10 Easy Sustainable Gardening Tips

Whether you are looking to create a dreamy cottage-inspired garden or grow your own food, home gardening provides plenty of opportunity to incorporate more sustainable practices. Home and urban gardens have shown to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are also a way to support the essential pollinators. To help you make the most of your yard, here are 10 sustainable gardening tips that encompass everything from soil health and water conservation to plant selection and wildlife support.

Our Favorite 10 Sustainable Gardening Tips:

1. Plant Native Species

Since native plants are naturally adapted to your region’s climate, they are more resilient against drought, soil types, and diseases. If you don’t know your region’s plant hardiness zone, check out the map from the USDA.

2. Seek Out Drought-Tolerant Plants 

Not only will native species more easily thrive in your garden, but utilizing drought-tolerant plants will require less daily maintenance and resources. By reducing the need for additional continual water consumption, you will be saving water and time. This is especially important if you live in a dry or desert climate.

3. Collect Rainwater

You can use barrels or cisterns to collect rainwater for gardening to reduce your dependency on local water resources. This can also help lowers your water bill. However, be sure to check your state’s policies regarding what is legal for your area. Some states have incentive programs for rainwater harvesting but may require specific regulations.

4. Check the Time Before You Water

When you water your garden early in the morning, it reduces the evaporation, and the soil is more likely to absorb the water better and reduce water waste. Using a drip irrigation system is even better since it allows for deeper watering and avoids getting plant foliage wet, which helps prevent common leaf diseases.

5. Make Your Own Compost

You can utilize most of your kitchen scraps, lawn clippings and leaves, and cardboard to create free compost for your garden. Compost is helpful to add nutrients to the soil and promote healthy, happy plants.

6. Utilize Organic Mulch

Adding in organic mulch like wood chips or straw will enrich the soil as it decomposes. Mulch will also help regulate the soil temperature, prevent evaporation and slow down weed growth. Just be sure to leave a circle a few inches away from new plants and roots until they are more established.

7. Use Renewable Materials

If you need a trellis, garden stake or garden border, using recycled or sustainably sourced materials is the way to go. Bamboo or reclaimed wood are better alternatives to traditional chemical treated lumber or plastic.  

8. Stay Away from Pesticides

Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are harmful to soil, insects and wildlife. Try utilizing more natural pest deterrent methods like companion planting or incorporating beneficial insects. Depending on the type of pest, DIY recipes with natural ingredients in your kitchen may also be effective. 

9. Prioritize Perennials

Since perennials return year after year, you won’t need to replant as often. They typically have deeper roots, which helps reduce the need for water, absorbs carbon dioxide, and preserves the soil health.

10. Support the Wildlife

Bring more species to your garden or yard by adding birdhouses, bat houses, or insect-friendly habitats as these are all important to sustain a healthy ecosystem. A strong biodiverse environment will attract more good garden insects and wildlife.

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About the Author

Karmen Flores is a creative entrepreneur based in Michigan. Karmen shares all about plant-based and sustainable, intentional living on her blog Karmen Collective. From recommendations for all things plant-based to tips for living more sustainably, Karmen makes living with intention less intimidating and more accessible. You can connect with Karmen on Instagram @karmencollective and at www.karmencollective.com

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Composting at home 

Messy, complicated, and smelly - we can’t lie, we’ve all had these thoughts when we think about composting at home. But it doesn’t have to be that way! We have some ideas that will make incorporating composting into your daily routines a breeze - and yes, this is possible even if you live in a city like NYC!

First up - why bother composting? Composting reduces the amount of household waste that eventually ends up in landfills or combustion sites - when this organic waste decomposes in landfills, it releases a ton of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Burning waste at combustion facilities releases CO2, another greenhouse gas. Secondly, it feeds your plants and keeps your gardens (or indoor plants) happy, nourished, and blooming.  

There’s a few different ways to compost - starting with lowest lift to most intense!

1. If you have no outdoor space at all and aren’t able to compost at home (or are a beginner and want to start with baby steps), you can collect and drop off your weekly organic waste at your nearest city compost drop offlocation (NYC, LA, and Chicago all have compost services!). Hot tip: Store your waste in a plastic bag in the freezer if you’re worried about the smell! Definitely review your local compost rules on what they accept and don’t, but the general guidelines we outline below should apply to most sites.

