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Some items pollute our planet & oceans the most. In this article, you can find low waste products for the worst polluters.
By switching some wasteful consumption patterns and getting a few low waste & reusable products, you will be able to lower a big chunk of your trash!
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
10 Low Waste Products To Lower 70% Of Your Waste:
1. Reusable containers
A few reusable containers can do WONDERS with your amount of trash.
You can use reusable containers to:
- Get things in bulk, like nuts & seeds, legumes, dried fruits, etc.
- Pack you lunch & avoid buying foods in plastic packaging
- Use it to get food from restaurants
If you don’t have access to bulk shops, order staples online, or find whatever is accessible for you, and choose items that are plastic-free.
For example, you can pick things in glass jars, or aluminum packaging – both of which are endlessly recyclable.
Low waste products:
- Stainless steel reusable containers – Check the great selection of reusable stainless steel containers at Earth Hero (it’s like Amazon, but sustainable)
- Reusable containers from glass – For more options, you can take a look at these affordable glass containers from Amazon, like this awesome plastic-free set with bamboo covers, or this one with compartments for separating your food.
- Plastic reusable containers – If you already have some at home, use them!
- Budget option – Reuse food jars/containers, that you bought from the shop, or check your local second-hand shops for some reusable containers, before purchasing new ones.
2. Reusable water bottle
A single item like this one can reduce your plastic waste, exponentially.
If you think that bottled water is cleaner and better, a lot of companies filter tap water and then sell it in plastic bottles.
Instead of getting plastic water bottles, that are polluting the planet, get a reusable water bottle.
If you want to filter your water, you can do that by using charcoal water purifying stick. Of you can invest in one of these healthy & purifying water bottles.
Low waste products:
I would recommend getting a stainless steel water bottle. It is durable, long-lasting, and keeps the liquid cool for a very long time. Other options I can recommend are:
- Hydro Flask stainless steel water bottle (link to Earth Hero)
- Reusable glass bottle (link to Earth Hero)
- Budget option: Find a product from the shop, that comes in a glass bottle. After you use its contents, wash the bottle and reuse it for water!
- A reusable plastic bottle (in case you already have one)
Related post: What Is The Healthiest Water Bottle To Use?
3. Reusable bag
Worldwide, we use 5 trillion plastic bags per year.
A significant percentage of these plastic bags goes to our oceans, where is a danger for marine life, and just 1% is recycled.
There are many cool & creative ways to avoid using plastic bags, even when you forget your reusable ones.
Or if you are used to using plastic bags for your trash, there are MANY ways to avoid using a plastic bag for your trash. Find 6 simple & effective trash bag alternatives.
Low waste products:
- Use what you already have. You for sure have some old reusable bags laying around your home. If not, you can always look for cool bags in local second-hand stores.
- Invest in some of the following options:
– Check ethical & amazing creators on Etsy – Here I will shamelessly promote my grandma. She creates AMAZING bags from recycled jeans (images below). Check her creations on her Etsy shop.
– Jute bag (link to Amazon)
– Cotton shopping bag (link to Earth Hero)
– Canvas bag (link to Amazon)
4. Reusable straw
Plastic straws cause terrible things to a lot of species. They are currently the 8th most found ocean trash in cleanups by quantity.
What’s worse, it takes around 200 years for them to decompose. Once they break down into smaller pieces, these microplastics will keep polluting our planet for much longer.
Luckily, plastic straws are probably the easiest switch you can do. You can avoid them, by making a personal commitment to say “no” to plastic straws.
Low waste products:
If you enjoy sipping your drinks with a straw, you can get yourself a reusable & affordable straw from Earth Hero or Amazon:
5. Reusable utensils
Single-use plastic utensils are everywhere – fast food restaurants, ice cream shops, festivals, etc.
The waste from plastic utensils is enormous – just from the US is 40 billion, per year.
It gets worse when you take into consideration other countries such as India – they produce 129 billion single-use utensils.
That’s a lot of trash that usually finds a way to our oceans and landfills, plus it is another dangerous item for a lot of species.
Carrying your reusable utensils has the potential to lower A LOT of waste.
