Easy Swaps to Reduce Household Waste

Caring for creation within the limits of our littleness

Photo by Carrie Allen www.carrieallen.com on Unsplash

We hear a lot about sustainability these days, almost whether we want to or not. Stats are constantly released describing when each automobile manufacturer will be producing how many Electric Vehicles per year. Meal delivery kits brag about how much they reduce food waste by selling you the items that would have been thrown out at the supermarket. Reducing our carbon footprint - as individuals and as nations - has become a goal that can dictate even how many children you "ought" to have.

But for those of us who are desiring to live out in some small way the Church's request that we care for God's creation and practice the stewardship of the Earth with which our first parents were entrusted, are there manageable and practical things we can do that will aid us in this goal? One of the simplest things I've found is "swaps" - that is, finding reusable alternatives to the many disposable products we use on a daily basis. These swaps allow our family to reduce our waste, as well as save money (which never goes unappreciated).

The elephant in the room with any effort towards sustainability or environmentalism is that the efforts of one family hardly make a dent in the overall waste production of our culture of fast food, fast fashion, and planned obsolescence. I think that the question does need to be asked of whether or not one family can make a difference in things like supply and demand, overall production, waste reduction, etc. But I also think it's important that we remember why we are doing these things. Our care for creation is not intended to be (at least in most cases) a call to widespread activism and intense social change. We choose to care for creation because (a) God has asked us to do so, (b) doing so is beneficial to our souls, and (c) we have the opportunity to shape the understanding and habits of our children. On that last point, I’ve found that replacing single-use items in our home with reusable equivalents has not only allowed us to reduce our waste, but it has also encouraged me to take better care of the things we do have, and I hope that this attitude is one that we can foster in our daughters as they grow up.

All that being said, it can be overwhelming to know where to begin with choosing which reusable products will best suit our families, and furthermore, where to get the reusable products from. I hope that the thoughts below can offer you a starting place!

Reusable Grocery Bags
This was the first "swap" that I really became aware of, thanks to the friendly reminders on cart-return stalls at grocery stores across Texas. I, of course, usually forget my bags, even when I shop at Aldi, where paper or plastic bags cost extra. However, creating a system for bringing full bags of groceries in and empty bags of groceries back out to my car shouldn't be difficult, and I’ve had seasons where I was successful in using them for several grocery trips in a row. Reusable grocery bags also have the advantage of being able to hold more groceries than their single-use equivalent, as well as serving purposes beyond just groceries. And I’ve found that I rarely have to purchase bags that are suitable for use at the grocery store - they tend to find us whether we’re looking for them or not. As I write this post, I’m staring at a plastic bag full of plastic bags from our last three trips to the grocery store - we’ve been meaning to take them back to recycle them, but keep forgetting. Maybe this will be the week that I finally get them out of my house and replace them with my bag full of reusable bags…

Mesh produce bags are sort of a subset of reusable grocery bags that are designed to hold your produce as you shop, in place of the rolls of produce bags scattered throughout the store. They’re similarly lightweight, usually close with a zipper or drawstring, and have the added advantage of being made from a breathable fabric. These are harder to find “in the wild” and tend to be sold on Etsy or at farmers’ markets, although I suppose a laundry delicates bag could work in a pinch.

Cloth "Un-Paper" Towels // Kitchen Rags
This is, by far, the "swap" we use the most. We were given two dozen Marley's Monster's kitchen towels for our first Christmas as a married couple, back in 2019, and we haven't bought a roll of paper towels (or more cloth rags) since. These are easy to integrate into your home life, easy to wash (we just throw them into our hanging wetbag, washing machine, or laundry basket to run in the next available load), and absorbent enough that one or two takes care of most day-to-day messes. If you want to try your hand at making your own, any single-layer flannel cloth should do the trick, and a simple stitch around the perimeter (or serging the edges, if you're fancy) will help them hold up a little longer without fraying.

Silicone or Cloth Snack Bags
If you are a person who eats snacks, or a person who takes a lunch to work, or a person who sends a lunch to work/school for another person, this is a good place to start. Designed to replace single-use sandwich or snack bags, these silicone or cloth alternatives are usually able to be washed in either the dishwasher or washing machine, which makes them super convenient. Having tried both styles, I personally prefer the cloth version (these Thirsties snack bags are excellent). The silicone bags often have crevices along the edges that are difficult to keep clean, whereas the cloth bags are a breeze to rinse or wash before reusing. These are another very flexible/multi-purpose product that can be used far beyond the kitchen, and the fun prints mean that if you’re trying to keep your diaper bag organized, you can select a particular print for each person so that you don’t have to think when packing or passing them out.

