Living a more sustainable lifestyle can be an intimidating, seemingly grand task to undertake. Where do you even start? The Big Four are the basic four items you can replace with reusable alternatives. Reduce your plastic consumption, reduce your waste, save money, live better… save the planet.

1. Shopping Bags

   Reusable grocery bags are perhaps the most iconic eco-friendly choice in our communities. Groceries stores often sell them right in check-out aisles. Plus, many cities have already moved to charge per plastic bag in an effort to encourage shoppers to bring reusables. Often, friends will tell me that they’d love to bring their bags more regularly, but they just simply forget them at home. Solution: leave your grocery bags in your car. It requires you to remember to return the bags to your car upon putting away groceries, but it’s a tiny habit that can save you in the future! Take the reusable grocery bag one step further with reusable produce bags.

2. Straws

   Refusing single-use plastic straws is arguably the easiest Big Four to undertake. There is no requirement to purchase alternative reusable straws or any major lifestyle changes – just a simple “no straw, please” when you’re ordering a drink. If you’d like to replace plastic straws with reusables, I like these stainless steel ones from Amazon. For more details on The Straw Situation, listen to this episode of ECO CHIC.

3. Water Bottles

   It seems like every kitchen has a cupboard full of reusables at home, but somehow plastic water bottles are still abundant in our lives. In the United States, we are extremely fortunate to have clean, drinkable water at every faucet (outside of Flint, MI – let’s fix that, it’s been too long). Purchasing a reusable bottle you actually like will encourage you to carry it around. If you’re someone who forgets their bottle regularly, you could simply leave one in your office or backpack, never move it, and it fulfills its purpose in that space of your life.

4. Coffee Cups

   Coffee cups may be the disposable item we glaze over most frequently in society. There is something effortless about a mid-day Starbucks run that does not quite register as environmentally impactful… until it’s time to throw the cup in a trash can. Beyond reducing your waste, you’ll probably save money: many coffee shops will give discounts for bringing your own cup. If you are someone who wishes they had a reusable mug upon their coffee shop order, consider a lightweight plastic cup to live in your backpack or office. While drinking out of plastic is not super desirable, consider that disposable to-go cups are also lined in plastic to prevent leakage. This makes disposable cups non-recyclable in most cities. Starbucks has great $2 mugs are most registers.

Combatting The Big Four seems to be generally an issue of being prepared. Invest in some cute reusables, and leave them wherever you think they’ll be needed. Avoiding single-use items is only a challenge if you make it one.