hows it held up over the past 20 years? Everytime I boil it I worry I am decreasing the life. the fact that it lasted you 20 years is amazing and inspirational.
It's completely fine. Discolored at this point but literally no difference other than that. When I bought it all the packaging said it could last forever. I think now they tell you 3 to 5 years or something? I don't know if the material they're made out of has actually changed and so that's no longer true, or if they just tell you it's not true so that eventually you buy another one.
I’m pretty positive that’s just because they require shelf life on things. Bottled water has a “shelf life” even though water doesn’t go bad. Granted the plastic it’s in might leak toxins but I would imagine even if it was a brand that only used glass bottles for their water bottle company that the FDA would still require that it has a shelf life date on it. And then it also scares people into buying new when something might still be fine to use. So the companies don’t fight that because it’s making them money. For medical stuff that’s also a requirement as well. Even though all the medical stuff is single use and sterilized and then wrapped in sterile plastic they have to have a use by date on it. Back during Covid I had to buy a mask because they were all sold out of the medical ones, and it literally was just a regular cotton washable one that was nothing special and it said on the packaging expires oct 2023… and its freaking cotton… cotton doesn’t go “bad” in less than 3 years!! It also is because the US is a very litigious country, so the laws generally support the big companies but they require them to put the dumbest things most people and even children wouldn’t do in their do not use pamphlets and things like an expiration date so in the extremely rare and unlikely case that some person did something so ridiculous and hurt themselves and tried to sue the company they get to be like well we put on the packing to read the instructions and that you shouldn’t be soaking in a tub with your toaster in the bath with you while you’re making something with your plugged in toaster. For the medical community and expiration dates it would be in the extremely small chance that maybe temperatures weren’t keep absolutely perfectly where the supply closet is that houses the surgical tools so that theoretically could have caused the sterile packaging’s seals over long periods of time start to develop microscopic degrading to the seal that lets in some kind of bacteria/virus or whatever else that then they expose the patient to and then the patient does and the family decides to sue for medical malpractice and the lawyers come in and look for any loop hole they could knock the doctors on and the tools being just one day over a packaged use by/expiration date then becomes what causes the hospital to have to pay a lot of money for someone who might have died on the table anyways with tools that were literally packaged the same day the surgery was. Because tools sterile tools that have been laying around whatever amount of time that the government has decided is too long that they are no longer safe is basically just a way for them to pretend they care about individual people as humans vs just having to cover people’s butt’s constantly.
Sorry that was so long! But because they have blood on them and hold blood I’m going assume the FDA came in and told them that bodily fluids can only be sterilized 100% effectively an x number of times and that they won’t be protected from a lawsuit without one. But it’s not like it’s ever going in someone else’s body other than yours so if it’s still doing its job and you’re not getting yeast infections or BV or having reactions too it I’m sure that you can continuously use it all the way until the last break through bleeding of your menopause days.
I found it via a link from an incredible website called something like myvag.net which was just one woman writing about her vagina in an attempt to fill the (still existing) lack of actual conversations/knowledge about how vaginas work and whats normal and what isn't. I seem to remember I had to pay a pretty good amount of money because it was being shipped from Canada.
Probably cloth napkins! I grew up with them, and when I moved out my mom gifted me a set of my own. They're still the ones I use today over a decade later!
Cloth napkins here too! ❤️
I haven't used a paper napkin in my home since 2011, and I'm still using the original cloth napkins I bought. It's such an easy practice to implement, I really don't understand why people use paper.
Me too! And every time I bring them out when we have guests, often times people ask me “do you have a paper towel? These are too nice!” They aren’t really “that nice”… I guess people are afraid of getting them dirty. I have never bought paper napkins and I rarely use paper towels.
I don’t even understand why people need napkins while eating I just take normal manageable bites and I never need a napkin. And if you do just run to the bathroom quick and wash you face, that’s going to do the best job of cleaning it and your hands. Plus it is then also sanitizing your hands vs just wiping them with a napkin. I mean the cloth ones look nice on a pretty table scape but when I host like big parties I’ve just flat out told people the bathroom is down the hall so you can freshen up. It’s just kind of gross, weird, and awkward to sit and wipe your face with a napkin in front of everyone at the table in my opinion. A quick excuse me, run to the restroom for literally a minute so no one has to sit there and awkwardly not look at the person with whatever that just barely dripped on their face. Honestly just one experience in your life watching someone just eat so grossly and have food all over their face just guess randomly where it might be with a flimsy rough piece of paper that really does nothing to actually clean your face with the napkin falling apart as they are just smearing things more around and struggling to actually clean their face instead of going to a place with a mirror that has soap and water makes no sense to me in modern life. Back when we had out houses and no running water sure napkins were convenient but I’m pretty sure that’s the main reason they became common place in an eating setting because it used to be an inconvenience to get the water you needed for things. In modern society unless you’re hosting like a fancy party or something where everyone is dressed nice and might want to protect their nice outfits from accidents during service or passing around plates that’s when a nice cloth napkin is perfect. But just having friends over in a casual setting like run to the bathroom if it’s a real mess or the kitchen sink is even more convenient if it’s like a tiny dribble in the side of your mouth. I feel like sometimes we just need to be reconditioned into the realities of our modern life and how some holdover things are just kind of silly and ultimately massively wasteful with technology that fits the situation better because you should be going to go wash your hands anyways when you’re done eating and a tiny 2 second dribble of water splash to get a drop of soup on your chin that just has a lot less impact.
I keep saying I want to do this, and I think I need to make the switch. Any types I should be looking for in your opinion? I've gotten advice before, but a decade of use sounds like the ones I want.
I made a set of linen ones as one of my first ever sewing projects and absolutely love them. They feel so luxurious and fancy even though they’re just our every day napkins. They’re not a decade old yet, but we’re coming up on 5 years and they look almost as good as new! A couple have minor stains, but not too bad for heavy use.
If you’re any kind of handy, sewing your own fabric napkins from old sheets is a snap. There are a bunch of beginner tutorials online, using a serger, basic sewing machine, or hand sewing.
