The Ultimate Weekend Green Bag For All The Family

By Alex Parrish - achievinggreenness.com

The climate crisis is real. It is already here. And it requires us all to stand up, think differently, change behaviours, and take action. Our kids depend on us to make a difference now, so the planet they inherit from us isn’t unsavable. Making a difference can often seem like an overwhelmingly huge task, but changing our thinking and behaviours is a lot easier than you’d imagine, and it only takes a few small steps to start making a difference. If we start small today we can only get better and better, so let’s look at ‘greenifying’ some of the contents of your handbag,

Weekend Bag

The weekend bag itself can be the first swap when traveling on holiday or just escaping for a long weekend away. By combining coolness, quality, and sustainability with a classic weekend bag that ticks all the right eco-credential boxes, this weekend bag from Elvis and Kresse is the perfect swap. It’s made from decommissioned fire hose and rescued military grade parachute, and is a fabulously cool and long-lasting way to greenify your overnight bag.

elvisandkresse.com

Stainless Steel Razor

The toiletry bag is next on the list and a great place to start making sustainable eco swaps. You could try going a bit old school with your shaving routine – do a green-swap and invest in a high quality stainless steel razor, designed to last a lifetime and provide a high quality shaving experience. Swapping to a highquality metal razor will not only help to get rid of plastic in your bathroom and beauty routines, but will also save you money as they last a lifetime and you will only need to buy replacement blades. These are also amazing for her when she borrows it to shave legs and armpits too! theenglishshavingcompany.com overnight bag, and kids’ travel bags. There are now so many fabulous and eco-friendly options and alternatives to choose from, that greenifying and organizing your life to help look after the planet becomes a much more enjoyable challenge.

Shaving Foam

HimContinuing on with the shaving routine, once you’ve invested in a quality stainless steel razor, look at swapping your environmentally unfriendly can of shaving foam to a ‘refillable’ classic solid shaving soap and shaving brush. Not only will your toiletry bag become immediately more green but it will also look pretty dam cool too!

theenglishshavingcompany.com

Reusable Cup

To finish off this simple set of green weekend bag swaps, make sure you pack a quality reusable coffee cup. As a nation we all seem to love a good cuppa, but this is resulting in mountains of disposable tea and coffee cups when we are out and about and getting our hot drink fixes. To play your part in helping prevent this single use waste stream, investing in a good quality stainless steel reusable travel mug. You be preventing single use waste and saving money, as so many places now offer discounts when using reusable mugs. moonbottles.co.uk

Now let’s turn our attention to green swaps for her weekend bag…

Hot Water Bottle

When summer still seems a long way off, I always like to pack a hot water bottle in an overnight bag for the colder months to keep my toes toasty warm in bed. Check out this fabulous eco-friendly and plastic-free version which is super snuggly and perfect for those cold days when we all need something to keep us warm. And with the current prices of central heating it is an essential in the

Deodorant

Let’s talk toiletries… swapping to more environmentally friendly deodorant can sometimes seem more effort that it is worth! But we suggest giving this sustainable plastic-free deodorant from Wild a try as we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It contains no nasty chemicals, no plastic, is ethical, refillable, and smells divine… what’s not to love?

wearewild.com

Reusable Baby Wipes

Disposable baby wipes are a menace. They are made from plastic, full of chemicals, cannot be recycled, clog drainage systems, and kill wildlife. But there is a very simple green swap to be had here by moving away from these nasty chemical-filled wipes and instead using reusable washable organic cotton wipes with essential oils. Reusable wipes are great to throw in a kids change bag or travel bag, and the different colour boxes for bum wipes means you can keep them separate from the face & hand wipes too. They wash brilliantly, smell amazing with the essential oils, and save you money while saving the planet. cheekywipes.com

Crayons

Alongside all the tech, some good oldfashioned crayons and a colouring book are essentials in every kids bag. But you may not realise that most crayons made of paraffin, a by-product of petroleum, and not really something you want to be giving your kid to draw with. They aren’t great for the environment either as they are not biodegradable and they turn into a pretty unpleasant waxy sludge in landfill… So greenify your kids bag with these natural, vegan-friendly crayons instead, made from sustainably sourced plantbased waxes and food-grade pigments. thenaturalcrayon.co.uk

Nail File

A handbag and weekend bag staple for so many of us is a nail file, and now you can greenify this essential item with one made out of glass. Not only is it better for the planet and more hygienic, but it is also much kinder on your nails. And you only need to buy it once as they don’t wear out. A big green bag tick! freshtherapies.com

Makeup

Continuing with greenifying your toiletries, let’s talk about makeup, which can be a bit of a controversial topic. So many of us love it, can’t imagine living without it, and can’t imagine swapping from our tried and tested go to brands and products, but so many brands are far from environmentally friendly or ethical. So, when the time comes to replace your favourite mascara or foundation, we recommend taking a look at ZAO as it offers natural, organic, vegan, and refillable makeup which is a much greener and ethical alternative.

zaomakeup.com

Her Kids

Snack Containers

Snackage is always important to have with you when out and about with kids, and these beautiful recycled stainless steel food containers are the perfect zero waste food accessory to throw in your kid’s rucksack. They also help you get rid of unnecessary plastic packaging by making it so much easier to take your own snacks with you. qwetch.com

Baby Teether

One last green swap for the kids’ bags. Have you ever given much thought to the plastic baby teethers you have stashed in the change bag – apart from making sure they are clean and ready to chew? We know a teething baby will put anything in their mouth to chew, so try swapping to a more eco-friendly alternative with these beautiful plastic-free, handmade, natural rubber, non-toxic teethers. tikiritoys.co.uk