Powerful Daily Green Habits I Adopted for an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle – Series 4

Welcome to series 4 of my Daily Green Habit blog posts!

This is the continuation of the My Daily Green Habits Series where I explained the changes I have made in my daily life for a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle. You can make these small steps as a game and your young ones would also love to participate in these activities.

I give my younger one a sticker whenever she avoids buying anything made of plastic by herself or decides to reuse some of her old stuff instead of buying new products. When she has enough stickers, she gets rewarded with a book or something useful.

In this post, I’ll share actionable items that are simple yet doable to form powerful daily green habits and even suitable for beginners. This change I made a few years ago has had a profound impact on my family’s daily life and the environment. It’s a simple step that has brought substantial benefits, reinforcing my commitment to living a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle.

You can pick any change and stick with it for a while until it becomes a daily habit and then adopt a new one. My request to all the readers is please don’t start all the changes together, it becomes overwhelming, and generally, people tend to give up as it gets exhausting. But making one small change daily is much more doable and it will not impact your daily life which you are already used to. Read all the posts check out all the small changes that I have made and pick whichever is most convenient to you based on your lifestyle.

Daily Green Habits – 4th Change I made for an Eco-Friendly Lifestyle

I’m sure we’ve all seen rubbish bins overflowing with plastic bottles, whether it’s at the park, office, or even just around the neighborhood. It’s hard to miss as it’s everywhere in the clear sight. It’s a clear sign of how much plastic waste we’re creating. On an average day, each of us needs to drink about 2 to 3 Liters of water or any drink. If we buy a new disposable plastic bottle every time, we’re thirsty, the amount of plastic waste quickly becomes staggering. This massive pile of plastic bottle waste is doing serious damage to our environment. This problem can be solved very easily if we just change one of our daily habits to a green habit.

Replace plastic bottles with reusable stainless steel water bottles

It’s estimated that 1.3 billion plastic bottles are used each day across the world, which is about 1 million per minute. Alone in the USA, around 136 million disposable plastic bottles are used every day which is a huge amount of plastic waste. Only around 10% of it gets recycled and the rest goes to some landfill or ends up floating in the sea or other water bodies.

This change is very simple and very easy to make this a daily green habit, just start carrying your reusable water bottle and it will save you big dollars in the long term.

Even if the cost of 1 disposable plastic water bottle is 1$ and you are buying 2 bottles every day. You are spending between 50$ – 60$ every month on water alone. Now think of the situation where we are at the places where these bottles can cost up to 6-7$ each. We spend a good 60$ – 70$ per month on buying disposable plastic water bottles. I am sure anyone can do the numbers here and can see how much of money we are wasting and also generating plastic waste.  

The best quality reusable stainless-steel bottle will cost you around 50$-60$ which will last easily for a few years. So we can recover the cost of a reusable stainless steel bottle in just one month.

I started carrying my reusable water bottle around 4 years ago and I must have bought around 15 – 20 times plastic disposable water bottle only in case of emergency. It does feel really good to think that one small green habit is changing the world for good.

Daily Green Habits – Simple Small Doable Changes

You just need to collect all the plastic disposable bottles you have used for a week and I am sure that this is enough for you to make the change.

I am giving you all the possible ways that will help you make these small simple doable changes in no time.

• Start carrying reusable water bottles everywhere. Buy an attractive water bottle based on your preference and it will become the most common accessory in your bag. You can refill it at any drinking water tap.
  • You can buy any stainless-steel water bottle off the shelf or from Amazon.

• My preferred brand for small kids is “Contigo Kids” or “Klean Kanteen“. Its cost effective and easy to hold by small ones.

• For grown ups my favorite brand of waster bottle is “Yeti“. I might be biased about Yeti as I love almost all there products including lunch bags too.

• If you like really big water bottles which can carry large quantity of water, you can opt for Stanley Quencher H2.0. These comes with straw and very convenient to use. They fit in both my car cup holders easily. These are my favorite companion while travelling specially on long road trips. Please don’t start laughing if I tell you that do use one of them to keep my coffee too.

• I have written several posts about different types of reusable water bottles, this will provide you detailed comparison of almost all the brands available in USA. You can check out.

• Start giving kids their favorite color reusable waste bottles right from the beginning so that it becomes a natural green habit for them. Anything that we do in childhood becomes a natural habit and it doesn’t require special effort when we grow up.
• Avoid buying sugary drinks as they are not only bad for your health but they come in thick plastic bottles which generally don’t get recycled. I am trying to teach the same to my kids though it’s quite challenging as these drinks are very addictive due to the additional sweetener and chemicals.
• While traveling especially in developing countries, it’s not safe to drink tap water. But almost all hotel rooms come with a water kettle. I boil the tap water in that, fill it in the stainless-steel water bottle, and let it cool for a while. I have made myself bottled water without generating any plastic waste. I swear by this as I have been using it for the past several years across the world. I have used this boiled water for my kids when they were as young as a year old.
• If you live in an area where tap water is unsafe to drink, I would seriously recommend to invest in an electric kettle. I have COMFEE’ Stainless Steel Electric Kettle for past 3+ years. I am very happy with all it’s features. It also has an auto shut off feature which is a life saver as I tend to forget to switch off almost all my electric appliances.

• Even when I host parties, I don’t provide bottles water bottle, instead I put the waster dispenser with plain water and some juice, depending on the get together along with some reusable glasses or biodegradable glasses. I have got 1 Gallon Glass dispenser with 2 units from Amazon and its going strong from quite some time.