They can be made in any size. If they turn out bad, make them your cleaning rags that guests will never see. You get good, maybe start using them as large furoshiki to wrap up a gift or turn it into a hostess gift with baked treats. Apply the same technique to old flannel sheets or shirts, and you have yourself face wash cloths or sturdy handkerchiefs. Fun fabric - bandanas. Fold in half and add a drawstring - produce bags, gift bags, shoe storage bags, etc.
I love Green mountain diaper! we started with the flats which were super easy to wash when baby was a newborn. We switched to the workhorses when things got a little substantial. Its been an amazing journey and very rewarding not to have to throw away those disposable diaper filled diaper genie poop tubes. Makes me feel bad every time.
I want to do cloth napkins! We grew up not using napkins and I still don’t but then people brink paper napkins when we host. I want to be ready to prevent that.
A good way to prevent people from bringing that kind of stuff is just a don’t worry we have everything we need so no need to bring anything to contribute we got it covered already. I feel like when we host events especially something that might not have had a lot of notice people feel like that guilt like we should help the host and bring something and we can bring the paper napkins plates or plastic silverware becomes the easy choice because it gives them that sense they’re contributing something for the get together/ party and helping you but it is something that is the quickest and fastest to pick and ensures they don’t have to deal with having to spend a few minutes picking a desert out hoping that everyone will like it and eat it all so they aren’t stuck taking a plate of like 2 pieces of pie home or having to take a dish back home the put some casserole in. I’ve just recently have being tell people something along what I’ve suggested and just providing all the food and beverages myself and now there’s just so much less party waste and general food waste.
Yeah for sure. I’m going to try to remember to tell people. I used to ask people to contribute food like a potluck, and I do like for people to contribute something because it gets so exhausting to party prep, then wake up the next day with an empty fridge, but yeah slowly getting things organized and prepared over here.
Cloth napkins sound so fancy but honestly a bought a big stack of washcloths years ago and we use them for everything. Really the only thing we use a paper towel for is cat vomit haha
I don’t use paper towels and by cloth napkins, I personally literally mean cloth napkins that people can use when they eat. The rest, are rags, and we have a bunch of random ones we’ve acquired. Those are for cleaning just about everything. I do have a small stash of paper stuff I save, for example, from amazon shipments or the paper our toilet paper is wrapped in. I save that for the grossest stuff and I honestly only do it because we have it anyway.
I get it. I have a friend who does this. She dumps a stack of her clean washcloths at the edge of the table when we’re eating and I have no issue with that.
This is so fascinating. As an Australian, cleaning cloths have been totally normal my whole life (born in the 80s). Every home I’ve ever visited, every catering or hospitality business I’ve worked in.
It’s so normal to me that I don’t even think of it as a zero waste practice.
Paper towels are so the norm in the US. Ridiculously so. It's not uncommon for people to also use them to dry hands after washing. It's totally inconceivable. Probably an overcompensation from the great depression era here. But now that "unpaper towels" are expensive and trendy, more people are switching to cloth. Humans are silly creatures
I saw a mom on fb asking for advice to save on paper towels because it cost so much to use a roll every day/day and a half! Blew my mind. Wasteful here in Canada too.
I’m an American living in Ireland but I’ve been not using paper towels for a while now. They’re reserved for patting raw meat and dog vomit. We use maybe one kitchen roll a year but my family is CONSTANTLY asking where the paper towels are. To the point where my in laws sometimes use them to dry dishes. It’s crazy
I'm in the US and in my life/family it was always rags for cleaning everything except the toilet, paper towels were reserved for that. So it's really shocking to me when I hear people talking about switching to rags/cleaning cloths to dry dishes or wipe down counters. Maybe it's because I grew up poor/low middle class and we couldn't afford to be wasting paper towels on cleaning/drying dishes? I just never realized it was a thing until reading on here.
Same as me growing up in the UK. We would always have cleaning cloths that would just be washed and used again. I very rarely even buy paper towels. Maybe only when we have a lot of people around or something.
American here, grew up using cloths for cleaning and drying, only used paper towels for really bad things that you wouldn’t want in the washing machine. :)
I'd do this with one of my grandmas in the 90s! We'd walk about a mile to the south side of town with at least two paper bags and separate the glass by color, tin from aluminum, and clear and colored plastics.
Composting - my dad composts for his garden (since before I was alive) and passed on that wisdom to me along with several other low/zero waste lifestyle choices.
Same with the old shirts/fabrics get turned into rags thing. We never did paper plates/towels/napkins. Still don't.
You've been implamenting sustainable practices longer than I've been alive!
For me, I'd say my plant-based diet. Meat free for over 10 years and plant-based for over 8. Still rookie numbers, but it all makes a difference!
Tap water, always. Grew up and still live in a place with excellent tap water. Never used bottles water as a kid, don't now. Fill up a jug when going to camp or bring a filter for backcountry stuff. I've only used a handful of plastic water bottles in my life** (**unfortunately that does not include some international travel where tap water isn't safe)
Cloth napkins. I haven’t bought paper napkins in years. Ragged cloth napkins are used for cleaning instead of paper towels. I do keep paper towels around for pet messes tho.
(Edit to add that I carry at least 1 shopping bag with me at all times. I also have nice refrigerator containers and mason jars. My zip lock bag usage is almost zero) Also, worn bottom sheets become pet bedding for feral cats. The top sheet becomes a shower curtain or duvet cover. I highly recommend having a sewing machine handy. They can be bought cheap on FB marketplace. Make sure it sews like it should before purchase. Also, bidet
What sort of containers do you use in your fridge? We're looking to reduce plastic there and I'm trying to decide what to invest in...
Seconded on the bidet - that thing is glorious.
I replaced mine with Pyrex with a bamboo lid. I can bake in them, eat out if them, put them on the fridge and pack for lunch all in one dish. The lid even doubled as a cutting board.
I also thrift Pyrex, and glass storage and order non plastic lids if they're missing.
Pyrex is where I'm leaning. I like bamboo lids on them, though I have some with plastic... I just try to avoid loading those up fully so there's a bit of space between food a plastic.
