How Much Sustainable Practices Could be Saving You
Practicing sustainability isn’t just an amazing thing you can do for the environment, but it’s also something that can benefit your wallet. Making even just small changes to your buying habits can save you hundreds of dollars a year! It’s all the little things that really add up in the end. Take a look at how much you can be saving with these eco-friendly cost comparisons:
The average person uses about 540 plastic sandwich bags a year that are only used ONCE. That totals about $30 - $40 a year on plastic sandwich bags. While to some that may not seem like a considerable yearly amount, just think about how that money can be used elsewhere. You can probably buy your favorite restaurant meal a few times or put that money towards a memorable keepsake while you're on your next vacation.
Instead, paying for a one time pack of silicone reusable storage containers will last you many years. Not to mention you are also preventing more than 500 plastic baggies from ending up in landfills every year.
Americans on average use more paper towels than any other country; in fact, nearly half of the global total. Excessive paper towel usage contributes to deforestation, which leads to habitat loss, wildlife endangerment, higher greenhouse gas emissions, and of course rising global temperatures. The average person will typically spend about $20 a year on paper towels.
I used to use paper towels just like everyone else, but a few years ago I made the switch to reusable cleaning cloths to help me cut down on costs. I absolutely love microfiber cleaning cloths and stand by them as they absorb so much more liquid than traditional cloths and when I’m done using them, I throw them in the wash with a regular load!
It is no secret how detrimental plastic water bottles are to the environment. 80% of plastic bottles end up in landfills every year, and over 500 billion plastic bottles were purchased last year.
The average American buys 167 disposable plastic bottles a year. That totals between $100 and $266 a year. Buying a reusable bottle will save you exponentially in the long run. If you buy a filtered water bottle, you can grab water from the tap anywhere you go without shelling out extra cash for a plastic one that will just end up in a landfill or in one of our oceans.
I know doctors say you shouldn’t use Q-tips to clean your ears but I am 100% guilty of this. I also like to use them when touching up my nails and to clean up any of my makeup mistakes. The average person throws away 415 Q-tips a year which totals about $15 to $25 yearly.
Instead of adding to our world’s landfills and ocean pollution, I have switched over to a reusable cotton swab when I clean my ears and washable cotton rounds for my nails and makeup removal. It really does feel good to save money while doing my part to lessen my environmental impact!
In the U.S. alone, we throw away more than 50 billion coffee cups a year. Even paper coffee cups are lined with plastic to laminate the inside and typically come with plastic lids. When you make your coffee at home or use a reusable cup instead of a disposable one you could be saving over $250 a year.
I love to reuse my refillable Starbucks cup when I visit coffee shops now. I save a couple bucks (that could have been hundreds in the long run with with the amount of coffee I drink) and I am helping out the environment.
So, I know it might not seem like an absorbent amount that you are saving when you decide to replace something simple like Q-tips or paper towels. But let’s put everything into perspective. If you implemented every tip mentioned above, you could be saving around $37,000 over your entire lifetime!
It’s important to remember that sustainability starts at home and we all need to begin with baby steps to reduce our impact on the environment. Anything you can begin to do will help save you money and help save our planet.
