Some of the best personal green lifestyle changes involve reusables (water bottles, straws, batteries, etc.). As someone trying to be more conscious about my use of disposable items, I decided to start replacing those single-use items with my own reusable alternatives. While this change is easy in the household, I found that incorporating the change is slightly more difficult when leaving the house.
Oftentimes when I head out of the house, I don’t have all my activities perfectly planned. I’m not sure if I’m going to eat out or if that restaurant is going to serve the meals with plastic utensils or Styrofoam cups. I have been caught in situations where I could’ve used my own utensils or water bottle had I thought to bring them ahead of time. A great solution to this is to always have reusable items with me!
In the small backpack that I oftentimes carry around with me anyway, I started to pack my reusable items so I can always have them handy when needed. Here is a list of five reusable items I keep in my backpack all the time!
- Reusable water bottle
Hydration is important! One of the earliest green habits I incorporated into my life was carrying around a reusable water bottle. The reasoning started off as me having access to water whenever I was thirsty, but now I have an alternative for situations where water bottles or plastic cups are the only option.
2. Reusable food container
Reusable containers are great for leftovers or for takeout. I started carrying around my own food containers as an alternative to the Styrofoam containers often used for meal leftovers at restaurants. Reusable food containers could be used for takeout at certain restaurants as well! For restaurants that serve their dine in options with reusable dishes and silverware, I’ll order for dine-in and then immediately package my meal in my own food containers to-go. I have also brought my reusable food containers to bakeries to package the desserts directly into the container!
3. Silverware
I stopped needing to use plastic utensils when I started carrying around my own metal silverware with me. This is both great for eating out and at parties where plastic utensils are the only option. After I use them, I either wrap them in my cloth napkins or place them in my food containers!
4. Reusable straws/ boba straws
I love visiting coffee shops and sometimes ordering cold drinks. While some coffee shops have adopted paper straws or those sippy cup lids, it doesn’t hurt to have your own straw handy and available. I used to work at a local tea shop that served boba, and so I learned to have reusable boba straws handy. Now I keep them around in addition to my regular straws.
*Note to self: When I’m wanting coffee to-go, I should start ordering it for dine in and then pouring it in my own to-go cups. I often choose to dine in when possible, but this is a great alternative when the shop doesn’t have refillable cup options!
5. Cloth Napkins
My household has already switched from paper napkins to reusable cloth ones. Instead of having to use single-use paper napkins in public, I started to use my own napkins! Having napkins readily available is also handy for any non-dining messes as well.
6. Reusable grocery bags
When I started using reusable grocery bags, I would find myself forgetting them at home way too often. Though I keep some bags in my car for bigger grocery trips, I carry around a reusable bag with me for whenever I may need it!
Sometimes single-use items cannot be avoided. There may be health and safety reasons or perhaps the restaurant or coffee shop automatically serves their products (regardless of dining in or out) in single use dishes, utensils, and packaging. Making these green lifestyle changes is about progress over perfection and making the changes in the ways you can.
While making these personal green changes alone does not have a major impact on the overall environmental movement, I feel it is important to start normalizing these behaviors. Being and example and potentially influencing others to make similar changes to their lifestyles can help to build environmental awareness and overall action.
