Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with These Waste-Cutting Hacks

Your zero-waste journey begins from home.

By now, most of us are clear on how important it is to transform the way we live to protect the Earth. Maybe you’ve been recycling and making efforts towards sustainability for years now or maybe you only recently started. If you are looking to start small, make take things one step at a time, here are tips to help you get in the right mindset as well as make changes instantly.

Why they matter

First and foremost, we are living a better quality of life. By making the environment greener and consuming healthier meals, we are improving our mental and physical health.

The daily choices we make add up to the sum of our carbon footprint. When we opt for a more sustainable lifestyle, we are not only conserving natural resources and curbing climate change.

We are also shifting what producers and sellers decide to make and sell. The choices we make have a ripple effect.

10 zero-waste swaps that make a big difference

Single-use plastic straws → Biodegradable, reusable straws

We’ve all heard of this one. Single-use straws are usually too lightweight to be recognized by a mechanical recycling sorter. As a result, they get disposed of as garbage which makes it more likely for them to end up in the ocean. That’s equated to 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles that have been found with plastic in their stomachs, which skyrockets their mortality rate to 50%.

Single-use straws in many restaurants and cafes have already started being replaced with biodegradable ones or, better yet, reusable ones you can carry in your bag.

Disposable Ziploc bags → Washable silicon sealers

Microplastics have been found everywhere — from Mt. Everest to the Mariana Trench. Ziploc bags are a genius invention that helps us solve food storage problems but how do we use them without harming the environment?

You never have to use single-use plastic Ziploc bags again after you replace them with airtight silicone sealers. Crafted from food-grade, BPA-free silicone, pack your snack in an environmentally conscious way.

Cotton pads → Reusable cotton rounds

When removing your makeup and doing your skincare routine, make the process eco-friendlier by swapping cotton pads or cotton balls with reusable, washable alternatives. Picture it. If you use a couple of cotton pads each day, how many mascara-stained cotton pads end up in a landfill in a week, a month, a year? 😳

Get your hands on bamboo facial rounds or cotton flannel makeup remover pads that you can use in rotation. It will not only save the environment but save you money as well.

Plastic shopping bags → Eco-friendly grocery bags

The uncontrolled distribution of free plastic bags in stores is a deplorable practice. Using plastic bags in such large quantities as we do is a direct way to pollute the environment.

The sustainable alternatives to using these single-use plastic bags in store include recycled paper bags, reusable cotton totes, mesh shopping bags, woven baskets, and more. It takes a quick Google search to find at least 15 eco-friendly alternatives.

Plastic toothbrush → Plant-based bamboo toothbrush

Brushing your teeth is a part of your daily routine but each toothbrush takes up to a thousand years to decompose. With the increasing awareness and growing knowledge of plastic pollution, we are looking to adopt better habits and products.

Opt for bamboo toothbrushes that have 100% biobased bristles but make sure to keep them clean. Once you’re done brushing your teeth, rinse the bristles for 30 seconds to wash away lingering toothpaste or food debris.

Traditional showerhead → Low-flow showerhead

Apart from eliminating the use of single-use plastic items, you can also protect the environment by minimizing the amount of water you waste. If you’re taking the average 8-min shower per day, you could be using more than 17 gallons of water with each shower.

Using energy-efficient showerheads and faucet equipment can save you money and conserve water, especially if you live in an area prone to droughts.

Toilet paper → Bidet

Bidets are popular in Asia and Europe but not in America yet. The main question now is this: are bidets more sustainable than toilet paper?

The simple answer is yes. Bidets do not use trees. Therefore, they do not need to be cut down and thousands of trees are saved in the process. Even for those who use toilet paper to dry themselves off, the consumption of toilet paper is cut down to 1–2 sheets. Using a bidet will reduce your toilet paper needs by up to 75%, which equates to 288 trees saved, according to blue bidet.

Disposable plastic razor → Stainless steel safety razors

Plastic razors are not made to last a long time. They’re cheap and disposable. It should be a surprise that 2 billion disposable razors are thrown away in the US every single year. The materials used to make plastic razors are not easy to recycle.

The alternative to these is safety razors. They’re made out of metal, at times with wood or bamboo, which makes them a reusable, long-lasting substitute. Once you start using safety razors, you might wonder why you haven’t used them all along.

Traditional light bulbs → Energy-efficient LED bulbs

The next time you go out to buy a new bulb for your study table, consider purchasing an LED light bulb. According to stats, LEDs bulbs use up to 80% less energy than incandescent lighting. They are not only energy-efficient, but they look and operate the same way as a traditional light bulb.

It’s that simple to make Mother Earth happy with your purchasing decisions and transition to a greener lifestyle.

Plastic wraps à Compostable beeswax wraps

Beeswax wraps are made out of organic cotton, jojoba oil and tree resin, making them 100% natural and biodegradable. Single-use plastic wraps or cling film, in comparison, cannot be recycled and will end up in the landfill.

Even when plastic is recycled, it is more expensive than using virgin materials. Not to mention, it can release a highly toxic chemical called dioxin, according to the World Health Organization.

Keep in mind…

These are just examples of swaps you can do in your home to live an eco-friendlier life. There are a hundred other ways to live life in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

It helps to take things one step at a time, get your friends and family onboard, and reflect on your motivation every once in a while. Fighting climate change does not have to be complicated. It can start from the place you live, sleep and eat: your home.