Eco Swaps my husband got on board with
I’ve been making Eco swaps for a number of years now, and while I’m very enthusiastic about the swaps I make, I appreciate other people may not want to venture out of their comfort zones for certain things. I’m very lucky in that my husband has been prepared to give most things a go, and while he won’t go out of his way to find Eco alternatives to the things he uses, he will make the swap if I sort it out for him!
The first thing I think we ever swapped, was our toothbrushes. Once our old plastic ones were used, I got rid of them and replaced them with bamboo alternatives. My husband didn’t even comment on this one, and seamlessly started using the bamboo toothbrush without comment. I felt like this was a strong start!
Pretty soon after we had our twins, I delved into the world of cloth nappies (I’ve written about this lots before if you want to read more about that). While I think my husband was initially a little sceptical about cloth nappies, it didn’t take long for him to get behind the swap. I showed him how some of our lovely new nappies worked, gave him a run down of how to wash them, and he was set. Sometimes he still reaches for disposables, but I still think he does very well managing twin toddlers in cloth at all.
I’ve managed to swap quite a few of his personal care items with success, too. He now uses Beauty Kubes body wash, saving loads of plastic! He uses my gorgeous Eco Living shampoo bar about half the time, and has also had success with plastic free deodorant when I’ve remembered to get some for him!
I think like a lot of men, he will use things if they are there. This means that all of the Eco kitchen utensils and accessories I have all get used by him, as well as everything I’ve mentioned above. The only thing I really needed to train him on was the nappies, and that’s been fine!
The one thing that has been outright rejected so far, has been clothes to match the rest of us. While I love going full out matchy matchy with my twins in gorgeous bright clothes from ethical companies, my husband just isn’t quite there yet. I’m still working on it, but it might take a while! He has, however, had a look at some of the more subtle men’s clothes made by ethical companies like Patagonia, and I’m confident that when he needs some new clothes, he’ll check out what’s on offer ethically.
When it comes to the eco, and green parenting communities, my husband has picked up a lot by proxy, just because I talk about it a lot! He would be able to name a few ethical clothing brands, and would choose pre-loved or wooden toys over new plastic. He knows the significance of radishes and would say something vaguely along the right lines if someone were ever to ‘Wankel’ him!
My next mission is to get him to take packed lunches to work every day, rather than relying on meal deals!