2. Create a super compost. If you’re limited by space, we highly recommend this mini compost/fertilizer which you can set up on your balcony or a smaller outdoor space. It contains a blend of the most fertile matter that decomposes faster than regular compost, making it a highly nutritious superfood that your plants will absolutely LOVE - but heads up, this one does smell a bit, so make sure you’re using a tightly sealed bucket or bin! Just add crushed egg shells, coffee grounds and tea leaves (but make sure there’s no dairy, sugar, or anything else in the mix), and onion and banana peels (chop up the peels for faster results) to the bucket, soak in water for a week and you’re good to go! This mix will be pretty runny so you can pour a tiny bit into your garden or pots.

   If it’s in your budget, Mill’s Food Recycler creates nutrient-rich grounds for your garden overnight!! 

3. If you have the luxury of a backyard or any large outdoor space, you can set up a whole home compost setup. You can go down either the hot or cold composting routes. For cold composting, all you need to do is start collecting your organic waste in a pile or a bin - this can take up to a year to decompose. Hot composting is quicker (3-6 months), but requires a little more attention - you’ll need to periodically add water to your compost and give it a nice stir. If you want to go all out - add some worms for vermicomposting! 

Things you can compost:

A general guidance for a healthy home compost is the right mix of greens, browns, water, and oxygen. Greens are your source of nitrogen, and include food waste (fruit and veggie peels, coffee, tea, stale bread, egg shells), fresh grass, weeds, or plant clippings, or fresh manure. Think fresh, moist waste. Browns are the carbon source - think dry product that provides structure and bulk to your compost and prevents it from getting too wet and smelly. This includes wood chips, dry leaves or weeds, and shredded paper. Typically, we recommend three parts brown to one part green, but see how your compost is doing and adjust as needed (add more brown if it’s starting to feel too wet or smelly, or green and water if it gets too dry).

Things you cannot compost:

• Any animal products - this includes leftover meat, bones, milk, or cheeses. This can attract rodents or other bugs and is not a good idea to include in your home composts.

• Cooked leftovers - oily or fatty foods don’t do well in the compost and anything cooked in oil or butter is a no-go. 

• Shiny or glossy paper

• Definitely also stay away from pet droppings as these can carry diseases that you don’t want spreading!

• Compostable bags or cutlery - these may work for industrial compost facilities but generally don’t do well in home composts

How to use your compost

You know your compost is good to go once it’s brown, crumbly, and relatively dry. All you need to do is top your flower beds or pots with a couple inches of the compost and a little bit of water - then sit back, relax, and watch those plants thrive! 

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image: Inside Weather

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliated; we may earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. We only ever add brands & products we truly believe in.

HIGH-QUALITY, SUSTAINABLE Dining TABLES, coffee tables & more…

Tables are usually some of the most used furniture pieces in our homes. We use dining tables to eat with our friends and family, and some of us even work and study on them. 

Coffee tables are where we put our cup of tea when we are watching TV, where we stack the magazines and books we are currently reading, and where we play board games on weekend nights. 

Many people also have side and end tables on which they display beautiful pictures, lamps, and home decor. 

Tables are truly at the heart of our homes and daily activities! But most of them are made of cheap, unsustainable materials, and they wear down fairly quickly as we use them every single day. 

However, when we need to replace our dearly-loved tables, we can choose to buy more eco-friendly versions that will stand the test of time. 

In this article, we have selected 14 sustainable brands selling all kinds of high-quality, durable tables for your eco-home. Thanks to them, you will be able to enjoy your beautiful tables for many years to come! 

WHAT MAKES A TABLE SUSTAINABLE?

A sustainable table is one made using high-quality, eco-friendly materials as well as natural, non-toxic and zero-VOC finishes. It needs to be built to last for decades and should age beautifully with time.

A sustainable table is also produced using eco-friendly and ethical manufacturing techniques. The brand should have a take-back and repair program to extend the life of its products, and it should be transparent about its whole supply chain. 

WHAT ECO-FRIENDLY MATERIALS SHOULD YOU SEARCH FOR?

Most sustainable tables are made of solid wood since it is a natural and renewable material that is also very durable. 

Recycled or reclaimed wood is the most sustainable option you can find! Using this material to make new products reduces the need to cut down more trees, and it reduces waste as we are giving a new life to existing materials. 

If you cannot find tables made of reclaimed wood, go for FSC-certified wood. The certification means that the wood was responsibly harvested from sustainably managed forests. The brand should also disclose where the wood comes from: the more locally it sources its wood, the better! 

Some eco-friendly tables are also made using recycled aluminum or recycled steel, which are both durable and sustainable materials as well. 

OUR TOP PICKS FOR DURABLE, SUSTAINABLE TABLES:

1. Medley

Categories: 4-10 Person Dining Tables, Side Tables, Coffee Tables

Materials: Wood

Price: $875-5,995

Medley is a sustainable brand that handcrafts wooden furniture using premium materials and old-school techniques. 

