Lately, news feeds seem to only be about Australia burning, ice caps melting and temperatures rising, creating a sense of hopelessness among those watching the world burn. However, there is a way you can help make a change, through the simple steps of sustainable living.
As human beings, living in today’s climate, we have the power to improve the world we reside in. “Sustainable living is especially important in a country like the US because we consume more resources per person than most other countries in the world, yet we do not feel the impacts as much as some other countries,” said Carolyn Waters, an Environmental Studies professor at Bellarmine University.
So, you may be asking, ‘what can I do to help?’ Here are three unconventional sustainable products that will slowly help make an impact.
1.) Stasher Bags:
Stasher bags are an amazing product to hopefully eliminate single-use plastic baggies that are normally used to pack lunches. Made with silicon plastic, stasher bags are reusable, washable and can last for a very long time. They come in several different sizes and are very useful to store food, keep produce fresh and use on the go.
2.) Bee’s Wrap:
Bee’s Wrap is a relatively new product that is a replacement to the everyday plastic cling wrap to cover food. Unlike cling wrap that is thrown out right after its use, Bee’s Wrap is organically made, and is reusable and washable. “I love Bee’s Wrap because they are more durable than the everyday plastic wrap,” said Grace Edelen.” When covering the Bee’s Wrap around a desired dish or food, the bees wax inside the product warms up from the heat of your hands, allowing the wrap to form around the food and stay covered for as long as you want.
3.) Bamboo Utensil Set:
Instead of using single-use plastic forks and knives when eating you can try using a reusable utensil set. Utensil sets are portable and washable, allowing you to turn down plastic utensils when offered or given. Why Bamboo? Bamboo is a bio-degradable resource that can decompose after use. Utensils made from bamboo allows one to literally reuse, reduce and recycle without the waste of single-use plastic utensils.
Sustainable living is not complex, especially for beginners, or for people who are not familiar with this lifestyle. “I like using sustainable products because I feel like I am contributing to something bigger than myself. We don’t need everyone doing zero-waste perfectly, we just need everyone trying to do their best,” said Cole Scott.
Replacing single-use items with reusable ones much like these, is a simple step to take in becoming more environmentally aware, allowing the platform of sustainability to grow. “We can make some impact by changing our individual behaviors, but our ability to do that is limited by the systems we operate within,” said Waters.
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