Are you getting married? Lucky you! Have you considered ways to green your special day? Here are of my 6 favorite eco-friendly ways to say I do – read on to get started.
1. Make It Natural Choose a favorite spot in nature for your ceremony and reception. This way you can express your love of the outdoors and by having both the ceremony and reception at the same location, your guests will use fewer fossil fuels since they won’t have to travel to two locations.
2. Go Vintage Choose a beautiful vintage wedding gown, giving a timeless piece another chance to shine or choose an elegant dress that you can wear again and again.
3. Get Social Create a wedding website or blog to share all of the details of your upcoming special day. If you start this early enough, your guests can follow all of the updates that you can make, everything from what themes you are thinking of to what cake designs you like.
4. Linens and Things Rent all of your linens, silverware, and china, that way there will be nothing to throw away after your big day.
5. Flowers Check out your local farmers’ markets and eco-friendly garden stores for local flowers or plants for your wedding bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces. Most wedding flowers that you see are imported and therefore have an extremely high carbon footprint – going local and organic can make a huge difference on your impact to the environment.
6. Favors Thank each of your guests by giving them a favor that gives back. Some of my favorite flavors include; seedlings, potted plants, and vintage books. At my wedding, I gave each guest a vintage book with a handmade label inside with our names and wedding date.
What other ways are you planning to green your wedding?
Looking for a great way to explain carbon footprints to your children? Eben and I have been really enjoying Zero Footprint Kids and he was surprised to see that there are areas that he needs to work on offsetting his own carbon footprint. We also learned that as a family, we need to do less laundry and turn our computers off when we aren’t using them. It also has a great section on school, he learned that he should talk to his school about recycling all of its paper in the classrooms.
The measurements are made in terms kids understand carbon, land, water, and trees. I encourage you to take the quiz with your child – we would love to hear how you did.
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What can you do together to lessen your family’s impact on our planet?
It doesn’t matter if you are new to natural health or have been on your natural health journey for some time. You might be looking to clean up your personal care routine and add some natural ingredients to it. Or you might be looking to improve your diet.
You can even look for new ways to clean your home by swapping some of the chemicals that you use for more natural alternatives. Here are some simple alternatives that you can begin to stock up on.
Almond Flour
Even if you don’t happen to have a gluten allergy, many people are actually gluten sensitive. There are several great alternatives to regular flour, almond flour is one of them.
It also has a range of health benefits. For example, Allmond flour is high in protein, vitamin E, and very rich in magnesium. Interestingly though, it is low in carbohydrates and has a subtle sweet taste. You might have to make some adjustments, though, because it is dense in texture.
Almond flour can typically be substituted for the exact amount of regular flour that we will use. However, it is important to remember that your baked goods will usually come out a little flatter and denser because it lacks gluten.
Raw Honey
Honeybees work extra hard to make beautiful, delicious honey. And raw honey is packed with antioxidants. Most honey is usually treated with heat (pasteurization), this is to kill the bacteria and any other impurities that might be in the honey. However, this process will also destroy much of the honey’s natural health benefits.
People have used raw honey to fight bacteria and wounds for many years. This is because raw honey has antiseptic properties. As we all know, there is nothing better than raw honey and lemon to help soothe a sore throat. You can also substitute sugar in baking for honey, and you’ll find you have a much richer taste. In fact, you will often find raw honey in products like elderberry syrup, this will increase the natural benefits and the immune system.
Elderberry
Elderberry is something that more people are starting to embrace. It is known to have plenty of virus-fighting properties. Studies have found that people who use elderberry have a lower occurrence of coughs and colds and a decreased number of cold symptoms and duration.
While you could eat some elderberries for their impact, it’s easier to add elderberry syrup into your water and drink it throughout the day. This delicious immune-enhancing remedy is growing in popularity.
Turmeric
In recent years the turmeric latte has risen in popularity. But this superpower powder has been used in many different cultures for hundreds of years. In fact, you will also find it in curries, and that is what gives it a beautiful golden color. It is well known for supporting so many areas of health, including the liver and brain. Not only this, but it is brilliant for reducing inflammation throughout the body. The main compound in turmeric is called curcuminoid, and they are antioxidants that help support cell health.