The brand’s dining tables can accommodate four to ten people, and they all have a modern, minimalist design.

Medley also sells various styles of coffee and side tables, some of which feature a practical concealed drawer to store magazines and remote controls. 

The company produces all its tables in Los Angeles, California. They are made of solid walnut or maple wood, grown domestically in FSC-certified forests.  

Medley protects its furniture pieces by applying natural beeswax and plant-based polishes. It leaves the wood with a matte finish and a subtle glow that accentuates the beauty of the material.

For every tree Medley uses to create one of its pieces, the company plants three other trees in partnership with the National Forest Foundation. 

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2. Burrow

Categories: Coffee Tables, Side Tables

Materials: Wood, Steel, Marble 

Price: $195-795

Burrow is a New York-based furniture brand ideal for people with a passion for American mid-century modernism and Scandinavian style. The company has 4 collections of side & coffee tables, each of which is simple to set up. 

The Kettle collection features circular, minimalist-looking tables that are available in different colors.

The base of each table is made of spun steel, and for the tabletop, you can choose between solid ash wood and Italian Carrara marble. 

The Carta collection is also worth mentioning: these side and coffee tables have a convenient storage compartment and removable trays that you can use as lap desks on your couch or as serving trays. 

The ash wood Burrow uses for its furniture pieces comes from sustainably managed forests located near its factory in Poland. The brand replants all the trees that are used for its manufacturing process to restore the forests. 

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3. VivaTerra

Categories: 10 Person Dining Tables, Side Tables, Coffee Tables, Café Tables

Materials: Reclaimed Wood, Wood, Steel, Recycled Metal, Seagrass Fibers

Price: $89-5,249

VivaTerra is a sustainable home decor brand selling unique handmade goods for the home and garden.

It has a huge selection of side and coffee tables, as well as a few larger tables. 

The brand’s Provence Farm dining table is meticulously handcrafted from reclaimed 19th-century timber, making us think it is an antique farmhouse table. Ten people can easily seat at this table, perfect for large family gatherings! 

VivaTerra also has a cool café table made using American and French oak wine barrels if you want more unique furniture pieces! The brand’s coffee and side tables are all inspired by the natural world, and some feature cool designs like fun geometric shapes or hand-carved details.

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4. Sabai

Categories: Coffee Table

Materials: Salvaged Wood, Recycled Steel 

Price: $595

Sabai is a sustainable brand with a simple collection of couches, home decor and furniture pieces.

The City table from its Essential collection is a must-have coffee table that will elevate any living room!

The brand used the curved and sleek lines of New York’s urban playground as an inspiration for this beautiful table. Very basic yet elegant, the table can be assembled in minutes thanks to its easy-to-follow instructions. 

Sabai’s City table is available in three different colors and features a powder-coated recycled steel base. Its tabletop is made of ash wood sourced from fallen trees in Baltimore, Maryland. 

The brand is a certified B Corporation that makes to order all its products in a family-owned factory in North Carolina. It sources 90% of its materials within 100 miles of its factory to minimize its environmental footprint.

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5. Savvy Rest

Categories: Coffee Tables 

Materials: Wood

Price: $599-724

Savvy Rest is specialized in the creation of organic mattresses, sofas and bedding.

The brand also sells two rectangular coffee tables, made of sustainably sourced maple wood. 

With their sleek lines, these two coffee tables feature a minimalist, modern design.

One of them comes with an added lower shelf that is ideal for storing magazines or other living room essentials. 

Savvy Rest's coffee tables are available in a variety of zero-VOC finishes, but you can also choose to have them hand-rubbed with linseed oil, or kept in their natural unfinished state. 

The maple wood is verified sustainable by the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, and it is durable yet relatively light compared to other types of wood. 

Savvy Rest is a Green America Gold-level certified business and a certified B Corporation. It regularly donates pillows to local domestic violence organizations.

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6. Masaya & Co.

Categories: Side Tables, Coffee Tables, 4-8 Person Dining Tables, Hall Tables

Materials: Wood, Glass, Steel

Price: $235-2,900

Masaya & Co creates handmade furniture pieces integrating classic and contemporary design with traditional artisan production methods. 

Most of the brand’s dining tables can accommodate four to six people, but with the Segovia table, you will be able to have up to 8 people sitting around.

With its geometric design and rounded top, the Chontales dining table even allows you to have heartwarming meals with your loved ones outside!  

