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What's a simple eco-friendly habit all families can start?

A great place to start would be ditching disposables and, if possible, plastics. Trading paper towels and napkins for reusable, washable cloth, for example, saves waste, water, and [if you repurpose old t-shirts] recycles! Give up paper plates and plastic silverware for the glass variety, which are not only better for the environment but generally have less chemicals. Instead of plastic water bottles, invest in a good (preferably metal) insulated water bottle and just fill it up as you go! My University has water fountains which keep a running count of how many water bottles each fountain has saved, and it's very encouraging. This is how I started on my trip to eco-friendly land, and it was both very simple, cheap, and satisfying!

What would you say to moms who want to be more eco-friendly, but worry it will be more expensive?

I would say that they needn't worry! My eco-friendliness started when I was a very young, very broke mom. I discovered a homemade laundry detergent which saved my family a good bit of money for such a seemingly small part of the expenses, and decided to search for other homemade things I could change around. Upon surfing the net, I realized that the detergent was eco-friendly! From there, I swapped over purchases and habits across the entire household, all while saving my family money at the same time. The key to being eco-friendly and frugal is to remember to keep things simple. For example, repurposing or buying second hand is cheaper than buying something with a fancy 'eco-friendly' label, and is eco-friendly as well due to the fact that you're not adding more trash and introducing more products into an already product-happy world.

What's one of your favorite eco-friendly brands you've discovered?

I actually don't have a favorite eco-friendly brand. I highly support small businesses, homemade, and repurposing/upcycling over buying new. One misconception about eco-friendliness is that you have to go out and buy all eco-friendly products when, in fact, doing so would just introduce more waste into the environment due to packaging and the trash from the old products you're replacing. I would rather reuse than purchase, any day of the week - second hand stores are my best friend!