How to better the quality of air inside my house through zero waste means? Are there air purifier that closes the loop on filter or like plants that I can have in the room? Open for any suggestions.

My dad wanted to throw out his jeans because the zipper is broken. What could I do with them instead?

I have sensitive skin, I have to wear gloves when washing dishes, regardless of the product I use and the temperature of the water. My glove had a hole. Instead of buying a new pair and throwing this one away, I put in a bicycle inner tube patch. It works really well! I did the dishes with it this morning, and I didn't have any water in my mitt.

I buy these plastic free brita filters and have to replace them every two months or so and I am not sure what to do with them after I use them as a water filter. I know that there is lots of carbon and nutrients in them. I was wondering if any of you have ever used them as plant nutrition, or what do you do with them when you’re done using them to filter water? I’m open to any ideas!!

Does anyone have any recommendations for zero/low waste deodorant that ACTUALLY works?

Hi! I have Papaya’s reusable napkins and I love using them, but I’ve been having an issue with them curling after I’ve cleaned them and hung them up to dry. Is there something I’m doing wrong or any advice to prevent it from curling up?

I have been trying to air dry my clothes more to save energy and make them last longer, but they always feel crunchy when they are dry. I have tried using less soap and doing a double rinse cycle but I cant seem to get them to come out soft. Any advice? Do i need to chance my detergent or something?

I got some scents I don't like and will never use. The refills are obviously unused. Anyone want to trade? I have the following (pictures in comments):

- Thunderstorm

- Rainforest Oasis

- Spiced Orange & Pear

- Lemon Basil & Blood Orange

I really enjoy frozen green grapes. I like the cold, the tart and the soft crunchy bite of them. Freeze them (whole or cut in half) for a few hours, not days. Otherwise they might be less enjoyable to chew.

Today we had a batch that had already gotten a little mushy, but not bad yet. Taste was fine, texture less so. I froze them and several hours later I'm enjoying delicious late night snack that I can't even tell had sat around in the fridge for almost 2 weeks and was on its way to becoming compost.

I have extremely sensitive eczema-prone skin and I’ve been sticking to Hello Bello baby washes or Tree to Tub soapberry washes because they’re pH-balanced, but I’m looking to see if I can switch them out to something more sustainable.

My apartment doesn’t get a lot of light, maybe 6 hours of indirect sunlight. But with how things are going, I’m really wanting a victory garden so I can be more self sufficient and start growing food.

Is there a food plant that anyone would recommend? Something that is too stubborn to die or easy to grow would be perfect

Currently I have a prayer plant for air filtration help

EDIT- thanks everyone! I’ve got a grow bulb, I’ve planted spinach seeds (fingers crossed!) and I got a small mint plant. I’m looking to add green onions later on, and I’m doing my research on mushroom growing :)

So there's this things that's been bugging me (is that the expression?). While I was getting my paper waste sorted for the monthly pickup by the municipality, I started wondering about recycling vs composting. I have several compost heaps and use paper as browns as well as send the glossy paper waste for recycling. But I was thinking about what that meant, and have been wondering ever since what's best for the environment. Because I know the soil appreciates the compost, but on the other hand, the paper I use to compost could've been used to make new paper and prevent more trees from being taken down. I have serious issues getting the question in writing lol, it's 6AM where I am so excuse the early morning rambling. But I'm wondering, what's your take. What's more environmental friendly? Composting or recycling paper?

Gotta add, but don't use this information for your judgement, but I own a tree nursery and my biggest compost is at the nursery, so the composted papier will directly make new trees grow.

For recycled toilet paper, not bamboo. I’m in the US.

Thank you!

I'm looking to start selling some snacks and goodies from my home through my state's cottage food laws. I'm having a hard time finding packaging ideas that would be presentable to customers (greaseproof, etc.) other than plastic. I was thinking kraft paper or butcher paper, but most of my product ideas include nut butters so they'll be too greasy for unlined paper. I've thought of having a discount for if people bring their own container but I'm not sure if the business model I have in mind would work for that? I'd love any suggestions!

Since Ethique stopped shipping to Canada I am now in the position of having to find a new shampoo bar for my fine curly (but not dry) hair! I have tried the Jack59 ones but I find they strip my hair. I was considering trying out the Brixy bars since they are easy to get in Canada and sulphate-free, but with the new trade war I would prefer not to buy from a US brand. If any one has any reccomendations for non-US shampoo bar brands available in Canada I would be so grateful!

Basically in thinking about shampoo bars but as someone who has recovered from hair issues and has finally grown it out, I’m very concerned about shampoo bars affecting the health of my hair. Almost every review I’ve seen of shampoo bars like lush and ethique are from people with very short hair which is quite different from my hair type so I don’t know if it would work for me. Basically I want to know if anyone with long hair thick hair has had success with shampoo bars and if so what brand. Another thing I’m worried about is how it will react to hard water, because I really don’t want to do an ACV rinse every time I shower 😭

There's no more bulk buy shop for food in my town. But when I was shopping there, yes, I went for small quantities for some things but sometimes, I would ask to buy the big package the produce came in. Like a bag of flour or a box of pasta.

The flour was produce pretty localy and came in a paper bag. So that's nice. The pasta were coming from pretty far, in a box, in a big plastic bag. I often was wondering if I had more plastic in those boxes than in the small packages in the grocery store. And I know a lot of produces were coming in those big thick plastic bags but custumers would not see those in the shop. Now, my other option to buy bulk is driving a minimum of 2 hours to other bulk shop or order online from a place thousands of km from here.

My question is : is bulk really better or it just looks nice? I get it, for fresh produces, it's easier. You get locally, no bags and everything. But for dry goods?

