Eco Friendly Products

MORE ECO-FRIENDLY REPLACEMENTS FOR SINGLE-USE PRODUCTS

• Water filters If your tap water tastes horrible and you therefore drink bottled, explore your options here. Of note is the countertop lead reduction filter that costs about a third as much as you'd spend on pitcher filters in a year Plumbing Supply Lead Reduction Filter. I did the math: the countertop filter is $110.26 including shipping and handling. If you spend $35 per month on a pitcher filter that is $420 not including tax.
• Multipack of buff Red Heart Jumbo yarn 2/4/23 According to my calculations, if you were to double or treble crochet something about 80 chain stitches long and 70 double or treble crochet stitches vertically down from that, you could create insulated panels for any window. Thus, attaching that either with tying that onto Venetian blinds with yarn or putting one or more layers of said panels in window frames onto nails hammered on a diagonal or held up with Command hooks on either side of the window, you'd still get some air circulation and light coming through the window but with far better insulation. Important, because all the "insulated curtains" I've seen these days have been price gouged all to heck and have basically been as flimsy as toilet paper.
• Arm & Hammer Sensitive Liquid Laundry Detergent Unscented and septic safe. Can be boosted effectiveness-wise for truly grungy clothing with Oxi-Clean to get rid of odors and stains, but too much of that and you won't have any clothes left.
• Scott 100% Recycled Toilet Paper Because we musn't run out of the precious toilet paper
• Highmark 100% Recycled Paper Towels They're paper towels.
• Palmolive Ultra Pure Clear Liquid Soap Detergent We actually use this as dish soap and also to refill liquid hand soap. I tried using Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap but the viscosity was all wrong and it got neither dishes nor hands truly clean for some reason. Note: any dish soap can be used in pretty much the same way as any liquid castile soap for any DIY cleaning products
• Canvas bags Paper or plastic? Or those recycled plastic bag things that I've come to have an irrational dislike for? Heck. I'm going back to canvas. My mom used it 18 years ago, it's good enough for me.
• LED lightbulbs Now fairly reliable. Not at all like ten years ago when they weren't.
• Waterwipes Biodegradable wet wipes. Indispensible for parenting, better hygiene when camping, and better hygiene overall. Stashing wet wipes in various places such as car, purse, and workplace is usually a smart move. I hope these work but have not tried them.
• Plant Plates Disposable paper plates made of sugarcane fiber
• Lunch boxes At Walmart. Definitely better than using paper bags.
• Furoshiki At Walmart. A fabric replacement for paper giftwrap.
• Cotton reusable produce bags Again, Walmart
• Beeswax Food Wrap Also at Walmart. A replacement for plastic wrap.
• OxiClean Walmart again. Good for removing persistent odors from laundry when added to laundry. OxiClean in general might be better for the environment than anything based on chlorine bleach.
• OxiClean Stain Remover Powder For spot treatments
• OxiClean Pet Stain Remover Spray For spot treatments on carpet or upholstery that would be impossible to get rid of/deodorize otherwise
• Oxobrite Powder Also at Walmart. I include this in the possibly futile hope that this stuff can be mixed with just enough water to make a paste, scrubbed onto a bathroom, and function like chlorine bleach to kill mold and mildew. Dunno. Got issues with bleach thanks to fibromyalgia (joy)
• Igloo Coolers So your food can stay food while you travel instead of collapsing into a soggy mess. Thanks, Texas road trips. Also great for picnics, camping, and sells other stuff for making food and drink portable and not overheated/squished.
• Nalgene There is no better water bottle. Period. Apparently they also make travel kits that look very convenient for flying, camping, and general travel.
• Avant Grub Biodegradable clamshell take-out containers At Walmart. It's about damn time. Avant Grub seems to cater to both retailers like Walmart and the restaurant business, as seen on their website
• Natural Grocers brand Recycled Paper Towels It seems you can only get these at Natural Grocers.
• Natural Grocers brand recycled paper products They claim to have recycled toilet paper and facial tissue on offer.
• Natural Grocers brand bamboo paper products Same deal. Facial tissue and toilet paper, only made of bamboo.
• A Whole Lot Of Cotton Washcloths At Walmart. Indispensible for cleaning and not always having to rummage around for yet more paper towels, or running out of clean washcloths mid-task. This is more than one person really needs; you could probably get a 5-pack and be set, but look around, you'll prob find something
• Natural Grocers Cleaning Products Check at whatever store is closest to see what they've got on offer. My family's tried the unscented dish soap and it is great stuff. Looking to trying the unscented laundry detergent next, and hopefully their other cleaning products.
• Lifestraw 10-cup water pitcher A rather more expensive but likely much more effective water filter than Brita or Pur. Far more eco friendly than single-use water bottles
• 2/9/23 Biodegradable CLR Reaching for the Drano or something like that? Maybe try this instead. My husband swears by it, LOL
• 2/9/23 Ecologic Cleansers They sell One-Step and other cleansers that are likely safer and better for the environment than bleach and Star-San. Interestingly, One-Step works on the principle of using hydrogen peroxide to kill germs instead of bleach. Therefore I think it could potentially be used as a household cleanser like bleach, for instance to scrub off drip irrigation filters instead of bleach, perhaps for cleaning grout, and even possibly mold and mildew. In fact in theory stuff like it could be used instead of chlorine and chloramine in municipal water supplies and public/gymnasium swimming pools and jacuzzis. In theory. I'll look into it some more. By the way, don't drink peroxide. It'll just bleach your guts and kill your gut flora. Bout as great for your insides as the way peroxide fries your hair when you try to make dark hair more blonde.
• 2/9/23 Northern Brewer Another source of One-Step.
• 5/26/23 Reef-safe sunscreen is a big deal. I've previously recommended Kokua Suncare and Badger brands for this, and they're both super thick and will clog your pores. The Style and Beauty Doctor did an amazing write-up of sunscreens, reef safe among them, specifically for skin of color (cause I was wondering about that given that yes, mineral sunscreen makes everyone look ashy - everyone, and I can't imagine how much worse it is if your skin already has some pigment to it, probably significantly). There are sunscreens on this list that are affordable too. Yay!