Masaya & Co also has various coffee, side and hall tables of different styles and colors. We particularly love the Velero side table, which reminds us of the hull of a sailboat! 

All the brand’s tables are handcrafted in Nicaragua using sustainably sourced teak wood grown on deforested cow pastures.

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7. The Citizenry

Categories: Side Tables, Coffee Tables

Materials: Rattan, Steel, Wood, Palm

Price: $295-1,390

The Citizenry is a one-stop shop for everything sustainable, from eco-friendly furniture to home decor and textiles. 

The brand has different coffee and side tables that are all handcrafted by talented artisans from all over the world. The majority of its tables are made in Indonesia from locally-sourced rattan that is wrapped around a steel frame.

The Citizenry also sells small tables made with natural palm leaves and sustainably harvested teak or cypress wood. All the coffee and side tables are produced in small batches and take up to seven days to be completed. 

The company creates its products with a process audited and guaranteed by the World Fair Trade Organization. The Citizenry also pays its makers twice the fair trade wage requirement, and it reinvests 10% of its proceeds back into the artisan communities.

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8. Avocado

Categories: End Tables, Side Tables, Coffee Tables 

Materials: Wood, Reclaimed Wood 

Price: $329-899

Avocado is a leader in the production of natural, organic mattresses, pillows and bedding. The brand also sells furniture, including several kinds of coffee, side and end tables. All the company’s tables are statement pieces that are thoughtfully designed and beautifully made in Avocado’s FSC-certified woodshop in Los Angeles.

They are made from reclaimed wood, red cedar or upcycled beechwood using non-toxic finishes. 

The tables come with a ten-year warranty, and they are GreenGuard Gold certified, meaning that they meet the most stringent standards for low indoor emissions and health-based criteria. 

Avocado is a certified B Corporation that is also climate-neutral and Fair Trade certified. Plus, it donates 1% of its revenues to nonprofits through 1% For The Planet.

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9. Neighbor

Categories: Coffee Tables, Side Tables, 4-6 Person Dining Tables

Materials: Wood

Price: $450-2,200

Neighbor creates modern outdoor furniture pieces that are all thoughtfully designed, modular and water-resistant. It offers four tables of different shapes, dimensions and colors.

Made for comfortable outdoor dining, the brand’s dining table can seat four or six people.

It features a slatted surface with adjustable levelers on the legs as well as a built-in hole for umbrellas.  

Neighbor also sells a wooden rectangular coffee table with a rugged roped shelf for added storage. Its round side and coffee tables have a hand-poured concrete tabletop and a solid wooden base. 

All the brand’s tables are made of FSC-certified teak wood using extremely durable hardware. Teak wood has great water-repelling properties, making it very resistant to heavy rain and extreme weather.

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10. Emeco

Categories: Bar Tables, 6-Person Dining Tables, Coffee Tables, Side Tables, Café Tables 

Materials: Recycled Aluminum, Wood

Price: $981-6,118

Emeco was founded in 1944 with a mission to create chairs out of salvaged aluminum for the US Navy.

The brand has then continued selling furniture, and as of today, 90% of its products are made from recycled materials.  

Emeco sells a very wide variety of tables, from bar tables to dining tables. Made in the USA, each table has an extremely simple, geometric design, but they are all created with functionality in mind. 

You can choose between many shapes, heights and tabletop sizes. Some tables are even created for outdoor use, which is perfect if you are looking for a small table for a balcony!

All Emeco’s tables are made from recycled aluminum, the brand’s signature material. Some tabletops are also made of locally and sustainably harvested walnut or ash wood.

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11. Mater

Categories: Side Tables, Coffee Tables, 2-8 Person Dining Tables

Materials: Wood, Steel, Coffee Waste, Wood Waste, Upcycled Plastic Waste

Price: $405-3,397

Mater is a Danish brand selling furniture, lighting and other home goods with a focus on design, functionality and sustainability. It has a great selection of coffee tables, side tables and dining tables of various shapes and sizes. 

Mater’s Accent oval dining tables are available in three different sizes. They combine a sculptural and handcrafted aesthetic, and they are made of solid FSC-certified oak. The brand also offers two rectangular dining tables that can be used as desks or meeting tables. 

For your living room, you can choose one of Mater’s round side tables or coffee tables. Their sustainably harvested mango wood is incredibly beautiful! But for a more unique version, Mater makes three models using upcycled coffee, wood and plastic waste!

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12. Skagerak

Categories: 4-8 Person Dining Table, Office Tables, Side Tables 

Materials: Wood

Price: $325-5,579

Founded in 1976, Skagerak is a Danish brand creating high-quality indoor and outdoor furniture designed to last for generations.

