Earth Month: How I’m Trying to Reduce Waste

There’s a lot of back and forth when it comes to waste reduction. I come from the generation that grew up on the mass production of single use plastics and how much easier, faster, and simpler life became with it. No one really realized the repercussions of what these products would do to the earth. Now I still get met with a lot of skepticism and confusion as to my more recent switch to less wasteful practices but we are all learning and finding ways we can incorporate these changes into our lives. I wanted to just touch base since it’s Earth Month and talk more on how I’m trying to reduce waste.

What intimidates me the most about sharing my journey is the shame I will feel when I make a mistake and I know that I will. Being on this platform is great because I can share my experiences but I also get met with so much criticism. For example, the other day I posted a stories of myself and my carry on bag at the airport. I had a plastic water bottle in my bag. Someone left me a direct message saying the bag was cute but wished that was a reusable water bottle. What wasn’t known to that person was that my reusable bottle WAS in there and unfortunately airports like JFK don’t have refillable stations (Long Beach Airport does so I always love coming there and filling up). Now it’s no excuse because I usually go to restaurants and get filled up or Starbucks but the last time we tried Starbucks they only offered us cups of water to pour into our bottles (um defeats the purpose). So in lieu of all the back and forth I had to opt for just buying a bottle.

Basically what I’m trying to get from that story is that we should still continue to meet people with kindness and education vs jumping to conclusions or shaming as you don’t know the entire situation. I do feel the sense of urgency to implement these practices but I have been using a reusable water bottle since 2012, a lot earlier than most people so for me I don’t really appreciate the conclusion jumping.

That being said, I am NO expert on this matter. I am not perfect nor do I have all the answers but I’ve been trying to explore new ways for me to reduce waste and to be consistent with it. Here’s a little bit of what I’m already doing and what I hope to be able to more consistently do in the future:

What I’m Currently Doing

Reusable Water Bottles / Bags

Now most people in California are on this one already since grocery stores and a lot of retailers have banned bags but I still felt the need to share. When I go shopping I always bring reusable shoppers, especially the grocery store and Target. Sometimes I’ll forget to bring it shopping with me but I only accept paper bags from stores I shop at and I save these bags for anytime I need to wrap a gift! It’s not the “cutest” but honestly I realized this past Christmas such a waste it was to buy all of these bags and boxes when I can just reuse what I’ve collected throughout the year. Last year I reused all of my wrappings which included old bags from gifts I received Christmases prior. It felt good to not have to spend money plus everything had a second use to it. On the topic of reusable water bottles, as mentioned prior my first corporate boss bought me my first one that I fell in love with and I never looked back. I don’t ever buy water bottles unless I’m going somewhere that doesn’t have water. I also bring my bottle with me everywhere and fill up whenever I can.

Reusable Cotton Pads (for my skincare routine)

So when I was looking to find new ways to reduce waste I found some reusable cotton pads on Amazon. They are perfect for taking off makeup and for applying my nightly toner! I was concerned with purchasing these mainly because I’m awful at doing laundry consistently (I have a lot of clothes so I don’t have to do laundry THAT often) and was nervous that I would run out and opt back to using disposable cotton pads due to laziness. What I was surprised by was how quickly I caught on to including this in my routine. I have a pouch I keep all clean pads in and after I use one I place it into an intimates mesh bag for the wash. I’m happy to say that since I purchased these a few months ago I haven’t had to reach for a disposable cotton pad at all!

Reusable Steel Straws

This is my newest endeavor and I have to say that it’s one of my more challenging ones. Mainly due to the fact that the straws don’t fit in all of my handbags thus making it more difficult to bring with me everywhere. What I will say though is if I for whatever reason don’t have them on hand and it is possible for me to not have a straw I won’t take one. Also when I go out to eat or get fast food I ask for no straw and/or just drink it without one.

Eliminating use of Plastic Wrap & Plastic Baggies

There are a few alternatives for this seeing as most of us don’t even need plastic wrap or plastic baggies but I’ve fully eliminated them. These were easy for me to grab when I needed to pack a lunch if I didn’t feel like grabbing tupperware. I recently purchased some additional glass tupperware that I’m using now instead as well as just using cotton elastic bowl covers for anything that I just need to cover quickly.

Moving Forward

Reusable Menstrual Cups

At the moment I have a pretty non-existent period (sorry if TMI) so I don’t actually require anything more than a liner for about 2 days. For me it’s just a lot of hassle for me to utilize a menstrual cup at this point so when I’m actually off the pill and having to experience a real period again I’ll definitely be opting for one of these. I have a few friends who use them and love them so I have a lot of confidence that it will be a great fit for myself.

Compost / Recycling

Since I no longer live in Costa Mesa which handles recycling for you I have to take the initiative to start recycling my trash. What I mainly want to do with this is focus on recycling cardboard boxes and glass appropriately. I also would love to start focusing on composting, or at least, getting compostable trash bags and only placing in food scraps into those areas.

Switching to glass skincare packaging

Most of my skincare is already in this category but for the pieces that are still within the plastic space I’d like to eliminate those. Glass is a lot easier to recycle so for me it’s a step in the right direction.

Shopping More Sustainably

I definitely try to shop more sustainably but I still get caught up in purchasing via fast fashion. For me it’s definitely redefining my closet and how I shop. I am moving back towards loving certain pieces and wearing them over and over again. While I’m sure that phase will come and go and I’ll get bored with my closet once more I’m trying to really focus on products that I absolutely LOVE and that will stand the test of time. I think people want to see less new new new and more ways you can wear things over and over again considering most of us out there have to purchase our clothes and don’t get them gifted.

Switching to Glass Bottle Cleaners (and non chemical cleaners)

My friend recently connected with a brand called Supernatural that creates household cleaners that you mix with water into glass bottles they provide that have 0 chemicals. I love that this is becoming a new trend as we live in our homes and the chemicals can be extremely harmful. Not only that, the refills come in small vials that you just put into your glass spray bottles and mix with water. So easy and eliminates plastic. I have to make the purchase but after I do, my purchasing of plastic spray cleaners will be done.