- Unique New York.
The arsonist had oddly shaped feet.
- [Director] Yep, we're rolling.
- Oh, okay, great.
Today on the Edgy Veg, we are going to talk
about sustainable swaps so that you and you
and you and you and you can be more eco-friendly.
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Earth Day is just around the corner.
It is April 22nd, and I haven't really
put out a lot of things for Earth Day
which is kind of crazy because it's one
of my favorite recognized special event days
because I'm a stickler for keeping thing green,
at least, I'm trying to.
I'm that annoying person that will go through the garbage
at my house when I have people over,
and make sure that all the recycling is actually
in the recycling bin.
I'm that person.
Swap number one is getting rid of your Saran Wrap
and your aluminum foil and switching
for these reusable food wraps.
These ones are by Wrappa.
This is just this piece of cloth.
You can just use this the exact same way
that you would use normal cling wrap.
The way that it works is this is wax,
and you just use the heat of your hands to make it stick.
Let's say this is a cut in half avocado.
All you have to do is just wrap this like this,
and put it in your fridge, and then two hours later,
when you want to finish that avocado toast,
just unwrap it.
This works amazing over bowls, to wrap your sandwiches,
cereal, no one saves half-eaten cereal.
I've completely replaced buying cling wrap with these guys.
You can buy them in different shapes,
different sizes, really cute designs.
They're super affordable, and they're handmade,
so go out and buy them.
Swap number two is swap your plastic water bottles
with a reusable water bottle.
I like the stainless steel ones because they work
like thermos; they keep hot things hot and cold things cold.
I keep this guy in my backpack, in my purse, in my gym bag.
If I'm catching a flight, I can just
fill this up in the bathroom.
If I'm at a fast food joint, I can just ask the guy
behind the cashier to fill this up for me.
I never leave the house without this.
Did you know that there's a 280,000% markup
on bottled water versus tap water?
And you know what?
It's the exact same water.
Swap number three is stop using paper coffee cups.
Guys, those things do not recycle.
They have a wax and plastic coating on the inside.
Inside, I have this reusable KeepCup which is so cute.
You can get them in all different shapes
and sizes and different colors.
You can even get glass ones and cork ones.
I love this one because it's plastic,
so I can keep it in my backpack so I always have it with me.
And if I drop it, which I will, it doesn't break.
And, at the end of its life cycle, you can recycle this.
Swap number four is stop using
plastic straws and replace them.
I switched to reusable straws after I saw a video
of a tortoise having a vet doctor person pulling
a plastic straw out of its nostrils,
and it was the most horrifying thing I've ever seen.
Stop using plastic straws, and replace them
with either a glass alternative like I have here
or a bamboo or a stainless steel.
I prefer glass because I like the mouthfeel of the glass.
If you're worried about cleaning them,
they come with this little pipe cleaner cleany doohickey,
and you just go in, and clean it out.
I have six of them.
I keep one in my gym bag, I keep one in my purse,
I keep one in my backpack, I keep a bunch at home.
We love it for drinking smoothies in the morning.
When I'm on the go, I just ask the waiter or waitress
or bartender when I'm out to please not give me a straw.
Then, I can just pull this guy out of my bag
or just drink without a straw because you're not a baby.
You don't actually need a straw.
You can also encourage your favorite bar, your favorite cafe
to swap to paper straws.
They're super trendy, and they biodegrade.
Step number five is refuse plastic cutlery
and paper napkins when you order takeout.
I even refuse wooden chopsticks at this point.
Just say, "No thank you."
No cutlery, no napkins, and no bag
when they deliver or when you're picking it up.
I've found that this industry is super, super wasteful.
Every time I was ordering takeout, I would end up
with six plastic forks and a stack of napkins,
and it's just unnecessary.
I have forks at home, so I'm not going to use them,
so they were going directly in the recycling.
If you take nothing else from this video,
I want you to stop using plastic grocery bags.
I have this little pouch.
I keep it in my purse at all times.
It carries two reusable shopping bags.
Plastic shopping bags are one of the most wasteful things.
You cannot recycle them unless you bring them
to a grocery store, and who's doing that anyway?
There are mountains, floating islands in the ocean
that are just plastic and plastic grocery bags.
Stop accepting plastic bags, please, I beg of you.
The environment begs of you, stop doing it.
Be smarter!
Step number seven is replace single use tea bags
with one of these, a tea strainer or a tea ball.
This is something I just did recently.
I noticed about a month ago that a lot of the tea
that I was buying was coming
in individually packaged little tea bags
which, a) is super wasteful, and also, a lot of it
was plastic, or the little doodad on the end
was plastic and not paper, why?
Use bar soap which often comes naked
at your local health food store, and it's super cheap.
Look at the difference in packaging here.
Some people also suggest replacing your shampoo
and conditioner with a bar version
of shampoo and conditioner.
I've tried that, it doesn't work for me,
but I can definitely commit to replacing my hand soap,
my body wash, and any other soap that I'm using
on any other place on my body.
Step number nine is use cloth napkins instead of paper,
use handkerchiefs instead of Kleenex,
and microfiber towels instead of paper towel.
James actually hates napkins,
so we've always had cloth napkins at home.
All you have to do is just come home and throw it
in the laundry and wash it with everything else.
There's just something really regal
about using actual cloth products instead of paper ones.
They'll keep you waste-free
while saving the world at the same time.
Step number 10 is to swap out your parchment paper
for silicone baking mats.
