If you’re someone who’s looking to take a step towards a sustainable life, you’ve ended up at the right place. International World Environment Day falls on 5 June 2024 and this year, the theme is ‘Generation Restoration’, which basically urges us to revive lands, end desertification and save water. While these are larger-scale changes that we must attempt to move forward, every little change, starting with our homes, counts tremendously. And one way to begin the pursuit of a green lifestyle is to embrace the use of as many sustainable products as possible in our daily lives.
In simple terms, eco-friendly products are those that are manufactured, packaged, used and disposed of with the environment in mind. This includes sustainable, biodegradable, reusable and recyclable items. One of the best examples are products made with natural materials and ingredients essential for heading towards a greener future.
Among the wide range of sustainable products available, here are some of the basic eco-friendly items you can incorporate into your home.
Here are sustainable products to add to your home
In the living room
The living room is the centre of all family activities and get-togethers with friends. So, right from home decor to plant pots and even furniture, you can make many eco-friendly choices here. Go with materials such as wood, bamboo, cork, stone and straw in decorative pieces like wall hangings, cushion covers, planters, wall clocks or furniture pieces.
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In the bedroom
One of the most personal spaces in the home, comfort and health are at the forefront when it comes to the bedroom. Switch to organic cotton bed-sheets, which are chemical-free, hypoallergenic and often biodegradable. These also promote better sleep and are skin-friendly. Apart from these, instead of plastic laundry baskets, go with bamboo and fabric ones, which look great, are very durable, and do not hurt the environment once you want to replace them. One of the easiest sustainable product ideas is also the use of natural fragrances and glass diffusers in your home. These help you be in the aromatic company of natural scents, improving your well-being and promoting relaxation. Accentuate the room with a wooden side table and a rug or throw made with jute or pure cotton.
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In the kitchen
If there’s one place in the home where you can make the most significant changes in terms of sustainable choices, then it is the kitchen. It’s a place we constantly use and produce waste, and some tweaks to the home product ideas we use can make a major difference. So, any time you’re looking to buy cooking aids such as a cutting board, go with a wooden one. For serving purposes, go with bowls and plates made of wood, marble or wheat straw. Whether you’re an enthusiast of organic food or not, you can easily get vegetable bags made of mesh cotton. Reusable water bottles, organic cotton napkins and glass storage containers are some of the other impactful eco-friendly additions to make.
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In the bathroom
While the wide range of bathroom products on the market have an aesthetic appeal, a lot of them are made from plastic and contain harmful chemicals. Making a conscious choice can help with benefits to the skin and body as well as lead to zero waste and no harm to the earth when disposed of. Hand washes, soaps and shampoos made from natural ingredients like coconut and palm oil, rose water, aloe vera, and almonds, amongst others, are the best way to go about it. Additionally, look for products with eco-friendly packaging that are easily biodegradable or made with recycled materials. Wood- and bamboo-based toiletries and bath brushes are other sustainable items you can add to the bathroom. As paper-based toilet rolls need to be sanitised, meaning they’re treated with harmful chemicals, switch to bamboo-based ones, which are made with less harmful chemicals.
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The importance of using sustainable products
Our increasing usage of single-use plastic products, items that deplete natural resources, increase greenhouse gas emissions during the manufacturing process, and pollute the environment with waste disposal have a direct environmental impact on the planet. It is the need of the hour to find eco-friendly alternatives for all the things we use in our day-to-day lives.
As we build a space with objects that are environmentally sustainable, it will lead to reducing our carbon footprint as well as taking a small step in the direction of a sustainable future. Here are some of the highly crucial and beneficial reasons why you must switch to eco-friendly products.
Cost-effective: Sustainable items are affordable and over the course of your usage as they require less maintenance. Be it storage organisers or home decor, they are durable, reducing your need to replace them with newer products, hence saving you money as well.
Reducing waste: Items made from natural ingredients also do not burden the earth when they’re disposed of. Some of them are biodegradable or recyclable, which is harmless or causes the least possible impact on the earth.
Climate change: The smallest steps we take to maintain a sustainable lifestyle have a larger effect on the environment. The more we use simple and sustainable items, the less water pollution, deforestation, harmful carbon emissions and unmanageable waste disposal happen. This can enormously help in reducing climate change.
Healthier lifestyle: Sustainable products contribute towards a mindful and healthy experience as our body is not harmed by synthetic materials and hazardous pesticides. Using such options can be beneficial to one’s health in the long run.
(Prices of the products mentioned in the story are subject to change.)
(Hero Image: Courtesy Vlada Karpovich/ Pexels; Featured Image: Courtesy Tara Winstead/ Pexels)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Which eco-friendly items are available for the home?
You can find sustainable products in various categories for the home, including decor pieces, kitchenware, household storage, toiletries and body care products.
– Where can I buy reusable home products?
You can buy sustainable and reusable home products for the living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom from online shopping websites such as Amazon.
– How can one use eco-friendly products in the home?
If you’re looking to live a sustainable life, you can go with eco-friendly home products wherever and whenever you can. Making a conscious decision to use items that are manufactured, packaged, and can be disposed of without harming the environment is the best way to go about it.
– How are eco-friendly soaps different from others?
Eco-friendly soaps are made from natural ingredients such as coconut oil, almonds, aloe vera, honey, glycerine, and essential oils that are good for the skin. They’re created with no harmful chemicals, are biodegradable, and are packaged with environmentally-friendly materials. This ensures they leave zero waste behind.
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Prices of the products mentioned are subject to change.
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An interior design graduate, Dinal is a writer by passion and profession. She is an avid traveller and has worked with lifestyle brands and publications like Nykaa Fashion and Little Black Book. When she's not recommending the coolest things to do, she explores offbeat villages, writes poems, and goes stargazing! She is an enthusiast of all things handmade.