You can now find turmeric in several skincare brands too. As well as making an utterly natural turmeric facemask from home. If you wish to add more into your cooking, simply sprinkle this into any Indian cuisine, lattes (or just warm milk, and it can even be enjoyed as a tea. Almost all recipes will benefit from a little touch of turmeric.
Coconut oil
For years now, coconut oil has been hired as they can do everything. Not only is coconut oil better for cooking due to all of the healthy fats, but it is also great for moisturizing the skin. You can use it for hair masks and makeup remover, and it is known for its antibacterial properties too.
Try to ensure that you use only pure coconut oil, rather than an oil mix.
You can even use coconut oil for oil pulling. Oil pulling is an ancient remedy to help wash your teeth and freshen your breath. And using coconut oil for oil pulling is becoming more popular. Oil pulling involves swishing in oil around your mouth, exactly the same as a mouthwash.
You simply put a tablespoon of oil in your mouth then swill it around for about 20 minutes. It is said the main benefit of doing this reduces the harmful bacteria in your mouth. Outed at some mouth bacteria are friendly, and others are not.
Bacteria in your mouth will create a biofilm; this is also known as plaque. Some plaque on your teeth is perfectly normal but can get out of hand pretty quickly. Oil pulling simply sweeps away all the bacteria and dissolves much of it in the liquid oil. You can do oil pulling with almost any oil coconut oil is the most popular choice due to the taste.
Aloe Vera
This beautiful pretty green plant has healing and cooling properties. The gel inside the leaves has quite a long list of benefits, and that’s when it’s applied to the skin and hair or ingested. Each part of my body can be vastly improved with aloe vera due to its antifungal and antibacterial properties. It also has a substantial amount of amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. You can buy aloe vera directly from the store or buy a plant and take out the middle yourself. You can also buy the juice, and many other products come with aloe vera as an ingredient. But ideally, you want to have the highest amount of aloe vera possible. Getting it straight from the plant is the best way.
Aloe vera is great to have around for things like sunburn, minor burns, and insect bites.
Lemon
Lemon is an excellent ingredient for cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, and also eating. Lemons are high in potassium, vitamin C, and packed with antioxidants. All of these have significant improvements for our nails, hair, and skin. It should be noted that lemon is acidic, and if left on the body, it can cause issues with sensitive skin.
Lemon, when used around the home, gives a light and welcoming feeling. It is also great to be used in offices as it can help with concentration. Of course, this only works with the natural scent, not the chemically created one.
Lemon is a great ingredient for cooking with and really cuts through any heavy ingredients like cream, and elevates the flavor. It works great in meals with chicken and vegetables and works with many different herbs. You can also add lemon into your tea. Many people use lemon and baking soda as a natural teeth whitener. But it should be noted that this could potentially break down your tooth enamel. So you should use this sparingly and only for a minute at a time.
Lemon mixed with honey and sugar makes a great exfoliation. It will remove dead skin cells and leave you with a brighter skin tone.
It is also great for cutting through grease on oven Hobbs and then putting in the microwave with some water that can help break down dirt and grime and give a fresh smell throughout your kitchen.
Using natural products in your diet, and throughout your home, means that you are cutting down ingredients that have been man-made. And often, these ingredients can be more harsh and pungent than we’d like. Natural ingredients can be a cheap and affordable alternative, which means you can fill your fridge and pantry with exactly what you need.
You’re never too late to begin making changes that can alter the course of the Earth’s existence. Plus, sustainable living provides plenty of opportunities for families to live more fulfilling lives and save more money to spend on new experiences such as education and getaways. Of course, money isn’t the be-all and end-all. But it certainly helps to have some form of a financial cushion to help you bounce back through tough times, more so now than ever. And it’s a welcomed incentive as part of a person’s effort to live a greener life.
Renewable Energy Sources
Powering our homes, from TVs to lightbulbs, appliances to hot showers, is costly, not to mention incredibly harmful to the environment. However, with a bit of research and a willingness to change your existing energy sources, it doesn’t need to be that way.
