Switch to Castile Soap – This multipurpose soap is perfect for the cottage! It is made of vegetable oil, rather than animals fats, it is biodegradable and nontoxic, and safe around kids, pets and other woodland creatures. It can be bought in a bar or liquid form for your convenience and be used for household cleaning, personal (and pet) hygiene, washing produce, insect repellent, cleaning dishes, and much more. Find a bulk food store and fill your own jar to eliminate the need for a plastic bottle.
Leave the Plastic Behind – For many of us, trips to the cottage are times to splurge a little, and we may end up purchasing extra snacks or products, and in turn, creating extra waste. A great way to avoid this is to plan ahead – make a list of everything you will need for your trip to the cottage and choose sustainable options. Use reusable grocery bags, buy food in bulk using jars, and prepare homemade snacks. The grocery store isn’t always the most accessible – I have found that local stores (bakeries, bulk food, natural food stores, etc.) tend to have more sustainable options. Using plastic is convenient, but it is a choice.
Practice Meatless Monday – A summer evening at the cottage is the perfect place to have a BBQ, or to cook some hotdogs by the fire. However, we know that one of the largest producers of greenhouse gas emissions is the meat industry. Choosing a vegetarian option one day a week can greatly reduce your carbon footprint and help preserve our environment.
Choose Chemical Free Sunscreen and Bug Repellent – Most of us tend to rely on sunscreen and bug spray during the summer months to protect us from the elements. We can in turn protect our environment by choosing products that don’t contain harmful chemicals. Not only do these chemicals get absorbed into our skin, but they wash off and contaminate the water when we swim, and are harmful to marine life. Keep our Lake healthy by switching to chemical free products.
Recycle as a Last Resort – Canada’s recycling program is not exactly state of the art, and although we may think we are doing a great job of recycling, our carefully sorted boxes and containers are actually ending up in landfills. We cannot rely on recycling to save our planet. The first line of defence is reducing the amount of waste we create, and reusing what we can. For more tips on how to reduce waste, check out my blog post on Sustainable Alternatives.
These are just a few of many ways that can make our trips to the cottage more eco-friendly. The choices we make matter and we must be mindful of the effects they have.
The Long Defeat 