Lowering Waste Without Spending Money
There seems to be a lot of suggestions on what to buy when going zero waste, but not necessarily how to start lowering waste when you have no money to spend. Here I’m going to share ways that I’ve found to lower our waste without spending any money. I’ll be honest, eventually you are going to have to spend money, but you can do so at your own financial pace. I have a few tips on how to keep your wallet safe when starting zero waste. Then, I will show you how you can start lowering your waste by using items you may already have in your house. Then keep an eye out for my next post where I give suggestions on what to look for once you’re able to afford more earth-friendly options.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional, just a mom sharing her experiences. Please do your own research and talk to a professional to figure out what is best for you. To see my full disclaimer go to my Disclaimer & Disclosure Page.
TIPS:
Ignore The Gimmicks!
I know this may seem like an odd first step, but coming from someone who has been oohing and aahing over all the cool zero waste alternatives, some just are not worth the money. There are so many alternatives out there to make us feel like we still have the one-time-use items we’re giving up. Unpaper towels I’m talking about you. Ya, they look pretty sitting in a nice neat role on the counter. Then you realize that every time you want one you have to unsnap it from the role, as well as snap them all back together after cleaning them. It’s more work and money for something that is unnecessary. I’m not saying there won’t be things you’ll need to buy to replace some single-use items (sandwich bags), but don’t do it right away. You’ll want to filter out the things you really need first. Probably the biggest thing to keep in mind when lowering waste is that it is very “in” right now and when that happens lots of gimmicks pop up. Stop and think before you buy to make sure what you’re buying is really necessary.
2. Research
Going off the back of ignoring gimmicks, (this is really life advice) don’t make impulse decisions just because you saw something cool. Research different options to decide what will work best with your family. If you read my upcoming post Why be Zero Waste Conscious (will add link soon!), then you will see my dryer sheet comparison. My favorite eco-friendly dryer sheet replacement option is wool dryer balls. There are other options like DIY dryer sheets as well as eco-friendly one-time-use options. After looking at SEVERAL sites to see what alternatives are out there, I decided that wool balls were the best option for our family and the environment. When researching, always compare several sites and opinions to make sure you’re getting accurate information and make the right decision for you and your family. It’s also good when researching to look at contrasting opinions. It’s always good to see what both sides think/ know to make an educated decision.
3. Don’t Spend Money
I know this may seem like a silly step in a post about not spending money, but some need reminding. The idea isn’t to just throw everything out and start brand new. That’s actually pretty wasteful. Look at what you already have around your house that is single-use. I find making a list helps. Then go through those items and see if you already have a longer-lasting alternative. If you don’t have an alternative already laying around, what would be a good alternative? Is there one? Are you willing to make that particular switch? I have started this process for you by making a worksheet with zero-waste items by room and approximate cost that I’ll send to you for free when you join my mailing list.
4. Accept It’s Not Going To Look Immaculate
We’ve all seen the beautiful zero waste pantry pictures where everything matches and it’s organized perfectly. This is not the reality, especially if you are starting off by not spending money. Here’s a picture of mine currently.
As you can see, it’s a work in progress. While I have bought the glass containers new, I bought them at HomeGoods where items are discounted. Also, they aren’t all the same either. I got all the same general style, but because I wanted to keep my costs down, I bought different brands in the sizes I needed. Anyway, on with how NOT to spend money.
I’m going to start in the kitchen. This is where the majority of our waste comes from, which is why it is also the place that has the most reusable items that we didn’t realize we had. I’ll also add in some things outside of the kitchen as well.
Paper Plates
This is really simple. Just don’t use them. We only use paper plates currently for parties. I’m looking at possibly changing that in the future, but right now I just don’t feel like doing the dishes after having a bunch of people over. I’ll take this opportunity to talk about why using single use paper items is bad. Plastic we know doesn’t break down, but you’re probably thinking “But I can recycle paper, so why is that bad?” Well, because there is pollution and resources that go into recycling and a lot of what we put in recycling doesn’t actually get recycled because it’s contaminated by food or other items. I’m not by any means saying recycling is bad. It’s not, but it should be used in combination with other zero waste tools, like reuse and reduce. Like most Americans, I was raised learning about reduce, reuse, and recycle. However, the main focus was always on recycling and there wasn’t much talk about how all three work together. If we reduce how much we use and reuse what we can, then we’ll recycle less. So use those ceramic plates just sitting in your cabinet. If by chance you only use paper plates and don’t own any ceramic or other reusable plates, I will go over that in my post Lowering Waste Spending as Little as Possible (will add link once posted).
Jars and Food Storage
Look at what items you buy that come in reusable containers. Glass or stainless steel is best, but plastic can work short term. At the risk of sounding like everyone else, mason jars are great! They really are. They are versatile and can be used for more than just food. Now don’t go out and buy mason jars just because I say they’re great. This is about not spending money. So if you have some laying around the house, pull them out to use. If not, look at the products you buy and see what containers can be reused. Peanut butter, mayo, the list goes on. These may come in glass or plastic. If you get the ones that come in glass, awesome! They can be used for a long time. The plastic ones can work for the short term while you build up your low waste supplies. If you are OCD about everything looking uniform, this may be difficult for you. Your pantry will start out looking like a mishmash of jars. If you’re not sure what you’re going to do with your jars yet, put them in a box and once you get a decent stock take them out and evaluate where they can be used.
