Reduce waste at home with these quick and easy ideas. Not only will you be eliminating waste at home, but you will save money while helping the environment. It’s a win a win for everyone. This post is all about how to reduce waste at home.
Do you feel like your garbage cans are filling up? Are you constantly pitching leftovers and expired food? Do you find you are tossing out unused products fairly often? If so, perhaps these ideas to reduce waste at home will help you eliminate some of these problems.
I think at some point everyone is guilty of overbuying items, but there are ways to eliminate this from happening as frequently. I know that since having kids; I have over-purchased items to avoid going to the store as often.
From constant trial and error, I have learned not to purchase the perishable items in bulk as I was just throwing these items out. Of course, parenting and purchasing is a constant learning process, and I have tried to be more conscientious of my buying decisions. It isn’t always easy, but with these ideas, you can reduce waste too.
This post is all about how to reduce waste at home.
Table of Contents
Reduce Waste at Home
Reduce Waste at Home in the Kitchen
Check Your Pantry and Fridge Regularly
For starters, before you make a grocery list, check your fridge and your pantry to see what you need to buy, and what you can use to create meals. This way you use the items that may just be near expiration, and you avoid tossing them out later. I know this happens frequently.
Create Your Own Individual Servings
Instead of purchasing items that are wrapped individually, create your own individual servings using reusable containers. This is cheaper and eliminates all of that packaging waste.
For glass and plastic food storage options, check out this post.
Avoid Overbuying Food by Meal Planning
Besides checking your fridge and pantry, try to create a meal plan each week. Of course, there are going to be things that come up during the week, but a meal plan definitely helps over purchasing and therefore wasting food.
Reduce Waste at Home in the Kitchen
Blend Overripe Food for Smoothies
If you have overripe fruits and veggies, create a quick smoothie or a blended soup to avoid tossing out that precious produce.
Checkout this overripe banana recipe for a quick recipe idea.
Freeze Leftovers
If you know you will never eat meatballs three days in a row, just freeze a few containers so that you have a quick lunch or dinner option handy for a day you may not feel like cooking.
Use Washcloths and Sponges in the Kitchen
Avoid using so many paper towels, by using washcloths and sponges.
Check out these great kitchen sponges in this post for some ideas on what might work for you.
Reduce Waste at Home in the Kitchen
Use Cloth Napkins
When we sit down for dinner, there are so many napkins and paper towels wasted. Instead of tossing out paper products with each meal, I switched to cloth napkins. This helps avoid using paper products as much.
Reusable Water Bottles
Nothing annoys me more about waste than seeing all of those plastic bottles sitting around unclaimed. Does this annoy you? Well if so, just try to use reusable water bottles more often. This way you are still hydrating, but not wasting plastic bottles.
Use Reusable Straws
If your kids are obsessed with straws, try these out instead of the plastic ones. They come with a straw cleaner which is super convenient.
Reduce Waste at Home in the Kitchen
Use Reusable Lunch Containers and Utensils
Try out these containers instead of wasting plastic and paper to wrap your lunch items. They are great for food storage, and easy to wash.
Use Reusable Food Storage Bags
Also, these are great for quick snack bags or to freeze food as well. Not only are these more environmentally friendly, but you’ll also save money in the long run too.
Silpat Mats
For my wedding shower, I registered for these silpat mats, and I love them. I don’t have to waste foil or parchment paper when using my baking sheets. Plus, they are easy to clean too.
Reduce Waste at Home in the Bathroom
Reusable Cotton Pads
Before I switched to these reusable cotton pads, I was going through several cotton pads a week. Now I can use these a few times and then just toss them into the laundry. Below is one option from Amazon, but they sell these other places too.
Reusable Cotton Swabs
This is another way to cut waste in the bathroom. You can wash these cotton swabs with a little soap.
Tube Squeezer Dispenser
For toothpaste and any other creams, use these tube squeezers to ensure that you are using every drop.
Reduce Waste at Home When You Clean
Reusable Cleaning Cloths
This is another way to cut out using paper towels. Just use these reusable cleaning cloths to clean all items in your home. Then, toss them in the washer.
Use Reusable Spray Bottles
Creating your own cleaning sprays is a great way to reduce waste. Just purchase spray bottles and continue filling them up with your favorite cleaning sprays.
Try out this stainless steel cleaner too. It is easy to make and works wonders!
Reduce Waste at Home
Know Your Recycling Rules
Check out your local recycling rules. Recently, our area stopped glass recycling. There are options to drop it off, but it can no longer go into the bins.
Create a Compost
Purchase Used Items
When looking to purchase appliances or even kid’s toys, try to buy used items. This way it eliminates some waste, and you are cutting costs too.
Another great way to do this is to purchase items at consignment shops.
Reduce Waste at Home
Buy Reusable Bags
Using reusable bags for everyday items helps eliminate all of that plastic and paper waste. These are great finds from Amazon, and they are washable.
Bring Your Own Bags Shopping
When shopping, try to bring your own bags. This way you are saving the store from using bags and also from you taking them home to just be tossed out in the trash can.
Repurpose Items
Repurpose items like coffee cans and plastic containers. Use them for storage or even garden planters. You can style them as you like too.
Nice Job Reducing Waste at Home
Now that you have some great ideas to reduce waste at home, you can rest easy that you are not filling up trash cans constantly and wasting money.
This post is all about how to reduce waste at home.
& Remember
Start with the Bed,
Juliet
