How to Reduce Waste Every Day

Reuse Empty Bottles

No need to buy special food containers. The plastic vitamin bottles can be used as food containers (recommend for dry ingredients only). After removing the labels, they are pleasing to your eyes.

The glass bottles can be used to store various sauces, pickles, etc. After removing the labels, they are beautiful and practical substitutes for Mason Jars.

There are two ways of removing labels: 1) use a hair dryer to melt the glue behind the labels which can be easily peeled off. 2) soak the bottle in warm water and tear off the labels. If there is any remaining glue, wipe it off with Goo Gone. In fact, it doesn’t affect the use if you don’t do any of these. Tearing off the label is only for those who care about the look. Take a look at these beautiful glass bottles in our kitchen cabinet.

Good Use of Plum Wine Oil Bottle

Would like to recommend this kind of plum wine bottle for dispensing cooking oil. If you like to buy large bottles of cooking oil like those sold in Costco. You can transfer oil into this kind of bottle, which is way much easier to use than those store-bought oil bottles with dispensers. Taking off the lid, the opening of the bottle is wide, making it very easy to pour oil into it without the need of using a funnel. There is a small opening on the lid, which is great for pouring small amount of oil out for cooking.

Reusable Tableware for Parties

When hosting parties at home, we have stopped buying any disposable products, such as bottled water, paper plates and bowls, plastic folks and spoons, disposable chopsticks etc. Replace them with items like the following, which is not only environmentally friendly, but also saves money and makes your party classier and higher end.

Highly recommend Corelle brand of dinnerware, which is light, thin (takes less space), durable (not easy to break) and elegant.

For kids’ parties, if you worry that the glass is easy to break, recommend buying this kind of transparent plastic cup, which can be washed and reused. It can also be recycled. Although paper cups are made of paper, they are usually lined up with a layer of plastic films preventing them from being recycled or composted. Don’t buy those foam cups. They cannot be recycled, and if used for hot drinks or food, harmful chemicals can leach out. Of course, the best practice is to encourage party participants to bring their own water bottles.

By the way, I have to give credit to a local summer camp hosted by MinnSea Academy, which I have collaborated with for many years. The camp supports environmental initiatives and effort. They used to order boxed lunches that came with plastic containers. A few years ago, they invested in stainless steel dinner plates and chopsticks. Think about it, for eight weeks’ summer camp, dozens of children eat every day, how many plastic lunch boxes and disposable utensils have been saved. More importantly, such changes have planted environment stewardship seeds in these kids’ hearts.

Reusable food packaging containers

If you buy large packages of meat and need to separate for storage, it is recommended to use this kind of black plastic box. First, black plastics cannot be recycled. Second, the plastic used for this kind of box is No. 5 PP (Polypropylene), which is the most stable and safest type of plastic food container; it is also easy to clean and can be reused. This set of boxes in my house has been used for many years. They are especially suitable for storing ground meat processed at home.

Reuse small bottles

The label on this kind of medicine bottle is very easy to peel off. They are suitable for storing small items.

This kind of transparent plastic milk bottle is similar. My family uses them to store seeds.

Note: Even if you do not need to reuse the bottle, if the label covers the entire bottle, you must remove the label before placing it in the recycling can.

Reuse or recycle aluminum tray

As long as the container is recyclable, no matter how dirty it is, my family will wash it clean and recycle, such as peanut butter jar. Another example is this kind of aluminum tray. It can be reused after cleaning. If it is deformed and hard to re-use, it can be recycled. Metal and glass can be recycled unlimited times. In contrast, every time paper and plastic are recycled, their fibers are cut shorter, so they can only be recycled 5-7 times.

Reuse or recycle plastic bags

As long as the plastic bags are not too dirty, we will wash, air dry, and put them away for reuse. You can take them with you when go shopping or give them to friends who need to walk their dogs.

If you have no use of them, take them to the store who have plastic bag recycling box to recycle. Alternatively, you can collect a lot and take it to the county recycling center to recycle.

Reduce the use of plastic wrap

In order to reduce the use of plastic film, try to use lids for food containers. If you can't find suitable lids, a plate is a great alternative and can be stacked with other containers. There are various silicone lids for sale online. I tried two kinds but found they are difficult to put on containers and cannot be stacked with other containers.

Reduce the Use of Aluminum Foil and Parchment Paper

If you love baking, try to avoid using foil or parchment paper, and use this kind of reusable silicone mat.

If you have large ovens and/or gas stoves at home, many people like to put a layer of aluminum foil underneath to catch grease or overflew food, and change them periodically. I felt it was wasteful and not environmentally friendly. After trying several products, I found this great alternative - oven liner.

You can place it at the bottom of the oven. You can cut it into suitable shapes to fit the stove. This kind of oven liner can be easily cleaned and reused. You may find pre-cut stove liners online, but I found that the shapes can hardly fit the stoves at home, so you must measure the size of your stove before buying.

Reusable Gym Clothes Bag

For those who love to go to the gym, does your gym provide disposable plastic bags for dirty clothes? Have you brought home a lot of plastic bags before you realize it? To reduce plastic bag waste, recommend you prepare a reusable gym clothes bag (I call it a Gym Clothes Bag with Love). The method is very simple: get a durable tote bag and put two plastic bags in it, of different colors, the light color for clean clothes and the dark color for dirty clothes. After you come back from the gym, you can bring the tote bag into the house and swap the clothes, which is very clean and convenient.

Three Environment Friendly Household Product

Recently, I also got to know three great products.

1. Laundry detergent strip

As an alternative to liquid laundry detergent, this product is 100% dissolvable and is packaged in a paper box, eliminating any plastic waste. It is also light weighted, only about one-twentieth of a laundry detergent bottle, which makes it not only easy to carry, but also saves the fuel cost of transporting large heavy bottles of laundry detergent, reducing your carbon footprint. This kind of strip is very easy to bring on trips.

2. Makeup Eraser

The following is a video with great and practical tips for using this product.

https://youtu.be/TA_dAc4Xstk?si=Xe7sF_fzRKsUrULO

Both my two daughters and I like it very much. It is very soft and can easily and completely remove makeup. The fiber on the towel can grab the makeup whether liquid or powder and remove without smearing around it. It eliminates the waste generated by makeup remover wipes.

3. Wool drying ball

Throwing a few of these wool balls into the dryer, it can not only replace the drying sheet, but also reduces drying time and statics, making clothes softer.

Tips for Using Shopping Bags and Food Containers

One last thing to share: many people have developed the habit of carrying reusable bags when going shopping. However, some people comment that they often forget to do so. One tip is to store these bags in the trunk and put them back every time you finish putting away the groceries.

Another type of item you can consider keeping in your trunk are food containers. If you need to take home leftovers after eating out, you can use these food containers instead of using the ones from the restaurant. To prevent these food containers from getting dirty, you can put them in a large sealable plastic bag. However, if the weather is too hot and the temperature in the car is too high, it is not suitable for storing plastic food containers in the trunk.

I also find out recently that when going to big parties that offer or share food, brining these containers can save food waste tremendously without using restaurant offered disposable food containers.

Let’s work together to leave a clean and beautiful earth for generations to enjoy. If you have better or other methods to share, or are interested in joining our environmental protection group, please email contact@ziran.ngo.