Sustainable Swap: Laundry Edit

Reduce plastic, goodbye bulky bottles, see ya gooey mess …

… hello detergent sheets!

Allow me to introduce my new favorite laundry sustainable swap- laundry detergent sheets. Y’all, this is a win win win win win all around, and, if you are like me, that makes mama happy.

Have you heard of or tried laundry detergent sheets?! Yes, this is a thing. And, it makes so much sense!

Bulky, unruly, messy, ugh

Consider our current paradigm of laundry detergent- big bulky bottles that are heavy to tote around and unruly when they are full (and let’s be honest, when they are empty, too). If you are like me, you probably have multiple in your laundry area because you have one on hand for when you run out. And, then you constantly have these big plastic detergent bottles taking up a lot of space in your recycle bin.

a woman pouring detergent
Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

They drip, they don’t look pretty, they are a pain to buy at the store and lug home. And why? Because they partially full (about 50%) of…. water! So what if we took that ingredient out since we have that available to add at home?

What about pods?

Ah! Then there are pods! Yes, better. Only 10% water saving space and mess. But the outer packaging in some name-brand pods is made from a water soluble polymer which is technically safe but it can break down into a toxic monomer (vinyl acetate) which is known to harm aquatic lifeforms and cause tumors in rats.

All to say, not the best for our environment and some pretty dubious chemicals to make that plastic outer casing. You can read more here.

Enter the detergent sheet!

Voila! The answer to all! The detergent SHEET! It is similar in size to a dryer sheet but different in texture.

It is easy to use in a top loading machine, just drop it in! Check out my quick tutorial here. And, it is almost equally as easy in a front loader washing machine. You can see my quick demo here.

I have been using these from Grove, these from TruEarth, and these from EcoBreeze. All of these brands have been working for me!

I would love my laundry room to look like this one day. I have a ways to go, but I have mastered the – no big, ugly, wasteful plastic bottle part! Loving me some laundry detergent sheets!

Check out this super easy sustainable swap for your laundry room. You will not be disappointed.

Cheers, Lisa

Order Cards: Plant a Tree

I love me some good old fashioned snail mail. And, I wanted to share a home sustainable hack for the printed goods in your life. Fortunately, it’s also a time saving hack too!

I will admit, I am a total sucker for family and friend cards at the holidays. Send me all the cards, and I am a happy camper sitting under my blanket by the fire with some hot tea (or wine) in hand catching up with the happenings of the year.

I know, I know. Not the most eco-friendly and home sustainable when one considers the energy to make the paper, print the cards, send the cards, and (hopefully) recycle the cards. But, there is something so thoughtful and human about receiving a hand written note. Connection.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

I am convinced human connection is critical to healing our earth. So, sometimes mama needs to send a card or two. We recently moved homes, and I will take this opportunity to connect with friends. As such, I currently find myself in new address card-mode and I wanted to share.

Printed Occasion Cards

I order my occasion cards through Paper Culture. In true home sustainable form was first struck by the fact they plant a tree for every order. Order cards, plant a tree! Boom!

Additionally, Paper Culture offers all the convinces of other larger printers- a range of card designs which are easily customizable and an address book to store contacts making printing infinitely easier. And, they usually offer free envelope printing. HUGE. I mean, who wants to hand address cards? (maybe my cousin who is a calligrapher, but I digress)

I have been really happy with my orders through Paper Culture and have planted a few trees in the process. I highly recommend them!

Mama time-saver hack tip

The address book function of Paper Culture (or any of the online card companies) is clutch for saving time. I use Postable to store and update family and friend addresses which is a fab online resource-highly recommend. Postable allows you to download your address book in excel format, and then you can upload that to Paper Culture to populate you address book. Paper Culture saves your address book making future orders that much more efficient.

I would love to keep in touch and hear how you would like to make your home more sustainable. Send me a note here.

the home sustainable