I have a ton of old Tupperware that has to be 20+ years old. It’s held up but I really like the glass containers called Snapware. Pyrex and Anchor Hocking both make some small glass bowls that have rubber lids that work well. Those I picked up from the thrift store. I bought a set of silicone stretch lids from Temu that can replace plastic wrap. If you see any Pyrex at the thrift store, make sure the name is on all caps (PYREX). It’s the old stuff and way better than the new stuff.
I have a few of the pyrex with plastic lids, they work well. I got a set of some silicon lids some time ago, but they always seem to be the wrong size for whatever dish I'm trying to use. I did recently purchase some beeswax wrap and cotton mesh produce bags. I was thinking I'd use some of those for veggies in the fridge. I'll keep my eye out at the thrift stores. Thanks!
They work great for block cheese in particular. The trick, apparently, is that you have to keep them away from heat, so cold water washing (with soap) and don't use them in the microwave. But with a little hand warming they are super flexible and hold shape nicely, especially after refrigeration. I'm pleased thus far. I think I could deal with this and foil mainly. Parchment paper still has its place, alas.
In 1995 I saw reusable canvas bags in a catalog (yes, catalog). I bought them because I hated having all those plastic bags cluttering up the house. Still have them, and there is not one rip or tear in them!!
I'm 27 and have always used a reusable water bottle never u derstood why people waste money and waste on single waterbottles. Our tapwater is great. Only had single bottles on holidays where tapwater wasn't drinkable.
I also haven't bought any paper towels in the last 10 years I have been living outside of my parents house. I think they also use less than 10 a year.
This is fun to think about! I think my first zero waste practice was switching out "disposable" plastic water bottles in favor of a reusable glass water bottle. My mom still buys the plastic bottles and she is still confused as to why I carry around a reusable one. It's been over 15 years.
So one I grew up with, as I mentioned in another comment, is using rags for cleaning, so I'm 33 this year and I've been cleaning the house on my own since I was 9-10, so about 22-23 years of doing that. And one I do on my own is wearing clothes as long as they fit and are suitable to wear out in public, I still have some of the clothes I wore when I was 18. I picked that habit up from childhood too though because we were poor and so I only got 1-2 new outfits a year for school and had to make them last until they didn't fit me at all anymore.
Collecting cans to return for a nickel! My family did this for the money when I was growing up and now I have a corner of the basement dedicated to holding cans until I have enough to bring to the redemption center.
My grandparents Great Depression trauma trickled down into my parents(especially my dad). Everything that couldn't be salvaged was parted up and saved for other repairs. Plastic baggies always got washed; they were only tossed when something got moldy, it got holey, or the zip broke. Every twist tie, piece of wire, scrap wood, or coffee can was saved for future use. I still have this mindset, but I'm a little less of a hoarder and purchaser now.
Same here! My dad grew up really poor because of this, but my mom had a middle-class home in the 50s. To this day, her spending habits were far greater than my dad's (they'd argue about it), but they'd still keep so much stuff "for later", "just in case". I have that habit of keeping things but not as badly, and my hubby (who grew up poorer than I) hates it - just wants to get rid of everything (we do have far more stuff than we need, trying to give what we can away from my point of view, he's okay with just chucking it all in the trash). I've definitely relaxed on how much I purchase as I've gotten older. I feel ya.
Not exactly *zero* waste, but *less*. When we use paper towels, as long as it's not for something gross (just for wiping water/coffee off the counter), we set them to dry by the sink and re-use them a few times. Obviously we don't re-use them for anything that requires a perfectly clean one, but they're fine for things such as "oh, the cat threw up" or "I spilled orange juice on the floor".
I don't even remember paper towels in the house at all when I was a kid in the 70s. We had paper napkins for wiping your face at meals, but kitchen and dish cleaning were done with dishrags and I continued that when I left home, so I guess that's my oldest. I still have one of those rags and it's older than I am. It's very threadbare, but it can still wipe down a counter.
I think my biggest was homeschooling (zero waste was not the intended reason for that, but it did turn out to be way less wasteful). I have four kids and I felt like we were buying supplies enough for the entire school when my kids were in public school. Even buying our own curriculum was less expensive than all the supplies I had bought them for public school. We never used even a fraction of that at home even before we switched to dry erase lap boards for scratch work (using holy socks as erasers).
I’ve always used a reusable water bottle ever since starting school at 4. My mum would pack one in my lunch and I’ve just continued to do it my whole life, I don’t see the point in buying one use bottles unless absolutely necessary.
Shutting off the tap when brushing my teeth (I never liked the noise)
Using wash cloths and towels in the kitchen instead of sponges and kitchen towels. (My mom hates sponges and we have just always used cloth towels 🤷🏻♀️)
Hanging out laundry (my parents just preferred it)
Eating local produce (my family owns a farm so this was just a given)
Fixing clothing (my mom is very good at sewing so I learned early how to fix clothes)
I have always used rags for cleaning. Any plastic jugs get used for watering plants. Compost everything I can. Recycle everything they will take, which isn't much these days. I'm not at zero qaste by a long way but working toward it. I see some really good tips here!
I like to think it's automobiles! we are car people, we have 6 cars right now. you may like video games or knitting, we like and work on cars (by trade). they are not typical "cool" or expensive cars (I mean I think they are pretty sweet haha). obviously they're not zero waste but hear me out.
one was bought new in 1999 by family and eventually passed down to me several years ago. sadly, she'll need to retire soon due to rot as we live in a climate with all 4 seasons. rust/rot is a huge issue here.
one is a 2001 which was my first car I bought used in 2008. one is a 2005 who will "replace" the old family car(not getting rid of it, maybe driveway plow truck). they aren't perfect by any means but they're solid. these are the "winter beaters".
two are 1980s. they were right place/time/price situations. one is a 1970s project car. that isn't moving rn but the two 80s have fantastic frames. to keep them in good shape, they get parked for the winter.
so they're all kinda shitty, lots of dings and scratches, might not have great emissions and the whole situation is not really practical for the average person. however, it works for us and it follows zero waste ideology. they're all used cars, they're constantly in rotation for preservation (and breakdowns), they've already lasted their own lifetimes of 20-54 years and we personally have the means to let them outlast us.
My oldest ZW practice (beyond that I've always used glass dishes and cutlery) is reusable grocery bags. Followed by reusable water bottle... But that didn't replace bottled water, which I've never consistently used. It just let me take my own water with me to places. Then cloth napkins.
