Sustainability is one of those things that everyone knows about yet not many attempt to make a change to implement. And I get it. I was one of those people just a few months ago, preaching the benefits of recycling, shopping with sustainability in mind, and more. Yet what was I doing when it actually came down to practicing what I preached? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Now, though, I’ve taken the liberty of empowering myself and my ideals by backing up what I say and suggest. Instead of just theorizing and spouting what people can do, I decided to take up the most sustainable practices in my home. This has not only reinvigorated my willingness to learn and teach others what I know, it’s also transformed the way I see these things in my own everyday life and what I can do to inspire change in others.
I can’t begin to tell you how much certain packaging supplies have helped me in creating an awesome recycling setup in our home. While some would frown upon using cardboard boxes as their recycling bins, I’ve championed their use as nonplastic containers that can eventually be recycled as well once they’ve become worn down or any unwanted bits of water start to soak through it.
While some would find it tedious to do what I do to make sure cardboard boxes are kept around for awhile, I don’t mind the extra work. In fact, having a little extra stuff to complete actually makes me feel like this is all worth it. It starts with making sure aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and glass jars are clean by rinsing them out after use. Then, I take a paper towel and dry them out as best I can in a hurry and set them in the respective recycling box.
This has been so incredibly easy to implement, to the point that it seems like a no brainer for everyone to do. I mean, we all have such packaging supplies laying around, from cardboard boxes to packing tape and sharpies used for labeling the different boxes.
It just requires a change in our everyday lifestyle. If you can’t make a change for the world and your home, how can you ever actually make a change for yourself? People will point to selfishness in changing who they are but not the world, but the truly great changes in one’s mental and physical health usually impact the other things (like the environment) for the better. That’s the case more often than not, at least.
