When you're just starting out your journey to a more sustainable life, everything can seem daunting. It seems as though you must get rid of anything environmentally unfriendly and replace them with sustainable options, which is really the worst thing any of us can do. The first thing I want you to remember is, every step and small change helps; secondly, don't fall into the trap so many of us have fallen into before, you don't need new things, not until you use up your old ones, and when you do, some of them don't even need replacing. Here are five sustainable swaps I thought I needed but don't!

If you scroll down a little bit on my Instagram, you'll see this picture. As my first step towards my goal, I was convinced I needed three things: a metal straw, a string bag and a reusable water bottle. Have I used them all? Yes, countless times. Both the string bag and water bottle are used everyday and go everywhere with me, no question about it. But did I need them? I could have stuck with only one. 

The string bag I got because I thought I'd look so cool with it, Monica Geller would be proud, but in reality I had and have loads of tote bags kicking around my house, so there was really no necessity in the purchase. 

The water bottle, which I've mentioned so much on my blog, wasn't a necessity either, more so a convenience. I didn't have any reusable water bottles, and I really hated reusing single use plastic bottles a lot, in an effort to not use plastic bottles nor buy reusable plastic, I bought my 24 Bottles Urban bottle, and I definitely use it and love it (although I've come to realise I should have gotten a Clima one instead), but if you have reusable plastic bottles around, use them until they can't be used anymore, only then should you buy something new. 

Lastly, the metal straw, this was the most unnecessary purchase. Do I use it? Yes, somewhat often. Do I need it? No. If you're someone that absolutely needs a straw, then by all means, skip this bit, but if you buy one just because it feels almost like a "sustainable staple", please don't buy it, drink straight from the glass and avoid making an unnecessary purchase.   

Another classic on the sustainability wheel of products you don't really need are travel cutlery and metal lunch boxes. Unless you're literally starting from scratch and have nothing, you most likely already have cutlery and Tupperware at home, so just use what you have, in the last 4 years I've had to take lunch/dinner to uni or work almost everyday, and not once did I feel as though what I was using wasn't good enough.

The moral of this post is really to remind you to think before you buy. Will you actually use it? Just because it's sustainable, is it necessary? Do we really need coconut bowls? The best way to be sustainable is to use what you have and only buy what and when you need.

Let me know which sustainable swaps you've made that you've since questioned.