recyclediy

Coffee cups
You can drink coffee from an espresso machine or make a cup of filter coffee. But when you are addicted to the taste of the cups here are other ideas.

Buy reusable coffee capsules at Coffeeduck or Nespresso
You can open it with a cover and fill it yourself with ground beans.

Peeze sell cups, which are 100% compostable so you can throw them away with the green waste after use! Peeze.nl

Chopsticks
Choose composite chopsticks. These will last for a long time. From chopstore

Try and make your own chopsticks from wood. You will not throw away these ones!

Disposable shaving razors
Buy an electrical razor. Spend a little more money on better shaving equipment that lasts longer.

Soap
Most damaging is the packaging of mostly liquid soap and there are a lot of chemicals in there.
Buy a loose bar of soap with natural ingredients. For example from the brands herbelle or himalaya.

Anti bacterial soap like Dettol and Unicura can have an effect on the immune system of children.
You get fewer (good) bacteria, which is normally the case and increases you resistance.
Get ecological soap from example the website BigGreenSmile and brands like Ecover, Method or Lavera.

Toothpaste
To buy:
Natural toothpaste from brands like: Earthpaste, LEBON

Do it yourself:
Coconut oil: coconut oil is antibacterial and therefore kills unwanted intruders in the mouth.
You can use coconut oil on it’s own, but you can also mix it with bicarbonate (helps with keeping the teeth white) and essential oil.

Bicarbonate:
Mix 1 part coconut oil with 1 part bicarbonate (eg. 1 tablespoon).
Add a few drops of essential oil such as peppermint, spearmint or clove and stir it together.
Store the toothpaste in a glass jar with lid or divide into smaller jars and keep the rest in a cool place.
To brush you put a little bit of coconut oil paste on the toothbrush and brush as usual.

Natural toothpaste:
You need 2 lemons, ½ tbsp. cinnamon powder, ½ tbsp. bicarbonate, 1 ½ tsp manuka honey, 250 ml of warm water, glass bottle with a well filling lid.
Squeeze the lemons and put the juice together with the cinnamon, bicarbonate and honey in a bottle.
Add the warm water and shake well. The warm water causes the honey to dissolve. Take 1-2 tbsp. of mouthwash and rinse for a minute.

Sunscreen
The ingredient that is damaging for the coral reefs in sunscreen is oxybenzone. Buy sunscreen without this ingredient from for example these brands: Lovea or Nivea.

Do it yourself! Coconut oil, Vitamin E, distilled water, cocoa butter and grated beeswax.
The last one is to make it waterproof. Heat the whole lightly and mix it. And there you have your natural sunscreen!

Cans
Cans aren’t so bad the environment, if we recycle them correctly. In most townships you can hand them in with plastic and drinking suits (PMD).
The plastic, cans and drinking suits are separated in sorting centers, so the cans can be recycled very well.

Air fresheners
Open you windows!

Buying air fresheners is expensive and unnecessary. Why not make them!

Fragrance sticks: use a bottle with a narrow neck. Go outside and look for a few dry sticks without bark. Or remove it yourself with a potato peeler.
If it’s wet and cold outside you can also use satay sticks. Fill the bottle with water and add a large number of drops of essential oil. Put the sticks in the water and there you have it!

Baking soda in a jar: Baking soda absorbs and binds odors from the air. A shallow dish or jam jar with only baking soda helps to make the air fresher inside. Drop a few drops of essential oil into the baking soda and it will soon smell nice in the room. You can also put in a tea light. The warmth of the burning candle spreads the essential oils faster.

Disposable coffee cups
Bring your own reusable cup! Like the KeepCup they are food safe, free from BPA and other toxic substances, suitable for dishwasher and microwave, lightweight, lockable lid with closable drinking hole, your coffee stays hot for 30 minutes longer rand you can hold the KeepCup without burning your hand.

Jeans
Mud Jeans. Lease a jeans. For €7,50 a month you lease a jeans for a year. Is it still good after 12 months then you keep it.
When you are finished wearing you receive a voucher of €10. You can also choose to hand in the pants and chose a new model.
The returned pants are recycled. Stay on trend but with minimal impact on the environment!

Kings of indigo (K.O.I.)
Uses natural paint (less energy and no chemicals are used) they are completely transparent about their production (both in materials and locations) and have been affiliated with the Fair Wear Foundation since 2012. An organization that strives for good working conditions in the clothing industry,

Kuyichi
100 % organic jeans, without chemicals and with better conditions for the cotton farmers.

Or buy them secondhand.

Tea bags
You can choose not to use packaged pads or bags anymore.
Loose tea can be purchased almost everywhere and can be used with a small filter, refillable bags of cotton, a tea egg or compostable tea bags.
A additional advantage: you can mix your tea to your own taste!