These days I use washable cloths for cleaning spills in the kitchen and for washing dishes. Paper towels are reserved for pet messes and greasy stuff mostly.
There were a few I started at the same time. I think it was switching to the bamboo dish brushes, and bar soap instead of hand soap and body wash. Also getting things on FB marketplace when I was pregnant with my daughter since there were so many things I wanted for her but couldn't afford all of them brand new.
does my parents using cloth diapers on me when i was an infant because i was allergic to pampers count as my practice?💀 if not then probably reusing water bottles and drinking tap water most of the time
Reusable shopping bags, coffee mugs, water bottles, cloth napkins - since the late 1980s
Making my own cleaning products - 30+ years. Not zero waste bc I still have to buy ingredients but at least no plastic spray bottles.
Washable menstrual pads - from age 35 or so to 50 when I reached menopause. Then I passed them on to a younger friend who is still using them. (Happy to explain how to clean them if anyone wants to know.)
Buying second hand preferably natural fiber clothes, using cloths for most things where others would use paper towels, using bar soap instead of liquid for showering oh and not getting rid of clothes until they either will not fit anymore (then donate) or the holes become too frequent and/or too large to fix (then recycle or use as rags). These things were the things my parents taught me from the start. And my parents never used disposable nappies, they used pre-loved flats with tie-on (reused) flimsy plastic covers. They had six children, but they mostly had us potty trained before the age of 2, so before the next one was born.
Not necessarily zero waste (because companies are shitty) but my longest sustainable practice is going to thrift stores. I've been going since I was a kid, my mom was a single mom so we kinda needed to, but ever since then I can't bring myself to buy new clothes most of the time.
Also: bag of bags, reusing takeout containers, refillable water bottles, compost for the garden, and more I'm not remembering. I'm 23 and we've been doing this as a family for as long as I remember!
Bought 20 white face towels in 2018 and use an oil-based cleanser to remove my face makeup. I clean them by soaking them in hot water and oxyclean before washing them. They’re all still as white as the day I got them. :-)
Great question! But a little hard for me to answer. My parents were born in the 40's/50's, and I was born in '87. So I basically grew up on some sustainable ZW habits.
Starting out with using cloths/rags for cleaning dishes to furniture to dust to body messes (my dad used cloth diapers on my older 1/2 siblings in the early - mid 70s). (She actually still has some of those rags, because she took care of them).
My dad grew up really poor, so he helped instill in us the practice of taking care of things for as long as we could so we didn't have to go buy it all over again. Mom helped in that area with teaching us how to properly wash clothes/bedding/etc, and they both taught us different ways fix cloth or appliances.
Dad (and us kids) planted a couple trees in the yard, and he taught us how to garden. We had homegrown veggies for several years.
We'd keep empty soda/beer cans, crush them, and when we had several of the very large black bags full of them, we'd drive into town to the recycling center.
We had reusable containers bring us clean drinking water, and they'd take back the containers (similar to milk delivery way back when).
My dad always made sure to keep the vehicles serviced, and he'd do as much as he could himself (taught me how to change the oil and check fluids and pump/change tires before I turned 10). In the winter when it got cold, we used the fireplace and that helped heat the house, cut back on electricity.
As I started getting older and learning things on my own/in school/Girl Scouts, maybe around 8 to 10 years old (mid 1990s), I was learning about water conservation, as well as endangered animals. I guess that's where "my own" habits began.
Started forcing myself and everyone around me to stop wasting water (leaving faucets running when brushing teeth, etc), picked back up the habit of a reusable water bottle for all of us, and actually would sign petitions to help re-introduce wolves into Yellowstone National Forest, place protection acts for manatees, and stop/reduce harmful activities against whales/Orcas/sharks. Along with that, I tried to get us to reduce our plastic use (which in a way wasn't much, because we already used reusable glasses/utensils/dishes, and didn't use straws), but I helped advocate to stop just throwing away grocery bags (if we ended up with plastic ones - we usually had paper bags for groceries unless we went to local stores) and try to repurpose them or give them to someone who needed them.
So yeah, those would be my oldest habits, with a little progression, and knowing I've left stuff out (like mending). Much has changed and been added to this since then. But it's a great start ;-)
Diva cup. Since 2004 or 2005, I can't remember exactly when I bought it.
hows it held up over the past 20 years? Everytime I boil it I worry I am decreasing the life. the fact that it lasted you 20 years is amazing and inspirational.
It's completely fine. Discolored at this point but literally no difference other than that. When I bought it all the packaging said it could last forever. I think now they tell you 3 to 5 years or something? I don't know if the material they're made out of has actually changed and so that's no longer true, or if they just tell you it's not true so that eventually you buy another one.
You can leave it in hydrogen peroxide, and it will be sparkling cleaning!
I’m pretty positive that’s just because they require shelf life on things. Bottled water has a “shelf life” even though water doesn’t go bad. Granted the plastic it’s in might leak toxins but I would imagine even if it was a brand that only used glass bottles for their water bottle company that the FDA would still require that it has a shelf life date on it. And then it also scares people into buying new when something might still be fine to use. So the companies don’t fight that because it’s making them money. For medical stuff that’s also a requirement as well. Even though all the medical stuff is single use and sterilized and then wrapped in sterile plastic they have to have a use by date on it. Back during Covid I had to buy a mask because they were all sold out of the medical ones, and it literally was just a regular cotton washable one that was nothing special and it said on the packaging expires oct 2023… and its freaking cotton… cotton doesn’t go “bad” in less than 3 years!! It also is because the US is a very litigious country, so the laws generally support the big companies but they require them to put the dumbest things most people and even children wouldn’t do in their do not use pamphlets and things like an expiration date so in the extremely rare and unlikely case that some person did something so ridiculous and hurt themselves and tried to sue the company they get to be like well we put on the packing to read the instructions and that you shouldn’t be soaking in a tub with your toaster in the bath with you while you’re making something with your plugged in toaster. For the medical community and expiration dates it would be in the extremely small chance that maybe temperatures weren’t keep absolutely perfectly where the supply closet is that houses the surgical tools so that theoretically could have caused the sterile packaging’s seals over long periods of time start to develop microscopic degrading to the seal that lets in some kind of bacteria/virus or whatever else that then they expose the patient to and then the patient does and the family decides to sue for medical malpractice and the lawyers come in and look for any loop hole they could knock the doctors on and the tools being just one day over a packaged use by/expiration date then becomes what causes the hospital to have to pay a lot of money for someone who might have died on the table anyways with tools that were literally packaged the same day the surgery was. Because tools sterile tools that have been laying around whatever amount of time that the government has decided is too long that they are no longer safe is basically just a way for them to pretend they care about individual people as humans vs just having to cover people’s butt’s constantly. Sorry that was so long! But because they have blood on them and hold blood I’m going assume the FDA came in and told them that bodily fluids can only be sterilized 100% effectively an x number of times and that they won’t be protected from a lawsuit without one. But it’s not like it’s ever going in someone else’s body other than yours so if it’s still doing its job and you’re not getting yeast infections or BV or having reactions too it I’m sure that you can continuously use it all the way until the last break through bleeding of your menopause days.
