Actually practical and reasonable things I do to reduce my carbon footprint
Yes, I still order from Amazon, and no, I cannot be zero waste
On Wednesday evening, when we take out trash and recycling bins to the curb, my stomach usually sinks a bit. Our trash can is never very full, but our recycling bins are overflowing with plastic clamshells that once held berries and mixed salad greens and stacks of broken down cardboard from our copious packages.
My family consumes a lot. Part of this has to do with stage of life—I have two growing kids with healthy appetites and always on the cusp of another growth spurt. Part of this is convenience—I prefer to automate purchases where I can, which means ordering rather than shopping in person. Part of this is because our culture is built to make us want to get more. That top we like? Why not buy it in every color? The slightly annoying task of slicing an avocado? Why use a regular knife when you can purchase a specialty gadget designed specifically for pitting, peeling, and slicing avocados?
I am far from perfect, but I am trying to pay more attention to my consumptions habits and where I can and tread more lightly upon the earth. For me, being vegan is a big part of that, but I know that decision seems drastic to many people. There are some other small habits I have adopted that may not seem very big, but when done repeatedly, make a big difference. Some of these are second nature now, and some took some conscious effort. Most importantly, all of these are realistic. I know that I could take my own tupperware to restaurants to package my carry out order, but I am not going to actually do that.
We use cloth napkins. (If it doesn’t bother you, you can reuse them multiple times. Each family member has a designated napkin color if the napkins vary in pattern, or a designated napkin ring color if the napkins are all the same, and we use them until they get gross.) Not that big of a change, but when I think of the thousands of paper napkins we haven’t used over the years, it feels pretty good!
Similarly, we use Swedish dishcloths or microfiber cloths instead of paper towels. I keep paper towels on hand for when we really need them, but I make them somewhat inconvenient to access. I choose a reusable cloth where possible.
We compost. I thought composting sounded daunting, but it’s really not if you have backyard space. We collect scraps over the course of the day and take it out every night. We compost primarily to reduce food waste, so I am not as concerned with achieving perfect quality soil, or having multiple stages of compost going, but it honestly has worked pretty well without paying attention to green and brown matter ratios.
We compact trash as much as we can and squeeze all the space that we can out of each trash bag. It saves us money on trash bags but also means our trash takes up less space.
I invested in really good grocery bags. I love these Clevermade bags that collapse but then can snapped to stand upright. They hold so many groceries, and I genuinely like using them, not just because they are environmentally conscious but because they are far superior to plastic bags or paper bags toppling upside in my trunk.
I reuse Ziploc bags and tinfoil as much as I can. We often will use the bags or foil for the same purposes (to hold chips or wrap bread), so it is fine to recycle again and again.
I try to never buy cardboard boxes. I always save packaging material from our deliveries and keep them in a bin for a packing station.
I pay attention when there is an option to bring your own bags (like with Target pickup) or to have a package ship in its original packaging and opt for that.
We figured out which consumable items we could do without or make at home. I am not going to stop buying lettuce or berries or our favorite packaged snacks, but we decided that we didn’t mind using a carbonated water maker to make sparkling beverages at home (we still will buy some cans for when we are on the go, but it’s much less). Bonus: our grocery loads are less heavy!
Before recycling, I try to think if an item has another use. Remember that grade school saying: Reduce, reuse, recycle? That’s the preferred order. If we cannot reduce what we are consuming, we can find another use. We will use grocery bags from our grocery deliveries to pick up dog poop.
I have found a few brands who are doing some neat things. Blueland and Dropps make household cleaners and detergents with no plastic and almost zero packaging (Blueland’s packaging is completely compostable), and they actually clean well. I promise! Molly Mutt creates dog bed sacks and covers that you stuff with your old textiles. They claim dogs really like this because they can smell their people on their bed, and our dogs have taken to the beds just fine. I find that the stuffing breaks down over time any way, so this is a good use for our old clothes and pillows that cannot be donated. Lush creates body care products and will take back all of their packaging to reuse.
We have our thermostats and lights on timers. Many of you probably already have schedules set, but it’s worth taking a little time to think through your day and habits and set up what makes sense.
I split a CSA share. I found one whole share difficult to keep up with, but splitting it (which means I pick it up every other week) has been much less overwhelming. I love being connected to local farmers. Or, if the commitment of a CSA is too much, try shopping from your local farmer’s market regularly.
As much as I love books, I mostly rely on the library, Kindle editions, or audiobooks to save shelf space. I find that I don’t always need a physical copy to own.
We pass items on through neighborhood groups. Our neighborhood has a GroupMe for buying or donating items, and I’ve also used Facebook Marketplace and had good luck. My church even has a secondhand store that donates all proceeds raised to outreach. If I have a large or speciality item, I try these channels first before Goodwill because my hope is that every item goes to a new home rather than ending up in a landfill.
I combine shipments. As much as we order (we have many of our recurring items set to subscribe and save), we opt to have all of our items packaged together when possible. Many online retailers have become much better about consolidating everything or holding everything for a designated weekly delivery day.
I try really hard not to throw away food. I keep tabs on leftovers so we eat them before they spoil, and if we try new snacks or granola bars we don’t like, my husband Dan will bring them into work to share or we may even blend them up into a smoothie.
Leftover water goes into the dogs’ water bowls or our plant containers. My kids are notorious for leaving half-finished water glasses, but instead of dumping the water down the sink, we find another use.
I cook as much food as possible when I have the oven heated. If I am cooking dinner, I will roast vegetables to have all week. If I already have the oven heated up, I’ll make muffins or banana bread. I fill the oven up as much as I can, or if I only am heating a small amount, I’ll use the toaster oven.
I batch errands. Partly this is because I hate being in the car, partly this is because I’m looking to be efficient, and partly this is because I want to save on gas. I’ll make a list of errands for the upcoming week and plot out when it makes sense to do them based on where I will be.
These are of course tiny tweaks. Other changes, like what we eat, what kinds of car we drive, how much travel and particularly plane travel we do, and deciding what to purchase based upon how companies produce their products require a lot of thought and can feel overwhelming. But I choose to believe that small steps add up. I wholeheartedly subscribe to the saying: “Don’t do nothing because you can’t do everything. Do something.”
I’d love to know if you have any small practices or habits that you have adopted to help look after the earth.