Green Living With The Family

Eco-friendly living can be a challenge at the best of times, let alone when you have kids and work to juggle. Going green is often seen as a lot of effort and more money, but does it need to be?

GudYu digs into a bit of research to help you on your way with 11 quick and easy tips for eco-friendly living, with the familia.

GudYu’s Hottest Tips for Going Green

1. Choose reusable

A great place to start is by ditching single-use products, where you can. If you haven’t already, invest in a reusable coffee cup, water bottles for both you and the kids, and switch out the clingfilm and foil for kids’ lunches by opting for a reusable bento box style tin (ok, we know this is plastic, but it’s not single-use).

2. Save water

Saving water isn’t the easiest thing when you have kids to bathe, food to cook, and dishes to wash. But there are some ways you can reduce the amount of water you use:

• Save washing up water for use in the garden (providing you use natural dish soap and instead of letting the tap run, add a tub to your sink to capture the water).
• Fit a water butt to capture rainwater for watering plants.
• Don’t mow the lawn as often – long grass retains water better!
• Opt for bucket and cloth when washing the car with the kids (um-hum or they just wash it for you), instead of a running tap
• And make sure that tap isn’t left running when the little ones are brushing their teeth, the less water usage the better (oh did we mention that with GudYu tabs, you don’t even need to use a single drop of water 😉)

3. Eat less meat

It probably comes as no surprise, but animal products really aren’t environmentally friendly. Meat production contributes up to 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Sure, not everyone wants to go full vegan, and it’s not even the most environmentally friendly option.

The best diet is still omnivorous, but just with less meat. Try to drop it down to 1-3 servings a week if you can. For example, if you’re making a curry or chilli, swap out the meat for veggies or soy protein.

4. Eat local

Another eco-friendly living tip is to eat local where you can. Fruit and veg are perfect for local buying, particularly if you have some good farmer’s markets in the area. Some farms will even offer delivery and collection services. The less miles your food has travelled, the less carbon it uses!

5. Research some eco brands

This tip will take a bit of time, but it’ll give you something to do when you’re browsing your phone in the evenings. Make a list of eco brands worth supporting based on your family’s needs.

For example, it could be kid’s clothing brands, sustainable products for the home, or local zero-waste shops. Figure out what eco-friendly living principles are most important to you and find brands that best reflect those same values. Check out our blog on sustainable brands that we love

6. Zero-waste kids

Getting kids on board with eco-friendly living is much easier than you might think. There are loads of educational resources, and if they see you leading by example, they’re more likely to get on board.

Some easy swaps include wooden toys instead of plastic, donating old clothes and unwanted items and in return purchasing unwanted items, aiding the circular economy, and most importantly, teaching them about recycling, helps them to understand their impact on the world. Get them involved, make them into eco-warriors and may we say eco-brushers 💪🏻

7. Step up your recycling game

We all recycle to some extent, but many of us could go a lot further. Do you remove labels from bottles and cans before putting them in the bin? Do you wash out food containers before recycling? If not, it’s a good place to start.

Also, check if your local supermarket recycles soft plastics. Most of the leading companies do. Their stations take things like carrier bags, bread bags, crisp packets, and more. Considering you’re already going there to shop, why not save up your rubbish and drop it off?

8. Go paperless

This is one of the easiest environmentally friendly switches you can make. If you haven’t already, switch bills to online versions. Most companies have done it automatically in the past. But if not, there should be an option on their site for doing it.

While paper is an easily recyclable product, it’s best to just not receive it in the first place.

9. Buy second hand if you can

Sure, not everything you’ll want to buy will be good second hand. But with some searching, you’ll find some amazing second-hand clothes for all members of the family. Return the favour by donating your old clothes once you’re done with them, too.

The same goes for furniture, books, and so much more. Charity shops are always a good place to start, but sites like eBay, GumTree and Facebook Marketplace are worth checking out. Plus, buying second hand furniture usually leads to a fun upcycling project that the kids can help with.

10. Find new life for worn out products

On a similar note, avoid throwing things away if you can. Say you’ve got an old t-shirt that’s past its best. It makes a great rag for cleaning up spills or dusting. That old toothbrush you were about to chuck? Use it for cleaning bathroom grouting!

Sure, these things will probably still end up in the bin eventually, but using them in this way saves you from buying new products for these jobs and gives them a second, third and fourth life.

11. Find sustainable products

Finally, use your research to switch to sustainable products. It’s possible to change out everything from your dish soap and laundry detergent to toothbrushes and toothpaste.

GudYu’s toothpaste tabs are an ideal eco alternative to normal toothpaste. All the packaging is recyclable, and there’s no water, making transportation more efficient. Plus, each tab has the perfect amount of ingredients, so there’s no waste or overuse!

Making the Switch to Eco-Friendly Living

We get that making big changes is often unattainable for families. But starting small with these tips and working your way up makes adjustment much easier.