Welcom Greenies!

I recently started cutting out plastic use in my house in an attempt to decrease our exposure to plastic chemicals leaching into our food and drinks.  As I was going through these changes I also realized that there where a lot of other places where I can make these small little impacts to not only keep my body healthy, but the planet as well. As I am sure you are aware, plastic is contaminating and polluting our world in ways we never anticipated. Almost a million plastic bottles are sold every minute around the world and less then a fifth of it ever gets recycled!

If you think about it, we use lots of items on a daily that go straight to our landfills and don’t get broken down and recycled at all. If this plastic doesn’t make it to our landfills, they get swept up into our beaches. Us Americans alone toss out 91% of our plastic usage. (¹) We are a modern world used to our conveniences of single use items. But at what cost?

I am by no means an expert on zero waste and I must admit I do still use a lot of plastic. I get it. It’s hard to step back and take a look at the global scale of things when we are just trying to make it through the day, get meals on the table, and make sure the whole household is functioning as it should. And todays current consumerism isn’t completely eco friendly. It takes a lot of effort to not buy groceries packaged in plastic, buy a coffee without a plastic cup or lid, or even order something online from Amazon without plastic bubble wrap.

I love this headline from National Geographic’s website “Plastic: We made it. We depend on it. We’re drowning in it.” It’s simple and straight to the point. Bottom line, our current way of living would be impossible without the conveniences of plastic. That’s why I think this list of super easy, and totally doable, ways of ditching the single use items will help in making your efforts of going zero waste completely manageable and totally fun!

But first, for those of you not familiar with the term, lets define what zero waste is exactly. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, zero waste is defined differently in different regions so that each region can decide what their goal is in fixing this problem.

I like Hawaii’s definition that explains:

” Zero waste” is a way of life that promotes the goal of reducing the amount of material we throw away and  instead reincorporating by-products of one system for use for another system. There is no such thing as “waste” in Nature. In nature, the by-product of one system is feedstock for another system. Only humans have created this thing like “waste.” Ancient Hawaiian culture lived this way before the term “Zero Waste” came to be. We can live this way again through small shifts in our daily activities.

Small shifts. Small shifts guys, that’s all we need. Let’s see some small shifts we can make in our own home.

1. Bar Soap for Hands

I recently started buying soap bars for my bathroom and kitchen instead of buying plastic soap bottles. I’ve seen people use refillable glass soap dispensers as well, but usually you still have to purchase a larger plastic bottle to refill the smaller glass bottle. If you still prefer liquid soap, a glass bottle is still better then buying a bunch of smaller plastic bottles. I do like the idea of soap bars containing no plastic, though. Most bars are packaged in a recyclable card board box or I’ve even seen some fancy home made ones sold in health food stores with no packaging at all! They can get a little pricey, but it’s fun to explore and buy some fancy ones with flowers or designs in them!

2. Bar Soap for Body

You can also make the easy switch of using a bar of soap to shower with instead of shower gel. If you feel like it is too difficult to shower with a bar and get tired of dropping the soap every time *face smack* you can purchase a soap saver which holds the soap in a nice mesh bag and allows you to get a soapy lather while also gently exfoliating your body. Cheaper versions of soap savers still do contain plastic, but you can use them longer. Or you can go completely plastic free, obviously better, with soap savers made from natural fibers. Disclaimer: natural fiber soap savers do deteriorate faster and collect mold easier so they need to be switched out more frequently.

3. Bar Soap for Every Occasion

You can pretty much buy a bar form of anything now a days. There are a lot of companies out there noticing the need for less packaging and know there are people who are looking to consume those products. So what else can we buy in bar? Shampoos, conditioners, face soap, shaving creams, and even moisturizers. Check out these cool companies for some recommendations on all things bar! 

• Unwrapped Life

• Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve

• Rocky Mountain Soap

• Meow Meow Tweet

•Buck Naked Soap Company

4. Reusable Water Bottle and Filtered Water

A reusable water bottle can easily be the best thing you can do to reduce plastic waste. There are lots of cool stainless steel ones out there that I recommend for using when out and about; glass is too heavy and fragile to take out with you. Chances are you don’t really want to consume whatever hidden nasties are in your tap water though. Things like chlorine, nitrates, fluorinated chemicals and rust and lead from old pipes can be floating around in your water. For a deeper look at what is in the tap water where you live, check out EWG’s Tap Water Database and for filters that compliment your water needs check out their Water Filter Buying Guide. My husband and I have been lucky enough that we could purchase a Home Master Reverse Osmosis water filter, and it’s one of the best purchases we’ve ever made!

