By Keira Ezzo
The word “sustainability” gets thrown around a lot. Whether you’re talking to your friends or reading about the latest marketing trends, it seems we are all just a little more aware of our consumption habits these days.
Though this isn’t a bad thing, if you find yourself drowning in plastic packaging and single-use items you no longer have use for, making the change towards a more sustainable lifestyle can be daunting, and even at times feel like it might not be worth it.
Individual changes might feel like a drop in the bucket, but if you can make small swaps in your daily life, you can feel better about your impact on the planet when you’re trying your best, just like so many other people out there.
When it comes to sustainability, remember that the swaps have to work for you. Feel free to take what you like from this list and leave what you don’t. This is about building habits that you can continue long-term.
Here are low-waste swaps that we love.
Low Waste Places to Shop
There is a lot of information out there about “eco-friendly” products. When you throw in the discussions surrounding greenwashing, it can all feel like too much. So if you’ve been looking to make the swap and haven’t known where to look, I got you.
The Grove Collaborative
I’ve been shopping at the Grove for a while now and have liked all of the products I have ordered from them. They are carbon neutral and plastic neutral. They list their carbon disclosures on their website. They also collect plastic out of our oceans after any plastic purchased from their store. Grove Collaborative has banned over 3,000 ingredients that have been linked to health concerns and consults with physicians to take the guesswork out of buying safe products.
Blue Land
Though I haven’t personally shopped at Blue Land yet, I have seen their ads and have been looking forward to making my first purchase with them. Since launching in 2019, Blue Land has helped divert over a billion plastic bottles out of landfills and oceans. Review their impact report on their website and read about their co-founder, a mother trying to avoid microplastics for the health and safety of her family and children.
Find Your Local Refill Store
The Grove and Blue Land are great, especially for those days when you don’t want to leave the comfort of your own home. But it’s always best to shop local and support a small business. If you’re lucky enough to have a refill shop near your home, you should definitely go and check them out. Refill shops are retail stores built around a zero-waste shopping model where customers bring their own containers and fill them with products. Read about the services they offer, like opportunities for porch pickup or drop-offs where their team refills for you while you run other errands or head to work.
Low Waste Swaps at Home
Glass Jars, Mason Jars, Weck Jars, etc.
Whether you’re storing leftovers or dry goods, swapping your worn-down takeout containers for glass jars has been a huge game changer in my home. Mason Jars last forever without the fear of microplastics being released into your food every time you choose to reheat your meals. They’re also a super easy, beginner-friendly swap, because you probably already have them.
I have some of my mother’s old Mason Jars, that were probably her mother’s before her. You can also very easily wash any old jars you get from the grocery store (think nut butters, jams, preserves, etc.). Rinse them thoroughly when you’ve finished the food in them, and then run them through the dishwasher, and then they’re good to be used over and over.
Reusable Water Bottles
If I were a betting woman, I would say you probably have at least three stainless steel water bottles floating around your house. Chances are, you probably only paid for one of them, and the others have been gifted to you, or won, or brought home by your kids. No matter how you’ve acquired said reusable water bottle, they are such a simple swap to reduce your personal waste.
I’m personally a Hydro Flask fan, and have been using the same one since 2019. I have no intention of buying a new water bottle until I lose this one or it bursts open. My Hydro Flask is 32 ounces. I drink two to three of them a day, which would be equivalent to four to six single-use plastic bottles. Whether you love your Stanley, Owala, Hydro Flask, or the knock-off your job gave you for employee appreciation day, just start using a water bottle.
Low Waste Swaps to Buy
Dryer Balls
Are dryer sheets a necessity? Of course not, but they make our clothes feel softer and reduce static when coming out of the warm dryer. But when you have to throw them away after every use, it can feel like you’re throwing away money. Dryer balls are a great alternative that you can use for years on end, saving yourself money in the long run, with all the benefits of a dryer sheet.
*Note: Dryer balls can make a lot of noise during the load, and it can take some getting used to. But the payoff is worth it.
