$$ How to $AVE MONEY by living "Greener" $$

Aside from the concern for the deteriorating quality of the Earth we live on, my other goal for transitioning into a lower-waste lifestyle was to save money. Yes— YOU HEARD ME CORRECTLY— it’s actually easy to save money while living a more “green” lifestyle, because you’re investing in quality items which will last a long time, rather than constantly purchasing low-quality (and potentially toxic) disposable things. I’ve been really excited and trying tons of new products over this past year. I want to share my top 3 “low-waste/sustainable” discoveries with you, which have helped me to save $$$$ and reduce my small but significant footprint of waste on our home planet: Earth.

Here are my favourite 3, in no particular order. Photos of all of these are at the bottom of this post, and clickable links are throughout the text below:

1) Safety Razor

How many people are sick and tired of buying disposable razors, for the sole reason that they are literally a never-ending purchase?? I certainly am :( I’ve been on the hunt for a permanent manual (not electric) razor which would have a low risk of me slicing myself while shaving, and I’ve discovered that safety razors are an awesome alternative! Versatile for women and men— shaving your legs/face/anywhere really. I’m pretty clumsy and impatient while shaving— to be honest, I was very scared to try one of these. I'm glad I did though because I found they aren't scary at all! Very easy to use. There’s a slight learning curve— I’d definitely still recommend to look up a couple technique tutorials before your first attempt :) They employ a single blade (double edged), and come in a variety of adjustable types. The blades are stainless steel and fully recyclable. The brand which I settled on is the “R1” by Rockwell Razors. Rockwell specializes in grooming products and accessories. Cost-wise, it was $20 for the razor itself and $10 for a package of 20 blades. Blades last about 3 shaves. Available on the Rockwell website and also on Amazon! I’ve been using my razor for about 4 months and I love it so far.

2) Bamboo Toothbrush

Considering there are upwards of 7 billion people on planet Earth— think about how many discarded plastic toothbrushes are floating around and causing devastation to animals, coastlines, and wildlife. Bamboo toothbrushes are an ingenious innovation— Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing trees in the world, grown sustainably without use of pesticides/chemicals. Some species of bamboo can grow at a rate of 3ft per 24hrs! Benefits of bamboo toothbrushes: They are bio-degradable, bamboo is naturally microbial (no bacteria will grow on your toothbrush), and they are affordable! I’ve tried a couple different brands, and my favourite so far is made by the Humble Co. $3.99/brush, available on their website and even at WINNERS. See photo below.

3) Beeswax-coated Food Wraps

For years, I’ve hated using sandwich bags. Mostly because they are expensive and I could easily end up using at least 2 per day. I do use plastic/glass containers to store and carry food in on a regular basis, but sometimes containers take up too much space and I find myself using plastic-wrap, paper towel, and other means to wrap food up for later. A friend of mine told me about these food storage wraps which are coated in beeswax and are washable. Like most things in life, I was skeptical when I first heard about them! After doing some research, I decided to give them a try, and they have been serving me well over the past few weeks. Benefits: They are re-usable (good for at least 1 year of consistent use) and fully compostable when you do decide to throw them away. They come in an array of different sizes and brands and are available for purchase at several stores, including WINNERS. I chose a brand called Abeego, and got mine from Amazon: $19 for three 10-inch wraps.

The thought that every plastic product ever produced is still on Earth in some form or another is crazy. Living in Toronto, Canada (similar to many other inland North American cities), we are away from ocean coastlines and don’t have the chance to see many of the large-scale ramifications of immense amounts of waste with our own eyes. I hope you found value in this post and are inspired to give one of these a whirl! Drop a comment below if you have any questions/tips/stories. What other sustainable products have you been thinking of trying out??

Photos:

R1 safety razor by Rockwell Razors. The black box is a metal blade bank used to collect the discarded blades so they can be recycled all at once.

Bamboo toothbrushes. Purple one is from The Humble Co.

Abeego beeswax food wraps. This photo was taken from their website.

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Thanks for reading!

Feel free to check out my instagram page to see what other shenanigans I’ve been up to this summer: @717mellow.