Free Zero Waste Swaps You Can Do Right Now to Save Money
I was writing a post not too long ago about how to use the low-waste lifestyle to save money. Even though I still stand by my recommendations, a though occurred to me…
I noticed all of my suggestions required spending some money now so that you could save money in the long run.
(This is a great technique, especially if you wait to run out of the item that you’re currently using and replace it with a low-waste alternative after. Then you’re spending what you would have spent anyway. )
But back to the thought I was having…I thought, “What about the people that don’t have anything they need to replace right now? What can they do right now to save money, lower their waste, and do it all for free?”
This is why I’m writing to you today, dear reader. To give you some free solutions that you can do today without having to spend a single penny! With that I’m bringing you my top 7 free zero waste swaps you can do right now to save money.
These are my top tips, but I would love to know if you have some more suggestions for free low-waste swaps! I’m always looking for ways to be more frugal and make more mindful choices for our beautiful earth.
1- Collect water to water your plants or yard
I’ve never really understood the impact of all the water we waste while we wait for it to get hot. But apparently an average household wastes 11,461 gallons a year on waiting for the water to get nice and toasty.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to take freezing cold showers. (Though apparently cold showers can boost your immune system)
What I am recommending is getting a plain ol’ bucket, something I hope you already have, and placing it in your shower to collect the water that is pouring out while you’re waiting.
Now you can do all kinds of things with this bucket of water! You can water your plants (indoor or outdoor), you can hand wash some delicates, you can wash some pots and pans, etc.
The possibilities are endless!
It probably won’t seem like it’s making a huge difference but over time it can help you save thousands and thousands of gallons of water.
2- Use your old clothing as rags to go paper towel-less
We all have those shirts with a few holes in them or a ratty towel or two. If you don’t have them now, you probably will in due time.
It’s great to repurpose these worn out items into rags to use when cleaning up around the house or for any use that you would normally use a paper towel for. (I would use regular hand towels for after you wash your hands though, but that’s just me)
This will save you oodles of money (almost $200 a year on average) and you’ll have so much less trash.
3- Use your old clothing as rags for handkerchiefs
This tip is about the same as the one above and is just an example of the many ways that you can repurpose an old t-shirt.
The idea of using a handkerchief was not something that I was too excited about at first.
It seemed a little…icky.
But for the sake of the environment and my savings account, I thought I would give it a try. (
Disposable tissues are not so great for our little planet. They aren’t recyclable and they continue to contribute to deforestation, see here.
Plus handkerchiefs can be sanitary as disposable tissues (and sometimes even more!).
So I’ve said it and I’ll say it again, hankies for one and hankies for all!
4- Hang Dry Your Clothing
So now that you have all of these rags and hankies, you’ll have to wash them. To ensure you’re not spending all of that money on energy from your dryer, just pop those bits of clothing onto a clothesline (or something of that sort) and let them hang dry.
In fact, you can do this for most of your clothing! In fact, the dryer shortens the lifespan of your clothes and, in case you haven’t noticed, clothes = $$$$.
Especially if you’re trying to buy quality over quantity, then you really want to take extra care of how your clothes are treated.
Some additional benefits are the UV rays will brighten your clothes (if you dry them in the sun), your clothes will be kept nice and soft (instead of getting fried), and it reduces wrinkles (Yay! No need to get out the pesky iron!).
5- Have a few no makeup days
Makeup, makeup, makeup. So fun and so helpful, yet so darn expensive.
Makeup is a fantastic way to express ourselves creatively and to make ourselves a little more presentable for the outside world.
When I was a teen in high school, I would wear makeup everyday without fail. At the time my skin could withstand anything, it was like an impenetrable baby’s bottom. So soft and so tough at the same time.
Unfortunately, when I turned 19, I began to have some serious problems with my skin. I had to deal with topical steroid withdrawal and severe eczema all over my body.
Due to this, I physically could not wear makeup. It was either too painful or it just highlighted my very dry skin rather than helped to cover it up.
At first, this was a HUGE blow to my ego and my self-confidence. Over time, I was able to grow in humility and in comfortability with my appearance.
Now I’m able to go anywhere without wearing a lick of makeup. Probably sounds simple, but I’m really proud of myself for this.
Even though we probably don’t have similar circumstances when it comes to our skin, what I do know is that all skin needs time to breathe and relax. Wearing makeup everyday doesn’t allow our skin the time to have some much needed fresh air.
On top of that, by taking this simple step of having a few “no-makeup” days, we can keep more of our money instead of giving it to Sephora.
I almost forgot to mention the low-waste side to this!
There’s the obvious: less use equals less waste.
The makeup industry is a huge contributor to waste in our society (it’s not the biggest by any means, but it does use a crap ton of plastics). So on top of using less makeup, you can also check out low-waste makeup brands when it comes time to replace items in your current makeup routine.
6- Get it from home or say no
This one is more specifically about using what you already have, rather than trying to buy that hip, eco-friendly item that all the cool girls on instagram have.
For example, everyone is buying those cute reusable utensil sets. Some are cheap and some are more fancy (in looks and in price). Overall though, it would be much more simple to get a knife and fork from your utensil drawer at home and use that as your travel set.
This option is free, it’s reusing something you already have, and it’s reducing the need for something new all together.
The same thing can be said for all those, new hip reusable straws. A free and super sustainable version of this is to simply not use a straw.
So when you see that super adorable low-waste item, take a moment and think, “Do I already have a version of this?” or “Is this essential to ok me run my life more efficiently?”
Maybe the answer is yes or maybe it’s no. I can’t say since since that’ll be up to you. I just want to encourage you to take a moment and reflect on a purchase before going through with it.
Sooner or later, it’ll save you money that you might’ve come to regret spending and it’ll save you the hassle of having to get rid of that thing you didn’t end up using as much as you thought you would.
7- Take Care of What you do have
This is a lesson that took me quite a long time to learn, sadly. It’s not until I began to buy items for myself that I realized the toll my carelessness could take.
It really hit me in particular when it came to sunglasses. For a long time I’ve had a bad habit of chucking my sunglasses into my backpack or my purse without a care. Ultimately, my sunglasses would get scratched or break completely.
At first, I didn’t mind because the sunglasses I bought were cheap anyways. After a while though, I began to get sick of having to buy sunglasses over and over again. I might as well have flushed my hard earned cash down the toilet.
I could have probably bought a nice pair of Ray-Bans once instead of buying all of those cheap pairs of sunglasses that would all meet the same broken fate.
Now I try to have the mindset of not only being a good steward to the earth, but also to the things that I own.
It causes what you use to last much much longer and in the end you’ll waste less money and resources.
Of course, the last little tid bit of this post is a friendly reminder to stop buying one-time use items asap. Simply start today.
Everytime, you run out of something, have a little think. Remind yourself to see if there’s a reusable version.
I recently found out rechargeable batteries are a thing and lighters can be refilled! I’m super excited to make those two switches when I get a chance!
All these free zero waste swaps to help you save money may seem simple and it’s ‘cause they are. There’s no trick behind it.
It’s really all about taking simple, small actionable steps. In the end, it will help you become more efficient on a personal and global level.
So what did you think? Is there anything that you would add to this list? Please let me know as I would absolutely love more suggestions on more free zero waste swaps!
For more on low-waste living, click here.
I hope to see you again real soon!
Until next time,
Angelica Fitzpatrick