I’ve been using dryer balls since I was in college, and it has truly made a difference in how my garments hold up after long-term use. There’s a particular disappointment to putting on your favorite sweatshirt and it just not feeling as soft as you remember it being when you put it on the first time. Taking the extra care for your clothes by adding the dryer balls to your laundry will allow you to hold on to that cozy sweater a little bit longer.
*Note: you may need to shake out a pant leg from time to time, as the dryer balls love to hide in pants, long sleeves, and other larger items you may be washing.
Swedish Dish Cloths
I have been known to use and abuse a paper towel in my kitchen, which is wasteful, to say the least. For every small spill, wet hand, or wipe down of my counter space, I always found myself reaching for paper towels, rather than reusable hand towels. My method for decreasing paper towel usage has been twofold:
- Take the paper towels off of my counter. If I can’t see them, I am less inclined to grab them. Now, on the rare occasion that I genuinely need to use a paper towel (think, greasing a baking sheet), I have to get them out of my pantry.
- Swedish Dishcloths – These are a great paper towel replacement. They’re small, usually square, towels that can wipe up like your paper towels and also soak up spills like a sponge. When my towels get dirty, I can even throw them in my dishwasher, which makes them good as new.
Compost Bin
Composting has reduced my food waste dramatically over the last two years. It can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. My compost bin is an old, large planter in my backyard, where I throw my coffee grounds, eggshells, and veggie scraps one to two times a day. On weekends, I turn it manually, and then it breaks down over time, which allows me to put those nutrients back into my yard for my garden each year. It isn’t fancy, but it works well enough for me.
If you’re all in on composting and want something less manual, you can purchase compost bins from hardware stores with a hand crank, rather than shoveling compost in and out.
If you’re bougie and busy, you can even buy some compost bins that do the majority of the work for you, like the FoodCycler. Set up like a garbage can, the FoodCycler works in three easy steps:
- Fill with food scraps
- Hit the start button
- Lay the dried, nutrient-rich fertilizer that you’ve created with the help of your new favorite kitchen gadget
Dish Soap Bars and Shampoo Bars
I switched to dish soap bars full time about two years ago and they make a big difference and last a really long time. Bars of dish soap tend to come in small, cardboard boxes, rather than large plastic bottles as well, which not only saves you space, but will cut down your plastic usage. The clean you get with a dish soap bar is the same as name-brand liquid soap.
Shampoo and Conditioner bars are a great alternative to traditional shampoo and conditioner for all the same reasons, but there’s also the added bonus of easy travel with them. You no longer have to worry about the amount of shampoo in your small travel-sized bottle, because it’s in a small, solid block. Simply lather it in your hands and wash like any other shampoo.
Silicone Bags
Silicone bags have been a major upgrade in my kitchen game. I grew up in a ‘save the gallon freezer bags’ household and was doing the same as an adult. I found them hard to wash, and then they would get funky; I could never reuse them for a long time. So when I switched to Silicone bags that I can throw in my dishwasher, that was a big game changer for me. I was still able to freeze things like bread and leftovers that I wanted to come back to without worrying about there being mold in my plastic bag.
They have the same zip-lock technology but are a thicker material, allowing for use and reuse to your heart’s content. I personally use the gallon and half-gallon sizes, but there are sandwich and snack sized ones available as well for your kids’ lunches and more.
Bees Wrap and Bowl Covers
I love to cook, but I often find myself with leftovers, which means needing food storage. Like I said, I often use jars. Another favorite is glass tupperware, but sometimes, you want to put your casserole dish in the fridge and call it a day. If that sounds like your sort of dinner clean up, I would highly suggest looking into beeswax wraps or bowl covers. They’re great plastic wrap and tinfoil replacements that you can use over and over again.
Beeswax wraps are great because they’re sticky, so they’ll attach themselves to the dish you’re covering, but they only last a year or two if used consistently, so you will need to buy them more than once. Bowl covers will last you a little longer since you can rinse them out and clean them in the laundry.
