Skip to content

When A Teen Goes Green

About an eco-positive lifestyle

Menu
  • Home
    • What is an eco-positive lifestyle?
    • New? Start here!
  • How to guides
  • Reducing negative impact
    • Veganism
    • Minimalism
    • Zero Waste
    • Sustainable Traveling
    • Sustainable and Fair Fashion
    • Intersectional Feminism
    • Circular Economy
    • The 9 Planetary Boundaries
  • Increasing positive impact
  • Inspiration
    • Recipes
    • Hotspots
    • Organizations and apps
    • Books, documentaries, films, series and podcasts
    • Books, Films and Series List
  • Personal
    • My Ideal World
    • About me and this blog
Menu
5 things I no longer buy

5 things I no longer buy

Posted on October 12, 2020September 28, 2022

A lot of people think a sustainable lifestyle is expensive. My experience is that this is not true. The most sustainable option is usually the option to not do something. To not buy something new, to not eat animal products and to not travel. And so today I want to highlight some things I no longer buy for the sake of sustainability. And they all save me money too! Here are 5 things I no longer buy.

Replacements

Today I chose to share items that I no longer bought because I replaced them with something more sustainable. There are of course many other things I no longer buy but which I don’t replace with anything. Like flight tickets. So the focus is on replacement today. These are all items I don’t purchase any longer but that I have replaced with something else. Here are 5 things I no longer buy:

Tampons (or sanitary pads)

Years ago, I switched from single-use tampons to a reusable cup. This is a silicone cup you can wash after use and therefore can use again. This makes the cup very sustainable. This means I never have to buy any tampons or sanitary pads every again. A tampon can be used for 8 hours, so about 3 each day. Let’s say that a period lasts 7 days, each months. That is 3x7x12 for an entire year, 252 tampons each year! Let’s say a person has a period for 35 years, from age 15 till 50. 35×252, that’s 8820 tampons for one person (bear in mind, we have about 3.6 billion people with a uterus on this planet).

Let’s say you buy Yoni tampons (which I would recommend, if you use tampons). If you buy Yoni, that would make 4,21 euros for 16 pieces. That is 2.320 euros in a lifetime! I personally don’t do it for the money, but it is a nice thought.

Hair ties

Another thing I haven’t bought in years. Hair ties! I still use them though. But I pick them up from the streets! It sounds weird haha, but look around, they’re everywhere. They’re just lying there, so I don’t need to buy those new. I pick them up, put them in the pockets of my pants which I wash and so they wash along. Afterwards they’re as new! Hair ties don’t cost much new, but I am happy I can reuse the ones that other people have lost.

Books

I never buy books. And I don’t have any books stored in my house either. I think it’s a waste effort and space. Once I’ve read them I have all the information and stories in my head. I lend books at the local book library. This way I share all the books with all the other people who are a member too. That’s what a circular economy looks like. If I want to check something or do want to read a book again, I’ll just lend it again.

I find it quite selfish to keep a book for yourself after you’ve read it. You’re depriving other people of that book. A library membership costs me 4,50 euros each month and I can lend endlessly in that period. I could read 30 books a month if I wanted, one a day. Well, I can tell you that you can’t read 30 new books for 4,50 euros. Not even one. And besides, it’s a waste to buy something new if you don’t need to. All the emissions and waste that comes with the progress.

Tissues

Something I switched years ago, is single-use tissues for reusable handkerchiefs. A reusable handkerchief is something you wash along with your clothes and then you can use it again. Endlessly if you ask me! I have the handkerchiefs from my grandma’s aunt still! Buying tissues is just a waste of resources and money. All that paper, all those trees we cut just to make tissues. It’s ridiculous. And the plastic in which they’re stored too, made out of oil and they will never degrade. We just don’t need to use the resources.

Plastic or aluminium foil

The last thing from the 5 things I no longer buy: plastic or aluminium foil. I never buy them! We use bees wraps these days. We got them gifted, but right now there are also vegan options available. Vegan bees wraps! I can really recommend them! The wraps are just as easy in use as plastic or aluminium foil, but the only difference is that you use them again. After use, you brush them gently with cold water and you can use them again. It’s a one-time purchase of about 23 euros for 3 wraps, but you never have to buy any kind of foil. A pack of aluminium foil costs about 1,70 euros. That is not much, but in a lifetime I think the costs can get high. All money you can then use for different purposes. To buy organic food for example!

These were 5 things I no longer buy! What do you think?

Yours sincerely,
Romee

1 thought on “5 things I no longer buy”

  1. Pingback: 5 things I don't buy | When A Teen Goes Green

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search for anything

Want to get an update every time I post something?

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 268 other subscribers.

ABOUT ME

 

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

Here’s what I posted most recently

  • Femicide
  • Vegan food diary for a week – March 2023
  • Are charities the solution to our problems?
  • Documentary: Disclosure
  • Vegan restaurants in London

Translate this site

Follow me on Instagram

Eén van mijn favoriete vegan snacks, bij de Lidl tijdens de Griekse week 🇬🇷. Op dit moment is plantaardig eten nog niet de norm in Nederland, helaas. Daarom hebben veel mensen dan ook geen idee wat veganisten eten. Om die reden heb ik de afgelopen week weer eens een eetdagboek bijgehouden, want wat eet ik nou als veganist gedurende de week? Je leest het nu in mijn vegan food diary via de link in mijn bio 🥭. #plantaardig #veganfood #dagboek Verpakkingsvrij wasmiddel kopen, dat hoeft niet moeilijk te zijn! In deze reel laat ik je zien hoe ik dat doe 🧺. Volg mijn account voor meer duurzame tips. Elke maand doneer ik ongeveer 7% van mijn inkomen aan goede doelen, omdat ik dat zie als enorm belangrijk en het juiste ding om te doen 💸. Maar daarmee komt de vraag op: geloof ik dat goede doelen het antwoord zijn op alle grote problemen van onze tijd? Oftewel: is geld doneren de oplossing? Over die vraag én het antwoord schreef ik een uitgebreid artikel die vandaag online staat, de link vind je in mijn bio. #goeddoel #doneren #blog Vegan pizza tonno, hmmmm. Dacht je dat vegans geen tonijnpizza kunnen eten? Think again! 🐟 Een hele tijd geleden schreef ik een artikel over e-mail activisme: een vorm van activisme die je thuis op de bank kan doen. Vandaag deel ik graag een geslaagd voorbeeld daarvan met jullie ✨. Vandaag staat er een documentaire-tip op mijn blog. Disclosure, een documentaire over de representatie van transgender personen in de media 📽. Echt een must-see, want wat wij hebben als cis-gender personen nog een hoop te leren. Lees meer over de documentaire via de link in mijn bio. #disclosure #documentaire #transgender Vandaag deel 2 van de vegan hotspots in Londen 🧆. Wat heb ik lekker gegeten daar, niet te doen! Bubala was mijn absolute favoriet, dus als je iets moet kiezen, kies Bubala. Vorige week verscheen er een artikel over treinreizen naar Londen op mijn blog. Aanvullend daarop verscheen er vandaag een artikel over een ander aspect van duurzaam reizen: het eten. Lees nu het artikel met mijn favoriete veganistische restaurants in Londen nu via de link in mijn bio 🌮. #veganfood #veganlondon #veganrestaurants

Read my latest posts

  • Femicide
  • Vegan food diary for a week – March 2023
  • Are charities the solution to our problems?
  • Documentary: Disclosure
  • Vegan restaurants in London

Subscribe by e-mail

©2023 When A Teen Goes Green | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes.com