• Mayo- thirft store immersion blender, 2eggs, olive oil, salt pepper, lemon juice, mustard in a glass jar. No more buying over & over
• Candles- thift candles in a thrift crock pot...melt w twine for "wicks", re pour. Paint jars if ya want
• Yogurt- powdered milk hydrated, heat in crock pot, cool til warm & add starter. Wrap ceramic pot in towlels & put into a non heated oven overnight
• Yarn from Thrift learned to crochet round everything from beenies to trivets, cotton crochet washcloths etc. Also learned to knit anything sqaure from kitchen heat bads to small blankets
• Rags for cleaning vs Paper towels practially free in thrift stores. Put an X w a sharpie on the ones for the Kitchen vs body, but a T on rags just for the toilet
• Bucket in Shower use when heating the water or when rinsing hair etc. Use to flush toilet
• Scum Bucket in Sink keep it all day to make a swamp for soaking. I toss in a bit of citric acid powder. Anytime i rinse something H20 is added to swamp
• Finding Hairtyes on the Ground all day every day I don't use hair bands for hair, too rough, but i wash them w kitchen rags & re-use like rubber bands for tie dye or whatever

Please add on! I learn something all the time!!

Has anyone encountered not being able to bring your own containers to Whole Foods? I brought my own containers for the bulk section that were teared and was told that I could not use them.

I used to use them all the time and they said that it's an FDA regulation. Whole Foods has removed all of their scoops and only now have limited options with the pull down handles.

Is anyone still using their own containers / bags at Whole Foods presently? Any ideas of what I can do?

I live in a commercial/residential building and want to start a refillery for the community I live in. I started out with just wanting to sell household goods, but realized there may be a community need for some dry goods and grains, etc.

I am trying to figure out if doing dry goods would be a huge pain or not re: regulation and compliance. I am in the state of CO which has the Cottage Foods Act - but I am not sure if dry pasta, dry flour, granola, would fall under this act.

Does anyone know where I would go to find this out? There's definitely a community need - but I'm just a bit overwhelmed by the possible compliance aspect and cannot find any info about refillery regulation.

Side by side of a fresh bard and small pieces for size comparison. I’ve tried to use them as small as they get but they end up crumbling or breaking into pieces when I use them. Any ideas?

I have cut out almost every single thing thats single use waste, but I’m having trouble coming up with a reusable solution to cleaning my glass weed pieces. I really hate using the ziploc but the resin gets stuck on a lot of other materials and I don’t want to risk chipping or breaking the glass.

Anyone have any recommendations?

We got pantry moths and now have to store all food in airtight, bug proof containers.

I have various older food storage containers that are meant to be airtight, with a seal around the rim, but they’re old and I don’t trust them. Some have a hard plastic seal and others are a softer rubber or maybe silicone.

Is there anything I can use to improve the seal? I know moths can eat right through plastic wrap.

Also, is there a way to test the seal on the ones I have? Is water tight the same?

I really don’t want to buy new containers!

I’m looking to replace paper towels for cleaning our windows and mirrors, but all of my rags leave streaks. What kind of cloths work best for cleaning glass, and how do ou launder them? (I read that washing with soap can cause streaks to appear.)

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When I was still younger I almost exclusively bought from fast fashion stores bc that was just the cheapest option. I didn’t buy excessively since I didn’t have much money as a student so over the years the pile of low quality cropped tops grew. I don’t think they’re worth donating since they look well worn and are probably gonna be thrown out anyways. I love to do DIYs tho and I‘m currently learning to crochet and also I‘m looking into starting to sew later this year so I can recycle my clothes and make them last longer. I assume I can turn the low quality fabric into yarn for crocheting oven gloves etc, but i’m wondering if I can sew the cropped tops together to make new pieces and if there are any resources on how to do that, or if you guys have suggestions yourself. The clothes aren’t compostable so I‘m looking for something I can make to keep!

Sorry for bad formatting, I‘m on mobile.

So I was looking for advice from people and this seems to be the main reddit that has talk of shampoo bars so I will post this here. So I have been using bar shampoo for... maybe 3 years now. I always get it from a local soap maker. I had cut my hair shortly after starting using bar shampoo so I didn't have long hair for long while using it. I currently have long hair again and most of the time I find my bar shampoo is fine, though I do keep a bottle of clarifying shampoo for if I let my hair go for to long without a wash. So that's a bit of the back story now onto why I have went looking for advice. So this past month I have been depressed and let my hair washing go longer then usual. I usually was it every 2 weeks but I let it go a month.... part of it was lack of energy the other was the weather has been so cold and dry, I use a boar bristle brush to distribute sebum and my ends needed it, they keep freezing at work from condensation of my breath. I then put coconut oil on my ends before I washed my hair for a few hours. It is the first time using oil on my hair then removing it with a bar shampoo. My nephew had used all my clarifying shampoo and I haven't replaced it. I figured I would need to work a bit harder to get it out but was up to the task. I went through 3 washes and when I was rinsing out my conditioner I could tell my hair was still greasy.

So the question is am I asking to much from my bar shampoo or do I need a better one? I don't know anyone else that uses it so I only have my experience with this one bar I have been getting for years. In the past I have wanted a bit more from it but also partially figured it might be the fact it's just a bar shampoo. If you have one that is potentially a better option I would love to know what people use and their opinions on it.

Sorry I know this is a lot of hair talk for a subreddit thats not necessarily hair but also it's about my hair and a product that likely more people on a zero waste subreddit would know about.

What’s something that’s zero waste but you just can’t see yourself doing?

For me it’s reusable toilet paper. I use a bidet to minimize my paper use

I am all for zero waste but I feel like that’s a little bit more extreme for me🥲