July 7, 2018

Sometimes, efforts to make the home more “green” or sustainable fall flat of their noble intentions. The growing trend of eco-consciousness is becoming superficial and losing its true meaning: to lessen the human impact on the planet. The following tips are designed to help families get back to the true meaning of sustainability in effective and easy steps.

Conserve

One of the most important things a family can do to cut down on waste and make their home more sustainable is to extend the lifecycle of their goods and belongings. This means getting the most out of the things you buy before you throw them away. For instance, waiting to replace the shampoo bottle in the shower until the last drop has been used, eating food at home before going out to eat, and wearing clothes you already own instead of purchasing new garments. This is the most simple step toward making sustainable change in the home because it involves products you already own and requires no special skills or knowledge. It’s as easy as being conscious about what you throw away. Think: is there any way I can reuse or repurpose this? Have I gotten the most use out of this product?

Say no to single-use, disposable products

I love coffee, but I hate disposable coffee cups. I saw garbage cans full of them every day on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus when I went to school. All this waste could be saved by bringing a reusable mug to campus. Other single-use products can be spared from the trash as well. Politely refusing a plastic bag at checkout is a great sustainable choice, and won’t contribute to that hoard of plastic bags accumulating under the kitchen sink. A good exercise is to be conscious of everything you use that gets thrown out shortly after it is used for the first time, and try to replace it or go without it. For example, instead of using cotton balls to take off makeup at night, I use washcloths. It’s that simple.

Don’t get advice from advertisements

Ads are deceiving. That car commercial starring Melissa McCarthy is funny, and may convince you driving a hybrid is the most direct way to help the planet (without going to Antarctica to prevent the ice caps from melting yourself), but buying a new car can be more wasteful than keeping your current gas-guzzler on the road. “Green washing,” or the marketing strategy of appealing to environmentally conscious consumers, seems harmless, but ultimately misleads the public. Sure, swapping your light bulbs for more energy-efficient ones is a good idea, but the best sustainable choices don’t involve any new purchases. The media is always trying to sell something, but sustainable families recognize when it is appropriate to buy new things, even if that involves some light research and planning.

Consign/Donate

Moving out of an apartment is a sobering way to realize that you own too many things. I experienced this last month as I was packing my things into countless boxes, overwhelmed and burdened by how much stuff I had accumulated. I vowed that I would cut the number of boxes in half by the next time I moved. While I understand not all sustainable families are looking to downsize as dramatically as me, I do believe it’s important to take stock of what you own and get rid of the things that are no longer useful. Consigning and donating are two great ways to downsize without throwing anything away, considering that your goods are still in decent condition. I rely on Goodwill and the online consignment retailer Poshmark to help clean out my wardrobe, but the Salvation Army and other local donation centers are great as well.

Make some of your own products

DIY (do it yourself)! One of my favorite things about sustainability is that it encourages me to be creative. For example, instead of buying a new stick of deodorant when I ran out, a few months ago I made my own from coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, and essential oils. And the recipe for DIY toothpaste contains similar ingredients! Another example is Windex, which can be replaced by a simple solution of water and vinegar. Making these products at home from simple ingredients prevents the production and proliferation of toxic chemicals in household goods, which makes DIY a smart and fun solution for sustainable families.

Compost

I started composting my organic waste last year after I learned how simple it can be. Initially, composting was intimidating. I knew some people who composted in their gardens, kept food scraps in airtight containers, and bought worms to help with decomposition. My compost, on the other hand, is a little more accessible: all I used was a bucket in my kitchen to collect food scraps and a patch of dirt in my backyard. While my neighbors would’ve preferred that I fence in my compost pile (it does attract mice and other critters), the organic waste from my kitchen did eventually return to the dirt, all through natural processes. My one disclaimer is that backyard composting in this raw manner is not for everyone–my life is the furthest thing from a lifestyle blog and this paragraph is by no means a comprehensive manual on establishing a compost pile. Instead, my experience with composting has taught me how to divert another type of waste from the landfill. Composting can also occur on much smaller scales. For example, if you’re enjoying an apple and have access to wooded green space, the core doesn’t need to end up in the trash. It’ll decompose naturally on its own if left outside. Otherwise, decomposition of organic waste in landfills causes the leaching of dangerous chemicals into groundwater, which is just as harmful as it sounds.

Paige Walter,
Chadds Ford Township
Paige Walter is a recent University of
Pittsburgh graduate and a 2014 Unionville
High School Class