Simple living should be simple, right? However, simple living is a gradual process: you don’t just wake up one morning and start living a simple lifestyle. It takes some time to learn new ways to get rid of and avoid clutter in your life — the craziness, chaos, and complications that are a characteristic of modern life. Simple living has several benefits, and helping you live a more eco-friendly lifestyle is one of the major benefits. Here is how simplicity can help you live a more eco-friendly lifestyle: 

Use what you already have

Simple living involves buying only what you need, not always everything you want. This means you will be encouraged to use what you have instead of buying something new just because you feel like you want it. When you decide to live more sustainably, you don’t have to go to the store to buy metal straws or an indoor composter to be eco-friendly. There are always affordable and even free ways to go green. You can use a small kitchen canister for composting food scraps or collect rainwater in buckets for watering plants. Buying less will automatically lead to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Replace disposables with reusable options

Instead of using paper towels, you can use reusable cloth napkins, cloth rags, or towels to wipe your hands. After using paper towels, they will be disposed as trash, and this will lead to environmental issues. But when you start using reusable options, there won’t be any garbage to dispose of. Our family loves using cloth napkins (we feel so fancy!), reusable metal and glass straws, reusable water bottles and coffee mugs, as well as rags and washable cloths. I even have washable cotton pads to use instead of cotton balls for facial cleansing, and yes, (!) I have switched to the Diva Cup for controlling my monthly cycle.

Make your own natural beauty products

Making your own beauty and skin care products at home is a fun way to live naturally and more eco-friendly. It is easy, effective, and above all, you can customize all your products to suit your skin type. Coconut oil makes a great hair conditioner, skin lotion, and even cleanser if you try oil cleansing. Make your own lip balm with coconut oil and beeswax. Olive oil is fantastic as an eye makeup remover. DIY spa products can be decadent and inexpensive. You can even make your own baby products naturally. 

Eat healthy

Simplicity enables you to shop mindfully for good food and produce. Live with intention, and shop for food items when they are available, in season, and inexpensive. Organic fruit will cost less in-season than GMO fruit available out of season. This means that you can be mindful of what you eat, creating less food waste and eating in a more sustainable fashion. It’s also a great opportunity to instill healthy eating habits in your children.

Simplicity ensures you avoid things that are unnecessary for your lifestyle. You will be living a more eco-friendly life without even knowing it, without having to put a lot of effort into sustainability. Simplicity enhances healthy living and creates a proactive, sustainable living environment. What are your favorite ways to incorporate eco-friendly living into simple living?

Years ago, I wrote two posts about reusing those plastic boxes baby wipes come in (50 Uses for Those Rectangular Baby Wipes Containers! and 25 MORE Uses for Baby Wipes Containers). To this day, they are still my most popular posts. I decided to revisit these posts and see if I could come up with even more ideas for reusing baby wipes containers. These boxes (and the wipes in them) are so versatile, I just love them! My babies are closer to the tween years than infanthood, but we still use wipes all the time. If you don’t like the plastic baby look, just grab some decorative duct tape, washi tape or even fabric scraps to dress them up! In the comments, I’d love to hear your best ideas for reusing these organizing gems!

