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Bathroom
- Use an alum stone or straight baking soda as antiperspirant.
- For shaving, (re)use a safety razor
- To exfoliate, use bulk baking soda. For a mask, use bulk clays (French, Kaolin, Bentonite, etc…), mixed with water or apple cider vinegar.
- Reduce your cosmetics and instead use homemade substitutes.
- In lieu of disposable feminine products, invest in menstrual cup and reusable liners
- For your nails, use a nail clipper, stainless steel file and homemade balm for moisture and shine
- Earbuds are best avoided
- Hair and nail clippings can also be composted
Cleaning
- Use a metal scrubber on stainless, a wooden brush for light scrubbing, old toothbrush for hard to reach places and rags for everything else
- Use rags on your un-washable messes (wax / auto grease / glue / caulk)
- Let houseplants absorb toxins and clean your air. Open a window instead of plugging in an air freshener
- Laundry washing once a week saves time and dryer energy costs
- Iron fewer things and use a homemade starch in a stainless spray bottle
Dining and Entertaining
- Use ceramic dishes and cloth napkins at all times.
- Avoid the use of serving platters / dishes: When serving straight onto dinner plates, it simplifies,saves water from extra cleaning, and it allows for a plate presentation.
- Find creative ways to decorate your table with few napkin folding tricks, discarded leaves /branches from the yard, or just seasonal fruit…
- Stop buying CD and DVD’s – download music and videos online.
- Educate your friends about your zero waste efforts (so they don’t bring waste into your home)
Office
Refuse, and therefore help stop the madness of the free-pen / free-pencil give-aways- Use refillable pens, piston fountain pens, mechanical pencils, refillable white board markers and donate extra office material (paper, pencils) to your need schools
- Start your personal junk mail war, cancel your phone directories, and sign up for electronic bills and statements
- Reuse single-side printed paper for printing or making notepads held by a metal clip, reuse junkmail response envelopes and when buying new paper, choose recycled and packaged in paper
- Ditch the trash can, strive to use your compost and recycling bins exclusively.
- Reuse paper clips instead of staples
- Use your library to read business magazines and books, sell your books or donate them to your library for other people to enjoy
- Use memory sticks and external drives instead of CDs
Closet
- Stick to minimal wardrobes, shoes and purses.
- Only shop a couple times a year to avoid compulsive buys.
- Buy second-hand clothing
- If you must buy new, buy quality with minimal tags (leave the shoe box at the store).
- Be ruthless on fit, if it fits well, you’re most likely to wear it.
- Bring a reusable bag for your purchases.
- Donate unworn pieces.
- Keep some of your worn-out clothes for rags and label the rest as “rags” for Goodwill to recycle.
- Learn of few sewing tricks (like shortening a hem or darning).
- You can also… take it to the tailor for a better fit so you’ll actually wear it, and keep a handkerchief in your purse / bag…
Medication
- Keep only a minimal supply, so you can see what you have.
- You can also… reconsider your true need for vitamins (as opposed to a healthy varied diet) and use sunscreen moderately (you don’t want skin cancer or vitamin D deficiency)…