Examples of renewable energy sources include energy created with solar panels using the sun’s rays, and wind turbines using the wind.
If you shop around online, you should be able to find an energy company who only provides renewable energy to your area.
Otherwise, an alternative and increasingly popular option are to invest in community solar, which consists of multiple members of the public paying for a solar project to be built and supply energy to each member. Solar energy is a cost-efficient energy source, particularly when you’re sharing the investment with other people from your neighborhood. It’s definitely worth considering.
Switch Up Transport
Another effective eco-friendly solution that benefits both you and the environment is changing your usual form of transport. From push bikes to electric-powered bikes (electric generated by pedaling), there are multiple alternative transport solutions you and your family can use to get around.
The running costs of a car, in particular, amount to hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars a year. Selling your vehicle will enable you to put aside a substantial amount of cash for your kids’ college fees or your early retirement. Not to mention, you’ll significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
Vegetable Patch
Homemade compost, seeds from some of your favorite fruits and vegetables, and a homemade greenhouse are all you need to begin nurturing and growing your very own crops.
Vegetables cultivated by farmers are often sprayed with multiple, harmful pesticides that pollute the atmosphere. Furthermore, an extensive amount of fuel is used to run transportation, which ships the food to the local store, causing more damage to the air. And the food is likely wrapped, sometimes with non-bio-degradable packaging, non-bio-degradable, meaning more trash is transported to the landfill.
However, by growing food at home in your garden, you’ll eliminate the process above, which applies damaging pressure to the environment. And in turn, create healthy organic food, which will cost you next to nothing compared to purchasing food from the shops.
Living a sustainable life and utilizing eco-habits offers much more than fresh and healthy vegetables for your family. As highlighted above, it can also provide you more money to create a better, more fulfilling future for you and your loved ones.
We can never have enough of Nature. – Henry David Thoreau
While there are many crucial problems facing the world right now, it’s true that bettering ourselves where we can will still make a difference. No matter how powerless you may feel in the midst of a pandemic, or with sweeping political issues causing conflict in countries around the world, we can all act locally and try to be better people in our own lives. If more people thought that way, the change would happen overnight to some degree, as we each share a burden of responsibility to this end.
Yet, many of us are ill-equipped to give the most thought-out and lifetime-researched political ideas to a large audience, nor can we make massive systemic change overnight. However, we can focus on issues that are becoming more relevant by the day, such as the ecological crisis that elevates our environmental awareness each day.
So, what habits can we integrate into our lifestyles, habits that are sustainable, a keener alternative, and more importantly, those that offer a real, measurable effect? Let’s explore these questions together:
Eco Fashion
We would heavily recommend reading our excellent guide to eco-fashion in 2020. As more and more people are conscious of their environmental impact, knowing where to source sustainable clothing and to make the most of fashion in this light will become a popular new method of developing and benefiting from ethical daily habits. Furthermore, eco fashion alternatives allow us to support vital initiatives that truly do care about the environment, and away from clothes sourced in sweatshop conditions abroad, or other less friendly areas. This way, your conscience can stay clean even as you look stylish.
Eco Home Design
With the best planning architects, eco home design allows us to manage a property in the right way, renovating with an eye on our carbon footprint. From conservation areas that make the most of natural lighting, to better organizing space for an indoor garden, or finding the best roofing designs to allow natural solar integration in your energy system, the more you can reduce your power intake or pull from sustainable, renewable sources, you’ll be more likely to ensure your home is a stable, environmentally sensitive place to inhabit. The more this becomes the norm, the better.
Our Travel Impact
Now that lockdown is starting to end, we can consider the choices we make moving around this world. It can be that we purchase a bicycle to get to work instead of using public transport, a measure that can also protect us for the time being. Furthermore, it may be that using Uber carpool options or giving a friend a lift to work instead of taking two separate cars helps you move forward with conscientiousness. It may even be, if you have the means, that trading your vehicle in for a hybrid or eclectic option can make a significant impact. The more you can approximate differing solutions like this, the better your results will be.
With this advice, you will be sure to develop eco-habits that affect your everyday.
