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Sustainable swaps can be a fun way to incorporate more eco-friendly practices into your slow living journey. Just a couple of important notes:

First of all, it is better to use up what you already have even if it is a disposable product before making your swap.

And second, many ‘effortless’ swaps are not effortless unless you come from a place of privilege. There are many who cannot make these swaps due to lack of resources or varying health conditions. So, while these changes can be a fun way to feel more connected to the earth and our environment, real change happens on a global and national level with our leadership. We must enact policies that protect our planet and regulate the huge corporations that are currently leaving us, the consumers, to clean up the pieces of their dirty work.

That said, here are some ideas for what you can swap out to save money and, at least slightly, limit your personal impact on the planet.

Windex 🡪 Vinegar

The benefit to opting out of chemical cleaners is two-fold: less plastic AND fewer toxic chemicals. The truth is there’s no one really policing the labeling of ‘toxic-free’ cleaners, so these labels can’t be trusted.

Vinegar works as a disinfectant to some degree; it will kill E-coli and Salmonella. It is not as powerful as bleach, but is very effective as a general household cleaner.

We use it on mirrors, windows, sinks, shower walls…the list goes on and on!

Because of its acidic nature, vinegar should not be used to clean stone (including granite, marble, and quartz) or hardwood flooring.

How to Make Vinegar House Cleaner

This cleaner requires only two ingredients: vinegar and water.

We generally eyeball the ratio of vinegar to water, but a good general rule is 3 Tablespoons of vinegar to 1 cup of water.

Fast Fashion 🡪 Secondhand Clothes

Did you know the production of cotton for fast fashion is second only to oil mining as the worst industry in the world for harming the planet? The impact of the growth of genetically-modified cotton seeds and the use of toxic pesticides has resulted in entire villages being poisoned by their water supply. Buying secondhand eliminates this aspect from the supply chain, and it’s fun!

Tips For Shopping Secondhand:

Make a list of items you are looking for, so if you run across something you want you can double check whether it’s something you need.
Look often and be patient! The stock of secondhand stores, online and in person, changes daily.
Know your measurements. Buy a flexible tape measure and write down your chest, waist, hip, and inseam so you can quickly reference it while shopping.

My Favorite Places to Shop Secondhand:

Poshmark has a huge variety. One feature I particularly like is that your payment isn’t released to the seller until your item has arrived and you’ve approved it.
Etsy sellers list thousands and thousands of vintage clothing items.
Local thrift stores are the most fun in terms of feeling as though you’re on a treasure hunt. Skip the chains if you can in favor of smaller stores.

Disposable Plastic Water Bottle 🡪 Glass or Metal Water Bottle

Did you know roughly 2,480,000 tons of plastic bottles and other containers are tossed out (not recycled) every year. Plastic bottles make up a significant portion of this waste. They are also one of the main sources of pollution and pose a serious threat to our environment and the animals we share it with. There are so many reusable water bottles available. In a pinch, a mason jar or old sauce jar will do just fine.

I love these metal water bottles from Package Free Shop

Disposable Plastic Containers 🡪 Glass Storage

Mason jars can hold anything a plastic baggie can, and are also useful pantry containers. We use them all over our home to hold leftovers, beans, soups, flowers, overnight oats, and even as soap dispensers.

A variety of tops are available for storage, smoothies, oil dispensing, and sipping, and cozies available to keep your coffee or tea warm.

If fitting mason jars in your fridge is not the best option for you, Package Free Shop has these great glass food storage containers with bamboo lids which stack and allow for an organized refrigerator.

Here’s my top choices for mason jar accessories:

Plastic Straws 🡪 Glass, Metal, or Bamboo Straws*

*Note that doing away with plastic straws altogether is not an option, as many people need access to bendable straws to eat or drink.

In the US alone, people discard 500 million straws every day, or more than 180 billion a year. That’s about 1.4 million kilograms of plastic sent to landfills (and the ocean) every day!

Here’s my top choices for reusable straws:

Plastic Shopping Bags 🡪 Reusable Bags

Hopefully you’ve already jumped on this bandwagon, but if not, here’s a reason you should: Plastic bags are used for only 20 minutes on average, but take hundreds of year to decompose, and in that time can poison or kill countless wildlife.

Any tote bag will do, and they can often be found cheap or free. Or you can grab these reusable string netted market bags from Package Free Shop by clicking here.

Prepackaged Tea Bags 🡪 Loose Leaf Tea and Strainer

‘Paper’ tea bags almost always contain some plastic, and can be full of pesticides, toxins, and dioxins. Epichlorhydrine is the pesticide most often found in tea bags. It’s known to cause cancer in animals exposed to it.

As a bonus, using leaf tea means a wider choice of options and the possibility to mix your own varieties.

Tea strainers are available in practical, pretty, and humorous options. Some are more durable than others, so take a look at the construction before purchasing.

Here’s a few of my top choices for reusable loose leaf tea strainers:

Dryer Sheets 🡪 Wool Dryer Balls

Wool dryer balls are a better option all around than toxin laden fabric softener and wasteful, one-time-use dryer sheets. Not only are these products bad for the environment, their contents are also absorbed by your clothing, towels, and bedding, and then transferred to your skin.

