If you want to become more sustainable, eco-friendly home products are a great place to start!
From biodegradable household cleaning products to reusable food containers, there are so many wonderful environmentally friendly home alternatives out there.
We’ve created this insightful guide to help you find the right eco-friendly home products. We share what eco features to look for and suggest the best sustainable household items you can shop for.
Dive in to discover how you can make a positive impact on the environment while meeting your household needs!
What Makes a Household Product Eco-Friendly?
There are loads of superb qualities that define eco-household products. By understanding the key features of sustainable home products, you’ll be able to refine your search effectively and choose genuine eco items. To help you out, we’ve listed the major eco features to look out for:
- Natural, Organic Ingredients: Products made from natural and organic materials, such as natural laundry detergent or bamboo kitchen utensils, present so many eco-benefits! They are biodegradable, free of toxic synthetic additives, require fewer resources to make, and are often sourced responsibly, all of which combine to create a low-impact product that’s safe for you and the environment.
- Plastic-Free Packaging: Products that arrive in plastic-free packaging reduce plastic waste, which otherwise pollutes our planet and threatens wildlife, especially marine life. Sustainable packaging alternatives, like recycled cardboard and compostable bags, are huge green flags!
- Refillable and Reusable: Rather than choosing single-use products, like disposable kitchen wipes, opt for reusable or refillable alternatives to reduce waste.
- Slowly Crafted and Handmade: Slowly crafted and handmade products usually waste fewer resources and emit fewer greenhouse gasses compared to mass-manufactured products. By choosing slowly crafted items, you’re also guaranteed a longer-lasting, better-quality product that’s been made with care and precision!
- Cruelty-Free: Go for products that aren’t tested on animals and are free from animal-derived ingredients/materials, like fur or leather. Keep an eye out for certifications, such as ‘Peta-approved’ and ‘Leaping Bunny’ to ensure you’re choosing 100% cruelty-free products.
- Energy Efficiency: Shop energy-efficient products, like LED light bulbs, to reduce your household’s energy consumption. This will help lower your greenhouse gas emissions by lessening your household’s need for fossil fuels while also saving you a few bucks on your energy bills – a win-win!
10 Must-Have Eco Household Essentials for a Sustainable Home
Consider adding these brilliant eco-friendly household essentials to your shopping list:
#1 Biodegradable Trash Bags
Regular plastic trash bags take between 10 and 20 years to fully decompose, making them a huge contributor to landfill waste and pollution. By opting for biodegradable trash bags, like plant-based polymer or cornstarch-based bags, you’ll reduce your household waste and lessen your impact on landfills.
#2 Plant-Based Laundry Detergent and Fabric Conditioner
Too often, laundry detergents and fabric conditioners contain toxic chemicals, such as phosphates and sulfates, that pollute our oceans and cause nasty skin reactions. Swap your synthetic laundry detergent and conditioner for natural alternatives powered by plants, such as citrus-based and essential oil-based formulas.
#3 Water Soluble Cleaning Tablets
If you have empty cleaning spray bottles lying around, don’t chuck them away! Fill them with eco-friendly, water-soluble cleaning tablets. These brilliant and innovative solutions quickly dissolve into water and transform into an effective cleaning solution that’s zero-waste and non-toxic – they’re also superb value for money!
Whether you’re after a new multi-purpose disinfectant, floor cleaner, or bathroom spray, there’s a cleaning tablet for every application!
#4 Reusable Kitchen Cleaning Wipes
Instead of using single-use cleaning kitchen wipes, go for reusable alternatives that you can wash over and over again. This will help you lessen your household waste while saving you the expense of repurchasing single-use wipes. Go for natural alternatives, like organic bamboo or cotton, which are naturally antimicrobial, durable, and gentle on surfaces.
#5 Bamboo Toothbrushes
A shocking billion toothbrushes are thrown out each year, most of which are plastic. To avoid contributing to landfill waste and environmental pollution, choose bamboo toothbrushes instead of plastic ones. Not only is bamboo biodegradable and eco-friendly, but it’s also antimicrobial and long-lasting, making it a fantastic alternative!
If you have an electric toothbrush, you’ll be pleased to know many sustainable brands sell bamboo toothbrush head attachments, compatible with a range of popular electric toothbrush models.
#6 Reusable Shopping Bags
Reusable shopping bags are wonderful everyday essentials! Not only do they reduce your plastic waste, but they also save you money when purchasing disposable plastic bags at checkout. You can get reusable shopping bags in all types of styles, including boho-chic crochet and contemporary canvas, so you can shop for groceries in style while contributing to a more sustainable world!
#7 Biodegradable Dish Sponges
Traditional plastic dish sponges can take hundreds of years to decompose, making them a huge part of the landfill waste problem. On the other hand, natural dish sponges biodegrade in a matter of five years or less. If you compost your natural dish sponges, they’ll disappear in a few months!
Plastic sponges also harbor bacteria, whereas natural alternatives are antimicrobial and, therefore, more hygienic.
#8 Solid Natural Body and Hair Soap
Bottled body and hair wash leads to extra rubbish, typically more plastic waste. However, when you’re finished with solid body and hair soaps, there’s no waste to deal with because they come in plastic-free packaging that’s typically minimal, biodegradable packaging, like cardboard.
Additionally, natural bar soap is much kinder on the skin and planet as these products are usually free from toxic chemicals, such as parabens.
#9 Organic Fiber Towels
Organic fiber towels, like organic bamboo and cotton, are much kinder on the planet as they require fewer resources to create. They are also gentler on the skin and naturally antimicrobial, making them a brilliant alternative to regular towels, which otherwise breed bacteria and are too rough on the skin.
#10 Beeswax Food Wraps
Cling film is one of the most common household waste items. Not only is regular cling film tricky to recycle and takes long to biodegrade, but it also contains potentially harmful chemicals, such as dioxin. Instead of using cling film, keep your food fresh with natural beeswax food wraps. These delightful eco alternatives are 100% natural, food-safe, and reusable!
Shop Eco Home Products To Plant Trees with Tenere
If you need to stock up on eco household essentials, sign up to Tenere and save money while contributing to a greener planet!
Tenere offers a range of exclusive coupons available to redeem at over 30,000 leading stores, such as Costco, Home Depot, and Walmart, so you can shop all your favorite items.
For every coupon you use to make a purchase, our partnered retailers donate a portion of the money to our cause. This allows us to fund our many ongoing reforestation projects worldwide, including Tree Nation, Plant With Purpose, One Tree Planted, and loads more!
Sign up today to elevate your sustainability and support a better future.
