It's a bit cliche to say that we only have one planet so we may as well treat it well, but it's true! Every little thing a person does has an impact on their environment and the world. One way anyone can try to lower their negative impact on the earth is to switch to using all-natural products or products that are packaged in a sustainable way. Below are some of the best examples of household items that are used daily that can be replaced with a more earth-friendly alternative.

Toothpaste

There are a couple of reasons why switching to a more natural toothpaste can help yourself and the planet. Firstly, a truly natural toothpaste will only be made with natural ingredients- which means no added chemicals. Using toothpaste with extra chemicals in it can actually be better for your teeth. After all, if a chemical goes into your mouth, it can easily find its way elsewhere in your body. 

Natural kinds of toothpaste are also sometimes sustainably packaged. Dry types of toothpaste are now being made. Instead of squeezing toothpaste out of a tube, the toothpaste is in a dried pellet that looks similar to a mint. People then bite one of these. A person's saliva makes the toothpaste foam up and works just like normal toothpaste. Better yet, these toothpaste pellets can be stored/sold in glass jars which can be recycled or repurposed, unlike the average toothpaste tube.

Laundry Soap

Have you ever tried using organic laundry detergents? In this sense of the word, organic means that the laundry detergent doesn't use any nonessential chemicals. Most store-bought laundry detergents include surfactants, phosphates, and carcinogens. All of these things can damage skin, especially if you have sensitive skin. Organic soap, on the other hand, is usually much more gentle on the skin than the average superstore detergent.

Just like the average laundry soap, you can buy organic laundry detergent in many forms. These include pods, powder, liquid, and sheets. As a bonus, some of these soaps come in recyclable or biodegradable packaging. As of late, glass bottles and paper/box packaging has become more popular. Using these is much better than using plastic bottles. However, if you are going to use plastic bottles, make sure to rinse them out and recycle them if you can!

Paper Cleaning Products

Paper products are used for so much nowadays- toilet paper, napkins, paper towels, you name it! There's no chance of these items being replaced by harmful plastic products. However, traditional paper products made from trees can be replaced by paper products that are made from bamboo.

One of the reasons why bamboo makes a good replacement for wood-based paper products is because bamboo grows much faster than trees. The average bamboo plant will grow over two feet a day! If it is cut regularly, it can grow even faster! When used in paper products, the bamboo replacement might look a little weak from afar, but it is a strong material that can pick up any mess that a tree-based paper product could.

If you do not want to, or cannot, switch to bamboo-based paper products, then you can still help the environment by buying paper products that are not sold as being wrapped in plastic. The flimsy plastic is often difficult to recycle and cannot be reused easily in the home. Instead, try to buy paper products that are sold in boxes or similar recyclable or biodegradable packaging.

Conclusion 

Little actions can add up to make a big difference. By switching out the products that you use on an everyday basis with more natural and sustainable items, you can improve your environment, and sometimes your health too! Try to do these little replacements and encourage your friends and family members to do the same. After all, one person making small changes makes a tiny difference, but a community making small changes makes a huge difference!