Meet Kevin, James, Harry (14), Bryson (10), Carter (9), Mandy, & Louie

The McLaughlin family, who have lived in Westport since 2015, places importance on being environmentally aware, responsible, and sustainable in a way that doesn’t feel difficult, optional, or eccentric. They have developed routines, identified products, and made small changes that have become part of how they live their everyday life, resulting in a more sustainable and healthy lifestyle.

“We do not use paper products in our home with the exception of tree-free 100% bamboo toilet paper from Grove Collaborative. Once cloth napkins wear out, they become cleaning rags and old towels are repurposed as “swiffer” pads for mopping. 

In addition to composting, recycling, and using natural cleaning and lawn care products, we also try to grocery shop in a way that helps reduce our need to recycle. Instead of buying full-sized bottles or liquid refills, which are a waste of glass/plastic and composed mostly of water, we use small concentrated refills from Grove Collaborative and liquidless detergent sheets from Kind Laundry.  

For our lawn, we use Sunday Lawn which is made from seaweed, soybeans, and molasses and will not harm the ground, water supply, children, or our pets. Instead of toxic pesticides, we have bat houses and pollinator-friendly sprays made from cedarwood oil and sesame seeds. In the past, we had tried both full-blown harsh chemicals and” greener” (not that green) options from lawn services, and we have found that neither worked as well as the bat houses and natural sprays against mosquitoes and ticks.

We are definitely not “crunchy,” hippies, or off-gridders. We care about the planet, our kids, and our pets. Our hope is that the little things we do will help our family and our community, and carry on through our children as they go through the world.”

THANK YOU to the McLaughlins for being a Sustainable Westport Superstar!