15 Sustainable Swaps to Commit to this Earth Day

because if not today, then when?

Apr 21, 2025

On The Sunny Side #22 is a weekly round-up where I share a few sunny things that have brightened my days, what I’m reading, watching, and obsessing over too.

Happy Monday and more importantly, Happy 🌎 Earth Day! I hope you’re able to take a moment today to recognize and appreciate this beautiful, wonderful place we all call home.

a pause to marvel at the beauty of this planet

Personally, on Earth Day, I like to commit to one new-to-me sustainable swap—I think of it as my Earth Day resolution. From composting to ditching tampons, these changes are small but mighty and can feel empowering.

If you’re also looking for ways to reduce daily waste, read on for my recommendations on swaps that are actually worth it (by no means is this an exhaustive list, rather the changes that have made the biggest difference to me)!

Get your reusable coffee mug ready and let’s dive in 🤎

Household-related sustainable swaps

Reusable tote bags. For grocery shopping I love The Market Tote Bag from Apolis. I’ve had this bag since 2018 and it’s still as sturdy as the day I got it. We store several other tote bags inside it, and reusable produce bags so we can say goodbye to single-use-waste while grocery shopping. For errands I’ve gotten in the habit of throwing a Baggu bag in my purse when I leave the house, for those just in case moments, and they’re unbelievably handy.

Composting. In 2021 we signed up for a WasteNot Compost subscription and have never looked back. A door-to-door composting service that makes composting accessible to us citydewellers. The big sell for me was the fact that only 10% of food waste in Chicago gets composted! I couldn’t recommend composting enough and encourage you to research similar services in your area or if you have a garden, starting your own.

Cloth towels instead of paper towels. This is a switch we are in the process of making—we’re making our way through the last rolls in our house. The plan is to stock our kitchen with cloth towels and stop buying paper towels entirely.

Reusing glass jars. I have become a glass jar hoarder—from candle jars to pickle jars, I keep them all and reuse constantly. They work great for storing homemade salad dressing, simple syrup, pickled onions, making candles at home, or I’ve even used larger jars for gifting chili to friends with newborns instead of buying plastic bags.

Bar soap instead of soap dispensers. Bar soap is inherently less wasteful than continuously buying soap refills or new plastic dispensers. Again, this is a slower switch I’m committed to making in our household. I like that most stores you can buy bar soap free of packaging too!

Blueland toilet bowl cleaner. A 100% plastic-free and zero waste toilet bowl cleaner tablet. It’s effective and the tablets arrive in compostable packaging (another win for the compost bin!) I’m interested in trying Blueland’s hand soap tablet refills. If anyone has tried lmk your thoughts.

Personal-related sustainable swaps

Menstrual cups. When I say I haven’t used a tampon in five years that’s not an exaggeration. Since switching to using the Saalt reusable period cup, I haven’t looked back. There’s a bit of a learning curve but you get used to it, and honestly based on the number of crap in tampons it might be worth switching.

Period underwear. Not for everyone, I get it, but honestly I think they’re great. I use them on lighter days or wear at night. They’re comfortable and do what they’re meant to do. I buy this style and have no complaints (note they are an Australian company and with the new tariffs you might want to price shop different brands).

Compostable phone cases. If you haven’t caught on, I love anything that can get tossed into my compost bin. Enter: Pela Case. They have a wide variety of whimsical styles and are extremely durable. Case in point—I’ve had the same Pela phone case for three years and it’s still going strong.

Reusable cotton pads. These babies are great and wash/dry really well. I exclusively use them when removing makeup and prefer to use my hands with toner.

Utilizing the sh*t out of my library card. I made a personal goal this year to stop randomly buying books for the sake of buying books. At my core I’m a library kid and I’ve found a lot of joy in supporting my local branch. Every couple of weeks I’ll glance at upcoming book releases and place a bunch of holds. Future me reaps the benefits of past me, when the week a book releases I’m first on the hold list (not like I’m bragging 💁🏻‍♀️).

A few recycling programs you may not know of before we go

Madewell’s Do Well program. Grab your old pair of jeans from any brand, bring them to a Madewell store, and they’ll resell or recycle them into housing insulation. And you get $20 off a new pair of Madewell jeans.

Pact packaging collection at Credo Beauty for dropping off hard-to-recycle beauty packaging (think mascara tubes, lipsticks, dental floss containers, toothpaste tubes). I make sure to clean out products when I can, walk to the Credo down the block from me, drop off my trash and earn points!

Conscious beauty at Ulta Beauty for those of us who don’t live by a Credo, fear not, the same program exists at Ulta’s!

Nespresso pod recycling. Another simple and streamlined recycling service. Request a recyclable bag in your next Nespresso order and drop off at a local delivery point. Live near a Nespresso storefront? Even better, just hold onto your pods and drop-off in person.

Alright friends, those are my tippy-top sustainable swap reccos. My hope is not that you go out and buy everything (or anything) I’ve mentioned in today’s post. Rather, that it gives you ideas of swaps you can make at home with what you already have.

Do you have any favorite sustainable recs? If so, feel free to drop a note for us all in the comments below 🤎.