I’ve always tried to be aware of how much trash I create. I’m nowhere near what those zero-waste people do, but I try to recycle when I can and not just throw away stuff that could be reused or donated. I know that it’s really easy just to put something in the trash and it seems to go away. But that’s not what really happens and it’s possible to create a lot of trash every day.
I think since the pandemic started, my trash seemed to be more and more. I think part of that was due to things being packaged differently or how we couldn’t use reusable bags at the grocery store. I know some of my friends said they had more trash because they were home more, but I don’t really have that excuse. I just was using more stuff that was disposable that I usually didn’t. And it was starting to feel a bit much and I knew that I needed to do something about it.
There are some things right now that I use that have to stay disposable. For example, I do rely a lot on grocery deliveries so I can avoid the store, and there’s no way to get paper bags instead of plastic. And because cleaning products are limited in stores, the disinfecting cleaner I use happens to be wipes right now instead of spray. And there are a few tasks I do that I use rubber gloves for, and my dishwashing gloves are too thick so I use the blue one time use ones.
But there are also a lot of things that I have been using disposable things for that I’ve realized I can find better options for. And these options are better for multiple reasons. First, they are better because they don’t create trash. But they also are better for me because if I find things that can be reused, that means I don’t have to go to the store to find more. And even though many reusable things cost more when purchasing them, the cost per use is much lower because you don’t have to keep replacing them.
I’ve slowly been adding more and more reusable things to my life. Some of these things are things I did years ago, such as using reusable cotton rounds that I wash each week instead of the throwaway cotton ones when using toner or makeup remover. I do wish I had gotten them in black instead of white because they are looking dingy, but they still work as well even though they aren’t looking super bright white.
But more recently, I’ve been trying to limit the paper products I use each day. Part of this was because it was harder to find things like paper napkins or paper towels. But I have known I needed to change this habit for a long time. So I guess the pandemic was just the catalyst for change for me. I have invested in things like cloth napkins and microfiber cloths.
I’ll admit, I’m not so great about using the cloth napkins for now, but I also have a lot of paper ones left, so I can take my time with the transition. I think part of the hesitation is how to clean them if they get super dirty. I don’t have my own washer and drying and it’s expensive to do a load. So I can’t just do a load of napkins. But I bet I could do something like doing a little handwash for the dirty ones before putting them in the laundry with my clothes.
For the microfiber cloths, I’ve been better at using those as replacements for paper towels when I clean. There are a few things I clean that I use sponges for and still use those sponges. But there are so many things I have used paper towels for and they just get thrown out. I know I’ve wasted a lot when I probably didn’t need to. For washing those, I shook them out after cleaning to get any bigger things off of them like crumbs from my kitchen counter. Then I put them in a mesh laundry bag before putting them in my laundry because I read online that would help if there was a lot of dirt left on them. It seemed to work pretty well with washing.
And the most recent thing I got as a reusable thing was mopping pads. I have a Swiffer mop that works perfectly for cleaning my house. And those mops use disposable pads that are designed to help scrub the floors and absorb extra cleaning solution. I’ve been using those disposable pads since I got the mop, but I’ve never really loved them. I don’t know why I didn’t look into alternatives until this month, but I finally decided to do some searching to see if there was something better to use. I wasn’t necessarily looking for something reusable, I just wanted something better than the branded pads. But when I did my search, everything kept coming back to reusable pads and these were the highest recommended ones.
I’ve used it once so far, and I feel like it cleaned my floors a lot better than the disposable pads ever did. And just like with the microfiber towels, I put it in a mesh laundry bag before putting it into the laundry. And it came out clean and my clothes didn’t seem to be dirty from being washed with them.
I know that starting to use more reusable and eco-friendly products has to be a natural progression. There are a lot of things that I have wanted to use but couldn’t get into. I have beeswax wrap to use instead of plastic wrap, but I haven’t loved it just yet. Maybe something will change, but for now, I just find other alternatives to plastic wrap that I like more. I also still use store-bought cleaning solutions. I know I can make my own, but again, I’m just not into using the ones I have tried that I made. But I do try to buy the largest size product and I can always decant it into a container that’s easier to handle.
I have been spending a bit of extra money in order to get these reusable products and I know that it’s a privileged place to be able to do that. Not everyone can spend more upfront right now. And I also know that for some people, there are other reasons why they have to use disposable products over reusable ones. I’m not perfect and I don’t expect anyone else to do exactly what I do or be perfect. But I’m trying and I think that’s the best I can ask of myself or anyone else. The small changes I have been able to make have benefitted me and I hope that I can continue to make these changes as I find things that work for me.
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