If you’re looking for a few new ways to make your life and your household a little greener and gentler on the planet, we found four issues and their product solutions to help.
Laundry Filters for Micro-plastics
Did you know that your laundry is potentially polluting the oceans and water supply with microplastics? Washing clothes made of polyester, nylon, lycra or any other petroleum based fiber causes shedding of tiny fragments called microplastics. Microplastics have been found in nearly every human urine sample, in our deepest oceans and even on Mount Everest. Plastics are endocrine disrupters and can harm not only our health but the health of our food supply.
There are filters that can be attached to your washing machines such as Girlfriend Collective Microfiber filter or Lint LUV-R Filter. These both work well, but need installation along with enough free space around your machine.
We found two easier alternatives that can be used during the wash in your machine to capture the fibers there.
Coraball ~ About the size of a grapefruit, just toss Cora Ball into your washer and do launrdy as normal. Cora Ball will protect the whole load, even natural fibers like cotton that are dyed and treated with chemicals during production. Don’t use with delicates or anything with lace, tassels, chunky or wide-knit, crocheted sections, or fraying threads. The stalks on the Cora Ball might catch these delicate items and potentially cause damage. $42, $115 for 3. Will last about 5 years, most folks can use just one, but large loads can use up to 3. Cleaned like a hairbrush.
Guppyfriend laundry bag – toss your synthetic fiber based clothes in the bag or bags and wash! The broken fibers collect in the corners of the washing bag after washing and can be easily removed and disposed of. (The bag needs to be cleaned each time as it collects the fibers). Easy to use and can be found at REI or Nordstrom. BONUS ~ if you don’t want to, no need to separate your synthetics from natural fibers, as washing in the Guppyfriend significantly reduces fiber breakage and thus protects all of your clothes from wear and tear.
Local Composting Service
The EPA estimates that more food reaches landfills than any other single material in our everyday trash, constituting 24 percent of municipal solid waste. Decomposing organic waste in landfills emits methane which is one of the most dangerous greenhouse gasses. Your food scraps can be easily recycled into compost that enriches the environment and your garden.
Crown Town Composting – Charlotte’s local curbside food scrap service. For $35/month you get your food scraps, including meat products, picked up every other week. You get a bin to use in your house and a larger one to keep outside and put at your curb. And you get bags of finished compost in the growing season.
Food Cyclers
Food cyclers are small machines (about a cubic foot) that you can keep in your garage or kitchen (the nice ones). Food scraps go in a small bin and are dehydrated and ground up to be used as compost in your yard or garden. The capacity is about a day’s worth of food scraps, peels and cores and takes several hours to cycle through.
- Lomi by Pela Earth – Billed as the world’s first Smart Waste Kitchen Composter, you can turn food waste into compost with a single button. The top rated machine with multiple cycles, can be used on the kitchen countertop, but also the most pricey at about $500 and have to order online.
- Vitamix FoodCycler – Easy to use and available at Williams Sonoma in Charlotte. Cuts down volume of food waste by up to 90%, works for most table and refrigerator scraps including chicken bones. Flexible regarding home placement ~ anywhere with power.
Zero Waste Charlotte Refill Shops
Most of our single use plastics – think shampoo and beauty care, cleaning, laundry and dishwasher bottles – are not recyclable and either end up in landfills or incinerated. There are some easy ways to reduce our use of these products ~ you can buy in bulk of course, or also try solid bars for shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, shaving, moisturizing, etc. Or you can head to a local refill shop to bring or buy a reusable bottle and pay by the ounce for these items. Here are two Charlotte Refill Shops:
- Ekological Local, female owned business with locations in Camp North End and Matthews as well as various pop-up locations and even will deliver to your door. Offers many refill options and other sustainable and zero wasted items.
- Good Earth Essentials Located in Southend this zero waste shop offers refill for many beauty and household products as well as a nice selection of other items that can green up your home.Â
Bag the “Zip loc” Bags
Plastic bags are made of petroleum and pollute our environment from their raw material extraction to their end of life. We all know to bring our own bags to the store – but maybe it’s time for your fam to give up the baggies.
Try Stasher Bags and Bowls, re-usable, food-grade silicone “zip loc” bags which can be tossed in the dishwasher, freezer or microwave and won’t leach harmful chemicals into your food. You can pick them up at in major retailers or online. Sizes available for Sandwich, Snack, Quart, Half-Gallon, Bowls, Stand-up, Pocket and more.
