We all have heard the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra for a few decades, and now, more than ever, people are starting to listen. Recycling has become the status quot in many households across the states, but reduce and reuse seem to often times get left in the dust. In the past 50 years or so, our society has exponentially increased its consumption of all resources (natural and otherwise).

If you sit down to just 30 minutes of television programming, pay attention to the commercials. Take note of just how many of those products are single use. We are a single use country and the evidence is piled up on the curb every trash day. The waste bins issued by municipalities are bigger than ever despite constant improvements in recycling programs.

Right now, reducing plastic is all the rage and that is a great thing. I think most people understand plastic is a major cause of strife and stress on our planet. Obviously using paper in place of plastic is better since many sources of paper can be renewable, but that does not mean we should continue going hog wild with consumption!

 

Here are some effective ways to make a major dent in your paper consumption and paper waste production. Some are fun and some not so much, but all of them are relevant and have worked out well in our home.

• Opt out of junk mail

Junk mail clogs up your mail box and creates a ton of paper you almost never want. You can opt out of solicited and unsolicited junk mail at sites like Catalog Choice. A simple web search can bring up several other options for halting the onslaught of flyers and ads.

• Cancel subscriptions

I am pretty sure at one point our household had a dozen magazine subscriptions all together. We have since culled it down to two specialty magazines not available online or in stores. The reality is most magazines and non-academic periodicals are 90 percent advertisements. Wasting time and money on literature that provides so little content is never worth the amount of glossy pages we then toss into the trash bin. There are quite a few cities across the country that still do not recycle magazines, so these glossies really are just trash.

• Use magazine pages as gift wrap

Still have a big stack of magazines and catalogs and can’t recycle them? Reuse them! I use old magazines to wrap up gifts quite often. Pages from fashion magazines or quirky publications like Mental Floss are popular with teens and younger kids. Save your money on wrapping paper and put those glossies in their second calling.

• Reuse gift wrap or use clearance fabric

In relation to reusing magazines for gifting, try reusing your wrapping paper! Everyone in my extended family does this. It used to be called “being a cheapskate”, but let’s face it, a lot of frugal tactics are also greener. We have some wrapping and gift bags that have been floating from person to person in my family for nearly 20 years. Or even better, buy some cheap, fun fabric and use it as gift wrap. People are much more likely to keep and reuse fabric, especially if it is a cool pattern. Your gifts will look Martha Stewart chic and the wrapping can be turned into napkins, throw pillows, tables cloths, and quilting supplies.

• Cloth diapers

The average child goes through up to 7,000 diapers from birth to potty training. Double that for two kids and you have an obscene amount of waste. Not to mention moolah! A beginner stash of cloth diapers can pay for itself in a just a few months and saves thousands of diapers from going straight to our landfills. It is unknown just how long it takes for a disposable diaper to biodegrade, but some estimate around 500 years. In addition to paper and plastic, disposables pose exposure to dioxins and other harmful substances.

• Cloth wipes

Since you already decided to do the green thing and go with cloth diapers, don’t forget your cloth wipes. Disposable wipes are not as effective as terry cloth, so you can use several just for one diaper change. Disposable wipes might not seem like a big deal, but they actually are not flush-able and take a while to break down.

• Reusable menstrual and nursing pads (And menstrual cups)
  

Menstrual pads and nursing pads are from many of the same unsafe materials in disposable diapers. when you consider the average woman gets her period for 5-9 days, 10 + times per year for nearly 40 years, that is a lot of pads and tampons! Along with dioxins, tampons pose a risk for Toxic Shock Syndrome and can even be deadly. Replacing tampons and pads with a menstrual cup like Lunette or Diva, and using cloth menstrual pads can save you money and keep thousands of disposable menstrual products from the landfills. The same can be said for disposable nursing pads. It is recommended to breastfeed your baby for at least a year or two, and many women need nursing pads for leakage during this time. I know I personally need to change my nursing pads around six times a day while nursing and I always use washable pads I can reuse.

• Cloth dust rags

It used to be the norm to cut up your threadbare flannel nightgowns and bedsheets into cloth dust rags when they were too worn out to serve their original purpose. Then came the Swiffer-esque revolution of throwaway products convincing everyone we needed to throw away the entire rag or we would all suffer asthma and allergies. Well, all it it really did was cost us money and fill our trash cans, while lining the pockets of shareholders. An old flannel sheet or t-shirt can grab dust and clean your home too. You can cut out extra trips to the store and put items you were ready to throw out to good use. And if you really think you NEED all those cleaning products, I suggest The Feminine Mystique. This age old bait and switch is alive and well! Old inserts from those cloth diapers you switched to make great dusters as well.

• UNpaper towels

Perhaps I am just old, but I remember when paper towels were an expensive luxury. Instead of using paper for every spill and drying a dish, we used a dish rag a wash cloth, a tea towel, a hand rag, and any other similar cloth item. I haven’t purchased a roll of paper towels in six years. Before that I had purchased three rolls since 1998. I have one of those original three rolls in our camping box, just in case. The six year old paper towel roll under my kitchen sink is for picking up cat vomit. We have a stack of flour sack towels and cheap prefold diapers we use for wiping up spills and messes. I toss them in with the regular laundry and they come out clean and ready to use again. if you want something more attractive than a stack of white cloths, you can check out places like Etsy for rolls of snapped together UNpaper towels that can go right on your spindle. There are some really cute patterns out there that can match your kitchen decor and hide stains. You can also order some neat alternatives at People Towels.

