If you have stumbled upon this post chances are you want to mitigate the damage being done to our planet by taking reasonable, free and easy steps towards a low waste lifestyle! The ecosystems that once thrived around the globe need as much help as they can get, so why not try these low waste hacks?
We started our low waste journey about 5 months ago and it has been quite a ride! At first it was challenging and confusing since we wanted to change everything at once (you can’t quite go cold turkey) so we came up with these low waste hacks that you can incorporate little by little into your life so you can live more sustainably!
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The first thing we have to say is: don’t change everything at once!
Do it accordingly to your lifestyle, budget, routines and goals. The biggest problem people face when they want create less waste is that it becomes overwhelming and frustrating, since it feels like it doesn’t fit in with your lifestyle or it’s a lot to do… I mean, changing everything at once IS a lot.
We started by looking at our daily routines to see where we used the most plastic or produced the most waste. For us it was our meals, specially lunch. So we started there and slowly changed every other aspect of our routines, like our bathroom routines, then our shopping and grocesseries, our outdoor activities and so on.
Here is a list of low waste hacks and switches you can also incorporate in your life, little by little. We divided them into areas so you can switch routines or spaces one by one. Think of this as a checklist so you can “measure” your progress in some way and feel motivated!
At the end we will post some of the accounts and videos that have helped/taught us so you can check them out as well!
This are not adds and we didn’t partner with anyone. What we recommend here are thing we actually use and think will help you too.
Remember: a bunch of people doing something (even if it’s not perfect) is better than a few doing their best. Don’t get discouraged!
Now let’s get to our low waste hacks
General low waste hacks
✔ Buy less things… it’s as simple as that. If you want to produce less waste then consume less things. This will not only save you money, but it will also make you appreciate your things more since you will buy them consciously and they will have a meaning. Don’t buy with the mentality of “if it breaks I can just get a new one”, get something that is good quality and it won’t break. Also there are many things that have little to no value, keep in mind that the more the consumer buys the more that more items will be produced.
✔Stop using single use plastics. But if you must, just remember they are single use if you only use them once…
✔Avoid fast fashion, vintage and second hand stores are great! You will find amazing things for half of the price. You will be surprised what people “throw away”. Also keep in mind stores like H&M and Forever 21 are known to have unethical workplace practices such as child labor and work hazards. Use your consumer power to let the producers of fast fashion know that you are not interested.
We like humana. They have great stores and programs to help people. You can also volunteer with them all over the world!
Household
✔Make your own groceries bag! You can use an old t-shirt or get our tutorial for making product bags by subscribing below.
✔Make cleaning cloths out of old t-shirts and unpaired socks. Ditch the paper towels!
✔Hang your clothes. We use wooden pins to hold them up and they work just fine. There really is no need to put them in the dryer, specially during summer. Plus your clothes will last longer and won’t shrink.
✔Unplug your electronics when you are not using them. No need to waste electricity… plus you will save money too.
✔Turn off the water and switch off the lights if you don’t need them. Same as the one before.
✔We have switched over to Ecosia. It is a search engine that plants trees in places such as Burkina Faso, Guatemala and Malaysia with its revenues it. We support their extensive reforestation efforts. We haven’t missed google and are very satisfied with how ecosia works. For every 42 searches a tree is guaranteed to be planted. It is so simple to switch over to ecosia especially when you are indiscriminately googling stuff. Ecosia is carbon neutral and transparent about the way their search engine works to make our planet green. You can learn more about them with this video. It helped us understand more how it works.
Bathroom
✔You can also make your own facial cleaning pads/ make up removers. Our turial is attached to the DIY product bags tutorial above.
✔Put a water bottle inside your toilet tank. This will reduce your water consumption since toilet tanks dispose way more water than is actually needed. Overtime you will save lots of money and reduce the amount of water you use.
✔Use bamboo toothbrushes and hair brushes! Honestly, they are the best. They last longer and once you are done, you can repurpose them as cleaning tools.
✔Use bar soap. This one was probably the easiest switch we made. Choose a bar that comes inside a cardboard box and you are set!
✔Use a stainless razor instead of disposable ones. Or get laser hair removal (not the cheapest option but it’s honestly great and very convenient)
✔Coconut oil! I know it’s cliche but we really have grown to appreciate it, it has proved to be so multi-purpose and hence ever-present in our daily life. It’s our moisturizer, conditioner, base for exfoliant, make up remover and cooking oil (great transition to the next group). Just remember to divide it so you are not mixing bathroom oil with kitchen oil.. Haha!
Kitchen
✔Don’t eat pre made food. It comes wrapped in so much plastic that is really not necessary. Plus, you will eat healthier too.
✔Bring your lunch and snacks to work. You can plan your meals and bring a bento or a tupperware with you. This will also save you money on the lung run!
✔Buy bulk. Since you will have your own bags from above, you can just bring them to the store and get your things for the month.
✔Don’t just cook from recipes. You will be buying ingredients for something specific and then you will need to eat the same thing until you ran out. Instead, buy your favorite things and cook with what you have, this will make you more creative and help you use all the ingredients you already have so you don’t waste food.
You can go on supercook and place the ingredients you have at home in the search bar. Once you plug everything in, the website will suggest various dishes you can make!
✔Switch from tea bags to a reusable tea thing (not sure what they are called). No need to throw the bag every time and you can mix your favorite flavours.
✔Use a reusable water bottle and coffee cup. If you go to a coffee shop every day just ask them to put it in your cup, we are sure they will thank you too.
We bought ours at Chilly’s because they have amazing patterns and you can put your name on them haha but any bottle will work.
✔Use your own cutlery from home, no need to get plastic ones for your home made lunch. But if you feel fancy you can buy some just for this purpose. We have seen bamboo or steel ones that are very portable. But again… no need to buy more things
✔Make sure to buy fruits and veggies that are in season. Think of the carbon footprint that your food has. You will reduce your footprint by so much if you eat local and please try and consume fair trade produce.
✔Eating less meat is also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. You don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian, just eat less meat.
Traveling/mobility
✔Take public transportation. It’s that easy and the most economic way to get around besides walking.
✔Walk places. As simple as that. Not only is this a free workout, but you also get to explore and see the city. We are aware this is not feasible for everyone since some cities were not made for walking but if you can, it’s a great option.
✔Carpooling is a great option. Not only will you pollute less but you can also interact with people. We like blabla car because it’s cheap and a lot of times we have traveled with locals, which means you can ask them where to go and what to see! If you are a bit more introverted and not a people person that’s fine as well– bring a pillow and you can snooze the trip away.
✔A lot of cities now have shared electric vehicles like cars and motorbikes that you can use and park in the designated spots after you are done.
Hope all these low waste hacks help you and motivate you. Feel free to message us on instagram or send us an email if you have any questions! Subscribe for more tips and DIYs on how to help our planet with low waste hacks.
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