When you've lived a certain way your whole life it can be difficult to shake old habits like using plastic bags for grocery shopping or grabbing plastic water bottles instead of using a reusable water bottle. But that doesn't mean you have to be stuck in your old ways forever. By using reusable products as alternatives to products that are harmful to the environment, green living can be made easy with just a few simple changes.

Here are a few reusable items that will have you kicking your old earth-neglecting habits to the curb in no time.

Sub Plastic Bottles for Reusable Bottles

We already know that making this simple switch will save you money and will simultaneously help protect the environment. But did you know, according to Ban the Bottle, that the energy we waste using bottled water would be enough to power 190,000 homes?

So, if you're serious about green living, invest in a multipurpose reusable bottle that can be used for not only water but coffee and an array of other drinks, too.

Sub Plastic Bags for Reusable Bags

Perhaps we're biased but reusable bags are our favorite reusable product on the list! They are one of the simplest changes you can make for a more sustainable lifestyle.

Just think of how many plastic bags you end up with after a single grocery shop. Now multiply that number by the number of grocery shops you do each year. That's an unnecessary amount of plastic bag waste that could be avoided. And that's not even taking into account other single-use bags such as shopping bags.

By investing in several reusable shopping bags that you can keep in the car for grocery shopping or in your handbag for retail shopping, you'll be reducing your personal waste dramatically.

Sub Paper Towels for Reusable Towels and Cloths

Paper towels are so useful, yet so ungreen for the most part. In fact, each day, over 3,000 tons of paper towel waste is produced in the US alone, according to The Green Divas. To make matters worse, it takes 20,000 gallons of water and 17 trees to make one ton of paper towels. These are staggering statistics considering that the alternatives to paper towels are so accessible. 

For instance, for cleaning purposes, cut up some of your old bath towels that can be washed over and over again and use them as rags. Use microfiber cloths for cleaning mirrors and windows. For dinner, use reusable napkins and for everyday spills and messes, try using bar mop towels.

These are just a few reusable products that we use every day in place of products that aren't so eco-friendly, however, there is a myriad of reusable products out there that will make green living a lot easier. All you have to do is make some new green habits and stick to them.