Recently, the newest IPCC report on climate change came out... and guys, it's not looking good. I've never been militant about the environment, but more and more I'm beginning to worry what the quality of life will be for my children and grandchildren and so if I can take small steps to keep everything going to shit, I'm going to try my hardest and hope other people do the same.

I've been looking into ways to reduce the amount of waste that my house contributes to the enormous piles of landfill out there, and I've decided to set myself some goals for next year. I figure, if I can do it, others can do it. And I'm only one person out of seven billion... but if more and more people take this on, then we have a real chance of making a difference, even if just a little one.

The requirements: it has to be cheap, it has to be easy, and it has to be reasonable. I'm not going to spend money I don't have on specialist equipment, I'm not going to spend three years weaving together potato sacks to use for shopping, and I'm not going to clomp around in hand-carved clogs while wearing organic hemp clothing.

This video was just what I was looking for! Really easy to understand, and made some wonderful points. Many of the solutions she mentions are really relevant to us, and so it's a really great starting point.



Here are the steps outlined:

Get rid of cling film and switch to wax food wraps
I am actually ashamed of how much cling film we use... And how many plastic zip-lock bags. The key to this is making better use of reusable Tupperware boxes, and using wax wraps to keep food fresh. They are reusable, the beeswax is antimicrobial, and they're a frugal way to store your food.
Status: not even close
Goal: don't buy any more ziplock bags, and buy and/or make beeswax wraps for food storage. 

Swap plastic water bottles for a reusable bottle
We have a number of plastic and glass reusable bottles at home, and we drink exclusively tap water. Recently, R bought a Soda Stream so that we wouldn't buy plastic bottles of sparkling water. We also take bottles of water with us as much as possible, and very rarely buy water when we are out of the house.
Status: pretty good!
Goal: make sure to take water with us always

Stop using paper coffee cups
We actually don't buy takeaway tea or coffee... so I'd consider this a moot point. If we do go to a cafe, it's to sit in. I also have a lovely thermos cup that R brought me back from the USA a couple of years ago, so I make a cup of tea and take it to school with me in the mornings instead of buying tea or coffee once I'm there.
Status: pretty good!
Goal: if I get tea/coffee in a cafe, have it inside and not take away

Stop using plastic straws
I confess, I am an offender. I don't use straws at home, but when I drink something at a bar or a restaurant, I do enjoy a straw... And something so small becomes so wasteful when used so often. The easiest way is to swap for a set of glass or steel ones that can be rewashed and reused, or carry a small pack of paper straws that are biodegradable.
Status: not even close
Goal: buy a set of glass or steel straws, specifically a collapsible one I can put in my handbag, or just drink without a straw if I don't have one

Refuse plastic cutlery and napkins when you order a takeaway
We don't order takeaway here so I'd consider that a moot point?
Status: n/a
Goal: n/a

Stop using plastic carrier bags
Carrier bags are such a huge part of all the waste out there, and it's one of the easiest things to eliminate. We use heavy duty grocery bags whenever we go shopping, and as much as possible we put small items into our backpacks and my handbag... That said, sometimes we buy something big unexpectely and don't have a bag, so we do very occasionally pick up a new plastic bag. That bag is reused for other things in the house and not immediately discarded which may be a plus?
Status: almost there!
Goal: carry a small reusable bag in my handbag

Replace single use teabags with loose leaf and a tea strainer
I love tea! We drink a lot of tea. But a lot of teabags have a plastic string, or a the tag at the end of the string is plastic, and can't be recycled. It's also a lot of waste for one cup of tea. It's much more environmentally friendly to use a small strainer and loose leaf tea. Although I don't think it's possible for us to use only loose leaf tea, the difference we can make is what sort of teabag packaging we use. We have a lot of tea from Republic of Tea - small round bags without a string, and with only unbleached material (paper, fabric? what is it?) which is of course much better than a teabag with a plastic string and plastic tag. My goal here is to transition more to using loose leaf, and inspecting the makeup of teabags before I buy.
Status: halfway there
Goal: use only unbleached teabags if I have to use teabags, try to switch over to loose leaf as much as possible

Switch to bar soap
Bar soap tends to have much less packaging than plastic bottles of liquid soap - often just a piece of paper, or you can buy "naked" bars. Stores like Lush are now making solid shower gels where you can further reduce the packaging you use. We already use shampoo bars (I like Seanik, R uses New), and conditioner bars (I use Sugar Daddy-O), and I've recently started to use soaps from The Printed Peanut instead of face wash and shower gel. Packaging is close to zero, and they all smell really lovely.
Status: pretty good!
Goal: switch out liquid handwash for bar soap

Use cloth napkins instead of paper, handkerchiefs instead of tissues, and microfibre towels instead of paper towels
We are really, really bad at this. We go through a lot of paper towels in the house, mainly for cooking and cleaning. We actually do have a huge stack of tea towels that we should be using more, and we should switch to fabric napkins even if just to feel like a king and queen at dinner! Using handkerchiefs is at first thought pretty gross to me, but if people can use cloth nappies then a few bogeys should not be anything nasty, right?
Status: hmm... not great
Goal: use fabric more, buy some handkerchiefs and napkins. 