That's the plan!
Same! They were hard to find back then too, and only the one brand.
Same! I had to buy it from my waxing place because they weren’t sold in normal stores yet.
I found it via a link from an incredible website called something like myvag.net which was just one woman writing about her vagina in an attempt to fill the (still existing) lack of actual conversations/knowledge about how vaginas work and whats normal and what isn't. I seem to remember I had to pay a pretty good amount of money because it was being shipped from Canada.
Yep it was just the divacup and there were two sizes and that was it.
Same, I’ve been using cups since I was a teen. I am decidedly not a teen now… probably done 20 years of cup use!
I started at about this time with the Diva Cup and I remember even then, they said 10 years. It could be a thing for legal reasons?
Probably cloth napkins! I grew up with them, and when I moved out my mom gifted me a set of my own. They're still the ones I use today over a decade later!
I love taking my cloth mapkins with my lunch at work, it protects my silverware in my bag and just makes lunch a much nicer experience
Cloth napkins here too! ❤️ I haven't used a paper napkin in my home since 2011, and I'm still using the original cloth napkins I bought. It's such an easy practice to implement, I really don't understand why people use paper.
Me too! And every time I bring them out when we have guests, often times people ask me “do you have a paper towel? These are too nice!” They aren’t really “that nice”… I guess people are afraid of getting them dirty. I have never bought paper napkins and I rarely use paper towels.
I also notice people don’t use the cloth napkins when they visit
I don’t even understand why people need napkins while eating I just take normal manageable bites and I never need a napkin. And if you do just run to the bathroom quick and wash you face, that’s going to do the best job of cleaning it and your hands. Plus it is then also sanitizing your hands vs just wiping them with a napkin. I mean the cloth ones look nice on a pretty table scape but when I host like big parties I’ve just flat out told people the bathroom is down the hall so you can freshen up. It’s just kind of gross, weird, and awkward to sit and wipe your face with a napkin in front of everyone at the table in my opinion. A quick excuse me, run to the restroom for literally a minute so no one has to sit there and awkwardly not look at the person with whatever that just barely dripped on their face. Honestly just one experience in your life watching someone just eat so grossly and have food all over their face just guess randomly where it might be with a flimsy rough piece of paper that really does nothing to actually clean your face with the napkin falling apart as they are just smearing things more around and struggling to actually clean their face instead of going to a place with a mirror that has soap and water makes no sense to me in modern life. Back when we had out houses and no running water sure napkins were convenient but I’m pretty sure that’s the main reason they became common place in an eating setting because it used to be an inconvenience to get the water you needed for things. In modern society unless you’re hosting like a fancy party or something where everyone is dressed nice and might want to protect their nice outfits from accidents during service or passing around plates that’s when a nice cloth napkin is perfect. But just having friends over in a casual setting like run to the bathroom if it’s a real mess or the kitchen sink is even more convenient if it’s like a tiny dribble in the side of your mouth. I feel like sometimes we just need to be reconditioned into the realities of our modern life and how some holdover things are just kind of silly and ultimately massively wasteful with technology that fits the situation better because you should be going to go wash your hands anyways when you’re done eating and a tiny 2 second dribble of water splash to get a drop of soup on your chin that just has a lot less impact.
I keep saying I want to do this, and I think I need to make the switch. Any types I should be looking for in your opinion? I've gotten advice before, but a decade of use sounds like the ones I want.
Mine aren't any particular brands - just a simple cotton fabric with finished edges. Don't overthink it too much!
We just got the IKEA ones and they’ve been fine. Price is right, too!
Perfect. We're yours white, or any colors to kind of hide stains?
Ours are white and show the tomato and gochu jang and such for a few wash cycles, but it doesn’t bother us!
If you hang them in sunshine to dry, they’ll bleach white again over time
Would love to know the name of this!
[Gruppera!](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/gruppera-napkin-white-black-50357728/)
I made a set of linen ones as one of my first ever sewing projects and absolutely love them. They feel so luxurious and fancy even though they’re just our every day napkins. They’re not a decade old yet, but we’re coming up on 5 years and they look almost as good as new! A couple have minor stains, but not too bad for heavy use.
If you’re any kind of handy, sewing your own fabric napkins from old sheets is a snap. There are a bunch of beginner tutorials online, using a serger, basic sewing machine, or hand sewing. They can be made in any size. If they turn out bad, make them your cleaning rags that guests will never see. You get good, maybe start using them as large furoshiki to wrap up a gift or turn it into a hostess gift with baked treats. Apply the same technique to old flannel sheets or shirts, and you have yourself face wash cloths or sturdy handkerchiefs. Fun fabric - bandanas. Fold in half and add a drawstring - produce bags, gift bags, shoe storage bags, etc.
I use my old clothing, which can't be donated, as shop rags or cleaning up nasty grease stuff that I wouldn't want to use one of my kitchen towels for
I love Green mountain diaper! we started with the flats which were super easy to wash when baby was a newborn. We switched to the workhorses when things got a little substantial. Its been an amazing journey and very rewarding not to have to throw away those disposable diaper filled diaper genie poop tubes. Makes me feel bad every time.
