4 Easy Ways to Honor Earth Month & Yourself

Earth Day is celebrating it’s 45th anniversary this year, and it couldn’t be more exciting! As consumers have become more savvy, Earth Day really has become ‘Earth Month‘ with a focus on encouraging people to be kind to the environment and to live consciously all year long. Below are some tips to keep sustainability in mind and honor Earth Month all year long.

Focus on Ways to Reduce Waste

Reducing your waste by choosing products that have minimal, or no, packaging can be difficult – if not impossible at times. TerraCycle brigades are one great way to reduce waste from product packaging. Joining a brigade is simply, but the impact is large! For example, the Tom’s of Maine Natural Care Brigade accepts a variety of personal care containers from all brands. Points are earned for each piece of qualifying waste sent in, and points can then be traded in to support charities, schools, and more. Volunteer participants in the Tom’s of Maine Natural Care Brigade have kept more than 295,000 pieces of waste out of landfills since 2012. Additionally, Tom’s gives 10% of profits back to helping people and the planet.

Ditch the Plastics

Another way to reduce waste, and reduce exposure to toxins, is to choose glass or stainless steel — especially in the kitchen. Quality containers may cost a bit more than toss-away (and fall apart) plastics, but they can last a lifetime and look a whole lot nicer. It’s easy to phase out plastics when you know what you need, and where to look.

We are a family of five, and our needs may be different with yours, but these are a few of my absolute must haves!

Learn What Labels Are Really Saying

Pay attention to terms like “all natural” and what they really mean (or don’t mean), and take it one step at a time. There are many great resources to help you reduce exposure to toxins in cleaning products, as well as what to look out for in personal care products. Transparency is huge when looking for safe products in this day and age and companies that care know that. They may even go above and beyond by letting you know why they use each ingredient, and maybe more!

The EWG’s Skindeep Database is a great, comprehensive resource, however I like to note that I find some of their methodology to be flawed – so it’s important to do research beyond the database to find what works for you. For example: “natural fragrance” is lumped into “fragrance” – both of which can mean a variety of things!

I happen to use several products with a label that says “natural fragrance” (which I would never trust alone) to simplify packaging or to protect proprietary blends. However, companies that care will often list full ingredients their website, and even with proprietary blends some companies, like Tom’s, will allow you to call and ask what products you need to avoid to avoid exposure to an ingredient that you allergic to (or simply want to avoid.)

Along these lines, I know many people that would trust a label that says “essential oils or extracts” but by EWG’s own statement, they are lumping natural extracts (including a large list of essential oils) into the “natural” extract group, or “fragrance”. Ideally, companies could list every single ingredient, and “natural” would mean the same thing to all brands, but that’s simply not the case. I imagine that it is because of this complexity that EWG does not take this extra information (when available) into account when rating products. It’s always important to do a little extra homework if you are unsure about a product.

Planting a Veggie Garden (even if just in containers!)

Gardening is so much more rewarding than the fruit, or veggies, at the end. It’s pretty amazing to put your hands into the soil (gloved or not) and grow something from seed. It’s grounding and peaceful in a way that few things can ever be. If you have a yard, you may be able to till up a plot of land, plant seeds, and go wild! If you life in a smaller space, or perhaps have no yard at all, you can garden beautifully in containers. Both methods can be surprisingly easy and lead to delicious, organic produce at the end of a dirty, dirty rainbow. Check out these great resources to get you started:

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This Earth Day article is a sponsored by Tom’s of Maine. As you have read, this post is full of my own opinions, experiences, and advice based on those things. I take great care, and spend a great deal of time researching, when choosing to work with companies and I am excited to be a part of the Tom’s of Maine Goodness Circle for 2015.Easy Ways to Honor Earth Month & Yourself

11 Responses

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog! Great Resource and well done! I love the ideas in this; so easy for anyone to do. Mahalo! <3

  2. Reducing our exposure to toxins is essential for optimal health! This not only goes for the foods that we eat, but in the air, as well. Cleaning the home using natural methods and using an air purifier are some of my favorite ways to reduce environmental toxins.

  3. This is awesome! You have some really great ideas for alternatives to harmful plastics for food containers, I’ll definitely be checking out those brands. Thanks for your post!

  4. Wow I am so happy to have discovered your blog!! One of our goals has been to do the best we can at eliminating toxins from our home. We use all natural cleaners most of which we make ourselves. We also found by taking our shoes off at the door helps tremendously to keep dirt and toxins from getting in our home. Love using glass containers and stainless cookware. I am off to read some of your other posts!!

  5. LOVE the idea of having not just Earth Day or Earth month but Earth Year as well! Or how about Earth Lifetime?? Thanks for all the value you provide to help us be more eco friendly and healthy! 🙂

  6. Thanks for all the great resources. I’m trying to be a lot more eco friendly, but it’s hard to find tips about environmentally friendly kitchen products online. For plates, I would highly recommend http://www.zuperzozial.com. They do really cute plates that kids might like, too. And it’s all biodegradable. I’m in love with their cute, bright spoons and cups.

  7. Hi, just found your blog, it’s fab! Will be booking marking you for sure. I am always looking for ways to make our home life greener and more sustainable. Thanks for writing 🙂 love Di.

  8. Totally agree on the planetbox. I have 2 kids and 4 boxes, 1 with each kid and one being cleaned. It’s expensive, but I will never give them up. It’s so great, even if something gross gets left in them, they clean up perfectly—- we all know spoiled food in plastic is done. I also use itsy ritsy bacgs for quick snacks, then just, sponge clean or wash and hang dry. Thanks for the great blog!

  9. I just want to mention that if you’re gonna go shopping for Pyrex, try looking on places like eBay or craigslist or even Goodwill before you go out and buy it brand new, just to see if you can find the older, better Pyrex. The new stuff isn’t as good as the stuff they used to make. I won’t bother explaining the differences but you can just Google it if you’re curious.