• Family cloth

OK, I can admit Family Cloth is too hardcore for most people. We are not full time family cloth users in our household, but we do use it part time. Family cloth is using small cloth wipes instead of using toilet paper. You can store your used wipes in a wet bag or bucket and wash them in your washing machine just like your cloth diapers. This approach to toilet wipes is less of a stretch for people who already use cloth diapers, cloth wipes, and cloth menstrual pads. If your three year old is still using cloth wipes, then there is really no reason you can’t also use them. Do you not feed them the same meals? When we hit a certain age, poop is poop. If you already managed cloth diapers, I suggest trying your cloth wipes as family cloth for a trial run. If you are simply too grossed out, at least you gave it a shot. You might find it is not any different and continue to use cloth, which means never again being stranded without some much needed toilet paper.

• Cloth Hankies or Tissues

Anyone who has ever watched an older movie or visited an older relative knows that cloth hankies are the vintage Kleenex. They have even made a come back as accessories, but I don’t think people buying them for fashion are putting them to their intended use! In a world where people are obsessed with sanitizer, (Much to the detriment of their own immunity health), it might be hard to convince you to actually use your cloth hanky. However, is it not better to have a designated hanky instead of your child’s sleeve? Polite society has us covering our mouths with our hands when we sneeze no matter how far away we are from the nearest sink to wash those hands. And who has not been forced to carry a dirty nasal tissue in their pocket or handbag when they couldn’t find a trash can? When you really think about it, keeping a cloth hanky with you is not any more gross than these other instances, and it can even be beneficial. Save your money and ditch those boxes of Puffs Plus.

• Soft Cooler lunch bag instead of paper lunch sack

If you bring your own lunch to school or work, you are already a step in the right direction for both frugality and waste. Why not take it a step further and pick up a cute soft cooler lunch bag or bento box, or any fun lunch container instead of disposable bags? That My Little Pony lunch box you had as a kid was actually green! Not only are you reducing your waste and consumption by not using paper lunch bags, but your food can taste better if you use reusable containers that are insulated to keep your food hot or cold.

• Reusable Grocery Bags

By now, most people are familiar with reusable grocery bags. Some cities have even banned plastic bags. Even Wal Mart has reusable bags for purchase near the checkout aisles. Whether canvas, synthetic, or made from recycled water bottles, reusable grocery bags are a good way to reduce your plastic and paper consumption. Not only do you not have a huge stash of bags taking up room in your pantry, but many stores offer a small rebate for every reusable bag you use. As a bonus, never ever have any of my canvas bags ripped open and spilled the contents onto the concrete, which has happened in paper and plastic numerous times.

• Cloth napkins

This goes along with UNpaper towels and cloth hankies. Do you really need a fresh paper napkin at your dinner table for every wipe of your hands? Cloth napkins do not have to be reserved for fancy dinners. Actually the polyester blends most cloth napkins consist of are terrible for absorbing mess anyway. You should buy whatever color or print you want and make your own. It can be a fun decorative project and you can stop buying paper napkins. If you make them of a highly absorbent material, they can double as your UNpaper towels, or  even as bandanas for your kids!

• Reuse junk mail for writing to do lists or for art/craft projects

I am a list junkie. With blogging, owning my own business, raising two very young children, and managing all of the household chores and appointments, I need my lists to keep the ship above water. While I do have constantly evolving lists on my smart phone, it helps to have certain things on paper. I am not one to buy notepads, so I use old envelopes and junk mail to jot down lists. I have also used those unwanted flyers for holiday ornaments, packing materials, and projects with the kids.

• Buy fresh, unpackaged food

Processed, packaged food creates a ton of trash. Consider cereal or fruit snacks for kids. Not only is there a box, but also individual packets. It all adds up to plenty of waste and very little “food”. Buying fresh produce is packaging free and better for you. Better yet, grab your reusable grocery bags an head to your local farmers market. I once did a project in college for a communications class where we had to make a statement about a social or ecological issue without words. I took an Oscar Meyers Lunchable and put all of the packaging on one side of my platform, with all of food from it on the other side. From the box, plastic tray, peel back seals, straw, juice packet, etc, there was a large heap of trash sitting next to four crackers and two ounces of turkey and cheese. The amount of over-packaging for some products is ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and buy real food.

 

 

This list is not by any means comprehensive, but it is a good start. There are plenty of other ideas and projects out there. You can make fire starters out of egg cartons and dryer lint, or grow your own food. Switch your print media to digital options, or pay your bills online to avoid extra checks and envelopes. There are countless other things we could all be doing to reduce our paper waste. My biggest eco-sin is takeout food. I may recycle the plastic cartons and reuse the paper bag, but it is still consumption I technically do not need. It would be better for my bank account, waistline, and our planet for me to not succumb to the occasional Thai takeout.

Obviously not all of the tips above are for everyone, but if you chose just one of those options it is a step in the right direction. And one step forward is better nothing at all.

 

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