It offers many round and rectangular dining tables that can seat four to eight people. Skagerak has several side tables that are extremely versatile as they can also be used as bedside tables or stools, and they are very easy to integrate into most home decors. 

Another multipurpose furniture piece is the brand’s two-legged console table. Fitted against the wall, it can serve as a make-up vanity in the bedroom, a welcoming station in the entryway, or even as a TV stand in the living room. 

Skagerak’s tables are made of FSC-certified oak wood, and the brand is very transparent regarding where its materials come from and where the products are made. 

The company is a certified B Corporation and a member of the UN Global Compact Act.

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13. Inside Weather

Categories: 4-6 Person Dining Tables, Coffee Tables, Side Tables, Kitchen Tables 

Materials: Wood, Plywood, Steel

Price: $169-900

Inside Weather is a sustainable brand making custom furniture at affordable prices. It has a great selection of dining tables, coffee tables and side tables, all made with high-quality materials in California. 

The company’s dining tables can accommodate up to six people, and they are made of FSC-certified plywood.

Its Vienna tables even feature an optional built-in power unit that is tucked away under a slidable surface lid. Perfect if you want your table to double as a workspace! 

Inside Weather’s coffee and side tables are also made to be beautiful and highly functional at the same time. Each piece is hand-sanded and made-to-order, and you can customize it according to your preferences. 

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14. From The Source

Categories: End/Side Tables, Coffee Tables, 2-10 Person Dining Tables, Console Tables 

Materials: Salvaged Wood, Wood, Steel, Iron

Price: $215-6,255

From The Source makes sustainably sourced hardwood furniture & accessories for the home using eco-friendly, reused & repurposed materials. 

The company offers a wide array of tables of all kinds, shapes and heights.

You can find small dining tables ideal for two people, but if you have a big family, From The Source has larger models that can accommodate eight to ten people. 

The brand also has various styles of coffee and side tables. You will especially fall in love with its Cumi side tables, which feature unique shapes and look like they have animalistic personalities. They are made from salvaged tree trunks and roots, making them one-of-a-kind pieces. 

From The Source also has different outdoor models and two console tables. The brand makes its tables using solid hardwood from different trees, including teak and mango trees. 

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About the Author:

Eva Astoul is a French freelance writer, specializing in content related to sustainability, simple living, and a growth-focused healthy lifestyle. She runs her own blog, Green With Less, to inspire people to live a more minimalist and sustainable life.

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Plant-Based Packaging

Supporting your lifestyle with sustainable goods feels great until they arrive in traditional packaging. Even if your purchases don’t harm the earth, cardboard and plastic do. It’s one of the reasons why many companies are moving toward plant-based packaging. Check out the sustainability benefits of eco-friendly shipping materials to better picture the future of green shopping.

What Are Eco-Friendly Packaging Solutions?

Eco-friendly packaging solutions are shipment materials that don’t produce environmental waste during manufacturing or after arriving at consumers’ doorsteps. Enough global companies use them that the eco-friendly packaging industry is worth $292.71 billion and will continue to grow through 2029. As long as consumers can place orders online or in stores, packaging materials will be necessary for every business sector.

Do Consumers Want This Packaging Alternative?

Companies may switch to plant-based packaging for various business reasons, but consumer demand is among the most crucial. Experts estimate that 60%-70% of consumers will pay more for green shipping materials. They may opt for green, eco-friendly packaging due to their sustainable lifestyles or general concern for the planet’s well-being.

How Does Traditional Packaging Hurt the Planet?

Traditional packaging includes materials like plastic and styrofoam. Those solutions aren’t biodegradable, so they pollute landfills and break down into chemicals that harm ecosystems. Given that around 11 billion tons of goods are moved across the world by ships annually, non-biodegradable materials are used extensively. Eco-friendly packaging solutions would remove a large amount of waste from landfills and places where those materials become litter, like the oceans.

Different Kinds of Plant-Based Packaging

Anyone interested in eco-friendly shipping materials should learn about plant-based options. They might become available from your preferred manufacturers or restaurants, giving you more opportunities to live a greener lifestyle.

1. Paper and Corn Starch Liners

When you order food to-go, it likely comes in a small plastic container. Restaurant owners prefer these containers to cardboard because they’re nearly leak-proof. The delicious contents won’t soak the material and render it soggy. That’s been the primary challenge of swapping them with cardboard alternatives, but now there are special liners to reduce obstacles.