1. Travel case for your kid’s Nintendo DS, charger, and games (or other personal game system)
2. Sports day kit, for toting to your son or daughter’s soccer/baseball/volleyball/lacrosse games: small first aid kit, energy bar and juice box, extra baby wipes, sunscreen
3. Storing birthday party cake supplies, such as extra candles, cupcake liners, color icing writing tubes
4. As an inconspicuous place to store valuables. Would a thief think to look in the baby wipes container?
5. Storing Cub Scout award cards, belt loops, and pins
6. Travel case for all your son’s action figures
7. Barbie’s wardrobe (and shoe!) storage
8. Extra inkjet toner cartridges
9. Essential oil storage
10. If you’re an EO fan like me, you can store your extra roller balls, mixing bottles and spray tops for making essential oil blends.
11. Storing kids’ sticker sheets and temporary tattoos
12. Add wheels to make a car perfect for your toddler to play with. Bonus — she can store other small toys inside and take her car on-the-go!
13. Containing rubber band bracelet supplies — those little rubber bands go everywhere!
14. Travel box for swim goggles and dive sticks
15. Baby snack box — you can fit a couple of jars of baby food, spoon, baggie of Cheerios
16. Good Behavior Reward Box — gather up small toys, candy or coupons for special treats and let your child choose from the box as a reward
17. Storing beads, elastic, charms and tools for making jewelry
18. Add padding to store an extra DSLR camera lens dust free
19. Hold fabric swatches and paint samples when redecorating
20. Keep track of extra SD memory cards and flash drives
21. Store extra lids for your mason jars
22. Corral extra buttons and thread samples from new clothing
23. Keep track of alphabet magnets, flashcards, number counters or other small educational tools
24. Coupon storage box
25. Recipe organizer
26. Crayon catch-all (perfect for broken crayons)
27. Small kitchen utensils
28. Art supplies and clay
29. Small cars and trucks
30. Lego storage — especially good for making an on-the-go Lego box for trips to the grandparents’ house or keeping small sets together
31. Cosmetics organizer — storing either daily use make-up, extra supplies, or create kits for different looks
32. Sewing kit
33. Organizing gravy and sauce packets in the pantry
34. Organizing tea bags or drink mixes in the pantry
35. Treasure Chest project
36. Stacking blocks
37. Clothespin storage
38. First aid kit
39. Organizing hair bows, barrettes and ponytail holders
40. Keeping track of those Bills To Pay
41. Storing baby and toddler spoons and utensils
42. Organizing small lids and containers
43. Holding travel-size shampoos and soaps
44. Pen and pencil case
45. Organizing baby’s grooming supplies — combs, clippers, nasal bulb thingys
46. Organizing charging cords for your small electronics
47. Travel toy/activity box for car trips
48. Holding baby washcloths
49. Storing your own DIY cleaning wipes
50. Manicure kit — store your nail clippers, files, nail polish and toe separators
51. Holding small tools or a emergency tool kit
52. Storing screws, nails and fasteners
53. Storing dog supplies — brushes, clippers, collars, dog waste bags
54. Storing kitty supplies — brush, nail clippers, collar, small toys, catnip
55. Snack case for car trips
56. Organizing trading cards or baseball cards
57. Corraling random craft supplies
58. Using as a brick mold for making snow forts
59. Organizing seed packets for planting season
60. Tissue storage in the car
61. Pet food travel box
62. Dry storage boxes on boats
63. Dry storage boxes at the pool
64. Storing gift bows crush-free
65. School/daycare projects (ask your teachers!)
66. Storage for leftovers or lunch (clean well first!)
67. Dryer sheet storage — keeps that fresh aroma in until you’re ready to release it
68. Outlet covers — just add a couple of screw holes and mount over outlet
69. Yarn/skein holders for knitters — the yarn can be guided through the pop-up part
70. Recycling plastic bags — pull a bag out through the hole to reuse plastic bags
71. Seed starter pots
72. Piggy bank
73. Hermit crab hideaway — make sure to drill a few air holes
74. Photo box
75. Storing toddler dental supplies (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, timer)
76. Storing cassette tapes or mini-DV tapes for your old video camera
77. Organizing garage sale stuff like pricing labels, batteries, small extension cord for testing appliances
78. A cash box for your garage sale or Girl Scout cookie sale
79. Holding condiments, utensils, napkins and other small dining supplies in your desk drawer at work
80. Holding reusable cleaning rags
81. Storing kids’ puzzles after the box breaks
82. Storing pieces for board games
83. Closet emergency kit — fill with a small sewing kit, double-sided tape, safety pins, a lint brush and static spray for wardrobe mishaps
84. Shoe-polishing kit — fill with shoe polish, rags and brushes, leather wipes and deodorizing spray for keeping your shoes fresh
85. Storing office supplies such as paper clips, binder clips, extra staples, erasers, you name it
86. Touch-up paint kit — keep small jars of touch-up wall paint and small paint brushes for easy wall upkeep
87. Home repair kit — keep a screwdriver, screws and nails, a small hammer, picture hangers, and other small items for doing minor home repairs on the fly
88. Store your iPhone, iPod, cell phone or other mp3 player supplies — extra cases, charging cords, earphones
89. Child’s treasure box — kids like to collect little treasures everywhere they go — let them store in something small so the collection doesn’t get out of hand
90. Organize notepads, Post-its and pens for your message center
91. Store extra keys — but label them first!
92. Containing extra sewing machines parts and maintenance pieces
93. Store extra votive and tea light candles
94. Storing baby socks
95. Organizing scrapbooking supplies — keep pens, glue, stickers, tape wheels, precut lettering and decor, scissors, die-cuts, etc.
96. Storing baby’s supplies — petroleum jelly, diaper cream, lotion
97. Holding all those extra business cards
98. Storing stuff for your gym locker — padlock, deodorant, comb, hair bands, extra socks
99. Collecting bottle tops until you can finally enter all those Coke codes
100. You can corral 2 Wii nun-chucks or 2 Wii remotes with sleeves in one box.
101. Car kit — store a packet of wipes, a few granola bars, lens cleaning cloths, your sunglasses, parking money, tissues, phone chargers and anything else you need on the go.