I have been making 3 big goals in January to help guide me through the year, and in the last 2 years one of my focuses has been to reduce my carbon footprint and the amount of plastic / single use items that we use. This has led me to being an ambassador for Stop Trashing It; where I write a blog post monthly for them about our monthly theme. 

Getting rid of single use plastic is hard, once you commit to stopping you start to see all the little places where plastic crops up. It’s around our food, cleaning products, packaging, takeout containers, hygiene products, etc.

I’ll admit that I definitely have not been perfect, but I have been more mindful so that is an improvement! Once you see where all the plastic is coming from then you can take steps to reduce it or stop it. Here are some of my favorite items that I use to reduce the amount of plastic that comes home with me:

Reusable Shopping Bag

Most people have a few of these by now. A lot of grocery stores are charging for plastic bags and have reusable bags for sale. We have quite a few now and a lot of them I have gotten for free from different events. I use small ones as a lunch bag to take to work. You don’t just have to use them for groceries though. I take one to the mall as well so that I don’t get a plastic bag when buying clothes, etc.

Cloth Produce Bags

These little bags replace the plastic produce bags that you find in grocery stores, or at bulk food stores. I bought mine from a local shop and they are great! They even have the tare weight written on them so that the cashier can deduct the weight of the bag from the price!

Paper Wrapped Toilet Paper

I discovered this toilet paper from Staples that has no plastic packaging! It was delivered in a cardboard box and all the individual rolls are wrapped in paper. 

Glass Bowls

We have had plastic mixing bowls for a while and I was ready to replace them. We got these great Pyrex glass bowls that came with lids. They are a great size and will hopefully hold up for years to come.

Travel Cutlery

I bought 2 sets of travel cutlery for our trip to Disney in December to replace any plastic cutlery that we might have used during our trip. They are easy to carry around in our day bag, and we would just rinse them off in the bathroom after eating. We’ll be taking them on our next trip to Europe for sure!

Water Bottle and Travel Mug

I’m sure everybody has at least one of each of these! Some people don’t know that most coffee shops will actually fill up your travel mug so that you don’t need a take out cup. This is one of the easiest switches to make. 

SodaStream

We have had a SodaStream for over a year and I love it. We haven’t bought carbonated water or pop (that’s soda, for some of you!) since. A CO2 canister lasts us a few months, so it’s not too expensive!

Final Thoughts

Do you have any favourite items that help reduce plastic in your home? I would love to hear about them since I am always trying to get better at being zero waste!

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One A Day Spring Cleaning Challenge

Cleaning things out will help with physical and mental clutter. Having physical clutter around you can increase stress and anxiety. Taking care of our possessions takes up precious time we could spend doing things we love! Not to mention the money we spent on things we don’t need or use.

Related: 50 Things To Declutter

Important things to remember when you’re spring cleaning:

• To avoid overwhelm, focus on one thing at a time. That’s why I set up the challenge to do one area at a time. If you try to do everything in one weekend you’ll feel overwhelmed and likely give up
• Give away anything that it still useable. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “one mans trash is another mans treasure!”
• Don’t feel guilted into keeping things that are gifts. Just because something was a gift from someone special, doesn’t mean you have to keep it.
• Get help. You don’t have to do it alone! Get some help, especially from someone who doesn’t live with you, so they can be objective!
• Can’t bear giving it away yet? Pack it in a box and store it for a few months. If you don’t miss it, donate it!
• Sell things that you can make some money from.

15-30 min

1. Purse / wallet
2. Coat closet
3. Books
4. Movies/DVDs
5. Junk drawer
6. Emails
7. Shower
8. Night stand
9. Pens that don’t work
10. Contacts in phone
11. Friends on Facebook
12. Magazines
13. Games/ toys

30-1hr

1. Linen closet / medicine cabinet
2. Fridge
3. Office
4. Dishes / containers
5. Filing cabinet
6. Under the bed
7. Photos on phone
8. Documents on computer
9. Deep freezer
10. Decorations
11. Jewelry
12. Shoes

1+hr

1. Pantry
2. Closet
3. Boxes in basement that haven’t been opened in a while
4. Spare room
5. Garage / shed

Final Thoughts

I hope if you choose to join me in this challenge that it helps you spring clean and simplify!

My dog Ellie enjoying her clothes nest before we bagged it up!

Since then we have gone through our books, threw out old magazines, and I have downsized my digital life as well! Here are some things to start going through! Obviously you don’t have to do this all at once, pick one room or category a day or week until it’s all done! I can’t tell you how much better I feel looking at my more organized closet and book shelf.

New and Improved closet!

50 Things To Get Rid Of To Declutter

Kitchen
1. Mugs you don’t like / never use
2. Food that’s been in the fridge / freezer forever
3. Plastic containers that are broken or don’t have lids, etc.
4. Doubles of cooking utensils
5. Extra pots and pans you never use
6. Plastic bags

Living Room
7. Old magazines
8. Books you don’t like or will never read again
9. DVDs or CDs you don’t watch/listen to
10. Toys your kids don’t use or have grown out of
11. Board games you don’t use or are missing pieces
12. Candles you don’t burn
13. Knick knacks you don’t love

Bedroom / Closet
14. Clothes you don’t wear or are ripped, etc.
15. Socks or underwear with holes
16. Old photos that mean nothing to you
17. Shoes you don’t wear
18. Old phones / electronics
19. Worn out sheets / bedding
20. Purses you don’t use
21. Old jewelry you don’t wear or like
22. Extra hangers
23. Shoe boxes
24. Old pillows
25. Random buttons
26. Stuffed animals that aren’t special to you

Bathroom
27. Towels that are worn
28. Old nail polish
29. Old makeup
30. Old toothbrushes
31. Expired medication
32. Old perfume
33. Travel size toiletries you’ll never use

Office
34. Junk mail
35. Old newspapers
36. Old text books
37. Receipts you don’t need
38. Pens that don’t work
39. Old school work you don’t need anymore

Items in storage
40. Décor you don’t use or like
41. Christmas decorations you don’t use
42. Christmas lights that don’t work
43. Any boxes you haven’t opened in years
44. Old costumes

Digital life
45. Old emails
46. Unsubscribe from mailing lists you don’t read
47. Photos on your phone or computer that are bad / duplicates
48. Old documents you don’t need anymore
49. Outdated contacts
50. Apps you don’t use

Obviously everything isn’t all garbage! Anything that can be passed along please donate to a friend in need, a charity or shelter. Some things you could even sell!

Do you have any tips to declutter? Anything to add to my list?

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