Plastic-Free Living can be daunting for those starting out. In a typical house, by the time you’ve woken up, brushed your teeth and finished breakfast you could have touched at least ten disposable plastic items. From your toothbrush, toothpaste, and face wash, to the carton of milk and cereal or the to-go coffee you picked up, there’s a lot of potential for throwaway plastic in our daily routines.

Once you’ve decided you want to reduce your plastic footprint, you start seeing just how many disposable plastic items have to be replaced. Open the refrigerator or pantry and nearly everything could potentially need a replacement. It’s enough to throw your hands up and sit down with a plastic bag of chips.

But before you get too discouraged, there is one piece of advice I always give those starting their plastic-free journey. Here it is:

Simplify before you replace.

Before you go out and buy a single thing, think about what you really need. Open the medicine cabinet or top drawer in your bathroom. How many of those products do you actually need? If you’re an Instagram model and your flawless skin is key to business, maybe the answer is everything. That’s cool. If you’re not, maybe you can simplify your skincare routine?

I used to have a face wash, toner, night cream, eye wrinkle cream (my mom gave it to me), face moisturizer and cotton balls…all packaged in plastic. Now, I use soap to wash my face in the shower and I occasionally use sunflower seed oil to moisturize my face. I gave up countless plastic bottles and packages and replaced it with a package-free bar of soap and glass bottle of oil. Instead of finding six replacements, I found two things that could serve a dual purpose!

My point is, if you get rid of the things you don’t need, you won’t have to spend so much effort, time, and money looking for plastic-free alternatives.

Applying My Advice

So, if you’re just starting out, go through your regular routine and start asking yourself, “Do I need this?”.

If the answer is “yes”, then add it to the list of plastic-free replacements you need to find.

If the answer is “no”, then finish using it and don’t buy another one!

By simplifying your routines you’ll have less items you need to buy, you’ll spend less time shopping and you’ll save money!

What do you think? Can you apply this one piece of advice to your daily routine? What are some of the things you can stop buying right now? Tell me in the comments!

For related and random posts, check out:

• My Minimalist Kitchen
• 15 Easy Plastic-Free Bathroom Swaps