Human beings do a lot of good in the world. But we also do a lot of harm to it! For example, there might be no rainforests left by 2100 and no freshwater by 2040.
Thankfully, you don’t have to look far for ways to make a positive change.
The items in your cupboards could be a great place to start! Indeed, many everyday essentials cause environmental issues that most people don’t even know about. Intrigued?
Keep reading to discover 5 household items you didn’t know harm the environment.
1. Wet Wipes
We all love wet wipes. They’re convenient cleaning solutions and refreshing facial cleansers.
Unfortunately, though, they’re very difficult to dispose of too. Flushing a wet wipe down the loo does more than (potentially) clog the drains! It washes out into the waterways, kills marine life, and ends up as litter on beautiful beaches around the world.
Want to make a difference? Try purchasing biodegradable wet wipes instead (and throw them in the trash when you’re done!).
2. Sunscreen
Slapping on the sunscreen in summer is super important. It protects our skin from those harmful UV rays and keeps skin cancer at bay in the process.
Alas, certain sunscreen ingredients, such as oxybenzone, are well-known to damage our oceans too. As we splash around in the sea in summer, the sunscreen washes off and filters into the sensitive ocean ecosystems. Those chemicals kill coral, harm fish, and cause a host of trouble all-around.
Thankfully, there are plenty of eco-friendly, reef-safe alternatives that solve the problem.
3. Face and Body Washes
Do you wash your face and/or body with microbead washes and scrubs? Well, it might be time to stop! Those hard, plastic, non-biodegradable beads are causing chaos in our waterways.
They wash down the drain and end up in our rivers and oceans.
They’re then consumed by unwitting fishes and other sea-life, who suffer as a result. Of course, we get our just desserts when we catch, kill, and eat those fishes for dinner! The microbeads come full circle and end up in our tummies.
4. Laundry Detergent
We all need to wash our clothes to keep them clean and sweet-smelling.
However, not all detergents are made equal. Many contain nasty phosphates that, once again, gather in our waterways and harm marine life.
Do the environment a favor and swap your current brand for the best natural laundry detergent possible. Both your clothes and the world will thank you for it!
5. Sticky Tape
Sticky-tape’s another household item that comes in all the time. Whether you’re doing arts and crafts, putting a poster on the wall, or mending something you’ve broken, then sticky-tape will do the trick.
Unfortunately, it’s made from plastic films and resins that are both hard to break down and contribute to emissions of greenhouse gases. Any tape that isn’t removed from cardboard boxes can hinder the recycling process too.
Looking for a greener choice? Use compostable stick-tape alternatives instead!
Time to Use Items That Don’t Harm the Environment
Sadly, the items in our house often harm the environment more than we think! The good news? There’s almost always an eco-friendlier alternative available.
Hopefully, this post has highlighted a few of the primary culprits and convinced you to make a change. Want to read more articles like this one? Search ‘environment’ on the website now.