Today is Black Friday, a day known for incentivizing massive consumption, which is not helpful for the environment. Exacerbated consumption promotes serious environmental consequences, since it generates an excessive exploitation of the planet’s natural resources. In addition, this results in a huge production of garbage that ends up in landfills and oceans, then affecting the nature and the wild life. In order to bring awareness to that and foster a more conscious consumption, we created Green Friday and brought you 10 tips of products and actions that will help make the planet more sustainable. Even small changes in people’s behavior can bring a huge impact to the planet!
1- Menstrual collector
The silicone cup emerged as an economical and sustainable alternative to collect menstruation. It lasts from 5 to 10 years, avoiding the production of waste. According to the Akatu Institute, a woman can generate, during her lifetime, about 200 kilos of garbage in disposable pads alone. That’s why using menstrual cups is the best option to help the planet and generate less waste.
2- Skincare/Body products
Sustainable skincare and body products offer full performance to improve your skin and well-being. All that, without polluting the planet or harming animals. They use renewable raw materials and don’t add chemical substances, which are harmful to the skin. Aside from that, unsustainable skincare products produce a lot of waste because of their packaging, which is mostly plastic.
3- Hygiene products
Traditional hygiene products contain a series of toxic components that are harmful to the environment and our health. In addition to having excess plastic in their packaging, replacing these products with those with paper or recycled packaging is the best option. Some options are shampoos and bar conditioners, which have zero plastic, contain no harmful components and last much longer.
4- Bamboo toothbrush
The exchange of the traditional brush for the ecological one helps reduce the disposal of several plastic brushes that go to landfills and take up to 400 years to decompose. The ecological brush does not harm the environment and has the same useful life as the traditional one. In addition to bamboo being antibacterial, it helps prevent the proliferation of fungi and bacteria. In other words, it is good for both your oral health and the environment, a perfect Green Friday product.
5- Returnable bags (tote bag)
In addition to being sustainable, they are also fashionable. Most tote bags are made from recyclable materials, such as cotton, crochet, or velvet, generating much less waste than plastic bags.
6- Water bottles
Stainless steel thermoses are the best option for conscious consumption, in addition to being reusable, they do not harm the environment like plastic ones, which generate a lot of garbage and take a long time to decompose, and, while this does not occur, their waste pollutes sewers, forests, and rivers.
7- Stainless steel straw
The straws are durable, sustainable, and economical, excellent for replacing plastic straws, avoiding several health problems, and even avoiding the disposal of hundreds of plastic straws per year, which take 500 years to decompose in nature.
8- Returnable coffee capsule
They are made of aluminum, and stainless steel, providing greater freedom to make coffee. More economical compared to traditional ones, they are more durable and cause less environmental impact by reducing waste. The perfect innovation for more conscious consumption this Green Friday
9- Solar energy
It is a form of renewable and sustainable energy that has less impact on the environment. That’s because carbon dioxide and other gases related to the “greenhouse effect” aren’t produced. Solar energy is a great option to use in the heating system of your house, it can be used to provide energy to heat the water, heaters, or cooling system of the house. Nowadays, you can also use solar energy with daily products, like portable chargers or heating water bottles.
10- Buy from local producers
Family farming offers fresher and healthier products, as food reaches you faster, also reducing transport costs and carbon emissions. Another important point is that they use less packaging, which results in less garbage and wastefulness. Thus, consuming products from family farming is a positive habit that influences our health, the economy, and the producers.
