Last year's Superbowl, I used the end of our paper plates. Paper plates create a lot of waste and are very expensive. We have a travel dishes that I pack in a dish tub so we can wash and reuse our dishes. On one of our average road trip, we go through a lot of paper plates. I really believe that when you are zero waste, you should use up what you have, donate items, and wait to go to complete (if that is where you are headed) zero waste until you have used that item out. I still have tupperware that I will use until I can't. During the pandemic, I donated a ton of paper products to the homeless shelter because I had a large store. It was the shove I needed to go to reusable paper towels, and napkins. The line I drew in the sand was tiolet paper, we still buy tiolet paper. We made the jump to reusable menstural care during the pandemic, when we couldn't buy pads because they were out. I went to my sewing machine and made 30 pads each for our daughter and myself. I also bought a moon cup.
Things I do not buy anymore:
Trash bags ( I make these from Newspaper) Cost: materials free, time 20 minutes for a 6 month supply
menstrual supplies: Cost one time 10 dollars for moon cup. 15 dollars 1 time for pad supplies. Time 2 hours. Savings per month Savings per month 25 dollars
ziplock bags (I use silcone bags) Cost 15 Savings 100
lipstick ( I make these) 20 minutes very 3 months Savings 60 dollars( I like MAC)
household cleaners( I make these) Cost 15 dollars time less than 1 hour a month
paper towels( I use reusable cloths) 200 a year. Cost for cloths 12 dollars
Swiffer pads, cleaner, and cloths(I make these as well) Savings of 400 dollars a year. I made them in 30 minutes Cost 15 dollars 1 time
Home Decor I save hundreds, I love to redecorate.
Plastic toys
I look at packaging along with price per unit.
Plastic razors, plastic hairbrushes, and makeup brushes Savings 100
Dishsoap( I make this and store ina glass bottle, I have also made dish bars as well) 2 dollars
sponges( I grow loofahs) free still reusing seeds from my first crop.
Bird food( We grow sunflower seeds) Free I use the same seeds to replant every year
Boxed snacks(I make these)
Plastic straws(metal) One time cost 10 dollars
Cheap clothing on a whim from Temu, etc (I sew clothing) I save thousands on clothing every year. I sew our daughters
We live in a drought area. I keep a bucket in the shower to catch water.
Toothpaste (toothpaste tablets in a metal tin) 10 dollars for 3 months
Sauces and Salad dressings (There isn't a sauce or dressing you can't made) time minutes
Facbric softener (Vinegar) 10 cents a wash savings 50 dollars a year
Laundry soap Cost 20 dollars a year 1 hour to make savings 300 year
I don't buy plastic packaged bulk items. I buy in open bulk and bring my containers.
Tea bags (I buy loose tea) Cost free I grow the lemon balm and mint.
Pasta( I make it ) 50 dollars a year to make, 2 hours time. Savings 200 dollars a year.
Beauty creams and washes (I make them) Cost 15 a year Savings 200 hundred
Mascara (I wear false lashes) Cost 15 for 3 pairs Mascara 12 tubes a year 120 dollars
Most makeup( I use mineral powders in containers I reuse) Cost 25 for the year Savings 200
makeup up remover wipes ( I use the reusable makeup remover cloths) Savings 100 Reusable cloths was free from a subscription box
Yogurt( I don't have 25 plastic containers every week) 1 dollar a week to make Savings 22.85 a week.
icecream( I make) Cost 1.50 a gallon 6 dollar savings over 1/2 gallon
drink mixes( You can make a syrup from Steva, and flavour with fruits) Cost 10 cents a gallon vs packets at 4 to 5 dollars
Dryer sheets( wool balls) 25 dollars savings a year. Dryer balls I made free time to make 30 minutes
Floss ( I use a water flosser) Cost of machine 35.00
Greeting cards( I send electronically, I make special cards from recycled light cardboard with seeds embedded in the paper) Free
Parchment paper (I use reusable baking mats.) Cost of mat 12.00 for 4
Bread( I make all of bread products) Time 1 hour a week David's bread cost 6.99 a loaf so the cost for 3 loaves is 20.97. My family eats a ton of bread. I can make a better quality(means fresh out of my oven or sun oven for 1.25) That is a tremendous savings for 1 hour of time.
There are hundreds of other zero waste swaps I have made over the years for my carbon footprint and my wallet. Do I expect everyone to make all these changes? No, it is a discussion on to make life choices more substainable and save money. I save at least 6,000 a year with these choices. My husband took notice when I quietly quit consumerism, every time I made a product I followed the practice of creating a price for that product. I put the difference in a saving account. He made a comment at the end of the year was it worth all the effort I put forth. I showed him the saving account. His response,"You made your point." We never looked back.
I write about this topic because when we travel we hear people struggling with consumerism, trash bills, and inflation. There are many families on the fiscal edge, they may need to turn back time using their grandmother's thrift. To this day, I still rely on many things that my great grandmother taught me.
There are things you need to look at to go as far as I do on zero waste. 1. Do you have the time? If you watch a ton of television you do. 2. Do you have the skill? 3. Can you learn the skill? 4. Can you do without many items ? 5. Would it be easier to generate more income?
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