Manufacturers making restaurant delivery supplies produce containers featuring liners made with 90% renewable materials drawn from corn starch and paper. They withstand liquids well and even provide moderate temperature regulation when the lining is thick. It could help more restaurants replace polystyrene — also known as styrofoam — with these sustainable liners.

2. Dissolvable Packing Peanuts

You’ve likely made at least one purchase that arrived in a box of packing peanuts. The styrofoam pieces absorb shock and cushion fragile goods, but they also don’t break down when you throw them away. Even worse, they’re the perfect size for animals to confuse with edible food.

Manufacturers can create the same type of insular packaging with packing peanuts made from natural starches. They’re so easy to produce that grade school classrooms often make them for science experiments demonstrating the life span of eco-friendly shipping materials. 

If you were to receive a box of these peanuts, you could toss all of them into a bowl of water. The water would instantly break down the primary starch ingredient, liquifying your packing peanuts into their biodegradable starch compounds. It’s a significantly greener alternative to petroleum-based styrofoam products.

3. Plantable Boxes

If the idea of washable paper made with cellulose fiber blew your mind, you’re going to love plantable boxes. They’re green packaging that naturally breaks down, like starch-based cardboard or paper. After you retrieve your order, you can bury your packaging in your yard. Instead of remaining in a landfill forever, it would decompose until the seeds hidden inside could form roots in your soil.

This alternative to traditional shipping materials restores ecosystems with specific seeds, like flowers for pollinators. If you choose a company that ships things featuring seeds native to your hometown, your purchase would be twice as green. You’d add plants to your local environment that insects and animals would instantly recognize, rather than a new plant or a potentially invasive species.

4. Bioplastics

You might try to make your lifestyle greener by recycling any plastics you buy. While that helps the environment, you can go even further. Companies are making so much bioplastic packaging that the industry will produce 7.4 million metric tons of it annually by 2028.

Bioplastic is a material made with biobased polymers that microorganisms break down through digestion. They don’t leave any waste behind after entering a processing unit, like a composter or anaerobic digestion equipment. Feeding them contributes to the nutrient profile of the soil around them as well, fueling the environment instead of polluting it.

This revolutionary plant-based packaging can ship everything from pharmaceuticals to consumer goods, so keep an eye out for this green shipping option when you make future purchases.

5. Bagasse Materials

Although you might not have heard about bagasse before, you’ve likely enjoyed the sugary products related to it. When sugar cane manufacturers process their harvests, the sugar cane leaves behind a natural waste called bagasse. Researchers started studying this fibrous waste for its potential in shipping materials. It’s an ongoing form of waste that will exist as long as people eat sugar cane products, which aren’t going away anytime soon.

Bagasse pyrolysis economically benefits its production regions while utilizing an unlimited natural resource. When processed into a solid material, it easily replaces cardboard as a sturdy shipping option. It could reduce the level of deforestation currently contributing to cardboard production, so companies are jumping on board.

6. Mycelium Containers

Mushrooms aren’t just delicious ingredients that eliminate free radicals in your body after you eat them. They’re also another tool in the green packaging world. It all comes down to their roots.

When mushroom spores start growing in the woods, they form intricate root systems. Experts call the entirety of the root system a mycelium, which contains many thin hyphae strands that send nutrients to the mushroom.

Mycelium systems utilize tough natural fibers. They’re perfect eco-friendly packaging solutions because they’re easy to replicate without removal from the natural environment. When fortified for packaging purposes, mycelium containers ship products safely and biodegrade in compost bins. This material is so reliable that people are even combining it with wood to make greener houses made of mushroom roots.

7. Pulp-Based Packaging

Many people think of fruits like oranges when they hear about pulp. Sustainably-minded consumers imagine the boxes their next online order will arrive in. Pulp is one of the leading ways companies ship their products, but it doesn’t come from fruit.

Instead, manufacturers partner with recycling companies to purchase their paper goods. Consumers drop off widely used materials like office paper, toilet paper, newspaper and cardboard at their local recycling facilities. Those facilities ship them to manufacturing partners who process them into pulp.

The resulting waste paper products can become new paper or cardboard. Eco-centric companies might use pulp-based packaging to contain their goods and paper using the same material to print the receipts in each shipment. When you finish using this material, recycle it just like other paper products to restart its evergreen life cycle.

8. Seaweed Plastic

Seaweed can do so much more than hold your favorite sushi ingredients. It’s one of the next materials that could replace plastic. Students in Australia turned seaweed into edible water bubbles, eliminating the need for plastic bottles. They also found that it was a stable replacement for other plastic products like disposable gloves and laminating pockets.

