4 Quick Changes to Make Your Household More Sustainable

Sustainable consumerism is a fancy phrase for a simple concept: doing (and buying) what is better for the environment. 

We can’t say that we’ve always been perfect in this regard. Fast fashion was an easy way to slip into an environmentally-unfriendly mode, while our initial forays into interior design were less than Earth-conscious. But, we’ve made progress, and we can honestly say that we factor sustainability significantly into our purchasing decisions - both in our personal lives and here at Dune Gift + Home. Today, we want to share a few of our best tips for creating a sustainable household (the easy way):

In the kitchen

Your kitchen can quickly become a place filled with single use plastic and packaging if you’re not making an effort to avoid it. One of our favorite products to remedy this situation: swedish dish towels. These dishcloths are an alternative to paper towels and can actually replace 17 rolls of those one-time-use-only paper products. We are giddy over the sweet designs you can choose from, and they have found that they can hold up to 20x their own weight. Who doesn’t love a functional sustainable product?

In addition to swedish dish towels straw produce bags and a no tox dishwashing block, have become staples in our sustainable kitchen. We use the former to store fruits and vegetables that do better in room temperature (better than a paper bag!) and the no tox dishwashing block has changed our cleaning game. No more chemicals here!

Opt out of single-use plastic

It can be almost impossible to avoid plastic entirely in our society, but we’ve been able to eliminate our need for single-use plastic pretty well! We’ve been focusing on choosing reusable glass containers over Tupperware, ceramic soap dispensers that we can refill with liquid soap when it runs out, and stainless steel water bottles instead of plastic. When we are stuck bringing plastic home, we try to look for other uses for it. We reuse small plastic bags from the grocery store for bathroom garbage bins under the sink, or as filler material when we’re packing a gift to send to someone through the postal system.

Look for beauty products with environmentally-friendly ingredients

Your prioritization of sustainability can start before the product you’re considering even hits the store shelf. Many clean beauty brands are starting to broaden their focus beyond just whether or not an ingredient is good for your skin, but also whether or not it’s good for the environment. Those are the kinds of brands you want to put your money behind! Check into the sustainability behind each ingredient, especially from brands with natural products. You’ll want to know if they’re farmed ethically and sustainability, or if the company is doing anything to support a forward-thinking production cycle.

Shop secondhand and vintage

There are few things more sustainable than purchasing a product that already has a story to tell. Vintage and secondhand shopping helps to extend a product’s life cycle, so, instead of purchasing a brand new product and generating more demand for greater production (and greater waste), you’ll be purchasing an item that has just as much style, function, and design impact without adding to your carbon footprint. 

What other ideas have you tried for creating a more sustainable household? We’re always looking for ways to elevate our efforts, so please let us know!