My nose is itchy.
These guys are amazing.
They just go over your baking sheet
exactly like parchment paper would,
and then you can bake anything you want on it.
You can roast vegetables, you can bake cookies,
and it helps cut down on the oil
because you're not worried about it sticking
to the bottom of the pan.
Step number 11 is re-use old t-shirts and socks
to make rags for cleaning your house.
This is the thing I learned from my mom.
She always did this.
She reused our underwear and our socks
to clean the toilets in our house, to clean the floor,
anything that she didn't want
to reuse her microfiber rags for.
Step number 12 is make
your own at-home cleaning products.
All you need is a little bit of vinegar, baking soda,
lemon, and essential oils, and a spray bottle.
You can clean your bathtub,
literally anything in your house.
Sanitize your counters.
Some essential oils are antibacterial.
Some are just really nice for scent.
One of the great things about making
your own cleaning products is that it uses minimal waste,
you're just reusing the same package every single time,
it's natural so you don't have a bunch of chemicals
in your house which is great if you have pets.
My dogs lick the sofa, they lick the floor,
they lick the bathtub.
Really great for kids, too, if you have any kids
licking the floor or the wall.
- The snozberries taste like snozberries.
- If you're interested in making your own,
I have some recipes on my website.
I will leave a link in the description box below.
Step number 13 is buy things in bulk.
I love this.
I've been doing it a lot more lately.
I buy a lot of dry goods, and they're always
in way too much packaging or some sort of bag.
This is just an old container that I reused,
you can still see the label there,
to put flaxseed in.
You can go to places like Bulk Barn
or there's a lot of co-ops, we have one in Toronto,
where you can buy things in bulk.
You can bring your own containers.
I highly recommend it, you can save money.
Who doesn't like that?
Step number, I don't know what, what step are we on?
Step number 14 is clean your laundry.
I use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets,
and these guys are supposed to hasten your drying time,
fluff up your laundry, and also reduce static.
They definitely fluffen up your laundry and reduce static,
but I don't find that they hasten drying time.
I don't know what study they conducted,
but it seemed to be about the same for me.
They almost act like a ping pong situation in your dryer.
You can buy them in a bunch of different places:
home stores, Amazon.
Ladies, give up your pads and tampons.
They're not doing you and good,
and they are not doing the environment any good.
Did you know that a woman uses over 240 tampons a year?
Think about over a lifetime, that's ridiculous.
I have switched to a Diva Cup and period underpants.
Both these things are amazing.
You can reuse these over and over and over again,
sanitize it, and you just pop it up.
These are incredible.
They've changed my life.
These ones are Thinx.
My period has never been easier.
Step number 16 is try to buy
second hand items as much as you can.
I love to buy second hand clothing, jewelry, home decor.
It's so much cheaper, and it's so much less wasteful.
I found this cute shrug thing.
It cost me $15.
These guys were $1 each.
You can find the most unique jewelry,
necklaces, and costume pieces.
Fast fashion is one of the leading pollutants
on this planet, plus, then you're not wearing
the same thing that everybody else has.
Swap number 17 is compost, compost, compost.
If you do nothing else other than the plastic bags,
also compost.
Go to your municipality website,
and find out how you can compost.
It's one of the best things to create natural fertilizer,
new soil, it's good for you, it's good for the environment.
It's one of the easiest things that you can do.
You have to eat five times a day, so why not compost?
Recycle, and don't just recycle,
but rinse your recycling, and recycle properly.
Did you know that a huge amount of recycling
actually ends up in the garbage because it's contaminated?
If you do not rinse out those yogurt containers
or salsa containers, they actually can't recycle it.
It actually contaminates all of the other
recyclable materials in that bag or in that recycling.
If you're not recycling, it's 2018.
What the hell is wrong with you?
Step number 19 is reuse single-use items
as much as possible.
I like to save twist-ties, elastic bands from my vegetables,
funny little containers, bottles.
I will even reuse bread bags.
You can wrap sandwiches in it.
You can reuse this multiple times
so that we stop getting used to this
single-use plastic economy that we're living in.
Step number 20 is only buy what you need.
This is so important.
Buy less stuff.
We don't need that much stuff.
We don't need to re-buy a new wardrobe every single season,
or a new cord because you lost yours.
Maybe spent a little more time looking for that cord.
What James and I like to do is sell things
and buy things on Facebook Marketplace.
As much as we can keep reusing each others' things,
the better to stop them from ending up in a landfill.
Really think about the purchases that you're making.
Buy consciously.
I'm not saying you have to go out
and buy all these eco-friendly products.
Just don't buy crap that you don't need.
And if you don't buy crap that you don't need,
and I don't buy crap that I don't need,
there's less stuff ending up in landfills,
and then the turtles won't have straws stuck up their nose.
There you go.
Alright, guys, there you have it.
Twenty easy, sustainable swaps
so that you can be more eco-friendly.
Like I said, all these things are super cheap
and easy to do.
I'm not asking you to go out
and buy hemp clothing using natural dye.
No, I'm just asking you to get yourself a water bottle,
and stop buying plastic.
If you like this video,
make sure to give it a big thumbs up.
If you have any sustainable swaps that I didn't think of,
please leave them in the description box below.
And as always, thank you to our Patreon Supporters
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I hope you enjoyed this video,
and I'll see you guys next time.
Bye!
The human torch was denied a bank loan.