Delve into the true meaning of sustainability and eco-friendly living in this insightful blog post 

Explore the true meaning of sustainability and eco-friendly living in this insightful blog post. Discover how Alaskan Wildlings prioritizes sustainable choices and embraces the Tlingit native tribe concept of "HA AANÌ" for preserving the planet and promoting family health

8 Easy Ways for Your Family to Live More Sustainably 

The word “sustainable” has been thrown out a lot recently. Sometimes it feels like a marketing technique and other times it feels perfectly genuine. But, what does it really mean to be sustainable? Living sustainably means making a great life for your tribe while protecting the earth for our children and future generations. 

Here at Alaskan Wildlings, we prioritize sustainable choices and eco-friendly living. In the Tlingit native tribe, this is called “HA AANÌ.” Every item in our shop is carefully selected and crafted with the preservation of our planet and your family’s health at heart. Not only do we live this out at work, but at home too. 

Protecting our sacred land is a job for all of us. We’re in this together, tribe! And making an impact doesn’t mean starting a cloth diapering company or solving the food waste problem. Making an impact is choosing green living practices day after day. And green living is raising your little wildlings to respect and love our beautiful planet. 

So, today, we’re sharing some environmental living strategies for sustainable families like you! If you haven’t started your eco-conscious journey yet, don’t fret. This is a great starting point. And don’t think you have to do all the items on this list. Even small choices influence the trajectory of our planet’s future and our children’s future. 

Here are our 8 sustainable living tips for your tribe:

8 Easy Ways for Your Family to Live More Sustainably 

Start recycling. 

When someone says “go green,” the first thing you probably think about is recycling. And for good reason, considering that only 30% of our total waste is recycled or composted each year. Which still leaves over 200 million tons of waste in the U.S. alone. Yikes! 

So, to help curate a sustainable way of life for your little wildlings, start recycling! Get bins for each type of recyclable. And, make sure to research recycling in your city to understand the requirements and restrictions. 

To help teach your children how to recycle, make a game out of it. Each time they need to throw something away, challenge them in the sorting process. And, when you purchase something made from recycled material, show your wildlings the magical impact they made on the planet! 

Switch to sustainable clothing. 

Another way of curating a sustainable house and earth-loving little wildlings is to make the switch to sustainable clothing. Now, I won’t go into all the details on how the current fast fashion industry is bad for our planet and our future. But, understand that sustainable fashion choices are better for the earth, better for society, and better for our souls! 

Look for organic brands that use environmentally friendly packaging and are transparent about how they employ people. We love brands like Caribou Kids and Nudnik! And we have our own collection of clothing as well, with luxurious bamboo options coming soon. 

Remember, you don’t have to go all-in. Better is still better. Just avoid obvious big fast fashion companies like Shein and PatPat [MAKE NO FOLLOW LINKS]. 

Shop sustainably for your wildling’s next birthday. 

Kids generate so much stuff! Not just clothes, but toys too. After having little wildlings, it seems like in a blink your home is full of cheap plastic. When choosing toys, pick quality open-ended and imaginative toys made from natural materials. This will make sure your toys get lots of use. And when their time comes to an end, they won’t take hundreds of years to decompose. 

Also, instead of buying more toys that will inevitably end up in a landfill before your child reaches high school, consider doing activities or attending events for birthday and holiday gifts! Sometimes sustainable living is sufficient living. We should aim to teach all of our little wildings to be content with less and make lasting memories instead of a lasting carbon footprint.  

Hunt, fish, garden, and gather. 

Now, we totally understand that this one is not for everyone. But food waste is a massive issue in first world countries like ours. Plus, a lot of our food is produced inhumanely and without care for the planet. When you produce your own food, you control the process and can make sure it’s both healthy and sustainable! 

A great way to cultivate love for the planet in your little wildling is to produce your own food. Whether you plant a garden, gather in the wild, fish in the pond, or hunt in the woods, you’ll make positive steps toward an ethical and food-waste free lifestyle! Plus, a self sustainable lifestyle is great in the event of an emergency, or, you know, a global pandemic. 

Find eco-conscious hygiene and cleaning products. 

The things we use to clean our bodies and our homes are not always clean for the environment. Among other issues, hygiene and cleaning products have disposable packaging. This plastic ends up in the landfill and some of that material will not decompose for 450 years! 

Find products with natural ingredients and biodegradable packaging or reusable containers. Blueland has great products that can replace all the cleaners in your house with sustainable options. And for hygiene products, try Bush Medijina and The Earthling Co. 

Most sustainable brands are toxin and dye free. So, not only will these eco friendly living choices be great for the environment, but they’ll be great for your little wildling’s skin too! 

Repurpose old items. 

Another great way to live a sustainable lifestyle is to repurpose old items! We can diminish or waste problems by buying less and using what we have longer instead of throwing it out. And think of the lessons you’ll be teaching your kiddos when you reupholster a chair together! Or when you take that old crib spring and make it into a beautiful photo board. What an amazing lesson in imagination, ingenuity, and sustainability! 

Perform a disposable products audit and switch with reusable. 

To make a sustainable living home, you’ve got to ditch as many disposable products as you can. They’re EVERYWHERE. Every time you think they’re gone, you’ll find another! You want to locate these items, and find reusable alternatives everywhere you can. 

The best way to start this process is to grab a pen and paper and your kiddos. Then, go on an adventure around your home, searching for anything that gets thrown away after use. They’ll have a lot of fun in this discovery process regardless of their age, and you’ll be closer to your fully sustainable home. Here are some common products with reusable alternatives. 

• Paper Towels
• Furnace Filters
• Soda Cans/Water Bottles/Coffee Cups
• Straws
• Fruit Pouches
• Dryer Balls
• Gift Wrap
• Plastic Bags
• Swiffer Pads
• Toilet Paper (yes, we know, but you could always do it just for #1) 
• Feminine Products (we put this one after toilet paper to soften the blow)

Cloth diaper your little wildlings. 

If eco living is your goal, making the switch to reusable cloth diapers is a no brainer! It can be a little intimidating at first, but small companies like Alaskan Wildlings will help you with every step of the process. Disposable diapers are bad for the environment AND they’re costly. In a baby’s first two years of life, they’ll use around 6,000 diapers costing around $2,000. 

Nailing down the total cost of cloth diapering depends on what types of cloth you use, the diaper brands you pick, and how often you want to do laundry. But it’s the obvious green diaper choice. You can spend between $100 - $2,000 to get started, and those diapers don’t pollute our planet and you can use them for every child. When you’re done, you can donate them to a charity like The Cloth Option, who loan used cloth to mommas in need.

All you need to get started is about 24 Alaskan Wildlings athletic wicking jersey waterproof diaper pockets and the same amount of natural fiber inserts. Then, grab a few wet bags and a set of wipes and you’re ready to go! You’ll feel so good about your environmentally friendly choice . . . and you’ll get to style your baby’s outfit with their cute diaper print! What’s not to love?

We hope you’re excited to jump into this sustainable living journey! It’s incredibly fulfilling to live on less and live out HA AANÌ every day. We here at Alaskan Wildlings are committed to helping your family through their cloth diapering journey with quality products and great customer service. But we’re also here to support you through your entire sustainable journey! 

Check out our blog for more content like this and don’t be afraid to send us any questions or comments. We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok! Join us everywhere. We love to hear from our tribe.