15 eco-friendly home products to reduce your plastic nightmares
One small step for your home, one giant leap for the environment
The three packs of colourful plastic water bottles you compulsively bought on your last trip to Home Centre have had you chewing your nails with guilt. Sure, they’ll last a while, but eventually, they’re going to end up in a landfill somewhere. That image of an adorable turtle trapped in a plastic net has been burned into your brain. You’d told yourself that you’re going to start investing your money in eco-friendly home products instead of stalking IKEA.
If taking the pressure off an already overloaded planet wasn’t enough to tempt you, switching to eco-friendly home products can also better for your health. If you replaced those plastic bottles with copper ones instead, you could be reaping the benefits of Ayurveda.
Copper is believed to infuses water with anti-bacterial, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. “When water is stored in a copper container, the mineral leaches into it. This copper leached in the water helps in breaking down food particles and improves our digestion,” says nutritionist Dr Anju Sood in an interview with NDTV.
You can’t swap out all your home essentials for eco-friendly alternatives. Going green or zero-waste overnight is a mission that even Tom Cruise will find impossible. Start with small tweaks around the house. Opt for eco-friendly home products which use responsibly sourced raw materials, free from animal testing and cruelty. Look for companies and labels that are making ethical choices in their hiring process, are going plastic-free and have long-term ecologically sound policies in place rather than talking about the environment because it’s trendy.
15 eco-friendly home products that will make your life easier
Kaca sound amplifier
You know how when you’re trying to talk on the phone in a crowded room and you put a hand over your mouth so the person on the other line can hear you better? That’s kind of how this bamboo amplifier works.
Pop in your phone and start your playlist to share your favourite tunes through this passive sound amplification structure. Each one is handmade so no two amplifiers are the same. Don’t be fooled by how they look, they’re a lot more durable than you’d expect.
Eco dishwashing liquid and floor cleaner
Koparo brings you eco-friendly home products on a budget for all your cleaning needs. Their natural cleaners are efficient, pleasant to smell and have minimal plastic packaging.
Our personal favourites from their range are the plant-based dishwashing liquid the fresh fragrance of lime and basil, and the rose and jasmine-scented floor cleaner. It uses plant-derived cleaning agents and tea tree oil. It’s also safe to use if you have pets and toddlers running around the house.
₹229 500ml of each dishwashing liquid and floor cleaner
Madhu reusable beeswax wrap
Say goodbye to your aluminium foil and plastic food wraps and embrace Madhu food wrappers by Urban Creative. These always top our shopping list when we’re looking for eco-friendly home products.
They’re made using beeswax, coconut oil, natural tree dammar gum and cotton. You can give them a rinse and reuse them as covers for bowls and plates, wrap up sandwiches for your kids, to keep your dhaniya and kadi patta sprigs in one place, and more.
Reusable bamboo kitchen roll
No spill is too much for this kitchen roll. Made using bamboo, they’re super absorbent and durable. The best part is that they’re reusable.
Each roll has 20 sheets. This may not seem like a lot at first, but each sheet itself is reusable up to 100 times, according to its creators Beco. Use it on pretty much any surface. Give them a plain rinse, wash it with or without soap, or you could just pop it in the washing machine.
Coir cleaning kit
Almitra Sustainables covers all our brush needs in this kit. It comes with five natural coconut fibre brushes you can use around the house that replace your regular plastic bristles.
Coir is durable, biodegradable and antimicrobial, making it a great pick for household cleaning. In this kit, you get a pack of 5 coir dish scrubbers, a brush you can use for laundry or on the floor, a vegetable scrub, bottle cleaner and long handle pot brush.
Fabric party bunting
Balloons may be your favourite party decorations, but they’re not only bad for the environment but fatal for animals and marine life who accidentally ingest their fragments.
We recommend opting for Bare Necessities’ eco-friendly fabric bunting banner. Each banner has 14 flags that are handsewn and easily washable. String these up for a party or when you just want to add a splash of cheer and colour to a room. We love that Bare Necessities tells you where their products are coming from. In this case, they’re made by Masood bhai.
