Here are 11 quick tips to lower the amount of waste your house produces each day/week/month/year.
<img class="size-medium" src="https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/11/01/11/46/garbage-511894_960_720.jpg" width="960" height="640" /><br/> <a href="https://pixabay.com/en/garbage-waste-basket-disposal-511894/">source</a>
Some are easy to implement, and others take time to grow accustomed to, but give it a few months and you’ll wonder how you ever did it any other way.
1. Get a couple of reusable shopping totes to use at the grocery store. Better yet, keep a couple in the car for those last second trips to the bookstore, pharmacy, or mall. 1 billion tons of plastic bags get used by Americans every year!
2. Go to a farmer’s market. Not only are do many of these farms use organic practices and have competitive prices, they often encourage no-waste practices. Egg vendors will take back used egg cartons to reuse, and vegetable vendors love when you bring a basket or bag to fill instead of using their plastic ones.
3. Learn to make your own cleaning supplies. By making your own eco-friendly cleaning supplies, you are taking harsh chemicals out of your home and the environment. Plus, no more gross chemical bottles in the trash!
4. Make a compost pile in the backyard. Common foods that can be tossed in are fruit and vegetable scraps, as well as egg shells, coffee grounds, and tea bags. Not to mention all those grass and hedge clippings. Your plants will thank you!
5. If you plant a garden, look into getting a seed block maker. Not only are they quick and easy to use, there is absolutely no waste, and your plants won’t suffer from root shock.
6. Use mason jars and stainless steel containers to store dry and frozen foods instead of Ziploc bags and Tupperware - both of which will end up in a landfill. If you start saving those empty pasta and jelly jars, soon enough you’ll have a whole army of glass jars in the cabinet filled with flour, grains, and beans – with less waste to boot. (Plus, you can use them for so much more!)
7. Invest in a stainless steel water bottle. How many plastic water bottles do you throw away each week? Month? Year? Instead, get a nice reliable metal one, and have cool water with you all the time, and no more landfill water bottles.
8. Pay bills online. Many of us don’t think about this, but how much paper do we waste every month when a bill comes to the house, we write a check, then stick it in another envelope and mail it back? Not to mention money we spend on stamps. Many businesses now allow you to pay your bills online, and offer “paperless billing,” sending an invoice directly to your email.
9. If you’re like me, you write yourself notes all the time to remind yourself to do things, pay the bills, or pick something up from the store. Invest in a white board and hang it in a public space in the house with some expo markers. Much cheaper than going through 10 pads of paper a month, and never being able to find which one you scribbled that important phone number on. (Pro Tip: Don’t want to throw down for a white board? Mirrors work just as well with expo markers!)
10. Switch to rechargeable batteries. Yes, they are a little pricey upfront, but in the long run, you will save loads of money, and be saving the environment. Switch cameras, remote controls, and kids’ toys to a couple sets of rechargeable batteries, and you shouldn’t need to buy batteries ever again.
11. Last, but certainly not least, cook food at home. Every time you eat out, there is waste – gas to get there, paper napkins, cups, wrappers, and receipts – not to mention the extra money spent. Instead, cook meals from scratch. Your family will be eating much healthier (no more frozen dinners and fast food restaurants) and less wastefully, but you’ll get to spend quality time with your loved ones cooking, eating, and cleaning up together.