Sustainable switches for the home may well be kind to the Earth, but they’re often not cost-friendly—at least not upfront. With this in mind, it’s clear that not everyone has the financial bandwidth to support making certain eco-friendly swaps. So, when taking into account both your finances and the environment, it can be helpful to be aware of certain environmentally friendly investments that will show you a return. That is, certain sustainable choices stand to offer the long-term benefit of saving you plenty of money in the future.
In the latest episode of the Well+Good web series Need To Know, host, activist, and actress Sophia Bush discusses such environmentally friendly investments with sustainability expert Jhànneu Roberts, and the first order of business Roberts aims to clear up is that anyone’s journey towards making their home more sustainable begins with looking through the garbage.
“Looking in your trash kind of helps you determine where you are producing waste in the first place,” Roberts says. “I know for me when I started my low-waste journey I was throwing out a ton of food, I was throwing out a ton of zip lock bags. I was throwing out all these items I could just compost, such as food, or I could find a reusable alternative.”
You can do the same to find out where you’re making the most waste, it’s very choose-your-own-adventure. And when Bush asks Roberts about her best eco-friendly investment, Roberts has two stand-out answers: 1. Educating herself on sustainability in the first place, which is a free thing all of us can do and 2. Cultivating her own little patio garden.
“I think it’s so powerful to grow your own food,” says Roberts.”You can regrow right in your kitchen. I think just finding ways to bring in less products in your own home is amazing. Like, now I don’t have to go out and buy green onions because I can grow them at home, and it’s saving me a ton of money.”
If you’re lazy and have the money, systems like a Rise Garden can help you grow your own damn produce section. But the most cost-effective method is to use food scraps to regrow your own food a home. Good for your environment, good for your bank account, and good for your hunger cravings!
Ready to make more food choices that are sustainable for the Earth and your wallet? Watch the full video above.
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