5 ways to be Sustainable without falling for the trends

Sustainability is a growing movement centered around the idea of being more environmentally friendly, choosing more 'green' options, or reusing what you already have.

Unfortunately, sustainability has become trendy, and trends are rarely sustainable.

While it's great people are becoming more aware of our lasting environmental impact, the current aesthetically pleasing low waste, sustainability trends seen all over the internet may be just as harmful as what we've been doing all along. Buying reusable water bottles and straws can be beneficial, however, making such things a trend creates more of a demand and forces manufacturers to produce more, potentially adding to the huge footprint that already exists.

Purchasing reusable products isn't bad, but there are better alternatives still. Consider the following five reusable options you may already have, in lieu of their trendy counterparts:

• Trend: Reusable makeup wipes. I personally have a few of these and they work wonders. However, a more sustainable option exists...

• Better option: Reuse old cotton t-shirts or good ol' fashion washcloths. If you have a soft, nice quality t-shirt you haven't used in a while consider cutting it into smaller pieces and using it instead. Then there are washcloths. Did people forget those existed? This idea may not be as cute or as colorful as microfiber wipes but it will work just as well with the right cleansing balm or micellar water.

• Trend: Metal/glass/silicone straws. They look useful, but do you really need them?

• Better option: Unless you frequent restaurants and aren't afraid to BYOS, or you often make your own smoothies, then they're really not a necessity. I was gifted a few metal straws in the recent past and thought "wow how useful", only to realize soon after I rarely use straws. If you're like me, it's better to save your money and be at peace knowing you're not adding to the waste.

• Trend: Bamboo cutlery. I've seen these in a lot of TikTok and YouTube videos. The content creator insists they're perfect for picnics or taking your lunch to work.

• Better option: You already have silverware. Need I say more?

• Trend: Reusable Q-Tips. Replacing cotton swabs with a silicone version might be a step in the right direction of sustainability, but as it turns out, q-tips are not good for your ears. Often, instead of cleaning your ear canal, they end up pushing all that gunk ever further back into the ear.

• Better Option: Washcloth or clean T-Shirt. If you must put something into your ear, try the end of a clean washcloth or T-Shirt. You certainly can get a lot of use out of these two items.

• Trend: Bento boxes and other reusable containers. I get it, they're cute. Unfortunately, they are often expensive and not the most sustainable choice.

• Better Option: Glass jars, butter tubs, and the likes. Did you recently go through a jar of spaghetti? Use up all your butter? Good. Clean the containers and save them. I have an Aunt whose "Tupperware" draw is at least 3/4 old butter and ricotta cheese tubs. I know mason jars were a recent trend. No need to buy them when you probably have a jam jar or two ready to be repurposed.

The moral of this story is a simple one. Before you head on over to Amazon every time you see something trendy online, ask yourself a few easy questions: "Do I need this or do I just want this?" and "Will I actually use this, or does it just look cool?" Remember, the best way to live a sustainable lifestyle is to reuse what you have before buying more.