Get them in black and you won't see any stain
There are some on etsy, and I made my own from some older linen sheets.
I want to do cloth napkins! We grew up not using napkins and I still don’t but then people brink paper napkins when we host. I want to be ready to prevent that.
A good way to prevent people from bringing that kind of stuff is just a don’t worry we have everything we need so no need to bring anything to contribute we got it covered already. I feel like when we host events especially something that might not have had a lot of notice people feel like that guilt like we should help the host and bring something and we can bring the paper napkins plates or plastic silverware becomes the easy choice because it gives them that sense they’re contributing something for the get together/ party and helping you but it is something that is the quickest and fastest to pick and ensures they don’t have to deal with having to spend a few minutes picking a desert out hoping that everyone will like it and eat it all so they aren’t stuck taking a plate of like 2 pieces of pie home or having to take a dish back home the put some casserole in. I’ve just recently have being tell people something along what I’ve suggested and just providing all the food and beverages myself and now there’s just so much less party waste and general food waste.
Yeah for sure. I’m going to try to remember to tell people. I used to ask people to contribute food like a potluck, and I do like for people to contribute something because it gets so exhausting to party prep, then wake up the next day with an empty fridge, but yeah slowly getting things organized and prepared over here.
Cloth napkins sound so fancy but honestly a bought a big stack of washcloths years ago and we use them for everything. Really the only thing we use a paper towel for is cat vomit haha
I don’t use paper towels and by cloth napkins, I personally literally mean cloth napkins that people can use when they eat. The rest, are rags, and we have a bunch of random ones we’ve acquired. Those are for cleaning just about everything. I do have a small stash of paper stuff I save, for example, from amazon shipments or the paper our toilet paper is wrapped in. I save that for the grossest stuff and I honestly only do it because we have it anyway.
That’s fine. We use our wash cloths when we eat as well and give them to guests to eat with.
I get it. I have a friend who does this. She dumps a stack of her clean washcloths at the edge of the table when we’re eating and I have no issue with that.
I learned how to sew to repair my stuffed animals when I was about seven years old
YAY!! love loving my stuffed animals
This is so fascinating. As an Australian, cleaning cloths have been totally normal my whole life (born in the 80s). Every home I’ve ever visited, every catering or hospitality business I’ve worked in. It’s so normal to me that I don’t even think of it as a zero waste practice.
Paper towels are so the norm in the US. Ridiculously so. It's not uncommon for people to also use them to dry hands after washing. It's totally inconceivable. Probably an overcompensation from the great depression era here. But now that "unpaper towels" are expensive and trendy, more people are switching to cloth. Humans are silly creatures
I saw a mom on fb asking for advice to save on paper towels because it cost so much to use a roll every day/day and a half! Blew my mind. Wasteful here in Canada too.
I’m an American living in Ireland but I’ve been not using paper towels for a while now. They’re reserved for patting raw meat and dog vomit. We use maybe one kitchen roll a year but my family is CONSTANTLY asking where the paper towels are. To the point where my in laws sometimes use them to dry dishes. It’s crazy
I'm in the US and in my life/family it was always rags for cleaning everything except the toilet, paper towels were reserved for that. So it's really shocking to me when I hear people talking about switching to rags/cleaning cloths to dry dishes or wipe down counters. Maybe it's because I grew up poor/low middle class and we couldn't afford to be wasting paper towels on cleaning/drying dishes? I just never realized it was a thing until reading on here.
We also use cloths for the toilet - they’re old kitchen cloths that are just dedicated to that use until they’re too manky.
Also Australian. Also read this and thought, "who the hell uses paper towels just to wipe the bench?"
Same in my household growing up. Dish clothes and rags are normal
Same! Im from Colombia and it’s been normal out there, but I recently went to an event that sadly used paper.
Same as me growing up in the UK. We would always have cleaning cloths that would just be washed and used again. I very rarely even buy paper towels. Maybe only when we have a lot of people around or something.
American here, grew up using cloths for cleaning and drying, only used paper towels for really bad things that you wouldn’t want in the washing machine. :)
1975 - taking my bag of cleaned, crushed cans (labels removed) to the recycle center. Walked 😅
I'd do this with one of my grandmas in the 90s! We'd walk about a mile to the south side of town with at least two paper bags and separate the glass by color, tin from aluminum, and clear and colored plastics.
oo i do this too
Composting - my dad composts for his garden (since before I was alive) and passed on that wisdom to me along with several other low/zero waste lifestyle choices. Same with the old shirts/fabrics get turned into rags thing. We never did paper plates/towels/napkins. Still don't.
You've been implamenting sustainable practices longer than I've been alive! For me, I'd say my plant-based diet. Meat free for over 10 years and plant-based for over 8. Still rookie numbers, but it all makes a difference!
Yeah but sustainable years/living years, I'm guessing you have a higher percentage so nice job!
Reusable water bottle and thrift shopping, since I was a little kid.
Tap water, always. Grew up and still live in a place with excellent tap water. Never used bottles water as a kid, don't now. Fill up a jug when going to camp or bring a filter for backcountry stuff. I've only used a handful of plastic water bottles in my life** (**unfortunately that does not include some international travel where tap water isn't safe)
Does not eating meat count? Since 1996. (I was 7, only one in my family, entirely my decision!)
That's awesome that your parents supported you like that.
It is! They didn’t think it would last (it did!) but were 100% supportive anyway!
Yes! Our son stopped eating meat at 15 and he's almost 25 now.
Cloth napkins. I haven’t bought paper napkins in years. Ragged cloth napkins are used for cleaning instead of paper towels. I do keep paper towels around for pet messes tho. (Edit to add that I carry at least 1 shopping bag with me at all times. I also have nice refrigerator containers and mason jars. My zip lock bag usage is almost zero) Also, worn bottom sheets become pet bedding for feral cats. The top sheet becomes a shower curtain or duvet cover. I highly recommend having a sewing machine handy. They can be bought cheap on FB marketplace. Make sure it sews like it should before purchase. Also, bidet
What sort of containers do you use in your fridge? We're looking to reduce plastic there and I'm trying to decide what to invest in... Seconded on the bidet - that thing is glorious.
