Thursday, March 15, 2012

My 10 Steps to Natural Living // Step Ten: Reusables


This is my final step in my series! I’ve been learning a lot through my research and from your comments as well. Thanks for following this kick-start to my journey in natural living! The series was a great way for me to set priorities and come up with a plan. Of course, I will keep posting more natural living ideas as I learn them…so be sure to check back!

Step Ten is an easy one…in theory. It is another part of retraining the way I think about storage and reusing various items. The reason I’ve included this step into my list is because I get frustrated every time I have to buy more Ziploc bags, Swiffer dusters or sponges. I hate going through things like that so fast…seems like wasted money (and unnecessary trash).

So one of my goals this year is to think a little more creatively and figure out ways to avoid disposables as much as possible. My goal is to incorporate reusables instead.

Right now I have a family of empty plastic containers and glass jars under our kitchen sink waiting to be reused for something. So far, I’ve used glass jars to store dry goods I buy from the bulk bins at our local foods store. I also use little ones for my sugar scrub or essential oil mixtures.


I’ve also been challenging myself to think twice before grabbing a plastic baggy. Instead I try to use my Pyrex or plastic storage containers for my sandwiches, snacks and fruit. I don’t mind tossing them in my tote to bring home after work!

Most of the time I will remember to take my shopping totes to the grocery store…for some reason I haven’t developed the same habit for other stores. I will be working on that.

And in the future I want to find some good microfiber cloths I can use for dusting and possibly washing dishes. It will be much cheaper to wash cleaning cloths than it is to replace dusters and sponges.

I’m looking for other reusable ideas too. What are some ways you have cut out disposables? Please list your ideas in the comments!  


Other Posts in this Series:
Step Seven: Wash Away Chemicals
Step Eight: Squeaky Clean
Step Nine: Natural Healing

2 comments:

Lisa Adele said... Reply to Comment

AS long as my ziplock baggies didn't have raw meat or something very greasy in them., I rinse them out with hot water and dish soap and hang them up to dry with clothespins on a string in my kitchen. I would say I average 3-5 uses per baggy.

Valerie said... Reply to Comment

@Lisa Adele That's great! I haven't been washing baggies because I don't have a place to dry them...rigging a string is brilliant! I'll have to figure where to do that. Thanks for the tip!