10 Items You Can Buy Reusable
Reusable shopping bags and water bottles are standard—but how much thought have you given to other reusable items?
This list from Earth911 gives 10 single-use household items and a reusable alternative.
- Produce and bulk food bags: You might have remembered to bring your reusable shopping bag, but what do you use for produce? A single-use plastic bag? Luckily, reusable produce bags exist.
- Coffee filters: Instead of using a new filter each time you make a cup of coffee, try a gold or a hemp filter instead.
- Wrapping paper: Although I love the concept of reusable wrapping paper, the options I saw ranged from $5-$10 each in price, which can really add up if you have to buy it each time you buy a gift. Maybe it would be useful for a select group of family and friends?
- Gum stimulator: This can be used as a replacement for dental floss, since it essentially serves the same purpose.
- Drinking straws: If you can’t kick the plastic straw habit, switch to reusable ones! Stainless steel and glass straws are great alternatives to plastic ones. There are also some BPA-free reusable plastic straws on the market.
- Cotton balls: If you use cotton balls to remove makeup and apply medication on wounds, chances are you go through several a day. By buying some reusable cotton rounds, you can save quite a few cotton balls from entering landfills.
- Sandwich bags: Instead of using disposable sandwich bags, try reusable ones! Many are BPA- and lead-free, and some are even dishwasher safe!
- Toothbrush: Toothbrushes made from recycled content exist, but you still have to toss them out every couple of months. Another option is to use a toothbrush with a reusable head—that way only part of the toothbrush is being tossed.
- Drycleaning bags: Plastic bags used by drycleaners are such a waste, especially when reusable options are out there. If you go to a drycleaner on a regular basis, a using cloth garment bag instead will save quite a few plastic bags from entering landfills.
- Dryer sheets: How many loads of laundry do you do each week? Now if you use a single-use dryer sheet for each load, quite a few dryer sheets are ending up in landfills. Reusable dryer sheets can be a great alternative—some can even be used for up to 500 laundry loads per sheet!
What reusable items do you use in your household?
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