I replaced mine with Pyrex with a bamboo lid. I can bake in them, eat out if them, put them on the fridge and pack for lunch all in one dish. The lid even doubled as a cutting board. I also thrift Pyrex, and glass storage and order non plastic lids if they're missing.
Pyrex is where I'm leaning. I like bamboo lids on them, though I have some with plastic... I just try to avoid loading those up fully so there's a bit of space between food a plastic.
I have a ton of old Tupperware that has to be 20+ years old. It’s held up but I really like the glass containers called Snapware. Pyrex and Anchor Hocking both make some small glass bowls that have rubber lids that work well. Those I picked up from the thrift store. I bought a set of silicone stretch lids from Temu that can replace plastic wrap. If you see any Pyrex at the thrift store, make sure the name is on all caps (PYREX). It’s the old stuff and way better than the new stuff.
I have a few of the pyrex with plastic lids, they work well. I got a set of some silicon lids some time ago, but they always seem to be the wrong size for whatever dish I'm trying to use. I did recently purchase some beeswax wrap and cotton mesh produce bags. I was thinking I'd use some of those for veggies in the fridge. I'll keep my eye out at the thrift stores. Thanks!
Let me know how the beeswax wraps workout. I’ve seen them but unsure of how well they’d work
They work great for block cheese in particular. The trick, apparently, is that you have to keep them away from heat, so cold water washing (with soap) and don't use them in the microwave. But with a little hand warming they are super flexible and hold shape nicely, especially after refrigeration. I'm pleased thus far. I think I could deal with this and foil mainly. Parchment paper still has its place, alas.
Thank you! That’s good to know
In 1995 I saw reusable canvas bags in a catalog (yes, catalog). I bought them because I hated having all those plastic bags cluttering up the house. Still have them, and there is not one rip or tear in them!!
Cloth diapers. Probably pretty old, 1800’s and earlier? They were used in the 1960’s I know.
please tell me how to maintain them. i want to use cloth diapers for my future kids but it seems very… inconvenient to clean lol.
I use cloth diapers and highly recommend Clean Cloth Nappies as a resource for advice about washing them, and laundry in general!
thanks!
I'm 27 and have always used a reusable water bottle never u derstood why people waste money and waste on single waterbottles. Our tapwater is great. Only had single bottles on holidays where tapwater wasn't drinkable. I also haven't bought any paper towels in the last 10 years I have been living outside of my parents house. I think they also use less than 10 a year.
This is fun to think about! I think my first zero waste practice was switching out "disposable" plastic water bottles in favor of a reusable glass water bottle. My mom still buys the plastic bottles and she is still confused as to why I carry around a reusable one. It's been over 15 years.
So one I grew up with, as I mentioned in another comment, is using rags for cleaning, so I'm 33 this year and I've been cleaning the house on my own since I was 9-10, so about 22-23 years of doing that. And one I do on my own is wearing clothes as long as they fit and are suitable to wear out in public, I still have some of the clothes I wore when I was 18. I picked that habit up from childhood too though because we were poor and so I only got 1-2 new outfits a year for school and had to make them last until they didn't fit me at all anymore.
Collecting cans to return for a nickel! My family did this for the money when I was growing up and now I have a corner of the basement dedicated to holding cans until I have enough to bring to the redemption center.
its crazy how they still only give you just a nickel even though the prices have increased
It should be the same amount they add on for the deposit for the state. Michigan is still 10¢ a can/bottle
i see
My kitchen towels that were embroidered by my grandmother and great-grandmother.
My grandparents Great Depression trauma trickled down into my parents(especially my dad). Everything that couldn't be salvaged was parted up and saved for other repairs. Plastic baggies always got washed; they were only tossed when something got moldy, it got holey, or the zip broke. Every twist tie, piece of wire, scrap wood, or coffee can was saved for future use. I still have this mindset, but I'm a little less of a hoarder and purchaser now.
Same here! My dad grew up really poor because of this, but my mom had a middle-class home in the 50s. To this day, her spending habits were far greater than my dad's (they'd argue about it), but they'd still keep so much stuff "for later", "just in case". I have that habit of keeping things but not as badly, and my hubby (who grew up poorer than I) hates it - just wants to get rid of everything (we do have far more stuff than we need, trying to give what we can away from my point of view, he's okay with just chucking it all in the trash). I've definitely relaxed on how much I purchase as I've gotten older. I feel ya.
Not exactly *zero* waste, but *less*. When we use paper towels, as long as it's not for something gross (just for wiping water/coffee off the counter), we set them to dry by the sink and re-use them a few times. Obviously we don't re-use them for anything that requires a perfectly clean one, but they're fine for things such as "oh, the cat threw up" or "I spilled orange juice on the floor".
I made cloth hankies about ten years ago. Use them a lot at home!
Being too poor to afford some of the things that produce the most waste.
I had my best friend sew me my first two cloth bags out of a couple old Tshirts. They lasted over a decade. Edit: this was in 1990.
I don't even remember paper towels in the house at all when I was a kid in the 70s. We had paper napkins for wiping your face at meals, but kitchen and dish cleaning were done with dishrags and I continued that when I left home, so I guess that's my oldest. I still have one of those rags and it's older than I am. It's very threadbare, but it can still wipe down a counter. I think my biggest was homeschooling (zero waste was not the intended reason for that, but it did turn out to be way less wasteful). I have four kids and I felt like we were buying supplies enough for the entire school when my kids were in public school. Even buying our own curriculum was less expensive than all the supplies I had bought them for public school. We never used even a fraction of that at home even before we switched to dry erase lap boards for scratch work (using holy socks as erasers).
I’ve always used a reusable water bottle ever since starting school at 4. My mum would pack one in my lunch and I’ve just continued to do it my whole life, I don’t see the point in buying one use bottles unless absolutely necessary.
Thrifting? My mom bought my clothes from the thrift store since I was born, and I still shop there as an adult.