Remember to clean your stainless-steel reusable water bottle at least once a week to avoid any mold growth. You can refer to step-by-step guide to clean here.

This is one of the easiest change to make towards eco-friendly sustainable life journey and to form a sustainable green habit. I have been doing this from past couple of years and I also encourage to all my friends and family members to do the same.

At times, if there is no option and I end up buying the disposable plastic water bottle, I ensure to use it few more times before tossing it in to recycle bin. I know its not a recommended practice but I just feel bad to throw away after a single use.

If you don’t like to carry a big water bottle with you, you can keep some stainless-steel reusable water bottle in some corners of house or your work place. In the beginning, I started by keeping reusable stainless-steel water bottles in my living room, at my office desk and even one in my car. I used to spend few minutes in the morning to fill these bottles with fresh water and keep sipping the whole day. This one green habit really helped me to reduce my plastic bottle waste.

Almost all my images are taken directly from the product company or immediately I bought them, I do this to give you the first hand look of the product and also helps in providing dimensions and if it suits your needs.

I only write about the products which I have used for few years and have first hand experience. So you might have a different experience with the same product. Please feel free to share with me in comments section. I would love to learn from everyone and get to know new things.

If you are following some other green habits or eco-friendly practices, pls share with us in comments section and we will also try to include them in our life.

FAQ

I always feel more comfortable reading any post if I get answers to the most frequently asked questions also on the same page. That’s the reason I try my best to answer as many questions as possible in my posts. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions I found on Google, pls read on.

• What is the green mold in my plastic water bottle?
  • Whether you’re staring at a visible colony or you suspect there’s a problem, mold in a water bottle should be treated by simply throwing out the container and purchasing a new one. While you may be attached to that specific bottle, moldy particles are also attached to it as well.
• Can you reuse disposable plastic water bottles?
  • And it is not recommended to reuse plastic water bottles. Reuse increases the rate of inner surface abrasion, releasing additional microplastic particles from the inner surface of the bottle. It is also essential to store bottles in a cool and dry place to minimise their exposure to heat and sunlight.
• Can green algae in water bottle make you sick?
  • While green algae might not be toxic, it’s not the most striking to look at and could even affect water flavour or that of coffee made from the water. The important thing is ensuring the water bottle has been placed in the least lighted area with almost zero penetration of sunlight.
• Do disposable plastic water bottles have BPA?
  • The truth is, pretty much all plastic water (and soda) bottles are actually made from a plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET. PET is not manufactured from BPA and does not contain BPA at all.
• Is it bad to always drink out of plastic water bottles?
  • Tiny plastic bits — numbering nearly a quarter-million per quart — can pass into blood, organs, and even the brain. Drinking water from disposable plastic bottles may be passing hundreds of thousands of potentially harmful tiny plastic particles into our bodies, a new study finds.
• Should disposable water bottles be banned?
  • All over the world experts are saying that these are bad for the environment, because most plastic water bottles are used only once. And they take hundreds of years to break down in landfills. That is why a growing number of places around the country are trying to ban plastic water bottles completely.
• Why we should not keep water in plastic bottles?
  • Single-use, disposable plastic bottles may cause chemical contamination and toxicity to the drinking water. Exposure to sunlight and heat can cause the release of toxic chemicals from the plastic into the water. That means leaving water bottles in open spaces could heat them,
• How do I know if my plastic bottle has BPA?
  • The most reliable way to check whether an item is BPA-free is to consult the plastic identification code number — usually stamped on the bottom of the container. There are seven categories, where numbers 1 to 6 are free of BPA. This means that only those printed with the number 7 will contain the chemical.
• Which plastic bottles are not safe for drinking water?
  • Here’s a breakdown of the numbers of plastic to avoid: #3 Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): PVC poses a potential risk of leaching harmful chemicals, including Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is known to disrupt hormonal activity, raising health concerns, especially when it comes to beverages.
• How long is water safe in plastic bottles?
  • The recommended shelf life is two years. The U.S. Food and Drug administration which regulates bottled water does not require a shelf life be listed but due to degradation of plastic over time, especially in heat we recommend two years for still water and one year for sparkling water.
• How long does BPA stay in your body?
  • Although BPA is fat-soluble and thus can accumulate in fatty tissues, animal and human data suggest it tends to be rapidly metabolized, with elimination thought to be virtually complete within 24 hours of acute exposure.
• How to remove BPA from body?
  • Sweating assists in eliminating toxins from your body that are incorporated by ingesting plastics. Most importantly, take sauna sessions regularly to induce sweating because it will facilitate (bisphenol A) BPA detox and excretion of other harmful components.
• What happens if you leave water in a plastic bottle for too long?
  • Although water itself will never expire, you’ll often find that bottled water in plastic containers will have one. This is due to the fact that plastic can leach into the water over time, resulting in chemical contamination that is toxic to the drinker.
• What happens if you drink water with green algae?
  • Key messages. Algae-affected water may not be suitable for drinking, recreation or agricultural use. Contact with affected water can cause skin irritation, mild respiratory effects and hayfever-like symptoms. Ingesting toxins can cause gastroenteritis symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and headaches.
• Is a Tupperware water bottle safe?
  • By design, it is safe to drink water or eat food stored in the Tupperware. It is safer than the soft drink bottles. As for copper, copper is used for cooking food and has been used for storage of water a long time.

You can read my other posts here.