9 Changes You Can Make TODAY to Make Your Life Greener

DID YOU KNOW: About 2.8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in Canadian landfills every year— equivalent to the weight of 24 CN towers.

While eliminating plastic completely is difficult, you can reduce your use of the
Big 4 today! The Big 4: Plastic Water Bottles Plastic Straws Plastic Bags Plastic Cups Consider switching to more environmentally friendly versions of the Big 4 and watch your savings climb and your carbon footprint drop!

Try swapping your common household items to zero waste versions. Here are some zero waste swaps you can make today: Shampoo Bottle for a Shampoo Bar Disposable Storage Bags To Stasher Reusable Bags Dryer Sheets for a Dryer Ball

Store fruits like strawberries and veggies like celery in glass containers with about 1-2 inches of water. The glass containers will help you see what you have, and the water will help keep your produce fresh longer! Reducing food waste is a great way to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

Declutter your closet! Go through your closet and put aside some of your old favourites to bring to your local consignment store to make a little bit of money back from your previously loved clothes. Wasaga Beach residents can visit Charmed Again Consignment to learn more and discover some great thrifted finds!

Unplug small appliances when you’re not using them to stop them from leeching electricity and running up your bill. Bonus: it’ll make your kitchen look less cluttered!

Do a recycling/garbage audit; keep track of everything you get rid of in a week to see where you can be making changes. For example, if you find yourself throwing away a lot of makeup remover wipes, consider switching to reusable cotton rounds and micellar water.

Use a dishwasher instead of handwashing your dishes! Studies suggest that dishwashers produce 63% less greenhouse gas emissions over their life cycle than manual dishwashing. You may be surprised to learn that people who hand washed their dishes used almost double the amount of water as a dishwasher over a 10-year period. If your dishwasher is over 10 years old, consider updating it to a more energy efficient model and see your savings grow over time!

Check the waste management guidelines for your city to make sure you’re disposing of or recycling the right products. Wasaga Beach residents can learn more here.