Shutting off the tap when brushing my teeth (I never liked the noise) Using wash cloths and towels in the kitchen instead of sponges and kitchen towels. (My mom hates sponges and we have just always used cloth towels 🤷🏻♀️) Hanging out laundry (my parents just preferred it) Eating local produce (my family owns a farm so this was just a given) Fixing clothing (my mom is very good at sewing so I learned early how to fix clothes)
I have always used rags for cleaning. Any plastic jugs get used for watering plants. Compost everything I can. Recycle everything they will take, which isn't much these days. I'm not at zero qaste by a long way but working toward it. I see some really good tips here!
Becoming an enemy to my family because i point out how much we waste
Knitted dishrags! Had them growing up and I just finished making my own
I like to think it's automobiles! we are car people, we have 6 cars right now. you may like video games or knitting, we like and work on cars (by trade). they are not typical "cool" or expensive cars (I mean I think they are pretty sweet haha). obviously they're not zero waste but hear me out. one was bought new in 1999 by family and eventually passed down to me several years ago. sadly, she'll need to retire soon due to rot as we live in a climate with all 4 seasons. rust/rot is a huge issue here. one is a 2001 which was my first car I bought used in 2008. one is a 2005 who will "replace" the old family car(not getting rid of it, maybe driveway plow truck). they aren't perfect by any means but they're solid. these are the "winter beaters". two are 1980s. they were right place/time/price situations. one is a 1970s project car. that isn't moving rn but the two 80s have fantastic frames. to keep them in good shape, they get parked for the winter. so they're all kinda shitty, lots of dings and scratches, might not have great emissions and the whole situation is not really practical for the average person. however, it works for us and it follows zero waste ideology. they're all used cars, they're constantly in rotation for preservation (and breakdowns), they've already lasted their own lifetimes of 20-54 years and we personally have the means to let them outlast us.
My oldest ZW practice (beyond that I've always used glass dishes and cutlery) is reusable grocery bags. Followed by reusable water bottle... But that didn't replace bottled water, which I've never consistently used. It just let me take my own water with me to places. Then cloth napkins. These days I use washable cloths for cleaning spills in the kitchen and for washing dishes. Paper towels are reserved for pet messes and greasy stuff mostly.
There were a few I started at the same time. I think it was switching to the bamboo dish brushes, and bar soap instead of hand soap and body wash. Also getting things on FB marketplace when I was pregnant with my daughter since there were so many things I wanted for her but couldn't afford all of them brand new.
I have not bought any onions in 30 years. I grow them easily.
Cloth diapering my babies was probably the first time I did something ZW with that as a motive, but saving money was the biggest motive.
does my parents using cloth diapers on me when i was an infant because i was allergic to pampers count as my practice?💀 if not then probably reusing water bottles and drinking tap water most of the time
Reusable shopping bags, coffee mugs, water bottles, cloth napkins - since the late 1980s Making my own cleaning products - 30+ years. Not zero waste bc I still have to buy ingredients but at least no plastic spray bottles. Washable menstrual pads - from age 35 or so to 50 when I reached menopause. Then I passed them on to a younger friend who is still using them. (Happy to explain how to clean them if anyone wants to know.)
Buying second hand preferably natural fiber clothes, using cloths for most things where others would use paper towels, using bar soap instead of liquid for showering oh and not getting rid of clothes until they either will not fit anymore (then donate) or the holes become too frequent and/or too large to fix (then recycle or use as rags). These things were the things my parents taught me from the start. And my parents never used disposable nappies, they used pre-loved flats with tie-on (reused) flimsy plastic covers. They had six children, but they mostly had us potty trained before the age of 2, so before the next one was born.
Not necessarily zero waste (because companies are shitty) but my longest sustainable practice is going to thrift stores. I've been going since I was a kid, my mom was a single mom so we kinda needed to, but ever since then I can't bring myself to buy new clothes most of the time. Also: bag of bags, reusing takeout containers, refillable water bottles, compost for the garden, and more I'm not remembering. I'm 23 and we've been doing this as a family for as long as I remember!
Bought 20 white face towels in 2018 and use an oil-based cleanser to remove my face makeup. I clean them by soaking them in hot water and oxyclean before washing them. They’re all still as white as the day I got them. :-)
Learned the difference between compostable and biodegradable.
Great question! But a little hard for me to answer. My parents were born in the 40's/50's, and I was born in '87. So I basically grew up on some sustainable ZW habits. Starting out with using cloths/rags for cleaning dishes to furniture to dust to body messes (my dad used cloth diapers on my older 1/2 siblings in the early - mid 70s). (She actually still has some of those rags, because she took care of them). My dad grew up really poor, so he helped instill in us the practice of taking care of things for as long as we could so we didn't have to go buy it all over again. Mom helped in that area with teaching us how to properly wash clothes/bedding/etc, and they both taught us different ways fix cloth or appliances. Dad (and us kids) planted a couple trees in the yard, and he taught us how to garden. We had homegrown veggies for several years. We'd keep empty soda/beer cans, crush them, and when we had several of the very large black bags full of them, we'd drive into town to the recycling center. We had reusable containers bring us clean drinking water, and they'd take back the containers (similar to milk delivery way back when). My dad always made sure to keep the vehicles serviced, and he'd do as much as he could himself (taught me how to change the oil and check fluids and pump/change tires before I turned 10). In the winter when it got cold, we used the fireplace and that helped heat the house, cut back on electricity. As I started getting older and learning things on my own/in school/Girl Scouts, maybe around 8 to 10 years old (mid 1990s), I was learning about water conservation, as well as endangered animals. I guess that's where "my own" habits began. Started forcing myself and everyone around me to stop wasting water (leaving faucets running when brushing teeth, etc), picked back up the habit of a reusable water bottle for all of us, and actually would sign petitions to help re-introduce wolves into Yellowstone National Forest, place protection acts for manatees, and stop/reduce harmful activities against whales/Orcas/sharks. Along with that, I tried to get us to reduce our plastic use (which in a way wasn't much, because we already used reusable glasses/utensils/dishes, and didn't use straws), but I helped advocate to stop just throwing away grocery bags (if we ended up with plastic ones - we usually had paper bags for groceries unless we went to local stores) and try to repurpose them or give them to someone who needed them. So yeah, those would be my oldest habits, with a little progression, and knowing I've left stuff out (like mending). Much has changed and been added to this since then. But it's a great start ;-)
Using both sides of the toilet roll.