r/ZeroWaste

im cleaning out my house and jm coming across A LOT of receipts.. what should i do with them

"Refuse" is the first step in reducing waste and we don't talk about it enough! I'm good at not buying things, but I am not so good about turning down the "freebies" that get pushed at me several times a week: promotional items, individually wrapped snacks, small toys for my toddler. Inspire me: what have you said no to recently?

This week, I didn't take the "gift bag" at the dentist. I'm sure your dentist gives you this, too--a free (plastic) toothbrush plus lots of travel-sized dental stuff. It's tempting to take because most of the items are useful, but I never use the toothpaste or mouthwash, which are brands I don't like, and there are plastic-free options for the other parts. Say no to pre-trash!

Hello looking for some new flip flops after my old (plastic) ones broke but I want to go for a plastic alternative that will hold up for the beach, pool, walking, whatever

Or if is it better to just buy a single plastic pair ? I reuse mine over and over again until they literally break past the point where super glue can fix them so idk, I want some advice please

I am replacing my ceramic plates and bowls with my grandmas sets. A decent amount of mine has chips in them so I’m not sure what to do with them. I’ve had them for 14 years, got them second hand at a yard sale.

Suggestions appreciated.

I think I’m ready to ditch tampons but every single brand I find that makes period underwear using polyester in their undies. I’m really trying to get rid of anything plastic in my house. Any recommendations would be appreciated!

hi everyone! i am a girl with curly hair, and it took me about 3 curl creams to finally found the one that worked for me, but the problem is i don’t know what to do with my tools and products that i do not want to use anymore. does anyone have any tips on how to repurpose these products?

i just stuck it in the fridge to throw away later at the time, but if i can still use it i'd like to.

I’ve seen folks using expired aspirin for a foot peel mask and expired vitamins to fertilize plants. Any other ideas?

'Swedish dishcloths' are considered eco-friendly and zero waste, but I don't get why. They are mostly cellulose and only last a few months until they break. Why not just use a brush for washing the dishes and fabric cloths for other purposes? Growing up my parents used to buy a 3m roll of 'Swedish dishcloth' and we would cut a piece of it when needed. We needed to cut a new one at least every few weeks. Last months I have had to use them several times and I dislike them even more since you can't really use them to scrub stains or wipe dust.

Hey guys 👋

As the title says, I'm a teenager (14) and I've been looking into sustainable living and zero-waste living for a while now and I want to have this type of lifestyle. Any tips on how to get started? I'm already vegan.

Oh and my parents are very receptive of these things, I could also help them go more sustainable/ zero-waste.

Hands down the best sustainable swap I ever made are my period products. I use a cup as my primary form of blood management and underwear as a back up/ for the last few days.

If you’re considering either of these I HIGHLY recommend them. The panties are exponentially more comfortable than pads and the cup is pretty much leakproof.I used to not sleep well during my period because I was so worried I would get blood on my sheets but the cup alone gives me enough confidence to sleep through the night.

I went to buy a box of tampons recently to have in the bathroom for guests and for my car/ purse and I couldn’t believe how expensive they’ve gotten (last box I bought was at Costco like 4-5years ago).

The swaps are pricey up front but I would say start with the cup, mine was like $40 at Target. There is a learning curve but once you get the hang of it you’ll never go back I STG.

hey all I've switched from bamboo menstrual pads to a menstrual cup. I no longer use the reusable pads and I'm wondering how I can dispose of the pads

We are growing our family, and I decided to venture down the rabbit hole of cloth diapering. Which led me down the rabbit of other reusable products. I was able to get reusable period products for free from a local nonprofit (brand new; don’t worry) and was also able to get majority of my cloth diapering set up for free from another nonprofit. (I do have experience cloth diapering for a child i used to nanny for, so I’m confident in my ability to sanitize and clean both cloth diapers and reusable period products) But i started exploring other ways to reduce our monthly costs and overall waste, and decided to switch to reusable snack and sandwich bags, and reusable paper towels. I have 10 sandwich bags and maybe 5-6 snack bags, and 1 set of reusable paper towels. I realize i likely will need more than 1 set of reusable paper towels, but this is a starter to see if i like the brand and want to buy more or explore different options. I also have some beeswax food wrappers i got for Christmas that i decided to finally open and use. Is there anything else i should look into and explore switching to reusables? Are there any nice reusable gallon bags for the kitchen anyone can recommend? I like the ones i can throw in the wash, so i got esembly and itzy ritzy ones in the sandwich and snack bags sizes, but would love something bigger too if anyone has any recommendations?