Lucy Johnson, HELLO!'s Planet Positive Green Coach, has been living a low-waste, earth-conscious lifestyle for several years and saved thousands in the process.
Research suggests sustainable products can cost between 75 - 85 per cent more than regular products, a figure sabotaging society from swapping to a greener, climate-friendly lifestyle. Yet where we buy better, things last longer, minimising our collective impact on an ever-warming planet.
As Lucy, founder of sustainable lifestyle consultancy Green Salon, explains in this month's column, it pays to be green...
"Well, that’s going to be expensive," was the first thing my husband said to me when I announced my plans to live more sustainably.
As I’m generally keen to prove him wrong, I’m tracking our spending as a family as we switch to greener habits. And while in some cases he’s been proven right, the balance sheet is starting to tilt in my favour.
Where we’ve spent more on higher quality items as a family, we buy them less often, and we’ve saved a small fortune by swapping to refillables and reusables.
Over the last six years, I calculate we’ve saved over £2,300 by swapping to sustainable products from just ten items I used to regularly add to my shopping basket. And, as I often tell my husband, these are only some of the refillable and reusable swaps I’ve made.
Single-use plastic water bottles
Replace with: Chilly's bottle
The average Londoner buys more than three plastic water bottles every week - a startling 175 bottles every year per person. I’ve never had that much of a bottled water habit but I used to buy bottled water without thinking much about the cost of it.
Luckily, most of us don’t bother to add up how much last-minute purchases of bottled water cost us, as the maths is not pretty. At £1 for an average half-litre plastic bottle of water, a reusable water bottle can save £175 a year. And if I’m ever looking for somewhere to refill, this handy website lets me know where there are free refill points around the country.
My savings: £68 in the first year and £100 a year after that
Cotton wool pads and makeup remover
Replace with: Rose Inc reusable cosmetic rounds
Beginning a sustainable journey throws up all sorts of surprises, including (in my case) just how many cotton wool balls ended up in my bathroom bin.
Reusable cotton rounds have been a saving grace for my makeup routine. I just add warm water and my makeup glides off. These ultra-soft rounds are woven with naturally antibacterial bamboo cotton and feature a soft terry texture that gently exfoliates the skin without any harsh scrubbing - and they replace endless plastic bottles of makeup remover.
In my experience, these cottom rounds easily last for the 500 uses they claim. I calculated I used to spend around £52 on makeup remover a year, so I’ve made a reasonable saving here.
My savings: £30 in the first year and £50 a year after that
Kitchen roll
Replace with: Marley’s Monsters Unpaper Towels
Have you ever heard of unpaper towels? Made from 100% cotton flannel, they’re soft, absorbent, and when they’re dirty, you pop them in the washing machine. Also, they’ve got some very pretty styles to choose from. It felt like a pricey first-time purchase at 12 unpaper towels for £29.44 but in the end, they’ve proven to be worth it.
I’ve estimated the average family of four spends around £50 a year on kitchen roll, not including the big spills that inevitably happen, meaning the unpaper towels have easily paid for themselves after a year.
This is one of the easiest swaps I’ve made; I don’t need to worry if the kitchen roll can be composted and after a spill, I only need one unpaper towel rather than using a runway’s length of single-use kitchen roll.
My savings: £20 in the first year and £50 a year after that
Wrapping paper
Replace with: I Was A Sari bags
I do love a present. But with gifts comes wrapping, and each year, the UK throws away more than 108 million rolls of wrapping paper - roughly equivalent in length to the distance from Earth to the moon.
So rather than buying wrapping paper to throw away, I’ve discovered some creative solutions. The Japanese art of Furoshiki means wrapping gifts in fabric. You don’t have to tie yourself in knots on the correct way to tie Furoshiki, you simply find some pretty fabric you no longer use and wrap it around your presents.
If you don’t have any left-over fabrics or scarves you no longer wear, I Was A Sari sells gorgeous silk bags made from pre-loved Saris that add an extra gift as they can then be used as a lightweight foldable shopping bag. Aspiga also sells gift bags from their cast-off fabrics, that can be used, and reused, as they are gifted from person to person.
My savings: £32 in the first year and £50 after that
Fabric softener
Replace with: Wool Balls and essential oils
Running our tumble dryer is costly for the planet and my wallet, and while we do less of it, I do love fluffy towels, so I decided to add wool balls to my dryer to speed up the drying time.
I invested in some Cosy House Collective wool balls, on the promise they last up to 1,000 washes. We’ve been using ours for five years and they’re still going strong. What’s more, they’re biodegradable and reduce drying time by 30%.
