Being eco-friendly is becoming more and more popular as we realise we need to live sustainably to protect our planet for future generations.  It’s also a great way to look after ourselves too by creating a healthier environment to live in and using healthier toxic free products in our homes and on ourselves.  Not only this, but becoming more eco-friendly is also much friendlier to your wallet.  There are lots of ways you can live a more sustainable lifestyle that will also save you money in the long run.

Here are six ways you can be eco-friendly around the home and save money at the same time:

1. Flannels

Do you clean your face every evening and morning with cleanser and cotton wool?  I do love using cotton wool pads (the Fairtrade from the Coop are my fave), but it’s so wasteful.  They end up in the trash and then in landfills.  I get through a chunk a day to both cleanse and tone my face two times a day.  To stop being so wasteful I’ve started using a flannel in the shower to wash off the cleanser instead.   Flannels last over and over and just need a good wash now and then.  I’ll rinse in hot water in the shower after each use and hang to dry so I can use it the next day.  Using water also makes my face feel even cleaner than just using cotton wool and cleanser.  I’ve even seen washable cleansing pads about that are smaller and can be used water free, totally in the place of cotton wool.  I’d usually get through a pack of cotton wool per week, so using a reusable alternative is a great saving.

2. Cleaning cloths 

I went through a massive phase of using cleaning wipes for everything.  They are super convenient, but also very costly and terrible for the environment.  Most of the plastic wrappers are not recyclable and all the cloths end up in the bin and landfill.  Plus it’s easy to grab way more than I really needed out of the pack and waste a load every day.  Now we use a spray and cleaning cloths to clean around the house.  The cloths can be reused so many times and it’s an awful lot cheaper than repeatedly buying packs of wipes.  You can even turn old worn out clothes into rags to use as cleaning cloths.

3. Eco friendly concentrated spray 

To go with our cleaning cloths we use eco-friendly nontoxic spray, usually by Method, but we’ve also used concentrated spray.  You buy concentrated liquid or sachets from companies like Natural Collection and add water yourself.  This greatly reduces the amount of plastic production and waste as you can reuse the same plastic bottle over and over.  You just add the concentrated mix, top up with water and save money in the process as it’s much cheaper than continuously buying eco-friendly one use bottles of cleaner.

Related blog post: My Current Top 5 Natural Home Cleaning Brands

4. Reusable bamboo towels 

Ecoegg sell a roll of reusable bamboo towels which we use in place of kitchen roll.  With two young children we found we were buying paper kitchen towel every single week and getting through a mountain of the stuff!  I’m so pleased I looked into an alternative as we now use bamboo towels every day instead, saving a stack of cash and stopping so much landfill waste.  The bamboo towels can be used with spray to clean or on their own to mop up spills.  They can be washed up to 85 times according to the pack, but we’ve probably washed some many more times.  They go bobbly after washing, but this doesn’t affect their performance.  They say not to tumble dry, but we do.

5. Laundry balls 

Ecoegg also make reusable laundry and tumble dryer balls.  The laundry balls last for up to three years depending on the size you buy.  The dryer balls last forever and can be used on their own with no additional costs or incense refills can be purchased to give the clothes a light scent.  The laundry balls need topping up with pellets, but these will work out so much cheaper than using regular detergent and fabric softener every day.

Read my review here: How to save time and money on your laundry with Ecoegg

6. Reusable straws 

One thing we switched to a long time ago is reusable drinking straws.  I’ve seen many argue that straws are unnecessary, but I personally like to drink my smoothies through a thick straw.  We did at first switch from plastic straws to paper straws as these seemed a little more environmentally friendly.  I’m sure you’ve all seen the horrid pictures of animals with plastic straws stuck in their noses.  But even better than paper straws are reusable straws.  We have a few thick plastic ones that can be reused, but also some steel metal straws which will never wear out.  Lifetime straws that will save you money and stop so much waste.

I hope this blog post has inspired you to make some simple switches around the home to save money and be more conscious of what you’re putting into the environment.