I’m pretty proud of the minimal waste our family of four produces, but I’m always looking for ways that we can throw out even less and minimize our impact on the environment. A few weeks ago, I committed to taking part in the #SCJZeroWaste Challenge to see if I could cut down on the waste my family produces. While we didn’t manage to completely eliminate garbage, we did manage to cut it in half with ease! These are the four ways we minimized our household waste.
Composting
Living in an apartment, composting wasn’t really an option for us until recently. Luckily, we’ve since upgraded to a townhouse with a back yard, so putting a little bin in the back for organic waste was a simple and useful way to minimize our garbage. We eat a lot of fresh food, so this one simple addition to our routine reduced our waste by about 25 per cent!
Mail Reduction
Paper may be recyclable, but it still often ends up thrown in the trash, especially when it’s a bill or something with personal information on it. Over the last few weeks, I’ve gone through the effort both of requesting removal from junk mail lists and converted the few paper bills we receive to eBills. Less unneeded mail means less paper in the garbage can!
Recycling Ziploc® Brand Bags
I’m ashamed to say that I only recently learned that Ziploc® Brand bags were recyclable, but now that I know, I’ve been making sure to always toss them into our recycling bin with other plastic and cardboard. Considering I pack two lunches every school day, quite a bit of potential waste is recycled instead! Check with your municipality to see if Ziploc® Brand Bags can be recycled in your area. If not, you can bring them to many local stores and dispose of them.
Buying Concentrated Cleaners
It’s a well-known fact that many cleaning products are mostly water, so buying a concentrated version means less plastic thrown away and bigger money savings too! Products like Pledge® FloorCare Multi Surface Concentrated Cleaner mean that one bottle lasts much longer, and I’m also saving water since there’s no rinsing required!
Want to give the #SCJWasteFree Challenge a try too? SJ Johnson Canada is here to help! The company is very generously offering one lucky reader a prize pack worth $350! To enter to win, just leave a blog comment about how you reduce waste in your home. Please note that this giveaway may appear on multiple blogs, but only one prize will be awarded.
SC Johnson Canada is committed to finding ways to minimize waste too and so far, the company is doing an amazing job. In fact, since January of 2013, it hasn’t sent any waste to landfills! SC Johnson knows that small changes can make a big difference and that’s the motivation behind the Zero Waste Challenge. While we might not all be able to completely eliminate our household waste, small changes can make a big impact on the environment. And I’m happy to support SC Johnson knowing that they understand that!
SC Johnson #SCJZeroWaste Giveaway
Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with SC Johnson and I received Compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Elizabeth Matthiesen says
December 1, 2015 at 12:12 pmWe collect compost, recycle as much as possible, take bottles to the bottle depot, take old clothes to recycling good clothes go to the church for resale. We have very little garbage.
jan says
December 1, 2015 at 12:52 pmwe try to purchase food items in large containers rather than the individual sizes for our lunches.
joy says
December 1, 2015 at 12:52 pmwe use reusable bags / bins for groceries; pack water bottles from home, and use both side of paper before recycling it!
l p says
December 1, 2015 at 12:56 pmhad a tour of our local waste disposal plant and recycle centre – teachable moment. came home with magnets which say what our local area will accept in recyle bins and follow the list. not much is thrown into the garbage around here. thanks
Meg says
December 1, 2015 at 1:04 pmWe try to recycle as much as possible, and I bought reuseable lunch containers and drinking bottles.
Monique L.S. says
December 1, 2015 at 1:20 pmWe use tupperware dishes for lunches, and donate our lightly used items.
Lesley E says
December 1, 2015 at 2:00 pmWe use reuseable bags and recycle 🙂
Josie says
December 1, 2015 at 2:14 pmwe recycle and reuse as much as possible
Theresa Black says
December 1, 2015 at 2:20 pmWe all recycle and donate what we dont use.
Jeannie says
December 1, 2015 at 2:28 pmI pack litterless lunches for my family. We also compost and recycle everything we can.
Cheryl says
December 1, 2015 at 2:31 pmWe recycle and try to make as little amount of waste as possible
Bailey Dexter says
December 1, 2015 at 2:40 pmOur family recycle all the time right from not buying water in bottles to donating out clothes that no fit or need. We also pack our lunches in re usable bags.
Ophelia C says
December 1, 2015 at 3:37 pmWe reduce waste by using the compost and recycling as much as possible, turning off the lights in rooms that we’re not in, not letting the tap run while brushing our teeth, and taking shorter showers #SCJZeroWaste
Silvia D says
December 1, 2015 at 3:57 pmwe recycle items, reuse items, litterless lunches,donate gently used items and clothing.
Jennifer P. says
December 1, 2015 at 4:06 pmWe use reusable lunch containers, water bottles etc for all our lunches and snacks, we compost, we recycle, we use reusable cleaning cloths instead of paper towels and wet wipes, we print on both sides of the paper, we buy used items as well as sell and donate our used items, and we receive all our bills and newsletters via email instead of paper mail. This summer we had our first big water restriction and we really learned to cut back on water use too, and after months of having to reduce and reuse our water supply, we are also now in the habit of continuing this!
kathy downey says
December 1, 2015 at 4:15 pmMy family reduces waste in our home by we recycle , reuse.
