Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Plastic is number one on our list: Our goal is to reduce the number of plastic items coming into the house, reuse the ones we already have as we use up their contents, and recycle the remaining ones. When, say, a container of dishwasher liquid is empty, I search for a homemade solution to put into it. Since I found a good recipe for a dry dishwasher soap, I've put that into a clean glass container and have rinsed and recycled the huge plastic dishwasher detergent container (vowing never to buy another).
It's important to realize that plastic doesn't go away (see Humans Have Made 8.3 Billion Tons of Plastic: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/humans-made-8-3-billion-tons-plastic-go) and that very little of recyclable plastic actually gets recycled (see A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn't Recycled: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/).
It's important to realize that plastic doesn't go away (see Humans Have Made 8.3 Billion Tons of Plastic: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/humans-made-8-3-billion-tons-plastic-go) and that very little of recyclable plastic actually gets recycled (see A Whopping 91% of Plastic Isn't Recycled: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/).
In addition to reducing plastic use, we are working on reducing our dependence on paper products. As we use up our existing supply, we try to figure out a substitute for each product.
And so it goes, one step at a time. And yes, these steps might take a little longer but I believe that we owe it to the earth and to ourselves.
Here are some of the recipes and substitutions we've found so far.
Kitchen
Paper towels: We have put a stack of clean old dishcloths where the paper towels used to be.
Dishwasher detergents:
There are lots of diy mistures online, but this one worked best with our very hard water:
1/2 cup washing soda
1/4 cup Oxi Clean
1 tsp. citric acid
Use 1 tbl. of this mixture, together with three drops blue Dawn detergent in the soap dispenser and 1/2 cup vinegar in a cup in the top rack.
Food waste:
We feed scraps to our chickens and compost the rest. Bits of meat or bones are frozen until it's time to put them into the trash (which we have reduced to once a month pickup).
Water:
We buy drinking water in large jugs that we take back to the store when empty. We carry refillable personal aluminum water bottles instead of plastic ones.
Groceries:
We use mesh fabric bags for buying produce, and fabric grocery bags to carry food home.
Make our own:
I've always liked cooking from scratch. When I noticed the empty plastic yogurt containers stacking up, I went back to making my own yogurt. It's made in glass jars in the instant pot, and a little from each batch acts as a starter for the next. The recipe is here: https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/homemade-instant-pot-yogurt-pot-in-pot/
Food storage:
We use recycled glass and plastic containers for leftovers, silicon food storage bags in the fridge and freezer, and we wash and reuse the ziplock bags that we purchased before our zero waste project.
Trash:
When we painted our kitchen cabinets, we added one that holds two trash containers--one for trash and one for recyclable materials. The containers slide out and back in for a less messy look and are less tempting to our dogs.
Our garbage pickup company wants all trash bagged, and I wanted to stop buying plastic kitchen garbage bags--so now we reuse feed bags (chicken food, dog food) to put the garbage into. Seems like a win-win to me. The only problem? We have far more empty feed bags than trash!
Water:
We buy drinking water in large jugs that we take back to the store when empty. We carry refillable personal aluminum water bottles instead of plastic ones.
Groceries:
We use mesh fabric bags for buying produce, and fabric grocery bags to carry food home.
Make our own:
I've always liked cooking from scratch. When I noticed the empty plastic yogurt containers stacking up, I went back to making my own yogurt. It's made in glass jars in the instant pot, and a little from each batch acts as a starter for the next. The recipe is here: https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/homemade-instant-pot-yogurt-pot-in-pot/
Food storage:
We use recycled glass and plastic containers for leftovers, silicon food storage bags in the fridge and freezer, and we wash and reuse the ziplock bags that we purchased before our zero waste project.
Trash:
When we painted our kitchen cabinets, we added one that holds two trash containers--one for trash and one for recyclable materials. The containers slide out and back in for a less messy look and are less tempting to our dogs.
Our garbage pickup company wants all trash bagged, and I wanted to stop buying plastic kitchen garbage bags--so now we reuse feed bags (chicken food, dog food) to put the garbage into. Seems like a win-win to me. The only problem? We have far more empty feed bags than trash!
Bathroom
DIY Tub and Toilet Cleaner (from 101 Ways to Go Zero Waste, by Kathryn Kellogg):
3/4 cup baking soda
2-3 tbl. hydrogen peroxide
2-3 tbl. liquid castile soap
Mix together to make a thick paste. Rub the paste onto the surface, let sit 10 minutes, wipe and rinse.
Toothpaste:
We have substituted a little jar of baking soda for all those non-recyclable tubes of toothpaste. It works great, and my dentist approves.
Update: I like this recipe even better: Equal parts baking soda and coconut oil, flavored with a few drops of peppermint.
Panty Liners and Sanitary Pads:
We have substituted a little jar of baking soda for all those non-recyclable tubes of toothpaste. It works great, and my dentist approves.
Update: I like this recipe even better: Equal parts baking soda and coconut oil, flavored with a few drops of peppermint.
Panty Liners and Sanitary Pads:
Make your own washable liners (here is one pattern; there are lots of others online: https://dontmesswithmama.com/diy-mama-pads-tutorial/) or purchase some online from Etsy or Amazon. You will be amazed at how much money you save and at how much the bathroom waste is reduced. Just rinse them out, wash with the regular laundry, and let them dry on a rack in the sun.
Shampoo:
I am using a shampoo bar (it comes wrapped in paper) now and am finding it economical, fragrant, and good for my hair. Another option is to buy liquid shampoo from bulk containers (bring your own container and have the checker weight it empty). I found that our local food coop has a good variety of bulk lotions, soaps, and shampoos.
Conditioner:
Believe it or not, good old apple cider vinegar works great.
Believe it or not, good old apple cider vinegar works great.
Body Wash:
Buy bulk, or just use bar soap. I have a big bottle of Dr. Bronner's castile soap that I water down and put in the old body wash container.
Shavers:
We stopped buying plastic shavers and invested ($8.00 on Amazon) in an old-fashioned metal safety razor with razor blades. Works great, less waste.
Buy bulk, or just use bar soap. I have a big bottle of Dr. Bronner's castile soap that I water down and put in the old body wash container.
Shavers:
We stopped buying plastic shavers and invested ($8.00 on Amazon) in an old-fashioned metal safety razor with razor blades. Works great, less waste.
Laundry
Detergent:
Powdered form:
One 4 lb. box of each: Super washing soda, borax, and baking soda; 3 bars of Fels Naptha soap (or Kirk's, Zote, or Ivory) grated. Mix (wear gloves) in a large container. Use 2 heaping tbl. for each load. Works great. For a smaller batch: one bar of Fels Naptha, 16 oz. each of super washing soda, borax, and baking soda.
Liquid form:
There are two recipes here: https://brendid.com/diy-laundry-detergent-liquid-2-non-toxic-boxax-free-recipes/
Dryer sheets:
You can use a washcloth dampened with vinegar in the dryer load
or
You can add 1/2 white vinegar to the washer load
or
You can buy Laundry Betty felted wool balls from Amazon
or
My favorite: Toss a few clean, dry tennis balls into the dryer along with the wet clothes. This works--no static.
You can use a washcloth dampened with vinegar in the dryer load
or
You can add 1/2 white vinegar to the washer load
or
You can buy Laundry Betty felted wool balls from Amazon
or
My favorite: Toss a few clean, dry tennis balls into the dryer along with the wet clothes. This works--no static.
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