WELL PLANET: Part 2-24 Things I Stopped Buying To Go Zero Waste

By Rebecca A.

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After my last post on 24 Things I Stopped Buying When Going Zero Waste, I was overwhelmed by the response with people wanting to know what I used in place of these items, so I decided to write a quick blog response to answer your question.

I realize that a lot of people who want to reduce their waste are overwhelmed by this list. It is not my intention to overwhelm you, but to show you how many items that we often consider essential, are really not. All of these things we spend (lots of) money on, use, and throw away in the garbage heap.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, I want you to take a deep breath and then exhale. In future blogs I will help you to make one change at a time. When that change becomes a habit, we will move onto the next thing. I’ve been doing this for two years now, I’m still not ‘Zero Waste’ but my rubbish is about 1/10 of what it used to be. And the only way I found to make it sustainable is to not get overwhelmed, but to take one step at a time.

So without further ado, here are the 24 items I’ve stopped buying, and what I do instead.

1. Cling (plastic) wrap – pack everything in plastic or glass containers that I already owned; eventually I bought some beeswax wrap, but to be honest, I personally find it unnecessary and surplus, and it’s just better to use containers you already have.
2. Aluminum foil – I used this for lining oven trays and covering food in the oven. Now I just grease and/or flour oven trays, and I cover food with a casserole dish lid.
3. Baking paper – grease/flour the oven tray.
4. Dish sponges – I use loofah (it’s from a plant so goes in my compost after), metal scourers (recyclable, they also last a looooong time, luckily I can recycle these at my son’s kindergarten where we have metal trash collected), and a wooden dish brush from the Bulk House. I also use fabric cloths that I put in the washing machine.

It's a plant! It grows in the hutongs!

5. Paper towels – fabric cloths for cleaning up spills; to prevent splattering in the microwave I put the food in a bowl and cover it with a plate.
6. Plastic straw – metal straws or go without.
7. Paper napkins – fabric cloth.
8. Sauces in plastic bottles – sauces in glass bottles which can be recycled. I choose to buy food in glass or cans rather than plastic.
9. Liquid soap – bar soap. Dove have soap in a cardboard box (biodegradable) and that isn’t plastic wrapped inside the box – took me awhile to find one not wrapped in plastic.
10. Body wash – bar soap.
11. Shampoo and conditioner in plastic bottles – shampoo and conditioner bars from Ethique (a fabulous New Zealand brand) or the Bulk House.

12. Gift wrapping paper/bags/ribbon – beautiful squares of fabric, or I reuse gift bags and ribbons that we have been given.

They look beautiful and you can use the fabric again and again!

13. Tampons and pads – menstrual cup (Lunette) and washable panty liners (fabric ones from Taobao).

Just like our grandmothers used to use!

14. Plastic ziplock bags – I just stopped buying them and I don’t miss them at all. Use plastic or glass containers instead, or fabric produce bags.
15. Trash bags – because I put all my food scraps in the compost, I don’t need a bin liner. I just take my house bin to the shared compound bin once a week to empty it.
16. Disposable water bottles – reusable bottle.
17. Conventional cleaners – white vinegar and baking soda.
18. Beauty products – I use local Beijing skincare brand, The Green Room. I use their face balm as a face wash, and face serum as a moisturizer, and give them the bottles back when finished. Disclaimer: I still buy cosmetics, however, I did learn a cool trick from Bea Johnson (Zero Waste Queen) to use cocoa as bronzer, so when my bronzer finished I just topped up my bronzer container with cocoa. I’m still figuring out cosmetics.
19. Convenience (snack) food – I buy dried banana chips and seed bars in bulk from the market, and I do more baking.

20. Milk in cartons or bottles – I make my own soy milk using soy beans from the market and my soy milk maker, and I have some Sanyuan cow milk delivered every morning in glass bottles which you use, wash and leave out for collection the next day.
21. Meat – Stopped buying it. Why? Because overconsumption of meat is a huge environmental issue, not to mention animal welfare. We now eat vegetarian at home, but eat meat occasionally when we go out.
22. Bubble tea – Stopped buying it and started making my own using sago balls from the market. Disclaimer: After not buying it for 3-4 months, I bought one about 3 days ago because I really wanted it. But I do buy it way less than I used to. Better than before people! We don’t have to be perfect!
23. Takeaway coffee in disposable cups – ask for coffee to be served in a ceramic cup in a café, or I take my own reusable coffee mug.
24. Laundry softener – white vinegar.

So there you have it.

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