Wool dryer balls are fun to make, or you can grab this set of three from Package Free Shop by clicking here.

Paper Towels 🡪 Rags

Although convenient and sometimes necessary for really gross messes, single use paper towels are not the best option because they create a significant waste problem. 254 tons a year in the US, to be specific!

Rags are an easy substitute. Most everyone has clothes or towels or sheets they’ve worn out, or relatives who do. Cut to shape with pinking shears, those items make very effective cleaning towels.

We like to cut our rags into a few standard sizes for use in different situations, but the truth is you could simply rip a cotton sheet up with your hands and be good to go.

If rags are not your style, Swedish dishcloths are a great option. One Swedish dish cloth can replace 17 rolls of paper towels.

I use Package Free Shop Swedish dishcloths, which are made of 70% cellulose and 30% organic cotton. They are 100% natural, biodegradable, and they’re much cheaper than paper towels! Click here to shop at Package Free.

Paper Napkins 🡪 Cloth Napkins

Cloth napkins make even a pb&j feel a bit fancy. I like to look for vintage ones whenever I go thrifting or antiquing. I’ve also been given some by older relatives who were delighted I was being old-fashioned.

People worry that using rags or cloth napkins will hugely increase their laundry loads, but we have not found that to be true. Only the dirtiest of rags need to be washed separately, and the great majority of the time the rags we use can go straight in with our towels.

Paper Tissues 🡪 Cloth Hankies

Stay with me here – I know this is a polarizing idea! Plenty of people will say it’s just gross, and fair enough, but for me the thought of blowing my nose with a bit of fabric and then putting the fabric in the laundry is not an issue. Package Free Shop has the last tissue box you’ll ever need - click here to grab it.

Washing Your Hair Every Day 🡪 Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo allows you to wash your hair less frequently, lowering water consumption in the shower and allowing you to use less shampoo overall. Spending just 3 minutes less in the shower can help save over 6 gallons of water.

If you buy a dry shampoo, look for one that does not come as an aerosol spray, like this one. Better yet, you can make your own. Arrowroot or cornstarch make effective dry shampoos and are perfect for light blonde hair, but you can also add various ingredients depending on your hair color.

How to Make Dry Shampoo

Mix 2 Tablespoons of arrowroot or cornstarch with 2 Tablespoons of coloring powder:
For darker blonde or medium-brown hair, add cocoa powder.
For black hair, add cocoa powder and activated charcoal.
For red hair, add cinnamon.

Disposable Wipes 🡪 Washable Cotton Facecloths

Somewhere around 20 million pounds of disposable wipes are thrown away every DAY in the US. Most end up in landfills, and despite claims to the contrary, most are not biodegradable and do not rapidly break down. Any cotton facecloth will do. I love to use old flannel PJs for this. Or you can buy these wipes from Marley’s Monsters.

Swiffer Mops 🡪 Reusable Mops and Cleaning Pads

Swiffer mops are convenient and user-friendly, but have you ever thought about how much trash those single use pads generate? Not to mention the chemicals in the cleaning solutions or the plastic bottles that contain those solutions.

Disposable Swiffer pads are made from polyester, which is derived from fossil fuels, which are, of course, contributing to the degradation of our ecosystems and wildlife.

A simple solution is to hang on to your dry Swiffer stick if you already have one, but replace those disposable pads with terry cloth. You can often find terry cloth in the scrap bin at your local fabric store. Or, cut up an old towel instead.

Cut the terrycloth a little bigger than the disposable Swiffer pads to allow for any shrinkage.

For the Wet-Jet mops, a great replacement is a steam mop - click here for the one we use. I find them so much easier to use: just add water and you’re good to go. Steam removes dirt and bacteria, and leaves my floors looking and feeling much cleaner.

Wrapping Paper 🡪 Reusable Bags or Alternative Wrapping

Every year Americans use 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper. A good bit of that ends up in a landfill. Wrapping paper with glitter, foil, plastic, texture, bows, tape, or sticky tags on it cannot be recycled.

What To Use Instead of Wrapping Paper

It used to be common to use the comics from newspapers, and that’s still a fun option. Any part of the newspaper will do, really.
Save the brown paper that comes in the cardboard boxes shipped to your house. Everyone loves a brown paper package tied up with string! Brown shopping bags are also perfect for this look.
Sheet music, book pages, posters, and magazines can all make pretty wrapping.
Using fabric as wrapping is a fun option.
A pretty tin is a great way to package a present. You can often find them at thrift stores.
If you do use disposable wrapping paper, be sure it’s paper only. Use paper bows and tape and don’t forget to recycle!

Plastic Wrap 🡪 Beeswax Wraps

You can make beeswax wraps at home using fabric, beeswax, resin, and jojoba oil, but in my experience it’s a bit of a messy and time consuming project. Regardless of whether you shop or make, they are great for wrapping sandwiches or snacks and cover bowls. They should last for about a year, and most are compostable. Here’s some you can buy from Package Free Shop.

What is your favorite sustainable swap? Let me know in the comments!

Sustainable Swaps For Your Home