5. Reusable Silicone or Cloth Snack Bags

Sandwich Ziplock bags become a big waste in most households. We use them once and we’re done. I too still find myself using Ziplock bags because of the whole convenience of them. However, I have saved myself a lot of Ziplock uses recently by purchasing cloth snack bags for both mine and my son’s lunches. The cloth is usually double layered with a waterproof lining on the inside to help keep juices from dripping out. For kids, cloth snack bags are also fun because you can buy cool patterns to get them excited about eating their lunch. They are super easy to clean! Being machine washable I would just throw them in the laundry with the kitchen towels. The silicone bags are convenient too, because I feel they can hold juicy and messy stuff better than the cloth can. I’ve had to throw away a couple of cloth bags because I forgot about them and moldy food grew inside them. Eek! I try not to be too messy and forgetful, but…… life happens. Silicone is also very easy to clean, you can throw them in the dishwasher or in a pot of boiling water to sanitize.

6. Glass Tupperware and Mason Jars

Large Gallon Ziplock bags is another switch that can be made to glass tupperware storage when trying to store leftover food. Glass storage can even be used to store items in the freezer as long as it has a good sealing lid. I will sometimes make big batches of bone broth and store it in mason jars in the freezer. I love mason jars. We have several dozen jars at home of all different sizes. A lot of times we just use them to drink out of, but you can buy mason jar accessories for anything. I recently started storing my freshly ground coffee beans in a mason jar in the fridge, and bought a tablespoon attachment to measure the perfect amount of grinds. 

7. French Press and Stainless Steel Tea Infuser

Speaking of coffee, I only ever use a french press to make my coffee. There are no filters or plastic cups for disposing. If you absolutely can not kick the convenience of the Keurig machine, try opting for the filter that comes with it. I’m sure it’s obvious to most that with the heating of Keurig cups, the chemicals from the plastic is leaching into your drink. What’s less obvious though, is that a chemical known as epichlorohydrin is also leaching into your coffee and teas from the filters and tea bags. This chemical, which is also used in epoxy resin and as a pesticide, is used in order to keep the paper filter from disintegrating when coming into contact with boiling water. Using unbleached coffee filters is better in the sense that you’re not getting the chlorine, but you are still receiving epichlorophydrin. Tea bags are even worse when it comes to chemical exposure, with some tea bags reported to having plastics like PVC and polypropylene. Consuming loose leaf teas in a tea infuser would be better to stay away from those plastic compounds, and you also get a better quality of tea as well (²)

8. Cloth Napkins

I used to always think of fancy dinner tables and Grandmother’s fine china when I heard cloth napkins. But cloth napkins don’t have to be fancy, and in my opinion are better when they are not. They are good for every day use in all types of ways! I love Marley’s Monsters napkins. They have a ton of fun prints that can fit in any kitchen theme and you get to hand pick your prints or have a random selection sent to you. I have substituted these “unpaper towels” for my regular paper towels. I still have paper towels on hand but I honestly hardly ever use them. I also use Marley’s Monsters cloth napkins as hand wipes using their pre-made soap tablets. They work great on sticky kid hands for quick and easy clean ups after meal times. And I also use their facial rounds for removing eye make up at night.

9. Wool Dryer Balls

My mom always told me to be careful of dryer sheets; Not because of the what they are made of, but because of how slippery they are on hardwood floors. Well Mom, let me tell you there is more damage that these seemingly “innocent” little sheets can cause. The damage goes deeper, much deeper. A study, reported by CBS News, has shown that scented laundry detergents and dryer sheets pose a HUGE risk to our health. These “cleaning” items, which are far from clean, can release carcinogenic air pollutants like acetaldehyde and benzene into the air. Plus, when dryer sheets are heated the dryer releases a hot cloud of toxic fumes that stays trapped in your house. So dryer sheets aren’t posing a risk for just those with skin sensitivities, but for all those with skin, ehem… everyone,  and all those with lungs, again… everyone. Wool dryer balls are an easy and cheap solution to the problem. And if you have to have that clean laundry smell, which I do, then try adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil on the wool dryer ball the last 10 minutes of the cycle.

10. NOT Using Paper or Plastic Utensils

I’m sure the big obvious is not using these easily disposable items on an everyday basis at home. I know it decreases the amount of dishes in the sink and it’s easier at the end of the day when you’re tired; but to toss a plastic spoon away every day for every meal for a family of 4 comes out to 12 spoons being thrown away a day. And that’s not counting the plastic straws, plastic cups and plastic lined paper plates that are being used either. If you are a big plastic utensil user, then decreasing your daily usage will dramatically impact your part in plastic pollution.

Other Ways of Cutting Back

If you are finding all these changes intimidating, or there are areas where you want to cut back, but you just can not go without the convenience of plastic, here some other tips you can use to have your plastic cake, and eat it too.

 • Washing and reusing Ziplock bags

• Dumping smaller bedroom or bathroom trash into larger kitchen trash bags in order to reuse the smaller trash bags

• Adding water to liquid hand soap in order to make it last longer

• Writing your name on your disposable cup and using the same one all day or even all week

• Using the same plastic utensils all day, or even all week, and throw them out at the end of the day

• Turning old dish sponges into cleaning sponges

I’m sure there is one area you can pick to start your small change. Which will it be?

Spread the love Greenies!

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