Compost. I use Ramsey county’s organic drop off sites to compost. I have a small bucket in my freezer for wet compost (helps with the smell) and a larger dry compost by my garbage can. All food scraps and paper towels go there. My garbage is so small now it’s practically non existent. Food in the landfills emits greenhouse gases. But in compost it doesn’t. Instead it’s turned into nutrient rich dirt. I find that’s an easy way to take care of the earth.
Buy used clothes instead of new. A lot of resources and energy go into making clothes. I usually find name brand stuff on eBay for cheaper. Opt for eco friendly packaging when ordering online.
Recycle!!! It’s important to educate ourselves on which plastic #s can be recycled, clean them out, and prepare them to be recycled. When possible, buy products that come in glass instead. Your recycle bin should be more full than your garbage bin.
Shared by Lindsay on Sunday October 9, 2022
* When grocery shopping, bring your own cloth bags.
* Carry your own thermos instead of buying bottled water of coffee in styrofoam cups.
* check of “Tara” store in Minneapolis—LOTS of non-plastic alternatives you probably never thought of!
*Tare Market in Minneapolis (https://www.thetaremarket.com/) 😉
Someone else mentioned in another comment, but Bamboo Switch in White Bear Lake is another good store for sustainable alternatives!(https://www.bambooswitch.com/)
One thought on “zero-waste” products I try to remember: use (or donate/give away) the items you currently have before making the switch to sustainable alternatives 🙂
A tech at the eye doc set a single use water bottle down and this was the first time i even paid attention to that. It was tempting to say some thing like, ‘you do plan on drinking all of it right?’ or ‘you do know where that bottle ends up, yeah?’ but i held my tongue and blessed her.
We have great city water here so I’ve been pouring it into multi-use containers – as a starting point at least.
I believe the current system for composting has become easier. Washington and Ramsey counties will send free compost bags that fit in a small bin also provided by the county. We keep ours in the freezer compartment of our refrigerator. We throw the compostable items in the bag, then on trash day we throw that bag in the recycle bin. It is separated out elsewhere. No need to drive to a compost site! Easy peasy!