Researchers in Australia even found ways to make seaweed into grease-resistant paper, like the paper wrapping your burger when you get fast food. The revolutionary material would continue supporting consumer needs while transferring the world to biodegradable alternatives. 

9. Bamboo Packaging

Bamboo is a great material for tasks like cutting boards and flooring. Although it grows in lush forests, experts consider it a sustainable material because it grows much faster than trees. It’s an excellent option for sustainable packaging, so it’s already replacing materials like plastic.

Manufacturers can remove the fiber composites within the bamboo to create the foundation for their shipping materials. They combine it with polymer to reinforce the material and make packaging with much less polymer than before. Not all polymers are plastics, so it’s an excellent way to make a greener alternative for supplies like food packaging.

10. Coconut Husks

People around the world already harvest coconuts for various food products. It’s a delicious fruit that’s also a promising source of plant-based packaging. When manufacturers keep the husks discarded by larger food producers, they break down the coir fibers that make up most of the brown husks.

The organic fiber is strong and doesn’t absorb water very easily. Due to these benefits, it could become a more widely used ingredient in eco-friendly packaging for food products. If more manufacturers partner with companies already processing coconuts, they would reuse a consistent form of waste that would otherwise get thrown in garbage dumpsters.

Embrace New Eco-Friendly Packaging Solutions

Eco-friendly packaging solutions offer numerous sustainability benefits. Creative materials reduce the use of limited natural resources, minimize waste and innovate alternative ways to use packaging waste once you finish using it. The next time you make a purchase, see which options are available with your preferred retailers or restaurants.

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About the Author

Mia Barnes is a health and beauty writer with a passion for sustainable living and wellness. Mia is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Body+Mind Magazine, an online publication that covers healthy and eco-friendly living. Follow Mia and Body+Mind on Twitter and LinkedIn! 

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Circular Economy and Tech Innovations

Our current world economic systems are broken. These systems were built on consumerism and capitalism and focused on earning more, consuming more, and creating more — without much thought to Earth’s finite resources. 

These mistakes are catching up to us now. 

The planet is rapidly losing its resources. According to The World Counts, “If Earth’s history is compared to a calendar year, modern humans have been around for 37 minutes and managed to use up one-third of Earth’s natural resources in the last 0.2 seconds.”

That’s not good. 

If we continued at our current pace, we’d require almost one more entire Earth to sustain our ravenous systems. Something’s got to give.

And it has. Conversations around circular economy frameworks are quickly gaining ground. Researchers, scientists, and economists are collaborating to figure out how to optimize the use of Earth’s resources so we give back to the planet more than we take. 

Technology will play the main role in turning these conversations into actions. If you want to know what that will look like for our future, stick around as we open our discussion

What Is A Circular Economy?

An economy where businesses and consumers are focused on using materials and goods for as long as possible through constant repairing, mending, fixing, and reusing.

Things are rarely thrown away in a circular economy. Instead, they are donated or repurposed but always kept in circulation. More importantly, the circular economy uses raw materials sourced ethically and sustainably from the land to bring the net effect of human impact to an absolute zero.

Sure, currently in its infancy, the circular economy seems like a lofty concept rather than a workable reality. 

But tech innovation is bringing that reality into the present. Businesses are becoming more aware of the good circular economy brings and how it propels sustainability to new heights. Here’s a great post on the potential of circular fashion to end clothing waste.

When we demand circulatory practices from our favorite brands, we incentivize businesses to make long-lasting, enduring products. On the one hand, it helps humanity and the planet, and on the other, it emphasizes quality over quantity, putting an end to fast living and careless consumption. 

The Relationship Between Circular Economy and Tech Innovation

Circular economy and tech innovation are in a co-dependent relationship. If the circular economy has to become a dominant reality, it must be built with tech innovation or it won’t be sustainable. 

Similarly, for tech innovation to continue and accelerate, raw materials and components needed to sustain its pace and direction must be sourced responsibly and ethically, or soon, there won’t be enough around to help innovate technologies.

As this relationship becomes more entrenched, our future becomes a more hopeful possibility. A zero-waste future, resource-generative manufacturing, and sustainable tech advancement can all become a reality. 

Look at this next section to see how it has already started.

5 Ways Circular Economy and Tech Innovations are Shaping Our Future

Secondary Electronic Markets Reducing E-Waste

Electronic waste is the fastest-growing toxic waste stream in the world. We can’t talk about sustainability without addressing the challenge of e-waste. Electronic waste refers to discarded or outdated tech items we throw away in landfills as waste. 