POTENTIALLY ECO FRIENDLY - warning - I haven't tried any of these yet or thoroughly researched them, they just look interesting

• Deconovo Curtains on Amazon. I think I know these. Insulated they ain't, but they're curtains, and they are affordable.
• Plyboo Possibly one of the first companies manufacturing plywood-type products without wood, but with bamboo instead. I have no idea what the cost is since they're like most products manufactured for people with a lot of money - "contact us for a quote." Right.
• Grow Lights Fluorescent.
• Grow Lights Fancy.
• HSS 18"Dx48"Wx72"H, 4 Shelf Heavy Duty Wire Shelving Rack, Chrome Color - found at Walmart, but this is a metal baker's shelf rack. Used for starting seeds, can also be found at Ikea. Previous two and current item on list recommended due to miserable failure of my previous attempts at starting seeds on a sunny windowsill, South-facing or whatever be damned.
• Cheap attic insulation, This Old House article May or may not be a pain in the ass to retrofit with better insulation later on.
• Bamboo lumber by the piece at Walmart. Ridiculously expensive for some reason.
• Biomass Packaging Store A large array of packaging products that biodegrade. In other words, some alternatives to the old question of "paper or plastic?" and the nuisance that is single-use plastics
• Vegware Another like it. Doesn't seem to be as comprehensive, or as high quality
• Good Start Packaging Another.
• PBAT PLA bags Potential biodegradable replacement for the ubiquitous plastic shopping bags
• Cheer Young Manufacturer of PLA, PBAT, and PBS raw materials for biodegradable plastics
• The Happy Bag Co Another potential creator of biodegradable plastic bags
• Water testing kits
• Indoor air quality test kit Fancy one. Doesn't test for mold, radon, nicotine, asbestos, or carbon monoxide.
• Lifestraw Water filters
• Drip Depot A store specifically for drip irrigation
• Drip Depot container gardening drip kit It's like $50 and has free shipping. If you, like me, have had patio gardens fail because you couldn't shlep out there to water three times a day in August, this might save your bacon.
• Drip Depot Clean Water Gravity Irrigation Patio gardening in a place without a water tap out there? Perhaps you could rig something up with this, topping up the water source whenever it runs low.
• DIG Drip Irrigation kit A walmart version
• Soaker hose Sold at walmart
• Solar charging kit for camping For charging small devices, apparently including laptops and cell phones.
• Foldable solar panel For, apparently, camping. Smaller scale than the other one.
• Dirty Water Gravity Irrigation Rain barrels with debris in them? Filthy pond water you want to use? Perhaps greywater? Want to water with that precisely to where your plants are? Here's a good option.
• Washing machine filter Let's say you might want to water a garden using greywater from your laundry machine, using biodegradable soap only. You'd need this.
• Washing machine line filter
• Reverse osmosis water filters
• Pond aerator pump In case you have a fish pond, small lake, or what's called "tanks" in Texas, to keep its wildlife healthy and reduce algae/sludge you might want one of these in tandem with other stuff from that website as suits your situation.
• Windmil pond aerator pump system It's like $3000 plus whatever shipping and taxes, but off grid.
• To DIY your own solar power system, however, you need a degree, and all of the Instructable tutorials you can get. Particularly from Mjtrinihobby who took his home off grid in Puerto Rico and gives the step by step instructions. If you just need to power critical things like say, air conditioning, and refrigerator/freezer, you may be able to install a separate solar power system for all of that with the help of a good electrician licensed to work in your area.
• EcoSmart Tankless electric hot water heaters
• Eco Roots
• Luxe Bidet
• Who Gives A Crap Toilet Paper
• Tushy Toilet Paper Etc.
• Group Hug Tech Solar panels you put on the inside of an apartment window which charge small electronics. Relatively cheap. Unknown product life, unknown supply chain, may contain conflict minerals or minerals mined by slave labor in China for all I know. Still an awesome product.
• Reverse Osmosis Water Systems, Undersink These are listed on Amazon but guaranteed can be bought directly from the source if you search 'em with a search engine. Ten years ago RO systems were priced too high for the average consumer. Not anymore, baby!
• BlueBarrel Rainwater Rain collection barrels daisy chained together at a reasonable price
• Rain Barrel Pump
• Wind Turbine Cheapest one I've found so far, but requires electricity know-how. Also: will not generate that much power.
• Parans Fiberoptic solar lighting from Sweden. Only caters to rich customers, usually businesses, who want to install large amounts, for now.
• Himawari Solar Same basic deal, only this one requires a power hookup in order to follow the sun's path daily.
• Wonderwash Manual-powered laundry machine.
• Source Global Off-grid solar water units that suck water out of the air much like a dehumidifier, purify it, and produce drinking water in the middle of nowhere. Probably too expensive for the average consumer to afford given they don't put prices online.
• Watergen Similar concept but requires electricity to run.
• Skywater Similar concept. Also, sketchy.
• Pure Incense and Oils Synthetic fragrances
• Seedman Seeds
• Richters They sell a wide variety of herb seeds and plug packs

From Shopping section

Home