Summer Loving: Self-Care and Earth Care on Sunny Days
Sunshine. Blue skies. Having a BBQ with family. A trip to the seaside. Countryside walks with clear views. With summer comes snapshots of sunbathing, enjoying the outside and ice cream in abundance. The warm weather months have the potential to bring so much joy.
Pure bliss.
While you are soaking up the sun and embracing all the summer vibes, are you being kind to yourself and the planet?
Summer is a fabulous season, but with more sunshine comes more heat and risks of sunburn and dehydration. More so, how can you fully enjoy the season in a way that still puts your wellbeing at the forefront?
Here are some of Hearth’s favourite simple summer acts of self-care…with an added planet-friendly twist.
Hydration
When it’s hot, you’re more likely to sweat.
It’s one of the body’s amazing functions that helps you to cool down, especially during hotter spells.
It does mean that you lose fluids more easily, therefore you can become dehydrated faster. To stop this from happening, keeping your fluid levels topped up regularly is vital, water being the most important drink.
“In the UK, the Eatwell Guide suggests you should aim for 6-8 glasses of water and other liquids each day to replace normal water loss – around 1.2 to 1.5 litres.” – BBC Good Food
It may seem like you need to drink a lot of water everyday, but drinking little and often can help you get there.
To make life (and staying hydrated) easier, make sure you have a water bottle with you, especially if you’re out and about over the summer.
Filling up some drinks bottles and taking them out with you can so often be an afterthought. This leads to a quick trip to the shops while you’re out with the only option to buy a single-use plastic bottle. An environmental nightmare.
If you are having a summer trip out, put hydration at the top of the list and with that, reusable bottles.
Even reusable plastic bottles, despite being more advantageous than their single-use counterparts, are far from eco-friendly, or human-friendly for that matter. Many plastic bottles contain harmful chemicals, bad for both people and the planet. If you are choosing a reusable plastic bottle, try sourcing BPA-free bottles and be on the lookout for dedicated sustainable water bottle brands.
Other reusable bottles to consider including those made with plant fibres, glass or stainless steel.
Just as humans feel the effects of dehydration, so do plants. If you have a garden or access to any green space or plants, remember to water them regularly during hot spells. Installing a water butt or saving any leftover glasses of water can help during dry weather periods.
SPF and sun safety
Protect yourself against those UV rays! After spending a day in the sunshine, you don’t want to come back to sunburn. Although applying sunscreen can sometimes feel time-consuming, it is far better for your health and reduces risk of the likes of skin cancer, which is associated with prolonged sun exposure.
The NHS in the UK recommend these top sun safety tips:
- spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm (or whenever the sun is highest)
- make sure you never burn
- cover up with suitable clothing and sunglasses
- take extra care with children
- use at least factor 30 sunscreen
Additional best SPF (sun protection factor) practices include using a high UVB protection, 50+ being the strongest and looking out for products marked as UVA, which is a quality standard marker for sunscreen in Europe. Likewise, remember that sunscreen should be applied to all exposed skin and needs to be regularly applied throughout the day, especially if you are going in water.
It feels like sunscreen is sussed, right? From an environmental perspective, the story is not over.
Many chemicals found in sunscreen are damaging to the Earth and can disrupt ocean life. The negative impacts are particularly noticeable in coral reef areas, with reproduction, growth and bleaching all issues as a result from chemicals such as oxybenzone, octinoxate and parabens.
Positive steps are starting to happen. Hawaii has banned sales of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate to help preserve ocean life.
But I don’t go in the ocean, so what difference does it make what sunscreen I use?
Even if you aren’t directly going into the sea with sunscreen on, it doesn’t take long for the chemicals to reach the ocean. If you have a shower or bath, these chemicals end up down drains and back into the open water. If you are on the beach, but not going in the water, sunscreen from spray bottles in particular spread into the sand and then sea.
Sunscreen aside, the packaging is another issue. Lots of sunscreen is sold in plastic bottles which get thrown away after finishing.
With all this to take into account, how do you protect your skin and the planet?
Buy sunscreen that comes in reusable or recyclable packaging. Opt for more eco-friendly sunscreen brands which are free from harmful chemicals and use organic, mineral-based sun protection such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
Cool clothing
While it is tempting to head out in a vest top and shorts when it’s hot or hit the beach in a swimsuit, keeping your skin as covered as possible will provide the best sun protection.
Clothing which offers UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) can help protect the skin against UV radiation. When choosing clothes with UV protection in mind, darker colours with densely-woven fabric are better for blocking UV rays from reaching your skin.
Looser fitting clothing is better because the fabric is not stretching and leaving areas of skin exposed. By opting for looser fitting clothing, this also has the benefit of keeping you cooler when it’s hot.
Other cooler fabrics include cotton and linen, which are natural fibres and often used by sustainable fashion brands instead of man-made synthetic materials such as polyester, nylon or viscose, which are materials used commonly in the fast fashion industry and bad for the environment.
Of course, don’t forget to go out and rock the sunhat and sunglasses!
Do you have any sunny self-care practices?
