5 Convenient Ways to Reduce Waste at Home

At the beginning of the year, I decided to clean out my room and get rid of a bunch of stuff that I don't use anymore. While going through my room, I found a lot of trash.

Old boxes, notes from high school classes, and plastic wrappers and bags were everywhere. It was pretty ridiculous. Out of curiosity, I decided to sort through my bathroom too.

I don't use a lot of beauty products (I'm to lazy to put on makeup and I typically don't need lotion or perfume). With that being said, though, when my sister moved out of the house, she left a lot of her old products behind (most expired in 2014).

I must have gotten rid of 50 bottles and I kept about 20 of them to make into a little wall organizer.

So I decided to do some research and figure out how I could start reducing my plastic and paper use, without completely turning my life upside down.

So, without further ado, here are just a few ways you can conveniently begin reducing waste at home!

#5 Thrift Stores and eBay

This may not be the first thing that comes to mind when becoming more naturally inclined, but it's actually more helpful than you may think!

You see, while it's important to reduce and recycle, it's equally as important to reuse!

Thrift stores provide a great way for you to buy old clothes, picture frames, toys, appliances and even furniture. This gives them a second life and keeps them out of landfills.

However, I realize that thrift stores don't always have what you need and not everyone has time to search for that diamond in the rough.

That's where reselling websites like eBay, Mercari, and Poshmark come in!

They obviously have a lot of used items, much like thrift stores, but don't be afraid of the new items either!

You see, typical stores like Walmart, Target and even Amazon will always have products that they can't sell for one reason or another (it was a returned item, the box was damaged, overstock, etc.)

Rather than throwing those items away, they minimize their losses by selling to a liquidation company, who combines those items into pallets or boxes which they sell to resellers, who then list those items on websites like eBay, almost always for less than retail price!

You get a deal on what is usually a brand new or a like new product, the resellers get some money to support themselves and/or their family, and the items stay out of landfills! It's a win-win-win!

#4 Reusable Grocery Bags

For some of you this may seem obvious, but I'm always surprised how few people (in my area at least) utilize reusable grocery bags.

They're cheap and larger than regular grocery bags, therefore carry more. Some of them even have insulation to keep your groceries warm or cold as needed! And with the rise in popularity of self-checkouts, I don't have to sheepishly ask the clerk to put my stuff in a reusable grocery bag.

(I realize there's a 99.9% chance they don't care, but I have social anxiety, okay?)

If you want the cheapest of the cheap, then you can easily find some reusable grocery bags at the dollar store, but they probably won't last as long and they often have graphics from movies and TV shows on them like Toy Story or the Mandalorian, so they can look cheesy at times. If you can find one you like, though, then it's no problem!

However, if you want some that cost a tiny bit more, but are higher quality, you can easily find a plethora of awesome options at Amazon (or eBay ;P)

I personally love these Ravmix Cloth Shopping Bags for $14.99 because of how adorable their designs are!

You can also get these WiseLife Insulated Grocery Bags for $12.99 which are really good quality.

#3 Shampoo and Conditioner Bars

This one may turn some people off at first because of how expensive they are.

I'm a pretty big penny pincher, so I was a little apprehensive, but I eventually found BamboEarth, which is a shampoo bar with conditioning effect.

You can by a four pack on Amazon for $24.97 or $8.32 a piece. Or, you can buy them separately for $9.99 a bar.

It works really well and not only is the packaging biodegradable, but so is the shampoo itself!

#2 Dehydrated Detergent

When I found out about this one, it caught me off guard, I never really considered this would be possible. However, once I tried Earth Breeze, I absolutely loved it!

The detergent works just as well as any regular detergent and you can either get it with a fresh scent or fragrance free.

If you make a one time purchase, it costs $20, which is admittedly expensive, however you can subscribe and be charged only $12 every delivery date. You can choose for the delivery date to be every month, every 2 months, 3 months, or 4 months. You can also cancel the subscription at any time.

Which means no hassle, no putting it on the shopping list, it just shows up at your door when you need it.

The average laundry detergent has 60 loads and it's no different for Earth Breeze, they have 60 sheets where typically one sheet equals one load. However, like regular detergent, you may need to use more or less depending on how dirty your clothes are.

