5 Ways to Reduce Waste While Staying at Home

1- Buy big and bulky 

Although filling containers with bulk foods is currently not as accessible, we can still change our shopping habits to reduce the amount of waste as we buy the necessities. Know that you are going through a lot of your favorite pasta noodles? Get a larger size of noodles next time you shop, instead of buying more every couple weeks. This will reduce the amount of packaging that piles up, and if you are driving to the store or getting a delivery, it reduces those carbon emissions as well. 

2 - Give your veg it’s best life

Buying produce can be tough - you may not know the next time you will get more and stocking up does not work to well when it goes bad quickly. It never hurts to stock up on a little more, and plan your meals around what you have going bad in the fridge. To make them last longer, storing them outside of plastic bags helps a ton, and using a tote bag with damp (reusable) paper towels to keep greens and herbs is a fun trick to try! 

3 - Get undressed necessities 

Hand sanitizers and soaps may be holy grails these days, but the plastic they are commonly packaged in continues to be harmful. With 75% of recyclable plastic being sent to landfills or being dumped in oceans, staying waste free is a saviour to the planet, but is a seemingly difficult feat when sythetic containers are the only option at most stores.  Although, this shouldnt get you discouraged. There is a package-free option for nearly everything, and most delivery to your door! There are also a ton of refilleries that are doing door step deliveries, so you can get soaps, shampoos and cleaning supplies in refillable jars. 

4 - Make waste less trashy

So obviously things like toilet paper can’t really be purchased with no waste… and most of us are still not hopping on the bidet trend anytime soon (understandable!) Although it’s easy to go with the generic TP option, consider other brands ethically made with sustainable materials, such as bamboo. There are plenty of alternatives out there, and so accessible if you are willing to do a bit of research! 

5 - Skip the food trash 

A great waste free hack when getting take out from restaurants is bringing your own containers and letting them fill you up. We still want to support restaurants at this time, and especially the local ones, luckily delivery services like Skip have been our saving grace. Although in this scenario, we sadly can’t use our own containers… so take out time really piles up the waste. To reduce this waste, we can focus on supporting the local restaurants that are really conscious of the packaging they use, and that fill orders in compostable containers, lessening the impact of eating in!

Remember: give yourself a breather 

We realize through these times that you can not be completely waste free. Well, even on a normal day completely waste free is difficult. As long as you are trying your best to make the swaps that you are able to, you are doing your part and we are grateful! ❤️