Paper Towels
This is an area where I’ve seen unpaper towels recommended a lot. You know what you have in your house that replaces paper towels without having to spend money on unpaper towels? Towels. Regular old kitchen towels. If you’re anything like me, you have 20 kitchen towels sitting in a drawer that you’ve either been given as a gift or just randomly picked up in a store because you thought they were cute (or cheap). Since we’ve stopped using paper towels I’ve realized that there are three main categories we use towels for. Drying hands/clean dishes, wiping up spills, and cleaning. My suggestion is to split your towels into these three categories. Maybe you have seasonal towels that you want to use for drying hands/ clean dishes. Then the random patterned ones can be used for spills. The crappiest towels could be kept in a separate location for cleaning. We actually use the hand towels in each bathroom to wipe everything dry after cleaning at the end of the week. Then they go right in the washer and a clean one gets put on the towel bar for the next week of drying hands after washing. Giving up paper towels was way easier than I thought it was going to be. I let our kids use up the paper towel roll we had out of habit. Then I just never put one out again. I do have 2 roles sitting in our basement just in case, but the only thing I’ve used them for since switching to regular towels is for the kids to brush wet paint brushes on when they paint. So I will have to pick a towel to designate specifically for painting. Another thing that I have recently realized that paper towels are used for, but not much by me, is damping to wrap up herbs or to get moisture out of food. An alternative for these uses if you don’t want to use a regular towel is cheesecloth, or a thin kitchen towel and not one of the thicker ones that leave little pieces of fuzz on everything.
Use what paper towels you have or put them away and just start using the kitchen towels you have to figure out what you are using them for. Your categories may be different from mine. If you don’t have many kitchen towels, it is possible to get them very cheap. Dollar Tree is a good place to start for cheap towels. IKEA has cheap kitchen towels. We have several of theirs. I think they are about $1 each. Menards has a pack of 12 cleaning towels for around $4 that are 100% cotton.
Napkins
One thing I left out in the paper towel section that we have been using paper towels for is napkins. I will admit we still use paper napkins for parties, but as I said above I’m not ready for the extra cleaning afterward. Switching to cloth napkins for use on a daily basis was unbelievably easy. I actually had bought a package of cloth napkins, but didn’t have the courage to put them out for use for about a month when my husband actually brought up getting some. Looking back, I have no idea what I was nervous about. I bought a pack of 12. We have 6 out at a time because the baby doesn’t need one of her own yet. At the end of the week they go in the wash with the towels or whites (because our napkins are white). I would suggest starting out with 2 for each person in the house and then if you decide you need more, get more.
Now most people don’t have these just sitting around the house, so you can buy them, but pre-made you’re looking at spending over a dollar per napkin. Some free options are old t-shirts, small kitchen towels, old bed sheets, really any fabric product you have that you’re getting rid of. I’ve seen cloth napkins in sizes from 13”x13” to 20”x20”. So decide what size works for you or that you’d like to try and cut your fabric to that size. If you have pinking shears use those. If not, just be aware that depending on the type of fabric they will probably fray. You can also use thin kitchen towels. Remember the cheap IKEA ones I mentioned above? Those are perfect to cut in half and use as napkins. This will help you stop using paper napkins/ paper towels without spending money. If you don’t have any fabric items lying around to turn into napkins, I will explain how to make them for cheap in another post.
Sponges
Sponges are one thing that I didn’t really think about when it comes to lowering waste until I saw someone mention an alternative for them. Washcloths. That’s the alternative. We still have sponges laying around so haven’t quite switched to washcloths for cleaning yet, but I have started using washcloths more regularly in our kids bathroom instead of loofas. Now you’re probably thinking “What about scrubbing food that gets stuck on dishes?” There are alternatives for this, but they will cost money once you have used what sponges you have up. One option is bamboo scrub brushes and the other is a chainmail scrubber. We have a chainmail scrubber to use on our cast iron pans, but we found it also works great on our other pans as well.
Shopping Bags
Do you have a bunch of random bags around the house? Collect them and use them for shopping. They may not be made for shopping or perfectly ideal either, but they’re something to start with. I’ve gotten so many free bags over the years, I’ve started giving some away. My mom has even started giving my kids some of their gifts in reusable bags. With 5 kids, I have a massive supply of reusable bags that I can use for shopping. So search your house and see what bags you can find that aren’t being used and keep them in your car for your next shopping trip. Can’t find any bags? That’s ok! Keep plastic bags from your shopping trips and reuse them until you can buy some fabric ones. Probably the hardest thing for me when switching to reusable bags, was remembering to bring them in the store with me. Now it’s second nature for me to grab a couple as I get out of the car to head in to the any store.
Bulk Bins
Right now during Covid19 bulk bins can’t really be utilized. However, I am still going to talk about them. I will admit that I have not really utilized these as I just got to understanding how to bulk bin shop right before the Covid19 outbreak. Bulk bins help eliminate packaging waste. Take some mason jars, or whatever jars/sealable containers you have, to use in the bulk bin section. Make sure you get them weighed so you can mark the tare weight on them and not get charged for the weight of the container and only the product inside it.
Billing/Junk Mail
Switch all your billing to paperless to save on paper waste. Companies should give you online access to bills up to a couple years old. So if you ever need one printed out for proof of address, just go to your account and print one out. Probably the easiest way to know what all bills you have that are still being mailed is to keep your bills from the mail for a month. Then go online to those accounts, or create an online account if you haven’t already, and choose paperless billing. Most companies make this pretty simple and some even offer a discount for choosing this option. I’d start by going to settings and seeing if the paperless option is there. If you have a hard time figuring out how to do this, just contact the company and ask.
Similarly junk mail can also be stopped. Unfortunately, you’ll have to keep up with this. It may not be a one-time thing.
As you can see most of us have zero waste swaps around our house that we didn’t even realize we had! Share any more ideas you have in the comments below. Also, make sure you join my email list to get the zero waste worksheet so you can start checking off zero waste items you already have!
