable and can go in the dishwasher.
Amazon/Flip and Tumble
Reusable Produce Bags: $14
It’s not just sandwich bags that haunt your home with plastic. Produce bags might seem filmy and lightweight, but they still contribute to the problem. The Flip and Tumble reusable grocery bags are made from polyester and are machine washable. The sheer mesh lets you see what’s inside.
Amazon/Ethique
Solid Shampoo Bar: $16
As long as we’re thinking about reducing plastic and harsh chemicals used in packaging, check out these solid shampoo bars from Ethique. These natural cleaning products come in varieties formulated for oily hair, dry hair and damage control. There’s even an eco-friendly cleaning shampoo bar for dogs. The company says the bars are cruelty-free, TSA-friendly and compostable. Each bar will help you feel cleaner and is supposed to be equivalent of three bottles of liquid shampoo.
Amazon/Etee
Beeswax Food Wraps: $18
Minding your own beeswax is a great idea when it comes to using beeswax-infused food wraps in place of plastic wraps or bags. These biodegradable Etee wraps are made with organic beeswax and cotton. You warm these biodegradable products up with your hands before using them to wrap food or cover a bowl or plate.
Amazon/OXO
Oxo Good Grips Easy Clean Compost Bin: $33
Go zero waste and turn your kitchen scraps into gardening gold with a compost scraps collector that can live on your counter top or under the sink. This particular design doesn’t require the added cost and inconvenience of compostable bags. You can just clean it out with a quick scrub after emptying disposable products into your main bin..
Amazon/Panasonic
Panasonic Eneloop Rechargeable Batteries: $27
Panasonic’s reusable eneloop batteries are popular for their long life spans. It might take a little time to recharge them, but that’s preferable to tossing a never-ending stream of drained batteries into the trash.
BioLite/Screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET
BioLite SolarHome 620: $280
Going off the grid gets a little easier with the BioLite SolarHome 620 kit. It includes a solar panel, three overhead lights, wall-mounted light switches and a control box that also acts as a radio and gadget charger. The system could be used to bring light to a cabin or camper, or act as a backup system in case of a power outage.
Amazon/Anker
Anker 21W Solar Charger: $110
Anker’s portable solar panels can hook onto your backpack to keep your gadgets charged on your thrilling adventures in faraway lands. Or you can use them at home or at work to harvest those squeaky-clean, I’m-using-solar good vibes.
Amazon/Silpat
Silpat Silicone Baking Mat: $25
Replace reams of parchment paper with a reusable Silpat baking mat. It’s made from a fiberglass mesh with a nonstick silicone surface, and it’s an amazingly great eco-friendly product. It can survive in the oven over and over again, and will also save you from having to grease your baking sheets.