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!

Groceries

Bags

I know it doesn’t seem like a lot, but most of our grocery stores charge a few cents per plastic bag that you use. We have so many reusable bags so we leave a few in the car (for the last minute trips) and have lots at home as well.

Bulk Shopping

This has been a big switch for us but we have been bringing our own containers to the bulk food store. The weigh the container and then you fill it with whatever you are buying and then they subtract the weight of the container when you pay. But is it cheaper? Obviously this depends on where you live and what prices are like. For example I eat oatmeal often, a 1kg bag of large flake oatmeal at Walmart is $3.37, but at our BulkBarn store it is $2.10 for 1kg. Most things we buy regularly is a similar price or cheaper.

Farmer’s Markets

I love the convenience of shopping for all my groceries and household items at one store, but sometimes it’s worth it to make a second stop. We have a local farmer’s market not too far from us. Usually the produce is cheaper or a similar price to the big grocery stores, and the produce isn’t wrapped in plastic!

Shipping Fees

I make fun of myself often for being a box hoarder. I keep pretty much every box that comes into my house because I might want it for Christmas or something. Well and my friends that are moving appreciate the free boxes! Anyway if you shop online you know that the items you order will come with a lot of packaging. Sometimes it’s recyclable but sometimes it’s not. By shopping in store if I can, I’m saving on those pesky shipping fees, as well as the items I throw in my cart to get free shipping. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to shop online, but less than before.

Take Out

I love any food I don’t have to make, but my eyes have been opened to how wasteful all those take out coffee cups are. I’ll still treat myself occasionally but I’m aiming to remember to bring a refillable mug. Most days I just make beverages at home, which saves money and the environment.

Printer Ink

Did you know a lot of ink cartridges for printers are able to be refilled? I had no idea until I looked into it! Costco will refill ink cartridges for many different brands, usually costing between $8.99 and $13.99, which is significantly cheaper than buying a new cartridge. This also stops the plastic from going in the garbage.

Feminine Hygiene & Diapers

This one’s for the girls. There are plastic free alternatives to feminine hygiene products. The diva cup, cloth pads, and period underwear are all great options. There is an initial cost to invest in these products, but all of them should last years and you won’t have to buy plastic every month.

Similarly you can buy cloth diapers for your babies. Those patterns look so cute on them anyway and you’ll avoid sending many diapers a day to the landfill.

So, does it save money?

YES! There are plenty of ways to be budget friendly and reduce plastic!

This can be a big change if you aren’t used to thinking about packaging or what your items are made of. I recommend picking one place that you can cut back on, and then once you master that as best you can, add another thing in. Reducing plastic is not an all or nothing thing. Even if you just start bringing reusable bags to the grocery store, that could be HUNDREDS of plastic bags that aren’t going to a landfill (or blowing down your street)!