RETHINKING DISPOSABILITY: 25 EASY CHANGES

For a wealth of green living tips, tutorials, and articles, click The Green Home Guide at Grow and Make.

Learn about canning with Grow and Make's Green Kitchen Guide.

We no longer live in an age where 'disposable' is socially responsible. There are cities promoting the ideas of a zero waste policy, requiring recycling, composting and re-using all materials that we utilize and consume. The costs to the environment in terms of resource use and landfill are unacceptable, not to mention the disposable mindset is unsustainable in the long run. There are alternatives for what may have once been disposable and if you can adopt a mindset of re-use you'll quickly discover that it's easier than you might imagine. If you can take on a few of these suggestions you'll be making a big difference as a part of the solution and not the problem.

1. Paper Towels - You can easily substitute small organic cloth, bamboo or hemp towels for paper towels, which can be washed and re-used. Also, skoy cloths are a favorite alternative to checkout.

2. Razor Blades - Did you know that you can sharpen and re-use razors instead of tossing them out. This isn't possible with the razors that are designed to be tossed, so make sure to purchase standard razors for shaving.

3. Paper Napkins - Cloth napkins work just as well. If you keep a good pile of small hand towels and cloth napkins handy, you'll never need paper napkins. The money you save not buying paper towels will add up.

4. Counter Wipes - A wet cloth or towel works great for cleaning counter tops and can be quickly rinsed and re-used.

5. Paper Coffee Cups - Keeping a portable mug in your car and home is an easy way to stop the paper cup habit. Just ask your barista to put your latte in your mug or have the drive through put your drinks in a reusable cup.

7. Paper Lunch Bags - A lunch sack or lunch box is ready when you are. You can even buy ones made from recycled materials.

8. Water Bottles - A stainless steel water bottle and tap water makes more sense than purchasing water which is bottled, packaged and shipped to a store where you have to buy it.

9. Tissue Boxes - Make sure to buy the refills and not the new boxes. It all adds up. Alternately, ditch the tissues altogether in favor of soft cotton handkerchiefs.

10. Cotton Balls - An applicator or cotton cloth can serve the same purpose as cotton balls. Remember that cotton is a water intensive crop and requires a lot of pesticides to produce. We have an article on the environmental facts about cotton here.

11. Plastic Utensils - Unless you intend to reuse that plastic fork, there's no good reason to pick one up in the first place. Bamboo tableware kits and lightweight, compact and can be taken with you wherever you go.

12. Paper Plates - We keep bamboo plates for those occasions where paper plates might have been used in the 'disposable era'. Picnics, beach or bbq, bamboo plates work fine and actually have less risk of spilling food. They wash quickly by hand or dishwasher for next time.

13. Plastic Shopping Bags - Some cities have already outlawed the plastic shopping bag. Considering that there is a garbage pile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of Texas, it's not too surprising that some cities want to lead the charge in ending this ridiculous item. The alternative cloth, hemp and recycled plastic shopping bags work great.

14. Food Waste - You don't need to throw food scraps away. They can be recycled as compost and made into rich fertilizer for your yard, garden and plants. It's easier to compost than you imagine to use a compost pail in your kitchen and tumbling composter in your yard and helps to reduce landfill volume.

15. Printer Cartridges - The next time your printer runs out of ink find the reusable cartridges and you can either refill them yourself or find a local re-filler. You'll save money and be a part of the solution.

16. Coffee Filters - This is an easy one. With a mesh coffee filter you no longer need to toss anything out but your grounds.

17. Ziploc Bags - This one is easy too. Plastic containers work just as well as plastic bags for storing food, packing food and sending kids to school with a green lunch. If you do use ziploc or baggies make sure to rinse them and then hang them on a baggie drier. Check out the wrap-n-mat as a sandwich bag alternative. Even better, make a wrap-n-mat at home!

18. Mop Pads - Again, there is no reason to adopt the 'disposable' approach to mopping. The throw-away mop pads work no better than the standard mop.

19. Plastic Hand Soap Dispenser - There are so many great alternatives here and your bathroom or kitchen sink will look a lot better with a non-disposable soap dispenser. When you buy your liquid soap in bulk you'll also save money over time.

20. Disposable Contact Lenses - It's a simple choice. Buy the throw aways or buy the standard contact lens and keep it clean. Remember, it's not just the contact lens you're tossing out, but you're requiring a whole industry to exist to create your disposable lens, ship it to you, package it and the cost is always more over time.

21. Dryer Sheets - Did you know you can make your own reusable dryer sheets( Have you read the eco-tip)? Also, you might want to consider dryer balls.

22. Water - It's amazing how easy it is to not waste water, which is becoming a more precious resource with every day. By taking shorter showers, using the water saving mode on your dishwasher and washing machine, low flow showerheads and using drip-irrigation you can stop wasting water.

23. Lumber and Home Fixtures - Most cities and urban areas have salvage supply locations. You can bring your discarded windows, boards, fixtures and other home demolition materials to the salvage supply and they will resell it so that it is recycled.

24. Hard to Recycle Items - You might be surprised to learn that items which you would think are non-recyclable can actually be either recycled or properly disposed of. We have an article on recycling paint, cfl bulbs, motor oil, batteries and more.

25. Everything else - remember that you can take things you no longer need or want (clothes, furniture, toys, office equipment, etc.) and donate to Goodwill, re-sell it on Craigslist or use any of the Freecycle online websites to ensure someone else can use it.