The month of April marks the celebration of our Earth and what better way to join in on the party than to start making changes to protect our planet. The world currently produces around 380 million tons of plastic each year that could end up as pollutants that affect our environments and oceans. Many think that becoming more sustainable is hard work, and it can be, but making small changes now in your everyday life can help the bigger picture later. Check out these tips below on how to become more sustainable in your Sequoia apartment. 

Reuse What You Already Have 

Reusing items that you already have is a great start to becoming more sustainable! Do you have bags from the grocery store? Reuse them on your next visit. Most grocery stores also have reusable bags to purchase. This is a one-time fee, and the bags will last longer than the paper or plastic alternatives. Another option to explore is reusable produce bags. You can wash these bags after each trip to the store, and they come in many different sizes and materials. Here are some good options! 

If you buy pasta sauce or any other items that come in glass containers, you can reuse those too. Once you thoroughly clean and rinse these containers, you can now use them for food storage, or any other miscellaneous things in your household. 

Regrow Your Produce

Having a garden in an apartment can be challenging, but there are small ways where you can show off your green thumb! Regrowing vegetables is a great way to use food scraps that you might just throw away. Green onions, lettuce, celery, lemongrass, and bean sprouts are just a few examples of food scraps that you can regrow in your apartment. All you need is water and a jar or container large enough for the roots of the scraps to be submerged. Simply leave about two inches of space from the root of the veggie you want to regrow and submerge it in water. Leave it in a window sill or place that gets a good amount of light throughout the day. You’ll be able to watch your veggies come to life again and use them in recipes!  

Switch To a Reusable Water Bottle 

We, humans, need a sufficient amount of water each day to function properly, but plastic water bottles aren’t always the greatest solution. In fact, on average it takes one plastic bottle about 450 years to decompose. By switching to a reusable water bottle, you will use less plastic. Reusable water bottles are easy to clean, and you can still take them anywhere you need. Brands like Yeti, Hydroflask, and S’well are great options that are both stylish and functional.

Reduce Your Plastic Use 

Plastic is anywhere and everywhere. It’s used for packaging almost everything that we purchase. By becoming more aware of the amount of plastic we really use, we can work on slowly cutting it down in our everyday life. Check out these examples and options that you can use instead:   

• Cut Out Straws - A plastic drinking straw takes about 200 years to biodegrade. There are metal, silicone, or stainless steel reusable options that you can use instead. Check out these different varieties here. 
• Reusable Ziploc Bags - Think about how many Ziploc bags that you use on an everyday basis. They are great for food storage but unfortunately are considered to be plastic. These bags are found in the ocean and can harm many animals and habitats. Luckily there are many different reusable Ziploc bag options for everyone. 
• Switch to a Bamboo Toothbrush - Let’s talk about toothbrushes. We need and use these tools daily to be healthy, but most toothbrushes are plastic and can take up to 1000 years to decompose in either marine environments or landfills. Bamboo toothbrushes are a great substitute and there are many different options to choose from.