5 super simply ways to reduce waste in your home today.

I love seeing stories and reading blogs of people who reduce waste in their home to almost zero. I will admit, it seems close to impossible sometimes. Right now, as we work on growing all of our food, we still shop at the grocery stores. We do recycle but it doesn’t always quite feel like enough. Reducing waste doesn’t only come in forms of plastic! You can reduce your plastic waste, paper waste, food waste, etc. Here are a few, simple things that you can start doing today to reduce waste in your home!

Reusable containers as the first step to reduce waste.

Are you planning to buy lettuce at the store? Try and remember to start bringing your own containers to put it in instead of using the little plastic produce bags. This is a great way to reduce waste because you aren’t even taking it there in the first place! The spinach I buy comes in big plastic containers so I always wash and reuse those containers. If I don’t reuse them, I make sure to recycle them.

Paper in the home

One of the largest leaps towards reducing waste that I’ve taken is getting rid of paper napkins and paper towels. Believe it or not, it was very simple! For the longest time I thought it was going to be the most difficult thing to do but I just simply did it. Really! I used the rest of the paper products and I never bought them again.

My grandmother sent me cloth napkins that we use for meals and I just picked up some cheap wash clothes for all my cleaning needs. You might not believe it, but I really do not miss the paper products. We aren’t yet off tissues, but that’s the next step! You also wouldn’t believe how much waste I reduced in my home by getting rid of paper products!

Reusable straws

If your house is like mine, you drink a lot of smoothies. We use straws in our smoothies so reusables are a must. We use these and this packet of straws comes with multiple colors, they’re non-toxic and BPA free, and come with a straw brush to clean with! These would be great for children, too, because of all the fun colors.

BONUS TIP: You can also buy straws that come with a little carrier that fit right into your purse, pocket, or car so that you can use them while at restaurants, etc. They’re called Hot Straws and you can get them here.

Don’t forget REUSABLE BAGS!

I would challenge that this is in the top 5 ways people reduce waste in America. There are full cities that are taking away plastic bags and requiring customers to use reusable ones. This is such a simple, easy action you can take to reducing waste in your home. I have a slew of plastic bags and, although I do reuse them, I do find it outrageous how many I constantly have! I remember my reusable bags 95% of the time (hey, nobody’s perfect) and the other 5% it seems I go to the store for one thing and I leave with five bags.

Water filter

I know families who buy bottles of water for their home and there’s no way to reduce waste that way. We’re on a well and the water’s great so I don’t have any incentive to buy bottles of water. If we weren’t on well water, I would instead opt for a good water filter. You can buy a refillable pitcher and stick right in your refrigerator. Another option is to buy a nice filter that attaches right to your kitchen sink!

Reduce, reuse, recycle

There are so many steps you can take to help to reduce waste on the homestead. I use my reusable water bottle, recycle, compost, and reuse my feed bags. “Going Green” is the new hip thing to do these days and I’m definitely not complaining about it! The more food we grow the more waste I hope to reduce on our homestead.

Composting, gardening, donating clothes, etc. are all great ways to cut down on items sent to the landfill. What are some ways you work to reduce, reuse, and recycle every day? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

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