For many of us out there our financial situation is a little unstable, times are tough especially for the self-employed and business owners that have had to shut up shop. Many people also align living a sustainable lifestyle as a privilege, one that is more expensive to live than buying cheaper products in plastic from a supermarket. 

What if we told you this wasn’t always the case? There has never been a more important time to support independent businesses and go green so here are some sustainable tricks that will save you money long term!

USE REFILL SHOPS

Most people associate refill shops with being more expensive than buying your whole foods in the supermarket, however most of the time refilling you grains, pasta and herbs and spices works out far more cost-effective from your local refill shop! Plus you aren’t buying any more plastic that may end up in a landfill! ( I personally, for example, refilled a spice jar of sage for only 40p as opposed to buying another pot for £1 in a supermarket!)

REFILL TOOTHPASTE TABLETS

The average toothpaste tube will last a person around a month, at a normal price of around £2-£2.50, that could be up to £30 on toothpaste a year depending how many times a day you brush. Our Toothpaste tablet refill packs have a years worth of supply for only £22.90, potentially saving you money in the long run!

BUY A WATER BOTTLE

Single-use plastic is devastating our environment and costing you money when we are lucky enough to have drinkable water supplied in our homes! One Green Bottle sells sustainable bottles for around £16, if you drink a plastic bottle of water a day from a supermarket that’s your money made back in less than a month!

MAKE YOUR OWN OAT MILK

If you’ve already made the switch to dairy-free alternative milk to help the environment you’ll know it sadly isn’t the cheapest. 1kg of oats costs about £1 and will yield around 10 x 750ml bottles of oat milk. That much oat milk would normally cost £17-25 depending on your favourite brand! Far cheaper and much less waste. All you need is oats, water and a cheesecloth/fine strainer!

Here's a recipe we like from A Virtual Vegan: https://avirtualvegan.com/oat-milk/

HOMEMADE FACEMASKS

With all this time at home, we know you’ll want to relax so why not make yourself a face mask for a fraction of the cost? You can make a wonderful soothing face mask just from oats, coconut oil, turmeric and water! 

Mix one cup of oats, with one TBSP of coconut oil and half a tsp of turmeric (don’t worry the oil will mean the turmeric won’t stain your face and will easily come off!). Mix in water until it is a sticky consistency that will stick to your face….. and RELAX!

Please share any other cost-effective sustainable tips in the comments below!