Hello hello! How are you?

As a follow-up of the talks this past week in Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon, I’m posting the main points of the habits and behaviours for adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle.

Recycling is a great place to start, but a bad place to stop!

Do you remember about the Rs we all learned about in school? Reduce, Recycle and Reuse? Well, nowadays they are more than just three. Bea Johnson talks about five, but let’s add three more.

Refuse - what we do not need

Reduce - using less of what we need

Reuse - using reusable materials instead of disposable ones and increasing the life of the product (upcycling)

Repair - what's repairable, instead of buying new products

Recycle - what you cannot reduce, reuse or repair and increasing the life of materials

Reeducating - sharing discoveries and experiences can guide others and improve ourselves

Rethinking - our choices and behaviors

Rot - compost

A good exercise can be to try to find out our own Ecological Footprint and try to find where can we reduce it. Just go to WWF Footprint and check it out!

Next I’ll list some habits and behaviours that we can adopt on a daily basis, in the kitchen and on our household cleaning and personal care.

ON A DAILY BASIS:

• Reusable Bottle
• Reusable cup / thermo
• Reusable bags
• Fabric napkin
• Say NO to disposable
• Opt for recycled paper
• Buy 2nd hand, recycle clothes with donations and exchanges
• Consider natural fibers: organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and corn

IN THE KITCHEN:

• Opt for fresh and unprocessed food
• Buy in bulk
• Buy local
• Buy organic
• Reduce meat consumption
• Use durable and reusable alternatives: utensils, sponges, cloths, adhering film and aluminum foil
• Cooking more often

HOUSEHOLD CLEANING AND PERSONAL CARE:

• DIY, Eco and/or Refill products
• Say NO to disposable
• Use ecological alternatives: bamboo or paper swabs, bamboo toothbrush, menstrual cup, cleansing disks, etc.
• Recycled toilet paper
• Cloth handkerchiefs

Here you go! Leave a comment if you have any question regarding the subject or any specific point on the list.

We do not need to start this transition all at once. Set up timings if you want, do one thing per week or a list of things per week to adjust.

Also, I emphasize again, do not throw your stuff away if they are usable! Even if it's plastic! The important thing is to increase the life of the products, so that no more garbage is produced.

Have a nice week! ;)