Neal’s Yard sells 'Essential Oils' for £18 which I love as they scent our clothes in the dryer. Plus, a little bit goes a long way. If you use fabric softener with each wash, a softener like Lenor costs around £30 a year - plus nine single-use plastic bottles ending up in recycling that, sadly, often don’t get recycled in this country.
(The essential oils are also not entirely essential but add a nice touch if you’re looking for that familiar fabric softener smell.)
My savings: £0 in the first year, but £30 a year after that
Plastic water filters
Replace with: Bioactive Charcoal
I replaced plastic water filters for the fridge with black+blum’s charcoal stick. Activated charcoal adds key minerals, like iron, magnesium and calcium back into the water whilst also removing toxins, and this means I never have to buy plastic water filters again. The charcoal filter lasts up to a year if you boil it in hot water for 10 minutes - every few months - to keep it fresh.
My fridge filters used to cost £25 and I replaced them twice a year. Since I bought our charcoal filter, I’ve saved time and money ordering plastic filters, as two charcoals cost me £14.95 a year. Plus, a chunky charcoal stick in a water bottle is a great conversation starter around the kitchen table.
My savings: £35 in the first year and £50 a year after that
Plastic sandwich bags
Replace with: Stasher Bags
Plastic sandwich bags have always made the school packed lunch easier - shove it in a bag and pack the kids off to school. I wondered if there could be a better option and stumbled on Stasher bags.Their multi-pack of 3 is £17.99.
They’re leakproof and airtight, can be frozen and they prevent food waste as you can see what’s in them. They’re also silicone and BPA-free. And you can say goodbye to that extra plastic waste and those ziplock bags that don’t actually zip up.
Our family of four used to go through a box of plastic sandwich bags pretty quickly and it added up to a whopping £42 per year.
It’s only when I started doing the maths that I realised plastic bags could add up like that. Stasher bags have proved a win for the planet and my wallet.
My savings: £24 in the first year and £42 a year after that
Plastic wrap
Replace with: Jam Jars
© Ray KachatorianI love a minimalist chic aesthetic for my kitchen countertops, so I invested in Abel & Cole Mason Jars. They also deliver pantry staples to refill them, through their Club Zero service.
But when it comes to replacing plastic wrap to pop leftovers in the fridge, a cheaper alternative to Mason Jars is using jam jars that would otherwise go in the recycling. They look pretty lined up in my fridge and are great for storing my herbs and veggies. And they reduce my food waste as I can see what’s in my fridge.
Like many families, we used to get through 2-3 boxes of clingfilm per year at a cost of £6. Now we use the jam jars we were going to recycle, which are effectively free.
My savings: £6 a year, every year
Disposable razors
Replace with: Reusable Metal Razor
On average, I shave my my legs twice a week. I often used plastic disposable razors that are, amongst other things, likely to rust.
A reusable stainless steel razor - on the other hand - gives me a rust-free clean shave while saving me money. The cost difference: a reusable metal razor, plus five blades, comes in at £19.50 but lasts a lifetime, whereas tthe leading brand's disposable razors cost £4 and last for a month, so end up costing £48 per year.
My savings: £28 in the first year and £48 a year after that
Fast Fashion
Replace with: Purchasing unique vintage or sustainable pieces
© Catherine McQueenYou can end up spending a surprising amount of bucks with little bang when it comes to fast fashion brands like Zara and Mango. One of my biggest learning curves - as an ex-Zara queen - has been finding unique, vintage items from brands like Vestiaire Collective that are one of a kind.
Alternatively, brands like Aspiga sell pretty dresses that are more sustainable than most high street options. Plus why buy when you can swap? Last year, I hosted my first sustainable clothes swap soirée where I gave away some of my pre-loved clothes and in return received three pairs of Jimmy Choo shoes. The biggest saving of them all.
My savings: £1,800 on the Jimmy Choos alone
By making all of these swaps, I saved nearly £245 in the first year and after five years I’d saved an additional £2,130.
Introducing Lucy Johnson, HELLO!'s Planet Positive Green Coach
Lucy Johnson is a green coach and qualified psychotherapist, working with people and businesses to rebalance with nature.
Lucy, founder of sustainable lifestyle consultancy Green Salon, is passionate about living a life in balance with nature.
"I hope to inspire people just like you, who'd like to improve their own wellbeing by clearing pollutants from their homes, cooking delicious, nutritious food and finding brands that don’t cost the earth.
"People who want to explore a new world of forest-bathing and wild-swimming, take night-trains on holiday and glamp under desert stars.
"My new monthly column will cover the highs and, sometime lows, of living a greener life. I hope you’ll come along and join me on this journey."
