If you have been around me for any length of time, you know that zero waste is close to my heart.
I am working hard for our family to leave as little a footprint as we possibly can.
We ditched our car 3 years back for good and before only drove when we absolutely had to.
My daughter and her husband are working hard on their holistic, sustainable farm. And we recycle ans reuse as much as we possibly can.
If you want to go zero waste, but think it is too expensive, then let me tell you: it is not. I am on a tiiiiiiight budget, and I am doing it. It helps with saving money and stretching my budget just that tiny bit further.
Zero waste does not mean to go out and buy all kinds of reusable products. It means to simply reuse what you already have. It means to think twice before throwing something out. Can this be recycled? Could I find another use for it?
Of course there are tons of pretty things with just the right styling being offered to eco conscious consumers.
But buying them and throwing out the plastic they are supposed to replace is NOT zero waste.
Going zero waste also doesn't mean having no more plastic in the house, starting tomorrow.
It means shopping consciously and making choices.
We have plastic reusable containers. Because we bought them a few years ago and they are still good. We will keep using them until they fall apart. And only then will we replace them with something better.
You don't have to buy fancy storage containers. My friends keep all their glass jars for me. The kind spaghetti sauce comes in. They are so handy. Same with glass containers for jelly/ jam, salsa, what have you. They keep them for me and you would be surprised how many of them I use. Don't like the screw on lids? I plan to replace a few of them with Cork tops and wooden lids, you can also spray paint them or cover them in fabric. The possibilities are endless.
We use them to store leftovers, cleaning supplies, crafting supplies, root plant clippings, as drinking glasses, you name it.
Does it look pretty?
It can.
I take all the lables off in batches. Then dry the glasses and store them for later uses. You can print out cute labels and adhere them with flour paste (easy to get off) or even buy a few labels (I saw some chalk board ones, that could be reused). You could also cover them with paper, or make fabric sleeves for the jars. How cute would that be?
I store our home made laundry detergent in an old water jug someone gave me, and the overflow in a popcorn tin and a gallon milk jug I cleaned out. This will stay this way until I have set up a way to recycle the # 2 plastics in house (currently looking for a used toaster oven, or sandwich press). Then the popcorn tin will get recycled as well as soon as I find a replacement for it as this is not the ideal storage solution tbh. It does the job for now until I run across something suitable in the thrift store.
Yes, it will take me a little longer to get all the "pretty" containers that you can see in all these lifestyle blogs and on instagram, but my laundry stuff is behind closet doors, and I do have plans on making the current containers look nicer.
If it so happens that we need something new, we will buy responsible when ever we can. We just got a big freezer and now I am in the market for reusable freezer bags.
Yes. That is a thing. I am just debating in what sizes to get them in. But they will be arriving next week-ish. I will make a post.
I reuse my crafting supplies as well. I do still use regular PVA glue (the white school glue), mostly because the more eco friendly version is too expensive for me right now.
I only use it when my home made flour paste won't do the job. For bookbinding for example PVA glue acts more like bone glue. It stays more elastic than the flour paste.
I have a few small bottles left right now, but once they are finished, I plan to buy a big bucket of glue and refill my smaller bottles from that. The smaller detail glue bottle has been refilled already for a bit over 2 years now. The small 5 oz bottle has also been refilled before. It is my drain-all-the-leftovers-into-one-bottle. (Which is something I do with hairshampoo as well.)
Elmers comes in a big gallon bucket for example.
One gallon bucket fills 25 of the five ounz bottles. So I will be able to avoid buying 25 small plastic bottles by simply buying the gallon bucket. Once the bucket is empty, it can be washed out and used for something else. I don't know about you, but in my house we always have uses for a bucket with a lid.
Since I do use flourpaste for glue a lot, and also bake all the bread we eat, I buy flour and sugar in bulk. We get a 25 pound bag of each every month. They get stored in our hallway closet and I refill an old cookie jar for daily use.
The bulk flour and sugar come in paper bags, which in turn I use to make journals.
Buying in bulk is great for zero waste, since it cuts down on individual packaging. Pasta, rice, herbs and seasonings, nuts, tea, candy, baking soda/powder, bullion powder, cereal, and much more can all be bought in bulk in my grocery store. I am super spoiled in that regard. But not all stores furnish a bulk section.
If your grocery store does not have a bulk food section, do go and ask them. It is becoming increasingly more popular and if they get asked enough times, they might add one.
The empty glass jars my friends keep come in handy for bulk buying.
When we started out going zero waste, we knew we have to do it in steps. We added something new every month, or every few months, depending on how we got on. Once you get the hang of it, add something else. Small steps add up. Trying to do it all at once can feel overwhelming and might make you want to quit.
We are not buying *everything* we could in bulk just yet.
Pasta is not one of those things we are still buying in bags at the moment, but we are working on it. We are buying the giant bags, rather than the small ones. I can get 3 meals out of one big pasta bag. This means I cut down on 2 plastic wrappers. It's a step! We opted for working on getting adequate storage for the pasta we want to buy in bulk, before starting on it. But since I want to buy something thrifted, rather than brand new (zero waste!), this will take a bit of shopping around. Until then I will rejoice at saving 2 plastic bags a month, rather than beat myself up over not having the zero waste kitchen of my dreams.
If you want to do something good for the environment, but have no storage space for bulk shopping, you could start where we started 17 years ago. Drop paper towels. That is a HUGE step, but easily achieved, even without buying anything. We all have old t shirts in the house, and if not, they are readily available at the thrift stores, or maybe even your friends could check their closets for you. Cut the t shirts up into nice cloth size pieces and simply keep them in a basket on your counter, or in a drawer. They work great! I personally knit cotton dishcloths that double as un-paper towels in our house. Simply toss in with your wash and presto!
Don't have a washer/dryer, and schlepping more to the laundromat is not an option? OK. Substitute one car ride every week for taking public transport. Just one! You may discover you like not having to worry about traffic. Not your thing? OK. Instead of using just random plastic bags for your dog's waste make sure they are bio degradable! There is tons of little thing that will have an impact. Just one change will make you part of the solution! ❤
Whatever you decide to do, be gentle, not just to mother earth, but also to yourself. If you can only manage to do ONE zero waste routine, and think that's not even worth starting, think again. Even just one small effort will help make a difference. I swear! Your one thing and our few things combined with someone else already being zero waste all add up and work together to make a better future for our planet.
We can do it. Together.❤
Wishing everyone a great long weekend!
Xo,❤
B. 🐝