Reuse to Reduce
We all know the saying –– Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. What we will be focusing on is reusing items to reduce waste. Buying new products when you are “out” seems like the right and normal thing to do, but if you really look around your home there should be items already available that fit the bill. If not, there are more eco-friendly alternatives to purchase instead of single-use plastics.
Here are some common household single-use items that you can easily replace with reusable items to reduce your waste.
- Replace plastic bags with reusable tote bags.
- Replace single-use plastic water bottles with #7 harder plastic reusable bottles.
- Replace single-use plastic plates and utensils with reusable utensils and dishes.
- Replace plastic straws with paper or reusable metal or rubber/silicone straws that can be cleaned.
- Replace buying new clothes with going to your local thrift store (and donate old clothes to the same thrift store).
- Replace paper towels for washable rags.
- Replace food items in throw-away packaging with packaging that can be reused to store unused food or leftovers.
- Replace plastic- and film-wrapped retail products for ones wrapped with closures making the packaging reusable.