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You are here: Home / Articles / My 4 Simple Tips for Minimizing Household Waste #SCJZeroWaste

My 4 Simple Tips for Minimizing Household Waste #SCJZeroWaste

December 1, 2015 by Kathryn 103 Comments

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.

compost bin

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!

cleaning supplies

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.

Filed Under: Articles, Family Tagged With: challenge, eco-friendly, environment, garbage, Giveaway, green, household, household waste, less garbage, less waste, minimize, recycle, reduce, reduce garbage, reduce waste, sc johnson, sc johnson canada, scjzerowaste challenge, sczerowaste, waste, zero, zero waste challenge

Comments

  1. Elizabeth Matthiesen says

    December 1, 2015 at 12:12 pm

    We 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.

    Reply
  2. jan says

    December 1, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    we try to purchase food items in large containers rather than the individual sizes for our lunches.

    Reply
  3. joy says

    December 1, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    we use reusable bags / bins for groceries; pack water bottles from home, and use both side of paper before recycling it!

    Reply
  4. l p says

    December 1, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    had 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

    Reply
  5. Meg says

    December 1, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    We try to recycle as much as possible, and I bought reuseable lunch containers and drinking bottles.

    Reply
  6. Monique L.S. says

    December 1, 2015 at 1:20 pm

    We use tupperware dishes for lunches, and donate our lightly used items.

    Reply
  7. Lesley E says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    We use reuseable bags and recycle 🙂

    Reply
  8. Josie says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:14 pm

    we recycle and reuse as much as possible

    Reply
  9. Theresa Black says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    We all recycle and donate what we dont use.

    Reply
  10. Jeannie says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:28 pm

    I pack litterless lunches for my family. We also compost and recycle everything we can.

    Reply
  11. Cheryl says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:31 pm

    We recycle and try to make as little amount of waste as possible

    Reply
  12. Bailey Dexter says

    December 1, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Our 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.

    Reply
  13. Ophelia C says

    December 1, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    We 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

    Reply
  14. Silvia D says

    December 1, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    we recycle items, reuse items, litterless lunches,donate gently used items and clothing.

    Reply
  15. Jennifer P. says

    December 1, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    We 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!

    Reply
  16. kathy downey says

    December 1, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    My family reduces waste in our home by we recycle , reuse.

    Reply
  17. Luisa M. says

    December 1, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    we recycle or compost just about everything!!

    Reply
  18. Juliee Fitze says

    December 1, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    We recycle everything and burn what we can.

    Reply
  19. Brenda Penton says

    December 1, 2015 at 5:15 pm

    We recycle and use reusable containers for food and storage.

    Reply
  20. tanyab79 says

    December 1, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    We recycle and reuse as much as possible.

    Reply
  21. Darwin says

    December 1, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    We always recycle and compost.

    Reply
  22. Guppy says

    December 1, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    We 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.

    Reply
  23. Becky Best says

    December 1, 2015 at 6:18 pm

    We do a lot of shopping at garage sales and second hand stores. We also sell our used items at garage sales or donate them. 🙂

    Reply
  24. Erinn Lishman says

    December 1, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    We recycle and try to reuse whatever we can. I also keep plenty of items for “beautiful junk” for my girls to make art!

    Reply
  25. Elena says

    December 1, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    We try not to buy products that use too much packaging in the first place.

    Reply
  26. Tracy D says

    December 1, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    We recycle, separate organics, use refillables as much as we can.

    Reply
  27. Rosanne Robinson says

    December 1, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    we recycle everything possible, fill reusable containers for food, receive bills on-line, donate to charities our used clothes, furniture and household items

    Reply
  28. Belinda McNabb says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:11 pm

    We use reusable containers and we recycle

    Reply
  29. Lee-Ann says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    We recycle everything possible.

    Reply
  30. Victoria Ess says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    We recycle.

    Reply
  31. Angie Andrews says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    we compost and recycle everything we can

    Reply
  32. Judy Cowan says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:41 pm

    We recycle everything we can and donate anything that could be used by someone else.

    Reply
  33. Suzanne G says

    December 1, 2015 at 8:59 pm

    I recycle as much as I can and I donate clothing I do not want. I also only use reusable containers to store food products.

    Reply
  34. Jonnie says

    December 1, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    We recycle and hand down clothes and toys

    Reply
  35. LisaM says

    December 1, 2015 at 9:37 pm

    we do a lot of trading off of clothes between the kids of different ages and sizes

    Reply
  36. LisaM says

    December 1, 2015 at 9:41 pm

    It’s not letting me complete the entry form?

    Reply
    • LisaM says

      December 2, 2015 at 6:33 am

      completely my fault! I was entering my birthday wrong!

      Reply
  37. maria says

    December 2, 2015 at 12:07 am

    It is just me in the home and i recycle and compost as much as i can.

    Reply
  38. Tanis says

    December 2, 2015 at 12:43 am

    We 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.

    Reply
  39. missbobloblaw says

    December 2, 2015 at 12:51 am

    We reuse shopping bags, plastic food containers from yogurt, and we upcycle glass pasta sauce jars for other storage.

    Reply
  40. andrea amy says

    December 2, 2015 at 1:34 am

    we recycle, reuse when we can, and donate items that still have life left in them.

    Reply
  41. Chandra O'Connor says

    December 2, 2015 at 4:48 am

    We recycle and we get rid of food scraps at the back of our yard.

    Reply
  42. nicolthepickle says

    December 2, 2015 at 5:04 am

    We compost, and we reuse and recycle.

    Reply
  43. Florence C says

    December 2, 2015 at 5:19 am

    We recycle everything possible. We have curb recycling every two weeks. We also compost and use it in the garden.

    Reply
  44. Carol Denny says

    December 2, 2015 at 5:40 am

    We compost and recycle

    Reply
  45. Louanne Baelde says

    December 2, 2015 at 6:18 am

    We 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.

    Reply
  46. Ronald Walter Baelde says

    December 2, 2015 at 6:28 am

    I 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.

    Reply
  47. Terry Mac says

    December 2, 2015 at 6:28 am

    we 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

    Reply
  48. Karen Thaeter says

    December 2, 2015 at 7:24 am

    I purchase a lot of food items from the bulk food places;and also grow a lot of my own vegetables that I freeze.

    Reply
  49. Wendy hutton says

    December 2, 2015 at 9:48 am

    we recycle, coffee grounds and egg shells all get save and put into my garden

    Reply
  50. Erin W says

    December 2, 2015 at 10:41 am

    We compost and grow a lot of our own food!

    Reply
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