HOW TO | Be sustainable in 2020 and save Money
So you want to save money and be more sustainable this year? I’ve got to be the most sustainable person who isn’t TRYING to be sustainable at all. It just naturally happens when you’re trying to save money. Does that make sense? Maybe not, but let’s move on!
These are the things I’ve completely stopped purchasing since trying to be more of a minimalist and sustainable shopper (and also a broke B)
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Be Sustainable in 2020 and Save Money by
Not Buying These!
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Deodorant (make your own)
- I’ve stopped buying deodorant years ago. It’s saved me a lot and also made me a few bucks when I used to sell it lol. Really it’s just a simple two-ingredient product you can make at home and you can fix it to your liking by adding other ingredients. If you want to know how I make mine, read it here!
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Fabric Softener
- I just don’t believe you NEED fabric softener. If you have a decent detergent, then that’s all you need to have your clothes washed and cleaned.
- My family uses the ECOS detergent from Costco, but here with my husband they get a brand called Honest
Sisters from ABeautifulMess came up with this great way to have reusable paper towels.
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Paper towels
- You can make your own buy sewing together cloth from your old towels, shirts or anything that you can use as a rag.
- I’m obsessed with how Elsie and Emma from ABeautifulMess made these Unpaper Towels from home. I will be making them myself but a less cute way cause I don’t know how to sew
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Plastic food wrap or ziplock bags (buy reusable!)
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Takeout, even Starbucks!
- I know you’re gonna hate me but hello, you’re here for a reason! Recently I spent like.. so much on Starbucks. I finally stopped buying from them because even though they give you 10 cents off for using your own cup, it’s not worth the expensive drinks you can just make from home.
- Please, do yourself a favor and stop buying takeout. You will live much better making your own food and you will save a lot. It’s much better to eat out at a restaurant too so you should save those days for special occasions.
- I ended up buying frozen fruits to make AMAZING smoothies and also started making my own matcha 🙂 Bye Starbucks!
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Buying new things
- Depop exists, Instagram has many users who just sell their used items and clothes. There’s really no reason to keep buying new things that you can find fairly used online on apps or from friends!
- The apps I usually use to buy things from are Ebay for those hard to find deals, depop usually for clothes, and offerup for local pickups!
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Packaging
- I know many things we all need come in packaging you can’t help but throw away. My solution is to try your best to buy everything that comes in glass or paper. Plastic is never your friend. Just think about it, you’re basically paying to throw something away.
- I recommend Marshalls. They seriously sell so many things in glass, so I feel I’m getting my money’s worth.
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Essential Oils / Oil Diffuser
- Okay I was so obsessed recently but I decided to stop buying oil diffusers and anything related to them because it’s a waste of $$. There’s many other eco-friendly ways to make your room smell good without using your electricity and wasting money on TINY LITTLE BOTTLES of oil that wont last you a month.
- Try incense, plants, making coffee a lot so your house smells like coffee, open the window a bit so breeze comes in and airs out your house.
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Floss sticks or flossing products
- So I stopped flossing, but I started water flossing! It’s so amazing and yes, it’s a big spend but I believe it’s worth it in the long run.
- Floss is just wasteful. It comes in a small useless package and you throw away the floss in one use.
- I also bought an electrical toothbrush. I know it’s not super eco friendly since eventually you might need to get rid of the head of the brush and get new ones.It’s better than always purchasing the plastic toothbrush. Now I use my electrical Philips toothbrush and the bamboo ones just for night time.
- I have both the cordless Waterpik floss and the big one. Both were from costco, it was more of a bundle deal.
- Shop the Waterpik Floss here Waterpik Floss here
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Bottled water
- It’s not doing anyone any favors! Just buy a Brita Filter or Pitcher. There’s no excuses!
- You know this by now, but use a bottle to carry everywhere so you don’t use a plastic cup.
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Plastic Bags (not needed)
- Okay, this is a hard one even for my family. We have a cat so my mom always uses plastic bags she gets from going grocery shopping. We live in the suburbs and the neighbors are so close to your yard, that it would probably be hard to compost.
- Even though we still use plastic bags, we re-purpose them all the time.
- What do you do about plastic bags? Any idea what to use instead of bags for cat poo, dog poo, etc.
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Makeup Remover (use oils)
- I haven’t used makeup remover in forever. All I use is any kind of oil I have including olive oil, almond oil, grape seed or vitamin e.
What to buy NOW to Be Sustainable
So yes you might have to buy other things to help you be sustainable but trust me, it will all work out in the Earth’s favor and yours too. These are just the best ways to be more sustainable to me, because they’re easy and practical.
But now, we have to go a little bit further. These are the things I need to buy now to save MORE money and be sustainable in 2020 NOW.
I plan to stop buying the following
- Pads
- Cottan swabs and pads
- Razors
- Plastic bags for cat poo, etc.
- Laundry Soap
Do you have anything you will stop buying this year to try and be more sustainable? Let me know below
Hope you enjoyed this list of what to stop buying to be sustainable in 2020, and save money! Do you think you will try any of these? What have you already been doing to help your wallet and the earth?
Read more:
7 Day Vegan Challenge! | Finding your life purpose | How to treat yourself and save money !
LOVE, KIKI
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