Sustainable Living: Apartment Style
Okay, if you are like me, you may be asking yourself, “I don’t have a big kitchen and big yard to be able to do anything *meaningful* in regards to being more sustainable and help the earth”. Or maybe you’re not thinking that and that’s just me. But sometimes I find a small mental hang-up with what I can do in my little apartment in this big city to help the world around me.
Well luckily if you are having those thoughts, I’ve outlined a few little things you can do in your apartment to help the Earth in the long run!
I have too many clothes. I’ll be the first to admit it. So, instead of going and getting the cheap, plastic hangers - I can do my part and get the wooden ones. This is true of my bins/baskets throughout my apartment as well. Going for wooden baskets and bins can help us use less plastic around the house.
The laundry room! (or the basement of your building if you’re in a teeny Boston apartment like me!) - make some sustainable changes here. Instead of using your store-bought (relatively toxic) laundry soap that is held in plastic jugs - make some DIY laundry soap and get a BIG mason jar or glass container to hold it!
Along these same lines - stop buying toxic cleaning supplies! This is another opportunity to make your own, environmentally friendly cleaning supplies. There are some super easy recipes that you can follow that don’t smell bad either!!
This is one of my favorites - make your own napkins and rags. Obviously old t-shirts make for great cleaning cloths, however, you can be like my mom (she’s the bomb.com) and go get some fun fabric and cut your own cloth napkins. Instead of buying paper napkins and paper towels, you just toss these homemade ones in the wash with your other laundry (and your new environmentally-friendly DIY laundry soap) and VOILA you have clean napkins and rags!
And my last suggestion for all you apartment living peeps - go paperless with your bills. I only like getting mail when its cards from friends or packages from companies I support (don’t we all?!). Bills usually are torn up and tossed out anyway, so the more bills you can pay/get online the better!!
You, too, can help this place be more sustainable, even if you live in a 300 square foot little box in a big city!!!
Written By: Kelsey, Nutrition Coach