Swap out parchment paper for silicone baking mats
I bake and roast a ton. I go through a lot of parchment paper and I recently found out that it's not recyclable. Oops! This needs to be sorted out asap.
Status: no bueno
Goal: buy a couple silicone baking mats and stop using paper

Reuse old t-shirts and socks for cleaning the apartment
Aha! I actually started doing this recently after a pair of well-loved flannel pyjama bottoms met their demise. I washed and dried as normal, and cut them up into squares to use for cleaning.
Status: pretty good!
Goal: keep it up

Make your own cleaning products
I've definitely thought of this before, but I've never implemented it. I do tend to supplement my cleaning products with  natural items such as bicarbonate of soda and also vinegar, so this is definitely something to look into. Firstly, because you're reducing the packaging used (no more unnecessary plastic bottles) and secondly, you're not spraying harmful chemicals around the house. We don't currently have kids or pets but it would be a great habit to get into before they turn up. And actually, it's pretty good for the piggybank which is another bonus.
Status: not great
Goal: look for recipes, start making homemade cleaning products once I've run out of what I have

Buy things in bulk to get rid of packaging (seeds, beans)
Norway overpacks its food like mad. Courgettes come single-wrapped in the supermarkets which is way excessive and actually quite shocking. I know there's an eco-shop in Trondheim, so we need to head down there with our own jars and boxes to pick up beans and seeds without any extra packaging. I also feel I should pick up some mesh bags so that I'm not putting fruit and vegetables in the plastic bags available at the supermarket.
Status: not good
Goal: check out shops in Trondheim where you can bulk buy dry goods without any extra packaging - and buy them!

Use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets
We don't have a tumble dryer!
Status: n/a
Goal: n/a

Have a waste-free period
Pads and tampons create a lot of waste in the world, that's just a fact. My interest has been piqued by period pants, but I still can't wrap my head around the diva cup / mooncup... That's a step I would have to leave for later. I'll definitely look out for period pants, especially to replace needing pantyliners.
Status: no bueno
Goal: get some period pants

Buy second hand as much as you can
I'm so bad at this when it comes to clothes. There's a huge thrift store nearby, so I feel I should make the most of it? I'm also looking around at things being given away on finn.no, and looking for flea markets. We have a lovely wooden chest of drawers that the neighbours were giving away, so that saved us having to buy new. It's so hard to resist the pull of IKEA...
Status: not the best
Goal: look for more thrift stores in the city, avoid "disposable fashion" from stores like Primark forever

Compost!
We throw away so many food scraps, that really could be made into compost. In London, my parents have a separate bin for compost and food scraps, and a little "caddy" which is lined with biodegradable bags. Some councils will offer a composting scheme, so it's worth checking to see if you can recycle your food scraps into wonderful fertiliser. You could also have a compost heap if you have a garden, and there are even small balcony composters available.
Status: not even close
Goal: look for a compost scheme nearby, or find a tutorial for a balcony composter

Recycle properly
Not many people know that if you throw things in the wrong bin, it could render the whole batch unable to be recycled. The same goes for dirty jars and cans - it contaminates the whole batch (this could be the entire dumpster, or even the entire truck) and this will all have to go into landfill. We already carefully rinse plastic packaging and cans - I save jars for use at home - and let them dry before we put into the recycling dumpsters. On many housing complexes here, there are dumpsters for landfill, for paper and cardboard, and for plastic. The dumpster for cans and jars is located by our nearest supermarket, so I save them all into a big bag, and throw away when I go to pick up milk.
For those living in Trondheim - here is a printable list of what you can throw where!
Status: pretty good!
Goal: find out where milk cartons can be recycled...(I just checked the website and apparently they go with paper - nice)

Reuse single use items as much as possible
I feel I'm better at this now than I used to be. Unfortunately we do use the plastic bags in supermarkets to buy fruits and vegetables, but I save them and use them to pack other things. I save all jars from jams and sauces, and they come in really handy for storing spices and small amounts of leftovers. I also use plastic yoghurt pots as nursery pots for plants, when I grow them from cuttings - I just poke drainage holes in the bottom and they make the perfect small growing pot.
Status: pretty good!
Goal: see if there's anything else we can store and reuse (rubber bands, other plastic bags...)

Stop buying shit you don't need
Guilty. I buy a lot of stuff. A LOT. Especially things that I feel might come in handy at some point in the future.
Status: not good at all
Goal: focus on quality over quantity, invest in good pieces that will last a long time

I'm going to revisit this post in some time, and see how well I've met my initial goals!


None of the items linked in this post have been sponsored.