Although sometimes “green” is the expensive choice (such as when purchasing high-quality, eco-friendly personal care products), environmental stewardship and frugality often go hand-in-hand. A case in point is buying in bulk and refilling your own containers.
I was amazed to read that most consumers are unwilling to use refills – of cleaners, for instance – because it can sometimes be messy. In many cases, the alternative is paying for water! In most cases, the alternative results in far more packaging waste and occupied landfill space. (Check out the previous link if you want to read more.)
It doesn’t have to be that difficult! Most things that you can buy in bulk really aren’t that messy. (Honey is a notable exception, and we usually buy that in bulk, anyway.) If you can save yourself money and help save the environment, why not give it a try? I challenge you to make a change in one of these areas during the remainder of the summer, because little things really can make a difference!
- Buy something in bulk and store it in your own containers. Buying bulk (foods, usually) minimizes packaging. You can store bulk items in recycled containers – mayonnaise jars, etc. – in canning jars, Rubbermaid-type containers, etc. Just be sure if you’re storing food that you’re using food-safe containers. Keep in mind that buying bulk doesn’t always have to mean buying in large quantities! The bulk bins at the supermarket or health food store will often allow you to purchase less than you might otherwise have to. (This can minimize waste, too, if it’s an item you don’t use much.)
- Buy something refillable, and use refills. Many cleaners are now starting to come with concentrated refill options. Even if yours doesn’t, sometimes you can “do it yourself.” Buy a large jug of liquid soap and use it to refill a single pump-style hand soap dispenser. (You can even try foaming soap.)
- Buy or make a reusable version of something that’s usually disposable – cleaning rags, swiffer cloths, napkins, shopping bags
, etc. If you’re feeling a bit gutsier, you could even make a bigger switch, like from disposable to cloth diapers. 🙂
Every one of these options (well, except shopping bags, which won’t cost anything) should be more cost-effective, in addition to being “green.”
Good ideas! I found some nice 1/2 gallon Ball jars at the store the other day for $1.89/each. They make great storage for some of my dry goods and look pretty lined up together too.
Thank you so much for the mention! I love that you also mentioned cloth diapers, as a “veteran” of cloth (my babies are now 16 and 13) I will testify that I not only saved money, but they NEVER had diaper rashes. I swear the chemicals they put in the disposable diapers that sits next to the skin is not good for the babies.
I have been reading a bit on your site, and have really enjoyed your prespective on various subjects. This particular post touches me as this is how I was raised…in my home, 1/2 gallon jars are filled with pasta, beans and rice; tea bags, sugar, drink mixes (like kool-aid), cornmeal, etc. are kept in other airtight containers; laundry soap bottles are used for watering on the back patio; worn out socks/underwear/t-shirts are used as dustrags; coffee cans are used for seed packets; old prescription bottles are used for opened seeds (just pour the seeds in and write on the lid what it is). Here are some ideas we used growing up: mountain of canning jars that got refilled each year with goodies from the garden; aluminum pie plates reused for reheating leftovers; old newspaper used for everything from packing material, compost, and cleaning windows, to lining the bottom of old boxes used in the garage to put partially used bottles of oil, etc.; coffee cans were used to organized small items in the garage (nails, screws, bolts, etc.); sawdust from Daddy’s tablesaw was also used as a cleanup for oil spills as it absorbs it, and then you can clean any stain left.