Eco-Friendly

Our family is moving to the next phase in doing our part to save the planet. Even if that means a little blood will be shed.

Six weeks ago, DW and I picked up our new hybrid automobile. While it's not a fully electric vehicle, it is much more fuel-efficient than any of our previous vehicles and can run about 800 kilometres or so on a single (45 L) tank of gas. And while we drove it a lot in the first week after picking it up (our CR-V was essentially left sitting in the driveway), we went more than four weeks between fillups on our second tank.

(Of course, being in self-isolation played a major role.)

After four weeks on a single tank: just under a quarter of a tank left and 121 km until empty.

When we initially ran the numbers, we'd calculated that we'll save at least $60 each month^* in fuel fillups.

Before we bought the car, we had begun reducing the amount of plastic that we've been bringing into the house. When we shop for ingredients at Bulk Barn, we bring our own plastic containers^*. At stores, we refused plastic bags. And for some products, we've stopped buying some things that come in plastic bottles. DW has bought bars of shampoo and conditioner, and we're finding that it takes so little to lather up. Instead of deodorants in plastic tubes, we have bars that seem to last longer. DW even bought glass bottles of powdered toothpaste.

Though I've always used bars of soap in the shower, DW recently gave up plastic bottles of body wash to do the same.

We used to use disposable razors, but recently both DW and I have made the shift to safety razors. This weekend, I even acquired a barber-grade brush and a tin of shaving cream. In the past, I would shave in the shower, using a bar of soap to lather my face and then using the disposable razors to remove stubble.

It's a new way to shave, for me. After my shower, I fill the sink with hot water and use my new equipment. The shave is slower-going but I get a much-closer shave. Maybe, too close: I haven't bled this much while shaving since before I had two moles removed from my face. (That's another story. Perhaps not.)

It's a small price to pay for reducing the amount of waste that plastic creates.

How about you? Have you moved away from plastic? Have you left your gas-guzzling vehicles behind? What steps have you taken to become more eco-friendly?


^*Pre-COVID living practices.