12 Easy Ways to Be More Eco-Friendly at Home

This post is in partnership with Who Gives A Crap, but as always, opinions are my own. There's a special discount code waiting for you just below, and thank you for supporting the brands that help make Bubby and Bean possible.

Those of you who have been reading here for a while know that environmental consciousness is important to me. My parents taught me about sustainability from a young age, I was the president of my high school's environmental club, I interned for a large environmental non-profit throughout college, and then I worked as a designer for an eco-friendly clothing label for 14 years. Most importantly though, I try to keep the earth in mind in the everyday - starting in my own home. There are, of course, many large ways you can reduce your home's negative impact on the planet (think solar panels, etc.), but there are also small, simple ways to make eco-friendly choices in your home. And if you have kids, it's easy to get them involved as well!

1. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth. Shutting off the water while brushing your teeth can save as many as 200 gallons of water a month. Imagine how much water would be conserved if everyone did the same! This is a great one to teach your little ones as soon as they as old enough to brush.

2. Use reusable shopping bags. Do a quick Google search on the environmental impact of plastic shopping bags and you'll instantly want to remove them from your life. Plastic bags take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down, and as they do, plastic particles pollute the soil and waterways. Sadly, animals often mistake them for food as well. It is incredibly easy to keep a few reusable bags in your car or purse to use for groceries instead.

3. Lower thermostat by a few degrees in winter and raise by a few degrees in summer. You'd be surprised how quickly this adds up in terms of saving energy (and money!).

4. Give A Crap - with your toilet paper. I'm speaking literally here: buy and use Who Gives A Crap TP. I was recently introduced to this fantastic toilet paper and fell in love with the packaging before I ever knew how much more there was to the company that makes it. Yes, the bold, brightly colored wrapping is by far the best looking TP packaging I've ever seen (and, in the cutest way possible, also spells out for you some of the amazing things the brand does to make the world a better place), but I really love them because the company itself has a truly awesome commitment to the environment. First of all, that wrapping that I so deeply adore is made from paper that you can easily reuse - unlike most TP brands, who use plastic packaging.

Second, they don't use any trees - at all - to make their TP. It's 100% recycled. Third, they donate half of their profits to non-profit organizations that are working to improve access to hygiene, water and basic sanitation in developing countries. The founders actually started Who Gives A Crap after learning that 2.3 billion people (that is 40% of the world's population!) don't have access to a toilet, and that 289,000 children under the age of 5 die every year from diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. (Read more about all of this right here.) They aren't just providing eco-friendly toilet paper, they're taking things a step further to actually make a massive difference for a whole lot of people.

And on top of the environmental and social impact they're working to make (reason enough alone to support them!), Who Give A Crap makes a really freaking great toilet paper. It's super soft, the perforations make for easy tearing, and the price is right. My husband and daughter love it as much as I do, and my friends are jumping on the Who Give A Crap wagon too. And that wrapping you guys - I kind of wish I could display a roll of their toilet paper in every room as part of the decor. (No, really. It's that pretty.) I mean, even the box it arrived in is fun. (And to take the eco-friendly aspect a step further, my little ones have taken it over as their new toy car. Reusing is everything!) I'm genuinely excited about this brand.

5. Wash clothes in cold water. I once read somewhere that there is no proof that hot water is superior to cold water in terms of getting clothing clean, and I immediately started washing only in cold. And since 85% of the energy used when a washing machine washes clothing goes to heating the water, it was a no brainer to switch to cold. You can take things a step further by line drying clothing rather than using a dryer.

6. Reuse paper. I cringe when I open the mail each day and see all of the paper used to send mail that ultimately gets discarded. We save what we can reuse, and recycle the rest. My kids have a pile of envelopes we receive in the mail they use for coloring, and we also use the back of ads, etc. to write notes. (We also opt of out receiving paper catalogs and pay our bills online.)

7. Grow your own veggies and herbs. When you grow your own food (we love our little veggie and herb container garden!), you reduce your carbon footprint and avoid pesticides and other harmful chemicals (assuming your garden is organic). It's also a wonderful way to teach little ones responsibility, and about where food originates. (And you can use your Who Gives A Crap TP wrappers for seedlings!)

8. Compost. Composting reduces waste because you're reusing things that would normally be thrown away, and it helps your plants and gardens grow without the use of toxic fertilizers. (Pssst... Who Gives A Crap wrappers can be used for garden compost too. Just sayin'.)

9. Turn off your lights. It takes a lot of energy to power lights, and there is truly very little in life that is easier than switching off a light when you leave a room. (Side note: I overheard my four year old daughter explaining the importance of this to a friend the other day. Proud mama right here.)

10. Make your own household cleaners with natural ingredients. Reading the labels on most household cleaning products gives me a major case of anxiety. They are often filled with toxic chemicals that are bad for people, animals, and the ecosystem. It's so easy to make your own cleaners with ingredients like citrus fruit, baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils. Do a quick search online and you'll realize the possibilities are endless!

11. Use eco-friendly light bulbs. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), and Halogen incandescents use 25% t0 80% less energy than regular incandescent light bulbs can. They also last 3 to 25 times longer, which in the long run saves money too. No brainer!

12. Use reusable water bottles. This one is obvious, but I think it always deserves a mention. Landfills here in the U.S. alone currently contain 2 million tons of discarded water bottles. Plastic itself is bad for the environment as well. It is so easy (and a big money saver) to just purchase a nice BPA-free reusable water bottle and use it instead. We always take ours with us when we leave the house as well.

I hope these tips for making more eco-friendly choices in your home prove useful. And again, if you haven't already been able to tell from my gushing and the plethora of photos in this post, I am loving and highly recommend you trying Who Gives A Crap toilet paper. Trust me on this. Every now and then I discover a new company I love so much that I kind of want to shout its name from the hilltops, and Who Gives A Crap is one of them. Everything from the quality of the toilet paper itself to the stylish packaging to the eco-friendly content of the paper and wrapping to the the positive social and environmental impact the company makes is top notch. And if my gleaming review isn't enough motivation to give them a try, click here and use code BUBBY to get $10 off your first purchase!


Do you have any certain things you do around your home to be more eco-conscious? I'd love to hear them!

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