While Earth Day is a great reminder about taking a look at how your habits impact the environment, we're more interested in the long game. How can you introduce "going green" into your every day so that it becomes second nature?
Luckily, eco-consciousness is quickly becoming the new standard, and big companies, brands, and makers alike are taking note and making products more sustainable and innovative for more seamlessly green lifestyles. In case you need a little inspiration, here are a few of our favorite eco-friendly products and brands!
JOCO Cups
It's an understatement to say that coffee and tea are a huge part of most people's morning routine. Whether you have a cup in your hand when you wake up, on the drive or train ride to work, at your desk, or all of the above, that steaming beverage has to be held in something. Enter JOCO cups, one of (if not THE) favorite here at Neighborly for ditching the paper cup and switching to glass. The beauty of these reusable coffee cups isn't just their sustainability either, the borosilicate glass doesn't negatively effect the flavor of your complex cup of coffee the way paper and styrofoam to-go cups do.
Check out JOCO cups here, and learn more about their impact and materials.
Baggu
We've been Baggu converts for quite some time now, but Chicago's bag tax and plastic bag bans across the country have made these reusable nylon grocery totes a total (and welcome) necessity and replacement to the unlovable plastic bag. Baggu's totes are made from ripstop nylon and can carry 2-3 times the weight of a normal grocery bag (read: no ripped bags and spilt milk!). On a personal note, we can say they've been tried and tested to hold the ingredients for a Thanksgiving meal, no problem. See ya, plastic... we're going green.
Check out Baggu's reusable totes and more here.
Modern Sprout
City living often means close quarters and lack of personal green space, making cultivating a green thumb and/or a garden a bit of a predicament. Chicago-based Modern Sprout has cracked the code with their apartment and eco-friendly garden jars. They use non-GMO and/or organic seeds for their herbs and flowers, but the best feature of these self-watering planters is their eco-consciousness. These hydroponic planters allow the plants to grow using a wicking system instead of soil, pulling water up through threads (or wicks) to water the plant as needed. Not only do these planters save water by only using as much as the plant needs, they save the plant from any over or under-watering habits!
Shop Modern Sprout's garden jars and more here.
Dittohouse
We're suckers for a modern, graphic pattern AND soft, cozy textiles. Enter Dittohouse, the moniker of Molly Fitzpatrick's textile design company. While Molly's designs and patterns cater to our thirst for modern design, a huge plus to her products are the fibers she's chosen to craft them. Molly utilizes recycled yarn "from pre- and post-consumer textile waste". Along with a whole other slew of other benefits, recycled yarn is sorted by color and respun, resulting in no need to re-dye the yarn, saving water and avoiding chemicals from the dyeing process. Molly's focus on sustainability has us feeling as warm and cozy as her throws and pillows!
Check out Dittohouse's throws and pillows, and read more about her sustainable fibers here.