Bamboo fibre travel mug
Bid adieu to the plastic coffee cup and hello to Waabi-Saabi’s travel mug. Made using bamboo fibre, this has a chic design that lovers of the minimalist aesthetic will love.
It’s got a spill-proof lid that will save clumsy people from themselves thanks to the heat-resistant grip. This isn’t exactly an eco-friendly home product considering it’s meant for when you’re on the move, but it’s worth an add.
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Coconut shell planters
Why throw away coconut shells when they can be recycled into home decor? That’s what Viskaa Store has done, giving them a little facelift and turning them into planters.
Add a little greenery to your WFH space with one of the desktop planters to hang them up. This set has 3 coconut shell planters you can use to bring some greenery into your home. The creators advise that if you feel the planters are losing their shine with time and use, just give them a little polish with coconut oil
Water-activated paper tape
Set aside the plastic tape and give the paper tape a try. If you’ve ever used masking tape then you know what we’re talking about.
This one, in particular, is a water-activated tape using starch-based glue. You’re going to want to first measure how much tape you need and cut that off the roll. Add a bit of water to activate the glue. You can use a brush or a mist/spray bottle, just as long as it’s not dripping wet and then slap it onto whatever package you want to seal.
Compostable garbage bags
Take this as your sign to start composting at home. These garbage bags will make food waste disposable a lot easier. You won’t really need to get down and dirty into your compost heap, you can collect your wet waste in these bags and add them to the mix.
These bags by Eco365 are 100% plastic-free and are made using corn starch and other materials that get composted within 80-180 days. They come in packs of 3 with each box including 15 compostable garbage bags.
Veggie to Fridgie shopping bag
The plastic bag ban was fantastic and much-needed. But if we’re going to be honest, it can be quite an inconvenience when the sabzi wallah runs out of paper bags for you to put your groceries in, and keep them separated.
Astu Eco’s kora cotton shopping bag comes with clip-on pouches on the inside that create a partition. They also have a drawstring which you can tie up and dump the pouches straight into the fridge. It’s aptly and pretty cutely named ‘Veggie to Fridge’.
Upcycled glass platter
There’s space in the fridge for only so many liquor bottles that are being reused for drinking water. The supply of bottles isn’t going to dwindle any time soon. So what Wonky Works does is turn them into eclectic tableware, planters and decor.
Their three bottle platter will definitely be a conversation starter the next time you have people over (and socially distanced) to your place. Whether it’s cake, cookies or just some potpourri, make this a showpiece on the centre table.
₹3,800 for a set of 3
Microwave-safe multipurpose bowls
These bowls by Green Touch really are an incredible feat of scientific engineering. Looking at them you wouldn’t believe that they’re made from agricultural by-products.
Mushing together rice husk and bamboo fibre with food-grade binders – we promise it’s a lot more legit than that, considering they meet all international health and safety standards, using FDA-approved and ROHS compliant materials and are BPA free.
They come in packs of three and you have four colours to choose from as well. Oh, and did we mention that they’re microwavable?
₹297 (pack of 3)
Incense made from recycled temple flowers
We place brightly coloured genda phool, delicate mogra and fragrant rose petals are placed at the feet of idols as symbols of love, tribute and service. Then, pretty unceremoniously, these flowers are discarded. Many of them are covered in pesticides that end up seeping into the ground, tainting our water bodies and hampering marine life.
Companies like Phool have been upcycling this flower waste from temples and turning them into aromatic incense sticks and cones. They’re hand-rolled and charcoal-free with a variety of fragrances to choose from.
Water-saving tap
What if we said one little attachment could help you save up to 95% of your water usage?
These are nifty creations by Earth Fokus that turn your water flow into mist by mixing in the air while giving the feel of a full running tap. You can retrofit one of their pieces onto the taps in your home after consulting their measurement chart.
Their pieces are built to fit onto common household taps, though we would suggest you take your measurements and go through their guides before making your purchase.