Bar Soap, Shampoo, and Conditioner
We switched to bar soap after meeting a lovely soap-maker at a farmer's market on our honeymoon, who assured us that, in terms of volume, most of the liquid soap we were paying for was water. It’s been almost four years and we’ve never looked back! I will note that it may take some trial and error to find a brand or scent that you like, that leaves you feeling moisturized, and that keeps you feeling clean for longer than just a few minutes. We’ve found a few types we like that are sold at our normal grocery store, which means we aren’t going out of our way or spending more money on soap than we were before. After our eldest daughter was born, we also switched to using bar shampoo and conditioner, and as a family who washes a LOT of hair on a weekly basis, I cannot say enough positive things about our experience with Naples Soap Co.'s shampoo and conditioner bars. Their prices are fair, the products last forever, and the customer service has been excellent on the rare occasion we've needed it. The main appeal of bar soaps from a sustainability perspective is the reduced packaging - fewer plastic bottles to dispose of - but the longevity and effectiveness certainly don’t hurt.

Cloth Diapers and Wipes
Cloth diapering could (and likely will) be the subject of its own series of posts, and I know there are deeply personal reasons some families do or don't pursue cloth diapering. But if we're making a list of washable/multi-use swaps, I can’t imagine leaving this one out. Cloth diapers, even used part-time, help reduce the number of diapers in landfills, and they’ve significantly reduced our child-related expenses. It’s important to note that your water usage will go up slightly, but even so, we’ve found it to be incredibly worthwhile overall. I’m particularly grateful for cloth diapers during these early weeks with our infant, when throwing away a disposable for a tiny amount of pee or a little gassy poop feels like such a waste. If you’re hoping to have several children, well-made diapers like those from Green Mountain Diapers will last you for many, many years, and if they’re still in good shape whenever your childbearing years are through, they can be resold or gifted second-hand to another family. Cloth diapers also lend themselves to Elimination Communication, which can help reduce your diaper use overall by encouraging earlier potty learning!

We also use cloth wipes (ours are from MamaBearBabyWear and Happy BeeHinds, although it would be simple enough to make your own) and have found these much easier to integrate with the cloth diapers - there’s no need to keep track of what goes into the trash versus what goes into the wet bag when every part of the system is intended to be reused. A little squirt bottle of water is all you need to turn those flannel rags into perfectly soft, washable wipes. (A note: while the process for making cloth wipes is the same as for making the kitchen rags we discussed earlier, personally, I’d recommend using different fabrics so you don’t end up wiping the baby’s bum with a kitchen towel!)

Reusable Period Products
At the risk of oversharing, I would highly recommend the cloth pads from BlessedIsBest, Stitches and Grace, and Pampered Shop Pads. I switched a few years ago, and have used cloth pads through a miscarriage, two postpartum periods, and several years of normal use. These have held up incredibly well, offer plenty of coverage and absorbency, and feel so much more comfortable than the plastic ones I used to use. I’ve also heard excellent reviews of the diva cup and the flex disc, but I haven’t tried them myself.

I hope you’ll notice on the above items that most of them offer perks or conveniences beyond simply reducing consumption and waste within our family. This is something that I’ve noticed constantly about the way the Lord works: while what He asks of us may require us to venture outside of our comfort zone, He will not be outdone in generosity. When we commit to caring for creation by reducing our household waste, we reap a whole host of other benefits that we may not have expected at the outset. You’ll also notice that most of my recommendations are for small businesses. Another reason I love finding these little swaps for our family is that we get to work with people who are using their gifts and talents to offer these products and support their families.

Maybe in a future post, we’ll be able to chat about about gardening, composting, and reducing food waste, but our family isn't there yet, so for now, we'll stick with our swaps and look forward to the day when we can implement further strategies to care for creation in our little home.

I'd love to hear what swaps your family has tried, and whether or not they've worked for you. If you have any other sustainability or eco-friendly tips, please share those too!