Take a short shower

Taking a shower in the morning is a great way to wake up, but using it as a place to think about the day ahead can waste a lot of water. A lot of energy goes into heating and transporting water to our pipes. While taking a cold shower to reduce energy consumption is helpful, it’s not always reasonable to ask of someone. Instead, try taking a shorter shower. Research shows that an eight-minute shower can use more than 16 gallons of water. Simple steps such as turning off the water when your lathering and shaving can save gallons of water. Shortening your shower won’t only save energy and water, it’ll also save you time!

Use recycled plastic-free toilet paper

Let’s be honest, we all got to go at some point in the morning, so why not make your toilet paper environmentally-friendly too? Did you know that about 15% of deforestation comes from toilet paper production? Recycled toilet paper is made from recycled paper products, decreasing the amount of energy needed to create it, and buying it plastic-free reduces the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills.

Switch to palm oil free soap

Using a bar of soap allows you to freshen up without the purchase of a plastic container that comes with liquid soap. Whether you’re using it in the shower or to wash your hands, try to use palm oil free soap. Palm oil is used in soap to remove soil from hair and skin while providing moisture, but its production is harmful to the environment.  About 66 million tons are produced each year. This not only destroys rainforests for plantations but destroys the homes of many species. Palm oil is in a variety of beauty products, so be sure to read the ingredients list and refrain from supporting products containing palm oil.

Use a bamboo toothbrush and tooth tabs

Dental hygiene can easily be made eco-friendly by swapping a plastic toothbrush for a bamboo one and a tube of toothpaste for tooth tabs! Roughly 1 million toothbrushes are thrown away each year just in America, making its way to oceans and waterways. The use of a bamboo toothbrush has a great impact on the environment as the bamboo is a plant and will decompose once it’s thrown away. Along with using a bamboo toothbrush, using tooth tabs is a great way of reducing the number of plastic toothpaste tubes ending up in landfills. Tooth tabs are small tablets that you chew and brush with, and they’re usually sold in reusable containers! There’s no need to increase our carbon footprint when there’s a variety of bamboo toothbrushes and tooth tablets on the market!

Go thrift shopping and purchase from sustainable clothing brands

Being quarantined has made getting dressed in the morning simple, yet fast fashion is still an ongoing issue. While a shopping day with friends and family may be fun, making purchases only to replace them in a few months is hurting our planet. Fast fashion consists of cheaply made clothes that are in style one season and out of style the next. The fabrics of these clothes are harmful to the environment. Many of them are from fossil fuels and their microfibers contribute to plastic waste in the ocean when put in the wash. The average household in Canada throws away 46 kilograms of textiles every year, which end up in landfills. A simple way of decreasing our waste when it comes to clothing is purchasing second hand, reselling or donating unwanted clothes, making smart purchases, and shopping from companies that use eco-friendly materials.

Use a French press instead of single-use pods

Making coffee in the morning hasn’t been easier than popping in a coffee pod and letting the machine do the work, but what do you do with the pods after they’ve been used? With no further purpose, those plastic pods end up in landfills. By using a French press coffee machine and buying coffee grounds, we’d remove the need for single-use plastic pods. Plus, those used coffee grounds can be used in many other ways such as a garden fertilizer, body scrub, exfoliator, and much more. We recommend buying your coffee from a fair trade organization to support farmers and their rights. 

Drink loose leaf tea

If you’re more of a tea person, why not replace those tea bags with loose leaf tea? What do we do with those tea bags after they’re used? We throw them away. Single-use tea bags can easily be replaced with loose leaf tea and a reusable tea steeper. By helping the environment, we’re also helping ourselves. Tea bags are about 25% plastic, and the use of one tea bag releases about 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into our tea. There are many tea steeper’s in a variety of colors and sizes and hundreds of loose leaf tea flavors. Pick your favorites and start steeping sustainably!

Make breakfast at home or be eco-friendly on the go!

For the few who are working outside the house, making breakfast at home can not only help you save money but can help reduce the use of plastic food containers. Many drive-thru breakfast options come in a plastic container or a paper wrapper, which can be avoided by making breakfast at home. If your time in the morning is limited, we recommend recipes that can be made the night before, such as overnight oats or breakfast casseroles. We also recommend shopping for products that are in season to reduce the transportation of food or shopping at your local farmer’s market! If you do need to stop for food and caffeine on your way to work or school, try bringing cutlery and a reusable mug from home!