For the past 5 years our family has been what I call pseudo-crunchy. We use essential oils, we use medicine when needed, and we work hard to have natural products in our home for cleaning, bathing, and more. Recently, it’s been hard to find paper towels in the grocery store, and it dawned on me- why haven’t we been more zero waste and eco-friendly? We’ve always used paper towels to help minimize germs, but what about products that can allow us to do that and not create so much trash? What zero waste and eco-friendly starter products are out there that can help us jumpstart this seemingly daunting task? I did some research, found some amazing products for our family, and am sharing them all with you!
I have found so much joy and freedom in pursuing a life with less toxins, eating healthier, working out again, and now working towards a zero waste and eco-friendly lifestyle. All it takes is just starting with one thing. Once you get the hang of that switch, switch another product, and then again. Little by little the changes you make in your home will be so impactful not only for the environment, but for your health!
For our family, it’s always been beneficial for us to start out new ventures with some kind of kit. When I found this Zero Waste Starter Kit by SandaraStyle I knew it was the perfect way to start our zero waste and eco-friendly journey. It comes with an adorable mesh tote bag, 2 medium sized mesh produce bags, 2 muslin cotton bags, 2 bamboo toothbrushes, 2 food grade stainless steel straws (and the most amazing straw brush), 5 cotton makeup remover pads, and 1 plant based loofah sponge.
Here’s why I love this Zero Waste Starter Kit– it did all the thinking for me. I started out small, going for the metal straw, fell in love with the cute mesh tote bag, and I love how there’s something for the bathrooms and the kitchen in this set. When I read that on their website one of the makeup remover pads is equivalent to 1000 pieces of a disposable pads, I was floored. This eco box literally helps with reducing excess waste in the environment. This is an incredible gift to give to someone you love. It shows that you truly care for them and their health, and that’s a fabulous thing!
Oh man, can our family go through sponges. I’m not sure why but especially the past few years I feel like I’ve constantly bought sponges. They get dirty and grimy and just…ew. It was so wasteful though to constantly buy sponges, so I knew it was another place we needed to make changes in our home. I love these reusable kitchen sponges from K’s Got You Covered and how cute and functional they are.
Here’s why I love these reusable kitchen sponges– not only are they zero waste and eco-friendly, but they’re easy to clean. Just machine wash in cold or warm water then dry on medium heat. Just don’t use fabric softeners! I recommend grabbing at least 3- one for kitchen counters, one for the sink, and one for the bathroom! These reusable sponges have terry cloth on one side to allow for a gentle clean and a light scrubber on the other side.
As I mentioned before, our family can go through a lot of paper towels. It’s actually quite embarrassing how many we can use in a day. Between very frequent hand washing in bathrooms and the kitchen, toddler messes, potty accidents (from the kids and the dogs), and more, we make a lot of trash. I’m always floored at how fast our trash cans fill up. In the past I bought reusable paper towels but only kept them in Addie’s room for trach care to wipe her neck. I finally was able to get my hands on several amazing reusable paper towel sets from K’s Got You Covered. For the kitchen we got a set each of whites, neutrals, and blacks and I am going to keep adding to our collection as I can afford. For the kids’ bathroom I got the Kitchen and Food prints (sounds backwards but I love all the bright colors and how they match the bathroom decor!) I find these reusable paper towels to be a very good price and an extremely great investment for moving towards a zero waste and eco-friendly lifestyle. I ended up also getting a couple of their produce bags with the intention that I’ll put the used reusable paper towels in them and then use it as a laundry bag so they don’t magically disappear with the laundry fairy.
Also for the kitchen (and anywhere else in the house, truly), I thought this scrubber cloth would come in handy! I am always wasting paper towels to clean my counters and table, and so the scrubber cloth just made sense. I definitely want to get more of these to keep under my sink because there are always messes to clean and I love how it’s double-sided!
I don’t know about you, but when I’m in the kitchen and cooking, I’m always grabbing paper towels to wipe my hands. Crack an egg, wash my hands, cut up bacon, wash my hands, throw the egg shells, wash my hands… It’s just so many paper towels. These reusable towels are INCREDIBLE. They have a fun fabric on one side and terry cloth on the other so they’re incredibly absorbent. Don’t feel like you have to limit these reusable towels to your kitchen though- they’re wonderful for cleaning the bathroom, everyday home messes, kitchen cleanup, as guest towels, and more! You’ll want at least 4 or 5 of these zero waste and eco-friendly reusable towels for around your house- trust me.
When going through the list of things I wanted to switch towards the zero waste and eco-friendly lifestyle I started to think about toothbrushes for some reason. If you haven’t thought about it, toothbrushes create so much unnecessary plastic waste. I found this great shop called Naboo that sells biodegradable toothbrushes infused with activated charcoal and got so excited! Their compostable toothbrushes have BPA free activated-charcoal coated bristles that help whiten your teeth, reduce plaque, and eliminate bad breath. These biodegradable toothbrushes were actually designed to be ergonomic in your hand for a two to three minute brush session. On top of that, they look so chic and minimalistic on bathroom counters with the toothbrush holder.
If you haven’t thought about switching your toothbrush, consider this- billions of plastic toothbrushes are discarded annually, none of which will ever biodegrade. What seems like a small matter because a toothbrush is relatively small compared to other plastic waste is actually a HUGE problem.Think of how many billions of plastic toothbrushes pile up in landfills, and how some of these toothbrushes end up in the ocean endangering marine animals. If half of all toothbrush users made the switch to bamboo toothbrushes in the USA alone, it would mean that roughly 50 million tons of annual plastic toothbrush trash would reduce by 25 MILLION tons! If each of us make a switch towards biodegradable toothbrushes we could absolutely make a real impact!
For as long as I can remember I’ve always cringed at the price of razors and their replacement blade cartridges when I’ve gone into the grocery store. Why are they so expensive?! I figured it was time once and for all to take the plunge and switch to a zero waste and eco-friendly alternative, and stumbled upon this Zero Waste Shaving Kit Set from Eco Roots Shop.
Here’s why I’m obsessed with this shaving kit set– It comes with one rose gold double-edged safety razor, organic shaving soap, and 15 high-quality stainless steel replacement blades. I was a bit nervous to use this razor at first, but holy moly- it’s incredible. I literally had to make a single pass on my legs and I could hear the razor shaving the hair off. The organic soap (with citrus and lavender notes enriched with shea and cocoa butter) helped the blade glide so smoothly that I didn’t get one nick or cut, despite how incredibly sharp it is. Mathew has already tried to steal it from me, which means it looks like he will be getting his own shaving kit set for Father’s Day, no lie. This razor will help you to save money in the long run and reduce your waste. Not to mention it’s plastic-free, zero-waste, and comes in recyclable packaging. Win, win!
I hope you’ll join me in striving towards making our planet greener and just being less wasteful in general. We have been given such an opportunity in our lives right now to truly evaluate how we want to live, and I think all of these products truly help towards an amazing first step. Want to move towards a toxin-free lifestyle? Check out more on Young Living Essential Oils or message me on social media so we can chat on how to get you switched!
Deborah Clem-Buckert says
Such a great idea. A lot of the paper products have been hard to get . Hopefully, this will encourage people to be a little more green!
Rachel Neufeldt says
The razor seems like and awesome idea!
Laura says
Great eco-friendly recommendations Stephanie!
I’m definitely going to consider switching to the zero waste shave kit (love the rose gold!) and the reusable towels look so handy, too.
Thanks for sharing!
Ps: Love your black floral top – so cute!
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