Reduce + Reuse + Recycle

Last Sunday was Earth Day & you know ya girl loves to celebrate mama Earth! I figured I’d pop on here & explain Earthing & share some tips & products that I personally use to help preserve our planet!

I actively participate & endorse “Earthing” or absorbing free electrons & energy from the Earth through your bare feet. You can do it by being bare foot on grass, sand, or dirt or even HUGGING TREES. Literally hugging them y’all. Now I know what you’re thinking but stay with me. It actually has a lot of health benefits & not just some hippy dippy thing I do because I don’t want to wear shoes (although that’s also a viable reason for me). It has been proven to help insomnia, chronic pain, inflammation, stress, & blood viscosity. I read that professional athletes sleep with grounding devices to reduce pain & promote recovery of sore muscles. There was a legit pilot study done about it – you can find it here. The science behind all of it is actually pretty cool so I figured I’d share.

Now onto more socially accepted things I do. I don’t want any of this to sound pretentious or like I’m shoving eco-friendly things down your throat – I’m just sharing some easy things to help improve the planet we live on. Some people want to help & be more conscious but just aren’t sure of how to actually achieve it so that’s why I’m sharing these! Plus, if you have ever seen the movie mother!, you would want to do EVERYTHING in your power to help the planet. I went ahead & tagged all the products so everything is easily shopable!

Stainless Steel Straws

1. First things first, stainless steel straws. Say it with me – stainless. Steel. Straws. All together now, STAINLESS STEEL STRAWS. Simple, easy, fairly cheap, & make an enormous difference. Americans use 500 million plastic straws a day. A DAY PEOPLE. Plastic cannot biodegrade. Animals get entangled in it, ingest it, & habitats get destroyed. I just cried watching a video of someone taking a plastic straw out of a turtle’s nose & it was bleeding & wincing in pain. You can find stainless steel straws at Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Crate & Barrel. They vary from 4-6 straws (most come with little cleaners) & range from $4.99 to $9.99. Other alternatives are biodegradable straws, compostable straws, or no straw at all! I honestly bought 2 packs of 4 stainless steel straws so I always have some in my purse & house at all times.  Shop the ones I bought at Bed Bath & Beyond here

Matcha Powder

2. Alright here’s the scoop on matcha. I personally don’t like green tea so I never gave it a chance before because matcha is just ground green tea leaves. I tried it a couple weeks ago & have not been able to go a day without it. It is packed with antioxidants, vitamins & chlorophyll (the green pigments in plants – not chloroform, you freaks). It naturally detoxifies & relaxes the body & even burns calories & boosts metabolism – let’s be honest we all need a little poop boost here & there. The powder is most commonly purchased online so it’s kinda hard to find in stores but I found this one at Giant Eagle. Add a little coconut milk or almond milk & add some ice & you’re in business. For these shots I used a reusable glass mason jar that you can find in at any local grocery store, Target, Walmart, or farmer’s market. Pure Leaf Matcha Powder Packets

Coconut Water

3. Waaaaaaaater – that was said in Spongebob Squarepants’ voice. Listen, coconut water may be an acquired taste to some but when you’re at a festival & don’t want to evaporate into the atmosphere from dehydration, it sounds like a pretty good deal. It’s just a bump up from normal water & has more benefits, in my opinion. I get my Vita Coco in bulk from Costco & I used to drink Harmless Coconut Water when I lived in Los Angeles but it’s kinda hard to find on the east coast unless you live in a big city. It also fluctuates in color because some bottles the coconut water has more of a pink tone than others & it’s completely natural coloring! Cool right! I thought so.

Vita Coco // Harmless Coconut Water

Bee Seeds

4. Now this one is a little controversial but whatever here’s my take. Last year Cheerios, yes the cereal company, took the little bee off of their boxes & started #BringBacktheBees. You may or may not know that bees are in trouble. Bee populations are declining at an alarming fast rate & we rely on them to pollinate most of the food we eat. 1 in 3 bites of food we eat is made possible by bees & other pollinators. 44% of bee colonies in the United States collapsed in 2016. More than two thirds of the world’s crop species rely on pollinators. So Cheerios partnered with a seed company to put packets in specially marked boxes but if I remember correctly I think I had to sign up online for them to send me a packet. But the controversy comes with the seeds themselves. Supposedly they are a wildflower mix & are apparently banned or illegal in some states??? It name dropped Connecticut & California as the illegal ones so I planted mine because I live in Ohio so I frolicked through my backyard like “You get wildflower seeds! You get wildflower seeds!”. If it at least helps one bee, I’m happy.

Cheerio’s Bee Friendly Wildflower Mix

Reusable Grocery Bags

5. Reusable grocery bags. More than one billion single-use plastic bags are handed to consumers each day in the U.S. & it takes a 15-year-old tree to produce just 700 paper grocery bags (thanks for the stat Whole Foods). Most grocery store chains sell reusable bags that you reuse when you go shopping so you don’t have to worry about plastic bags. Usually you get a couple cents off too when you bring your own bag. This one is from Whole Foods & has an insulated inside because I like to road trip often & I NEED snacks where ever I go!

I bought my bag at my local Whole Foods // Types vary by store or you can order here

Madewell

6. Ecofriendly fashion. I could write an entire book on this but I’ll spare you the novel & just highlight one of my favorites right now – Madewell. They are known for their denim but are also extremely eco-conscious & partner with many different organizations ranging from cleaning up beaches (Surfrider Foundation) to empowering young women (Girls Inc.). They’re Blue Jeans Go Green campaign takes old denim you bring them & recycles them into insulation for houses! You also get $20 off a pair of their denim for every pair you bring them!

Madewell dress // You can shop it here

Nalgene Water bottles

7.  Last but not least, my trusty Nalgene (reusable, BPA free water bottle). Their website literally says “For Your Everyday Adventures – So whether you’re looking for a virtually indestructible water bottle for a backcountry adventure, or you want a clean, green way of storing your dry pasta, you’ll find a Nalgene product that gets the job done.” Their motto is “Refill Not Landfill” & they had a #RocknRefill campaign that has raised more than $1,000,000 for over 50 environmental & social causes & has diverted more than 1,800,000 single-use bottles from landfills.

Nalgene water bottles // You can shop them here

Thanks for stopping by for some Earth friendly tips & products! This doesn’t even scratch the surface of amazing products & companies that are working to help diminish our carbon footprint but we’ll save the rest for another day. Now get out there & be economically & sustainably conscious!

xo kt