I would be lying if I hadn't made any mistakes when we started this journey. I'm also conscious that I am probably blissfully unaware of mistakes I am currently making. I'm not perfect and I don't plan on being it; however if you'd like to learn from my mistakes, here are some that I have made:
Assuming that expensive online stores are the only place for eco-friendly products
If you've ever taken the time to seek out sustainable replacements for everyday household items, you'll know that this market seems to be growing almost exponentially. Whether it's eco-friendly alternatives to plastic dish brushes, colourful grocery bags for shopping or biodegradable garbage bags, once you open up this veritable mine field of mostly online shopping, you'll find that the options are starting to seem endless.
That said, many of these stores have expensive alternatives. This high cost to replace an existing cheaper solution discourages people from considering being sustainable BUT it doesn't have to be. A good example of this is the following selection of dish brushes available at 3 leading online eco-stores.
The following is a selection of products chosen at random from different online stores. I have personally purchased products from all these stores in the past and can wholeheartedly say that the products I have purchased are still going strong.
The prices are very different and I would ALWAYS suggest you do your homework before buying anything
This "pot brush" is available (in different styles) for $10.95 from Biome and Flora & Fauna.
This similar styled pot brush from Kmart is available for $3.
This dish brush from Seed & Sprout that is available for purchase for $12 is, aside from branding, identical to a dish brush from Biome that retails for $6.95.
This dish brush (also practically identical to the above image) is for sale at Kmart for $3.
My mistake was assuming that the online stores were the only options AND that sustainable products were always going to be expensive. I appreciate that smaller businesses run online have a VERY different buying power to a larger chain such as Kmart and I also appreciate the importance of supporting small business.
However, larger companies are starting to understand the demand for sustainable alternatives, and the more that the we as the consumer choose sustainable over disposal, we are influencing the products being put on the shelves.
Don't be Fooled by the So Called "Eco-Products"
Several online business who were slow to catch on to the eco-friendly game, are jumping onto the bandwagon in a hard and fast way. Because of analytics in your Google search history, as soon as you start researching alternatives to plastics, you will start seeing an increase in adverts for products to replace "non-ecofriendly" options.
But just be sure you don't fall into the trap of replacing a non-sustainable product with one that is equally bad long-term.
My favourite example is produce mesh bags such as this cute set of 8 bags from Flora & Fauna for $17.95. These bags are promoted as being a replacement for the plastic vegetable bags in supermarkets; they are reusable, you can wash fruit and vegetables in the bag, they can go in the fridge or the freezer, and when they get dirty you can chuck them in the washing machine and they're good as new.
If you already own a set of these bags THIS IS STILL A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION and you've already doing better than the shopper who uses a gazillion single use produce bags each shopping trip.
However.... plastic mesh bags are made from rPET which is basically recycled plastic that is spun into polyester. The benefits are that plastic is diverted away from landfill and the ocean; rPET is giving a second life to a product that is not biodegradable which is a good thing. Another positive to rPET is that the product is just as good as PET (minus the r) but it takes a lot less resources and energy to make.
Unfortunately though, rPET isn't a sustainable solution. While the polyester recycling system has the potential to one day become a closed loop system, there is currently a limit to the number of times plastic can be recycled. Every time plastic is recycled it is heated and degrades, and the plastic can then only be used to make lower quality products.
While rPET takes less energy and resources to produce than PET, it still takes a lot more energy than cotton, hemp and wool and therefore isn't a suitable long term solution.
Lastly, rPET releases microplastics into our waterways. According to a study from Plymouth University in the UK, more than 700,000 plastic fibers are released into the environment in each cycle of a washing machine!
Our suggestion to anyone looking replace single-use produce bags is to purchase cotton mesh bags instead.
Cotton mesh bags are approximately slightly more expensive than the rPET bags. Biome have a 3 pack for $13.95, Flora & Fauna have a 4 pack for $19.95 and Seed & Sprout have a 5 pack for $29.95.
That said, I recently bought a 5 pack of cotton mesh bags from Spud Shed and while I can't find the price anywhere online (or remember it), I recall being amazed at the low price so I'm guessing it was under $15.
The reason cotton is SO much better is because they are not made of plastic AT ALL. This is a straight forward swap that allows you to be relatively plastic free at the grocery store while also making it easy to weigh items at the checkout.
In addition, cotton takes five to six months to decompose. At the end of the life cycle of your produce bags, simply put them in your compost bin (read here how to get started with compost) and within a reasonably short amount of time, they'll be gone.
In comparison, plastic can take anywhere from 10 to 1,000 years to decompose.
THREE Take Home Tips:
You don't have to break the budget to be sustainable.
Always do your homework on the alternatives and don't feel obliged to buy an item simply because it is labelled "vegan" or "cruelty free" or "organic".
Don't be fooled by plastic alternatives that aren't actually better for the environment.
Obligatory Plea for Comments: what common mistakes in "going sustainable" have you made?
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