Coexistence
at home

There’s no doubt that climate change is a huge issue, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is critical if we are to keep temperatures from rising beyond the 2 degree Celsius target set out in the Paris Agreement. However the fastest way to achieve that goal is through a full-scale transformation of our energy system and that needs to be led by governments and multinational corporations. The purpose of this website is not to lecture individuals on how to reduce their carbon footprint, we actually believe the biggest impact an individual can have is by taking a stand.

Coexistence is about living in harmony with the natural world. And that’s how the suggestions that follow will be framed, not through the narrow prism of reducing our carbon footprint, but with the goal of living more sustainably, wasting less, and reducing our impact on the planet and the species we share it with. After all, think about your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and all of those yet to take their first steps on this planet. Don’t they deserve the same opportunities we have had? We’ll also discuss the ways in which these suggestions are beneficial to you, and the ways they might be able to save you a bit of money.

There are so many things we can all do at home to live a little more sustainably. However, it can be overwhelming when presented with a huge list of actions you can take. The purpose of this section of the website is to provide you with some options - take up as many or as few as you can, it all makes a difference!

Not every action is equal, some are easy, and some take a little more work. We only share ideas that when know are effective, and where possible will save you money. Unfortunately though, the currently reality is that eco-friendly alternatives are often more expensive than their mainstream counterparts, although this could well change in the future because the only reason that they are cheaper is that their environmental impact is not factored into the cost of production. We’ll do our best to explain all this as we go too, as well as ensuring that health and hygiene are paramount in all our recommendations.

We’ve come up with a little table that we think helps explain how easy or hard it is to take an action around the house that is a little more environmentally friendly. The two major factors we look at when providing an eco-friendly alternative are price and the adjustment period, so is it costlier, the same price, or cheaper than the mainstream option, and how long will it take to get used to using the alternative, is it easy to adjust or will it take a while.

Depending on the answers to those questions, we have broadly four categories of sustainable swaps:

No brainers - these products cost about the same or less than their mainstream counterparts and it is easy to get used to using them so should be the first category of swaps you pursue so you can rack up a few successes before tackling the harder ones. Kitchen cloths are a good example of a no brainer swap. Eco cloths cost marginally more than standard cloths but can be much more durable, and they are no different to using a standard cloth. Plus you are getting a cloth that is made with natural materials, rather than synthetic fibres and / or industrial chemicals.

Worth the investment - something in this category costs a bit more than their mainstream counterparts but is a pretty easy swap to make. So if using eco-friendly products is important to you and you don’t mind paying a little bit more then these swaps are worth it. Toilet roll is a great example of a swap that is worth the investment. Buying toilet roll made from recycled paper or bamboo is a bit more expensive than buying standard toilet roll from the supermarket, but if you can afford to then you can wipe away safe in the knowledge that no trees were cut down to produce your toilet paper and you may even have avoided the plastic wrapping so many brands come in that goes straight to landfill.

Give it time - these products cost about the same or less than their mainstream counterparts, but they can take a bit of getting used to. So if using eco-friendly products is important to you but you need to watch your finances (which let’s face it is most of us at the moment) and don’t mind putting a bit of effort in then these swaps could be tackled once you’ve ticked off the no brainers. Reusable makeup remover pads fit into this category - assuming you reuse them enough times, they will work out cheaper than buying disposable cotton pads but you do have to put them through the washing machine and dry them before you can use them again, so there is an adjustment period but you are reducing what you send to landfill and saving cotton.

Leave till last - on the fact of it, you shouldn’t make these swaps at all. But that’s because our two major considerations are price and the adjustment period, and these alternatives will cost you more and require you to adopt some level of change to use them. We still think they are worth it because they will reduce your overall impact on the environment and that’s why we say you should leave them until last to take on. A lot of the bathroom bar products fall into this category. Shampoo, conditioner, soap, moisturiser and deodorant bars are all wonderful swaps to make because they remove all the nasty chemicals we put on our body as well as all the plastic bottles their mainstream counterparts come in, but they do tend to be more expensive and take a bit of getting used to. But with a little perseverance we’re confident you’ll come to love them, along with everything else that falls into this category.

The following pages in this section take you room-by-room around the house and talk you through how you can live a little more sustainably in each. Please read on and if you have any comments or suggestions don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.