HOW CAN WE REDUCE, LOWER THE COST AND LOVE THE EARTH AT THE SAME TIME!?
Let's get into it..
Reducing Waste may be one of the single most important paradigm shifts we choose to make this decade.
Straight from the EPA, we have some stats and pics to share. Take a gander.
Needless to say, we have some everyday single use items that can cripple our waste management issues.
Our family is far from perfect so we are still working on this. Rest assured composting is not crazy hard either. I'll make another post on how lazy composting is for us and how it's incredibly doable!
Back on track now!! Here are the reusable products I currently use and I'm loving. Due to the shear savings alone, I am grateful to have found such economical options for our family life.
Look, I totally love saving on the carbon footprint and lessening the waste build up in our landfills, but can we get real about our personal savings!?? We can't save if we are throwing away our cash on single use items in our homes. Especially when it comes to growing families, oh my!!
Here we go..
#10 On our list.. Dry erase childrens work books
This dry erase booklet is all the rage! I know you're thinking what if I don't have kids? Well, even if you do not, you have a friend or family member with one. Think ok, the gift you can't think of when you need to pick up something for a birthday or holiday present. All children go through tons of paper learning how to write. This one is one of those you wouldn't necessarily think about but is genius to gift or to use to cut down on major paper waste.
#9 On our list... Reusable baby pouches
Ok so this too is really helpful if you have kids or are looking for a great gift to give an incoming parent with a bundle on their way! I can not tell you how many throw away ( non recyclable) food pouches we have gone through over the years. It saddens me when I think back to when I could have made this transition if only they were available at that time. We are talking in the range of a few hundred pouches sitting in a landfill right now because they could not be recycled, reused or in other aspects redistributed. Mind you the other benefit to this is a healthier option to baby food when making bulk at home, you can save a bundle. I could go on..
#8 On our list.. Reusable normal & swimmer diapers
Again, family basics involve a sh*t road of diapering for years... do the math. I unfortunately did not get on this band wagon soon enough. We probably put roughly 8800 diapers into the landfill. We did the rough math.. ugly really. So we thought even though the kids are getting potty trained, why not make the switch now? They will still have night time accidents and training could very well take a minute. Here is a few links to get started with a basic set for your kiddos. The inserts take the brunt of the load and just slide right into the super cute exterior cotton diapers. There is also a swimmer option which is made differently to not absorb the entire kiddy pool of water. Again, wonderful gifts!
#7 On our list.. Washable/Reusable ear swab
So for all of you germ-a-phobes lol its completely sanitary to wash with warm water and soap using a small washcloth after using these silicone soft based ear swabs. The basic idea here is I throw these into the travel bag because I always forget to pack them on trips and always need them but cost an arm and a leg at the gas station for a pack of 4. So I'm trying to transition from using the single use ear swabs everyday by using these puppies half of the time to get use to the cleaning part. Making the extra 2 minutes for this process can seem daunting but really so freaking worth it in the end. The environment thanks you. Genius!
#6 On our list..Reusable shopping bags
So this one is pretty self explanatory and most have tried it but we all fall short sometimes and need a little refresher course. Here is a link to some more substantial bottom sturdy shopping bags that can lighten your load by lifting the worry of breaking the plastic bag that was packed too heavy and is inevitably going to break and have milk crashing down on your toe. Maybe this has happened to me? Maybe not :) Either way, using a reusable shopping bag should be on your must list now a days to make an enormous impact on plastic or paper bag production!
#5 On our list.. Reusable straws
Needless to say, single use straws have been outlawed in many parts of the world in hopes to reduce single use straws in our landfills. Love these for my kids who mostly use them all the time because they get a quick swipe with the pipe cleaner after use then into the dishwasher to get sanitized. Really not too difficult to upkeep these little guys. Another benefit to these straws is the the fact that the added lip is great for reusable vente' cups at home! Those cups usually come with a straw like this so that the straw does not fall through the hole. The fact that they are straight and not curved gives the added protection against bacteria when cleaning. Nuff said.
#4 On our list... Silicone baggies
We have come to my personal favorite!! I recently adopted this reusable silicone baggie system. One is a bit nicer and more durable ( the first link ) more for storing that leftover food that can be soup or casserole related and the second is great for those everyday items. The second link is the variety pack with more options and a rack to dry them on! Both options are used for different things but we love both just the same. The rack is helpful for quick rinsing and drying if the bag wasn't saturated with wet foods. We totally love packing potato chips into a large sealable silicone baggie for road trips when we can't bring the entire bag due to what a mess the open bag inevitably brings. My kids use to get a single use baggie for their pb & j sandies but now... we are evolving my friends! It really feels good to help out in our small way but more so not buying zip lock bags any more!!! WOW!
#3 On our list ...Wool dryer balls
So all of those one use dryer sheets can go because these puppies are good forever. If you prefer a scent added in with you're dryer balls you can add any essential oil to the wool prior to starting your dryer cycle. This not only breaks up the clothing to dry it faster!!!! It absorbs moisture out of the clothes. This is a genius product that reuses natural lamb wool not produced by plastic means!! This product is excellent for cutting your drying cycles down by at least 30% saving you money on your electric or gas bill (which ever hook up you have). Holy cow, it's a winner all around. Money savings all around people!!!
#2 On our list... Reusable mop pads
Again many of you may already be doing this one but for those who still buy Swiffer wet jet throw away pads... well you can easily one time buy a two pack, use and throw in the laundry pile to reduce an obscene amount of non biodegradables. Nuff said.
#1 ON OUR LIST.. Reusable paper towels!
Ok, so this is the winner of the list because we all consume more paper towels than we can even imagine!!! What was the second thing people stock piled when covid hit hard? Second paper product stockpiled during a pandemic is paper towels. Why stock pile when you can reuse one of these puppies over and over again? Ill admit I still have paper towels in the house but only for a rare cleaning occasion I think I won't get out of my lovely bamboo towels! This product is genius and all over great saving our family boat loads of dough!!
Well that's all for today!! Hope you enjoyed and/or took something new from this list to add into your everyday repertoire. Cheers!