Luisa M. says
December 1, 2015 at 4:23 pmwe recycle or compost just about everything!!
Juliee Fitze says
December 1, 2015 at 4:23 pmWe recycle everything and burn what we can.
Brenda Penton says
December 1, 2015 at 5:15 pmWe recycle and use reusable containers for food and storage.
tanyab79 says
December 1, 2015 at 5:19 pmWe recycle and reuse as much as possible.
Darwin says
December 1, 2015 at 5:39 pmWe always recycle and compost.
Guppy says
December 1, 2015 at 6:02 pmWe have weekly pickup of recyclables – and that can is double the size of the non recyclable waste. We take all depositable bottles back for refunds and I shop second hand stores.
Becky Best says
December 1, 2015 at 6:18 pmWe do a lot of shopping at garage sales and second hand stores. We also sell our used items at garage sales or donate them. 🙂
Erinn Lishman says
December 1, 2015 at 6:52 pmWe recycle and try to reuse whatever we can. I also keep plenty of items for “beautiful junk” for my girls to make art!
Elena says
December 1, 2015 at 7:03 pmWe try not to buy products that use too much packaging in the first place.
Tracy D says
December 1, 2015 at 7:04 pmWe recycle, separate organics, use refillables as much as we can.
Rosanne Robinson says
December 1, 2015 at 7:57 pmwe recycle everything possible, fill reusable containers for food, receive bills on-line, donate to charities our used clothes, furniture and household items
Belinda McNabb says
December 1, 2015 at 8:11 pmWe use reusable containers and we recycle
Lee-Ann says
December 1, 2015 at 8:35 pmWe recycle everything possible.
Victoria Ess says
December 1, 2015 at 8:37 pmWe recycle.
Angie Andrews says
December 1, 2015 at 8:37 pmwe compost and recycle everything we can
Judy Cowan says
December 1, 2015 at 8:41 pmWe recycle everything we can and donate anything that could be used by someone else.
Suzanne G says
December 1, 2015 at 8:59 pmI recycle as much as I can and I donate clothing I do not want. I also only use reusable containers to store food products.
Jonnie says
December 1, 2015 at 9:13 pmWe recycle and hand down clothes and toys
LisaM says
December 1, 2015 at 9:37 pmwe do a lot of trading off of clothes between the kids of different ages and sizes
LisaM says
December 1, 2015 at 9:41 pmIt’s not letting me complete the entry form?
LisaM says
December 2, 2015 at 6:33 amcompletely my fault! I was entering my birthday wrong!
maria says
December 2, 2015 at 12:07 amIt is just me in the home and i recycle and compost as much as i can.
Tanis says
December 2, 2015 at 12:43 amWe recycle the majority of the things we can, we compost any food waste (egg shells, coffee grinds, etc) and we meal plan so we don’t waste any food in the fridge.
missbobloblaw says
December 2, 2015 at 12:51 amWe reuse shopping bags, plastic food containers from yogurt, and we upcycle glass pasta sauce jars for other storage.
andrea amy says
December 2, 2015 at 1:34 amwe recycle, reuse when we can, and donate items that still have life left in them.
Chandra O'Connor says
December 2, 2015 at 4:48 amWe recycle and we get rid of food scraps at the back of our yard.
nicolthepickle says
December 2, 2015 at 5:04 amWe compost, and we reuse and recycle.
Florence C says
December 2, 2015 at 5:19 amWe recycle everything possible. We have curb recycling every two weeks. We also compost and use it in the garden.
Carol Denny says
December 2, 2015 at 5:40 amWe compost and recycle
Louanne Baelde says
December 2, 2015 at 6:18 amWe reduce waste by recycling as much as possible. We even use the large plastic containers for coffee and decorate them to store crayons and other small toys.
Ronald Walter Baelde says
December 2, 2015 at 6:28 amI save on the waste and expenses too by reusing gift wrap and bows. Also as a tip, I hide big garbage bags under the couch Christmas morning. When the kids rip the wrapper and shred it, i just immediately grab one of the bags and collect the torn wrap. This saves loads of time Christmas morning.
Terry Mac says
December 2, 2015 at 6:28 amwe compost everything possible, and recycle whatever we get eg. popbottles make great mini greenhouses/plant protectors, salmon cans (both ends cut out) for pancanke/egg mcmuffin molds, decorations, etc
Karen Thaeter says
December 2, 2015 at 7:24 amI purchase a lot of food items from the bulk food places;and also grow a lot of my own vegetables that I freeze.
Wendy hutton says
December 2, 2015 at 9:48 amwe recycle, coffee grounds and egg shells all get save and put into my garden
Erin W says
December 2, 2015 at 10:41 amWe compost and grow a lot of our own food!