5 Money-Saving Plastic-Free Swaps
When you start going plastic-free it can seem daunting. It feels like there’s a whole house-full of new things you have to buy and it’s all expensive. Just shrug off that feeling and start with some of these budget swaps that will save you money!
Paper Towels, Napkins, & Tissues
When going plastic-free, it’s easier to find reusable options where possible instead of finding a disposable option that’s plastic-free. One great example is paper towels, paper napkins, and tissues. Oftentimes, these products are wrapped in plastic. You might be able to find them paper towels and napkins in paper at an office supply or restaurant supply store but it’s simpler and cheaper to replace them with reusable options.
I stopped buying paper towels a few years ago and replaced them with bamboo towels. They’re super absorbent and when I’m finished wiping something up, I leave it out to dry and at the end of the week throw it in the wash.
For really messy items, I have a stash of paper napkins from restaurant take-out. Or if you’re eating at a restaurant and there are extra napkins at the table at the end of the meal, take those with you. It’s likely that they waiter will just throw those away anyways. Why not take them home and use them if there’s a particularly messy spill?
You can apply the same concept with paper napkins. I bought a set of cotton napkins for the dinner table and haven’t bought paper napkins since:
Having two little kids, we could be going through a lot of tissues during the wintertime. Instead, I bought cotton hankies that we have stored around the house in places convenient for them to access. Again, tissue boxes might not be a whole lot of plastic, but just like everything these days, the box is probably wrapped in plastic. Plus, by buying hankies, you don’t need to buy tissues anymore. Getting into the habit of reusing things reduces your impact on their environment and saves money.
Also, in the event of a bloody nose or if your child absolutely insists on a tissue one day, you can always use toilet paper.
If you don’t want to purchase anything, you can cut up some old T-shirts or old baby clothes and use those as towels, napkins, and rags. Whatever you do, by replacing paper towels, napkins, and tissues with something reusable, you’ll stop buying them and save money!
Reusable K-Cup or Coffee Filter
Next, let’s move onto your morning cup of coffee. If you make coffee at home, switch to a reusable filter. If you have a K-cup machine, switch to a reusable metal K-cup. By using a reusable metal K-cup, you won’t throw away a little plastic pod with each cup of coffee, plastic won’t leach into your coffee, and you’ll also save money! Win, win, win!
I talk about how K-cups are three times more expensive per ounce compared to a reusable K-cup with the same ground coffee in this post:
If you have a regular coffee machine, replace your paper filters with a reusable metal coffee basket and you’ll never have to buy coffee filters again!
Have a Chemex Coffee Funnel? Stop buying those expensive filters and switch to a reusable metal filter:
By switching to reusable options, you’ll have one less thing you have to continually buy and I’m guessing your coffee will taste better without the added chemicals from plastic K-cups or chemicals used to make paper filters.
Swiffer Mop Pads
If you’re like me, you probably have an old Swiffer mop. Instead of buying those disposable pads that are most likely made with plastic fibers and come packaged in a plastic box, just use a towel. I attach a small towel to the end of my Swiffer mop and use a spray bottle to wet the floor. We save money by never having to buy disposable mop pads and I don’t get a headache every time we mop. I find the smell of the disposable wet pads to be overwhelming and always had to open all the windows when mopping.
Menstrual Cup
For the ladies, periods can be wasteful and expensive. Each month, you could easily throw away a box full of tampons. That’s a lot of plastic waste over your lifetime. Swapping out my plastic tampons with a menstrual cup was the best switch I’ve made! The thing I love most is that you can go 12 hours before needing to change it.
Reusable pads are another great option:
For more plastic-free period options, check out this post:
Homemade Cleaners
Replacing specialized store-bought cleaners with homemade ones will cut your plastic footprint and save money. First, use up what you already have. Then, simplify your cleaners. We’re made to believe that we need separate cleaners for glass, for surfaces, for hardwood, for stainless steel, for toilets and so on. But really, you only need baking soda, vinegar, and Castile soap.
For more details on my cleaning routine, check out this post:
The more we can get in the mindset of reusable over disposables, the less of an effect we will have on the environment and we’ll save money!
What do you think? Can you swap out one of these or even all of these?
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