Low waste products:
- BAMBOO utensil set
- Upcycled reusable utensil set from STAINLESS STEEL
- Spork (spoon+fork) from STAINLESS STEEL
6. Zero waste toothbrush
It is recommended to change our toothbrushes every 3 or so months. In the long run, this piles up to a lot of plastic trash. Just in the US, over one billion plastic toothbrushes are used each year.
A bamboo toothbrush isn’t perfect – usually, the bristles aren’t biodegradable, so you have to remove them (the easiest way is to break the top part of the toothbrush, where are the bristles).
However, bamboo toothbrushes do have a smaller footprint compared to plastic:
- bamboo plants grow quickly
- they need need little care
- they may thrive without fertilizer or pesticides
- bamboo is biodegradable & compostable — it takes ~6 months for the handle to fully break down
Switching from a plastic to a bamboo toothbrush is such a small and easy change, yet it can reduce the overall plastic waste you create.
Additionally, by switching to low waste toothpaste products, you can reduce even more of your trash. Check below the best low waste alternatives.
Low waste products:
- Bamboo toothbrush (pack of 5)
- Toothpaste powder
- Toothpaste tablets
- Davids Toothpaste – spearmint or peppermint
- DIY toothpowder
7. Shampoo & conditioner bar
550 million empty shampoo bottles are thrown away each year, in the US, alone. And this number doesn’t even include conditioners, or body wash!
By switching to shampoo & conditioner bars, you can reduce a lot of plastic packaging.
The best thing is that there are many eco-friendly alternatives to choose from.
Low waste products:
- Eco Roots – A wide range of many fantastic shampoo and conditioner options
- HiBAR – Plastic-free shampoo & conditioner bars for different types of hair
- Ethique – Sustainable & solid shampoo and conditioner bars, for different needs
Related post: 7 Zero Waste Shampoo Alternatives (BEYOND solid bars)
8. Cloth towel & biodegradable sponge
The US alone uses about 13 billion pounds of paper towels, and roughly 400 million sponges are tossed away every year.
This is so much unnecessary waste, that can be prevented easily!
An eco-friendly dishcloth, like this one, can replace up to 40 traditional paper towels.
Low waste products:
- Reusable unpaper towels from organic cotton – set of 6
- Dish cloths – set of 3
- Reusable swedish dishcloth – set of 2
- Biodegradable kitchen sponge – loofah – set of 3
9. Stainless steel razor
Another incredibly polluting item is single-use razors. An estimation is that 2 billion razors and refill blades get tossed out in the U.S. each year.
If you get a reusable safety razor and take good care of it, it can technically last you a lifetime!
So you won’t just reduce a lot of plastic waste, but you will also save money.
Find how to use a safety razor here.
Low waste products:
10. Compost bin
Apartment composting is an easy and extremely effective way to drastically reduce your contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.
When we throw away food in the trash bin, most times it ends up in a landfill.
There it can’t biodegrade properly. Instead, it produces landfill gas – a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills.
Interestingly, landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the U.S.
Composting will break down your organic waste nutrient-rich fertilizer that helps gardens grow.
While a lot of people feel intimidated by composting, it is much easier than you think.
First, choose a composting method, then pick the right compost bin, and start collecting your organic waste!
Low waste products:
- Epica Stainless Steel Compost Bin – for countertop composting
- Worm Factory 360 – for composting with worms
- Sunwood Life Bokashi Compost Kit – for bokashi composting
One major thing missing is when you go shopping for groceries. I have all of the above 3-4 stainless steel bottles, we all carry lunch from home in steel containers, I always have a cloth tote bag stashed away.. and I also have a wheat-based cutlery set. But the most waste creation in my house is through groceries bought from supermarkets/online. Although I ensure most of them are loose and can be picked (I avoid using the plastic bags), but so many come in plastic packaging.
Hey Jayal. Thanks for mentioning that! It might be quite hard to escape from plastics while you are at the grocery store. While it is true that not everyone is having a zero-waste alternative (unfortunately) there are often some options, which can be less wasteful. For example, do you have some farmers market nearby or bulk stores? There are even some small sections in regular supermarkets, offering dry goods in bulk! Or depending on where you live, you might find some good bulk options even online 🙂