At Curlicue, we love Simple Swaps - easy things that we can change that has minimal impact on our lives but can make a difference to the planet.

When we gazed at our new, beautiful designs for our latest eco-friendly wrapping paper, we fell head-over-heels with the Stars at Dawn design. This gorgeous pattern got us thinking - are there are any simple swaps that we can do in our morning routine? Can we extend simple swaps to our actions, as well as our purchases?

Wakey, wakey

The Swap: Swap 30 minutes of morning sleep for 30 minutes of something you love. 

Many books discuss the routines of successful people and their habits in their mornings. For example, former Pepsi Co. CEO, Indra Nooyi and Disney CEO, Bob Iger, both start their day before 5am. While we love the idea of waking up before sunrise, doing a full work-out, and being ready for the day before 6 am; but that isn’t always practical -especially if you work on a shift-rota or have little ones that dominate your schedule! 

But if, like us, you snooze until the last moment and then rush the rest of your morning, waking up just 30 minutes before your alarm can make a real difference to your day. 

While everyone has ideas on what you should do with that extra 30 minutes; we say do something that’ll help you take on the day. Maybe that’s sitting down and enjoying your breakfast with a book, or spending an extra 30 minutes on your side-hustle, or perhaps it’s getting ready at a calmer pace - do what makes you happy.

Big Smiles

The Swap: Swap out your chemical and plastic dental kits for more sustainable options.

Bamboo toothbrushes became the poster child for simple swaps, and while we love bamboo toothbrushes, they’re not the only thing you can do to ensure your early morning brush leaves you, and the planet, smiling.

Electric toothbrushes, while plastic, are not as bad for the planet as it’s non-electrical counterparts - this is because it lasts much longer than even a bamboo option so it won’t end up in the bin or landfill for a while. 

Suppose you want to change your toothpaste for something with fewer chemicals that won’t make a further mess once it’s down the sink. In that case, Ethical Supermarket has some great vegan and paraben-free options for toothpaste, and they also sell non-plastic floss. A one-stop-shop for your dental needs!  

Simple swaps aside, you should always follow your dentist’s recommendations for your dental health.

Task Yourself

The Swap: Swap spending the day in disorganised chaos to calmly listing all you need to do.

Start your day with a to-do list. It’s a simple task, but by listing everything you have to do each morning, you take the weight away from mentally carrying the weight of your tasks. Ticking or striking off actions as you do them is incredibly satisfying and, anything you don’t manage to get done, you can put at the top of the next day.

It’s probably no surprise that we’re huge fans of stationery in the Curlicue office - we love this orange fern, recycled, notebook from Oakabee on Etsy. 

The Dreaded Task

The Swap:  Swap ignoring the item you dread doing, to doing it first. 

At Curlicue, we rarely dread tasks, because we love bringing unique, eco-friendly, wrapping paper to the world. But, even we’ll admit, when it comes to accounts season, we probably procrastinate; a little.

If there’s something that’s taunting you from your to-do list, do it first. Get that horrible task out of the way, and enjoy the rest of your day!

Breakfast

The Swap:  Swap shovelling cereal while multi-tasking to sitting down and enjoying delicious pancakes.

We’ve all heard the trope that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. By having a breakfast that you love, you’ll have the best chance to tackle your to-do list with a grin on your face. We’re a HUGE fan of pancakes with seasonal fruits - we’re getting as many strawberries as we can before autumn!

At Curlicue, we’re all about the joy of giving without harming the planet - but ensuring you have the best start to the day, and a smile on your face, well, that’s definitely spreading joy and doing the planet some good. 

So give yourself a gift and take a little extra time in the morning to make sure you have the best day.

Happy Morning!