In addition to buying less and spending less money, I’m also on a quest to use less. Less plastic mostly. (Side note- I’ve linked a bunch of stuff on here. I get zero money for any of this- it’s just the stuff I use. I mean, if someone wants to pay me though…. 😉 )
Single-use plastic eats at me.
A few solutions that we use:
- Reusable grocery bags ( I mean- this feels almost basic at this point. If you haven’t started bringing your own bags to the store, give it a try. It is an easy switch and saves so many bags!)
- Reusable produce bags- I hate using the produce bags at the store. I use mesh bags from Amazon (something like these. I’m not actually sure which ones I use. They live in the trunk of my car….which is in the garage…and not my couch, which is where I’m prepared to never move from. Sorry.) which is also a super easy switch to make.
- Straws- I’m the obnoxious anti-straw person at the restaurant. Whatever.
- Bamboo toothbrushes- the “every toothbrush you have ever used is in a landfill” statement got me. Damn Gina! I mean, okay, I admit that I probably use my toothbrush longer than I should, but I’m not married to the damn thing. They do find their way out of my house every now and again.
- Glass containers rather than plastic- this was a health choice however.
- Reusable water bottles and snack bags. I love snack bags- we use them for the boys at school, but I also have my beloved flamingo snack bag that I use at work. I see that they also have wraps for bowls and these sandwich wraps that flatten as a placemat. I think those may be coming to my home at some point. Goodbye cling-wrap!
- Imperfect Produce– they sell produce that would otherwise be discarded and sells it for a discount rate. They ship it to our house in a box without any plastic- woot woot! If you want to use a discount code let me know- I have one for $10 off your first shipment.
- Packed lunches. We all take our lunches to work/school. We send the boys to school with lunches real silverware and reusable food containers. This saves the disposable forks and spoons that they use at daycare. It also saves the packaging from their lunches. The morning teacher still uses a plate under the boys’ breakfast bowls which chaps me. I need to figure out a solution on that one.(Maybe the sandwich wraps I was just talking about??) She told me once that the teachers are nervous to lose our silverware. I had to just shrug that one off. I told her that we don’t mind losing the silverware if it cuts down on the use of disposable utensils. She said she had never thought of that.
In that past I used bar shampoo, but I sorta hated it. I’m willing to try it again though. Anyone have any favorite brands?
I was reading this article “Living Plastic Free” and it made me think about how much more we could do if we had a few more things available to us. I would absolutely use a refilling station (however this is not going to be my announcement of creating one in suburban Houston) if one was available. I’m not in a place where I feel ready to make my own toothpaste, but I have been noodling around with using Bite for our toothpaste. I like the idea of it being delivered in a glass container originally, then in refill boxes. I also like that I won’t be responsible for making my own toothpaste, because you guys, I’m at my max on projects around here.
It’s not a perfect solution, but I am excited to see that people are changing their lives in defense of the environment.
And I’m always on that borderline of being ‘obnoxious granola girl’ and suddenly plunging my family into a happy-hippy life. Life is a balance, I suppose, but dammit I’m always teetering on that line of going extreme. :breathe, breathe:
Anyone have any favorite ways to reduce plastic or waste in general? Favorite bar shampoo?
