We live in a nation where it is common to dispose of everyday items after only one use. Straws, coffee cups, paper towels and food packaging are things we all use (and quickly discard) every day without giving a second thought as to where they end up after our brief encounters with them.
As a result, each American is responsible for an average of 4.4 pounds of trash per day, which adds up to 63,000 garbage trucks full of waste. And that is on a daily basis.
Producing so much waste leads to a paradoxical issue. For every product we buy that creates waste, another product is made to take its place in order for the product's demands to be met by consumers.
For instance, for every Starbucks iced coffee we purchase (and gulp down in under two minutes while on our way into the office) in a Starbucks plastic cup with a plastic straw, another cup and straw will always be made in order to replace the one we ended up chucking in the bin.
Therefore, more "stuff" will be created (only to eventually be turned to waste) as a result of our wasteful tendencies.
Thankfully, there are easy ways to minimize the waste that we create each day, as well as decrease the demand for new stuff.
1. Reuse candle wax and jars.
After the notorious holiday sales at Bath & Body Works, I've found that I now have many nearly-empty candles sitting in my cupboard with not enough wax to safely burn.
Instead of wasting the unused wax at the bottom and chucking the whole container in the trash, you can easily melt the leftover wax using your microwave in order to combine the waxes of different candles and make a candle that is able to be burned again.
You can also reuse your pretty candle jars and containers by following this method so that they can be used to hold future homemade candles. This saves you money while also saving natural resources!
2. Ditch plastic straws and utensils.
How many times have you purchased a beverage this week that required a plastic cup or straw? Have you gone out to eat at Chipotle or Panera recently and used their plastic utensils?
Whether it be while on-the-go or in your own home, there is no excuse to opt for a product that can only be used once and yet has a catastrophic effect on the environment.
It takes most plastics up to 450 years to decompose, and most of it ends up in the ocean and other delicate ecosystems in that time. Even more horrifying is that 500 million straws are used and discarded every day after only one use.
Single-use plastic is extraordinarily dangerous to the welfare of our planet. If you're guilty of eating out often, then you seriously need to consider ditching plastic and opting for an eco-friendly alternative, such as stainless steel straws and on-the-go bamboo utensils that you can rewash and reuse frequently.
3. Invest in reusable storage bags.
Single-use food storage bags are wasteful, costly and a pain to recycle. Instead of picking up Ziploc bags the next time you're at the grocery store, put some extra money aside to buy reusable silicone storage bags from brands such as Stasher or BlueAvocado, which are freezer safe and hand-washable.
4. Repurpose empty food containers.
Giving an ordinary single-use item a new purpose is a beautiful, practical way to save resources. It's likely that you have an old crusty mustard bottle lurking in the back of your fridge or a peanut butter jar that's been scraped clean in your pantry.
You might be wondering how these items could possibly be fated for anything but the recycling bin.
It turns out there are ways to save and reuse these items to make a delicious new recipe. You can use peanut butter jars as containers for overnight oats, and the extra unreachable peanut butter at the bottom is a delicious addition to this nutritious breakfast. Furthermore, you can use mustard jars to hold healthy mustard based dressings and spreads.
5. Choose microfiber over paper.
The paper towel industry has a hugely detrimental effect on the environment. Each year, 3,000 tons of paper towels are used in the United States. If each person in the U.S. cut down their usage to one towel per day, over 570 million pounds of paper waste every year, saving countless trees and millions of gallons of water.
In order to make this transition easier, consider using microfiber cloths, which are both cheap and easily washable for cleaning spills and wiping down surfaces.
6. Treat your produce better.
How you store your produce can determine whether or not it ends up in your tummy or the trash. Not only do the plastic produce baggies supplied by most grocery stores create unnecessary single-use plastic, they aren't the best at keeping produce fresh since they are not porous and do not allow air flow.
Fruit and vegetable waste contributes to an alarming rate of food waste; the United States actually throws away one-third of all its food production.
These mesh produce bags are a cheap and great way to save plastic and food. They can be washed and reused and are very durable, long-lasting editions to add to your grocery routine.
7. Refill your soap dispensers.
You might not think about it, but how many times per month do you buy soap? Whether it be hand soap or dish soap, these products are a part of our daily routines (or at least they should be).
Limiting the demand for new soap bottles to be produced is a great way to combat plastic waste, which accounts for over 200 million tons of U.S. waste yearly (and this number has been growing since 2013).
Plastic containers such as soap dispensers, water bottles and even takeout containers are taking over the planet since a staggering percentage of it never ends up being recycled. Therefore, there is no need for these things to be used once and then discarded.
Awesome, eco-friendly cleaning brands like Method, which is already known for its natural ingredients, sells refill pouches of its well-known hand and dish soaps. Mrs. Meyers is another earth-friendly company that provides refill products and is dedicated to minimizing its environmental impact.