Environmental exposure causes these discarded electronics to disintegrate and leak toxic chemicals into the air, water, and soil. This ecological contamination affects the environment and harms human health and communities. 

However, technology and circular economy principles have come together to provide several solutions. 

One of these solutions is secondary electronics markets. Places like eBay but more niche. These hyper-niche electronic re-sale platforms enable you to sell your old laptops or smartphones for cash. For those who find recycling a chore and have no professional e-waste recyclers nearby, these secondary markets allow them to put their old tech items back into circulation.

LASER Framework Greenlighting Tech Innovation

We all know technology must innovate to sustain life and the economy, but most tech innovation ignores environmental costs when taking the next leap. 

The LASER framework, developed by the World Economic Forum, is a groundbreaking model of sustainable tech innovation that puts circular economy goals at the center of everything. It forces tech experts and innovators to consider if their proposed innovation is circulatory enough. 

If it’s not, they must go back to their research and drawing board and improve the technology to ensure it has what it needs to participate in the circular economy. 

The LASER framework consists of the following 6 steps:

1. Alignment of internal and external factors

2. Life cycle of the product innovation

3. System enablers and value chains

4. Economic viability

5. Resource planning for efficient execution

6. Alignment for commitment and action

By being LASER-focused on circulatory principles, innovators and leaders develop better, more enduring, and more purposeful innovations for the economy and the planet.

Industry 4.0 Offers Greater Supply Chain Visibility

Industry 4.0 refers to the digitization and automation of manufacturing processes by constantly creating and evolving solutions and technologies that optimize resource use. It directly connects with the circular economy by ensuring fewer resources are used to achieve the means and by designing (and producing) products that can be easily disassembled and repaired. 

In a typical economy, supply chains are guarded, and end users usually don’t know how their products are made. Circular economy models reject these standard practices.

Circular economies, by default, are more transparent. Every step of the supply chain is visible to those in the next stages of the cycle to ensure optimal resource use, efficiency, and productivity. This enables consumers to choose ethical and sustainable products and services incentivizing businesses to continue innovating sustainably. 

AI Facilitates 3D Modeling Reducing Sample Manufacturing

Sample manufacturing is integral to several industries, including fashion and textile. Samples are used to analyze the functionality and efficiency of the product, constantly iterating and making it better.  This requires rapid prototyping of several sample sizes, types, and features — making this a resource-expensive process. 

Fortunately, tech innovation has made AI-enabled 3D modeling an ideal solution to this problem. Businesses can nowcreate several unique samples simultaneously, iterate at scale, and speed up production.

3D modeling also eliminates excessive resource use and encourages circulatory manufacturing.

Biodegradable Materials Research Ensures Regeneration Of Natural Systems

Biodegradable materials are those that break down naturally from environmental elements. Either through bacteria or living organisms in the soil. Making our stuff with biodegradable materials ensures that everything we use, or the waste we generate, goes back into the Earth, giving back its resources in some way. 

This is called the regeneration of natural systems — which is critical in addressing Earth’s dwindling resources.

Resource regeneration is fundamental to the circular economy, too. It ensures we use fewer resources and give back to the Earth more than we take. Tech innovation is making this desire a functioning reality. Thanks to material researchers,we now know multiple ways to sustain regenerative natural systems. 

For example, blockchain technology tells us how our food has reached us and if it has used exploitative logistics or distribution to travel to our plates. Thanks to NASA, we’ll soon become able to detect and sense deforestation in ecologically sensitive areas and hopefully act in time. Thermal imaging is another innovative technology that helps WWF to go after wildlife traffickers. 

True, these technologies have a difficult road to travel until they become mainstream and empower quick actions. Still, if we remain steadfast, we can hope for a much greener future than our present right now.

Conclusion

The circular economy holds immense promise for our world. We can use it to fix the economy, the planet, and the future. But alone this great solution has very little power. Technology must play its central and existential role in the revolution. 

Innovative technologies within the circular framework are designed to be enduring and sustainable. They also give birth to systems that naturally lean towards sustainability and look at all innovation from that angle. 

Perhaps, only a miracle will make it happen but if we succeed in creating sustainability-first tech innovation, a circular economy will emerge as the only viable way to do business. And that will be a wonderful thing for our future and the future of Earth. 

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Hummingbird International, LLC offers top-quality e-waste management solutions to businesses, corporate groups, commercial entities, and the residential sector. With over a decade of experience in the field, they excel in e-waste disposal, recycling, computer upgrading, dispatch, and making electronic items reusable. Their e-waste collection services are currently available in major regions in the US. Click here to learn more.

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