Sustainable Living on a Real Budget: The Swaps I Still Make
It has been a full few months around here, so I am keeping things lighter this season. Starting with an honest one.
We put so much pressure on ourselves to do everything perfectly. The meals, the house, the kids, the skincare. Somewhere along the way, sustainability got added to that list too.
Scroll for five minutes and it looks like every woman in the non-toxic, clean beauty and sustainable living space is doing it all. The glass jars. The homemade cleaners. The zero waste pantry with everything labeled in pretty handwriting.
Here is what nobody says out loud. There is no such thing as perfect sustainability.
The only changes that count are the ones you will actually stick with. And there is no way to make them all at once. You do what you can, not what it looks like everyone else is doing.
That pressure got to me too. I used to get stuck in the produce aisle. I would skip a bag of apples because it came in plastic and wait until I could pick them myself at the pick-your-own farm, straight into my reusable bag. Same with potatoes. At Whole Foods I could buy almost everything loose, but I do not have that budget anymore.
Now I shop based on what is healthy and what is cost-effective, and I go to a few different places to get those things. Sometimes that means produce in a plastic bag. I buy it anyway.
Feeding my family well matters more to me than the packaging.
Real life, not a zero waste pantry.
If that sounds like you too, this one is for you. Sustainable living on a budget is possible. It just looks a lot smaller and a lot less perfect than the internet makes it look.
What I Let Go Of to Make Sustainable Living Work on a Budget
I used to try to do it all. I have let a lot of it go.
- Shopping at Whole Foods. I cannot afford it anymore, so I stopped.
- Produce bags. Where I shop now, a lot of the produce already comes bagged.
- Skipping food because of its packaging. On our budget, it is just not realistic.
A while back, I wrote about feeling like a fraud because I could not keep up with the plastic-free version of sustainable living. I do not feel that way anymore. I am not failing at sustainability. I am doing the version that fits my real life.
The Budget-Friendly Swaps We Still Make
These are not all of them, just a few of my favorites. They stuck for one simple reason: they are inexpensive, they last, and they do not ask anything extra of me on a busy day.
Swap 01
Wool Dryer Balls
They replaced dryer sheets in our house, which means one less thing on the grocery list every month. You toss them in with every load and forget about them.
My favorite trick is adding a few drops of essential oil. Peppermint for our athletic wear, lavender for sheets and towels.
Swap 02
Reusable Face Rounds
Makeup wipes were my wake-up call. Once I noticed how many we were throwing away, I switched to reusable rounds. With preteens and teens in the house, they are perfect for wiping their faces down with witch hazel. Then they just go in the wash.
Bamboo Washcloths
I love these. They are so soft, and they hold up wash after wash.
Cloth Napkins and Old T-Shirt Rags
We try to avoid paper products where we can. Cloth napkins at the table, every day. We still keep paper towels, but we use them sparingly.
On cleaning days we grab rags instead, mostly old t-shirts cut up. A lot of them come from my son, who has grown about a foot this year.
Big Reusable Grocery Bags
They live in the car so I never forget them. They are not fancy, and they do not need to be.
Reusable Water Bottles
Everyone in our house has one, and we take them everywhere. It is the easiest swap we have ever made, and probably the one with the biggest impact.
There are others too. Eco-friendly sponges in the kitchen. Bar shampoo, some of the time. And honestly, some of the biggest ones are not products at all. We shop less. We reuse what we already have. And when something can be restored instead of replaced, we restore it.
We compost too. But that one deserves its own post. Coming soon.
Why Small Sustainable Swaps Are Enough
A handful of things done every single day will always beat a perfect system you give up on in a month.
I learned that the hard way. Years ago I tried to do everything at once, and I burned out completely. Going to the grocery store gave me anxiety. That is not sustainable either.
Here is what I believe now. If sustainable living only works with a big budget and a specialty grocery store, it is not really sustainable. The version that lasts is the one that fits your actual life.
It is the same way I think about my closet. You do not need to build a sustainable wardrobe from scratch, and buying less will always do more good than buying perfectly.
If You Want to Start, Start With One
You do not need a new system. Look for one thing your family uses up and throws away every week. Dryer sheets. Makeup wipes. Paper napkins. Plastic water bottles.
Replace that one thing. That is it. When it becomes a habit and you do not even think about it anymore, pick another one.
Small and steady is how anything real gets built in a full life. I wrote about that in how to make time for yourself when life is already full, and it works exactly the same way here.
The swaps I use every day are all in the Sustainable Living collection. Nothing fancy. Just the simple things that earned their spot.
With love,
Lyanne
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Frequently Asked Questions About Sustainable Living on a Budget
Can you live sustainably on a budget?
Yes. Sustainable living on a budget looks smaller and less perfect than the internet makes it look. It is a handful of inexpensive swaps you actually keep up with, like wool dryer balls, reusable face rounds, cloth napkins and reusable water bottles, not a zero waste pantry or a specialty grocery store.
What are the easiest sustainable swaps to start with?
Start with one thing your family uses up and throws away every week. Dryer sheets, makeup wipes, paper napkins and plastic water bottles are all easy to replace with reusable versions that last for years and save money over time.
Is it okay to buy produce that comes in plastic?
Yes. Feeding your family fresh, healthy food matters more than the packaging it comes in. If loose produce is not available or affordable where you shop, buy what you need and focus your sustainable efforts on the swaps that fit your budget.
How do you use essential oils with wool dryer balls?
Add a few drops of essential oil to your wool dryer balls before tossing them in the dryer. Peppermint works well for athletic wear and lavender is lovely for sheets and towels.
Written by Lyanne Loriz, founder of RAW Collective. Read more about Lyanne here.