Overall, dehydrated detergent is the way to go! It eliminates that messy liquid that gets all over the lid and sometimes your fingers, it eliminates the big plastic jug, instead coming in biodegradable packaging, and finally the company helps people in need!

With every purchase, they will donate 10 loads to homeless shelters, pet shelters, and disaster relief shelters!

#1 Women's Hygiene

Yeah, if you're a man reading this, you might want to pass the computer off to your wife, girlfriend, or sister. If you have none of those, feel free to move on and thanks for stopping by!

Okay, girls, let's talk about periods.

And if the boys weren't gone before, they're definetly gone now.

We all know that periods are a necessary evil and cleaning them up is even more so.

And the traditional way is not only wasteful, but expensive!

So, here are two awesome alternatives:

#1 Tampons alternative: Menstrual cups

The menstrual cup is my sister's way of dealing with her period and she loves it. I personally just got it become I wanted to be able to go swimming on my period.

Here are the pros to using a menstrual cup:

1. Decently comfortable after you get used to it. The first time I inserted it felt a lot like the first time I inserted a tampon. Uncomfortable, but not painful.
2. Does not leak. There are different sizes, so if you get the wrong size there may be a chance of leaking, but you can always return it for a size that is more suitable for you.
3. Can wear it while swimming
4. Cheaper in the long run. If you take good care of it, this cup could potentially last you a lifetime. How many tampons can say that?
5. Can be worn for up to twelve hours and you do not have to worry about the unhealthy disadvantages that come with tampons.

And with pros, there always come cons:

1. Inserting it is difficult in my opinion. While it wasn't painful, it takes me a while to insert it and get it to properly seal.
2. Messy. They kind of make it seem like you can easily remove the cup and empty it into the toilet, but that's not completely true. If you have the cup tilted at all when removing it, it will spill blood on your fingers.

Overall, though, I would recommend it. If not for regular use, at least for swimming. I however, prefer the second method.

#2 Pads Alternative: Thinx Underwear*

*Using this link will get you $10 off your first order as well as $10 off my next order! ;)

Personally, I think this is the way to go when taking care of periods. But like anything, there are pros and cons.

Pros:

1. VERY comfortable. Seriously, I hate pads because they make me feel like I'm wearing a diaper, but Thinx underwear is extremely comfortable.
2. Absorbent. All of their underwear is absorbent, but they have different levels of absorbency. If you have very little blood flow, you can get the lightest absorbency underwear, all the way up to the super absorbency for people with a heavy flow!
3. No hassle to wear. Tampons? Annoying packaging. Pads? Annoying packaging and those sticky wings that bunch up and only work half the time. Menstrual cups? difficult to insert. Thinx underwear? Just wear it. NO packaging, no hassle, no difficulty, it's literally just underwear.
4. Does not leak. The only reason it would leak is if you got light absorbency underwear and you have a heavy flow, even then, not much escapes.
5. Clean...er... Almost all the blood is absorbed into the underwear and clean up is just about as minimal is it can get.

Cons:

1. Takes longer to clean. With a menstrual cup, you can just wash it in the sink and stick it right back in. With period underwear, however, it has to go through the washing machine in order to wear it again.
2. More expensive. I still think it's cheaper than pads in the long run, but not by as much. Unfortunately, last I checked, the cheapest underwear on their site was $24. You can, however, create custom bundles and buy 3 pairs for 10% off, 5 pairs for 15% off and 7 pairs for 20% off. Make sure you get that 10 bucks off by using my referral link!

Final Thoughts

Overall, these are some great ways to get started when reducing waste in your household. They're very convenient and some of them even save you money!

And if you're overwhelmed at the thought of trying to eliminate waste all at once, try to remember that it's difficult for anyone to go from 0 to 100 all at once.

Take your time, pick one of these things, try it out, fall in love with it, and move on to the next.

Take it one step at a time. And if everyone reading htis even did just one of these things, I'm certain the world would be a much happier, healthier place for everyone!

Thanks for stopping by,

remember you are loved, you matter, and as always,

have a wonderful day!