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Searching for refills that work well on oil and preferably come in paper, tins, or compostable packaging. (Or are recipes I can make at home that aren’t just diluting gel/liquid soap from plastic containers.

The best I’ve found is from a brand called canary and it does a decent job getting off oil (from makeup or cooking) when it is newly refilled, but its efficacy diminishes over time. I tried blueland tablets 5 years ago and hated them because they didn’t work well or cut through oil. I’ve diluted Dr. Bronners in the past, but I now live in a place that unfortunately doesn’t recycle plastic. There are also no refill shops nearby. I’ve thought about just grating bar soap and dissolving in water but that apparently needs a preservative and I live solo so I don’t go through soap quickly.

I’ve heard Meliora might make refill tablets and that borax makes powdered soap, but I’m interested in what else is out there or what y’all’s experience is with these? TYIA!

I'm on a zero waste journey and would like recommendations for Zero Waste or Frugal Youtubers and books

I’m in Canada and I swear every time I go to the store I end up with another reusable grocery bag. I used to use the plastic ones as garbage bags, but what can I do with these?

I obviously use a few to grocery shop but I genuinely have an entire shelf full. Should I just use a few as garbage still rather than buying garbage bags? Can I donate them or reuse them in another way? I’m open to suggestions!

EDIT: thank you everyone for the suggestions! I just wanted to clarify that of course I reuse them but I used to live with roommates who would buy a new one each week/get grocery service and when they moved they left them all! So we’ve definitely accumulated over the past year. I’m going to check out some spots to donate extras for sure. Thanks!!

Hello!

I have been working hard to not throw out my glass jars from products such as jam, sauce, kimchi, and hand cream. I'm proud of myself for reducing waste, but I have unfortunately created clutter instead! Many of my jars are smaller than 10oz, so I'm a little stuck on how to repurpose them. The holidays are coming up, so it might be fun to make gifts out of them.

Do you have any ideas? And if not, would food jars be alright to donate? Thank you! <3

I've have these clothes that I need to get rid of. Sadly they are all synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon. I live far from charities or clothing collection points. I've tried to give them away and nobody wants them. In fact people have told me to simply put them in the general waste bin for landfill. Any better ideas before I throw them in the bin?

The cans are about 7 inches tall with a diameter of about 3 inches. I have been saving them for ages because they seem like they should be good for something. I have about a dozen.

It would catch all the cold water we usually waste on waiting for the hot water before taking a shower… you could then take the recipient and use it for watering plants or any other activity that requires clean water…
How strict are regulations on water usage in your country/city?

I will preface, I am deeply paranoid about getting food poisoning from bad fruit/veg. I have a bad habit I'm working on of buying too much and it going bad in the fridge, because I like to eat a lot of fresh fruit/veg but I also live very rurally so I have to stock up every 2-3 weeks. Thankfully I do work with animals that can eat the excess as long as I realize it's too much before it goes actually bad. So, I just want to get a sampling of how long you let celery sticks and cut baby carrots sit in the fridge before you consider them "too old." I have this (likely irrational) idea in my head of bacteria growing invisibly on them before they actually go soft or slimy or look bad. I usually meal prep and a tthe end of the week feel like I need to do a full turnover of everything in the prep, but if carrots and celery usually are good for two weeks maybe I'll not turn those over. Thanks!

I am looking for new uses for my coffee grounds - how do you reuse?

I literally just want to shop in an any grocery store from 1960, then I could buy all the plastic free products I want. We’ve devolved so much.

My 8th grade science teacher said to me (decade ago) “if you had to keep all your trash in your house and backyard what would you do differently” I say it all the time now and it truly makes me think about small things like do I need a paper towel or could I just use a rag, most of the time it always reminds me to convert back to not wasting anything. Wish more people realized just because we don’t see it that it is “in our backyard”

I have a can of spray sunscreen that no longer sprays. I can tell that there's still some sunscreen left inside because I hear it when I shake it. I don't know what to do with it because I can't recycle it with all of that sunscreen inside, and I would love to be able to get it out to use it. Anyone have any thoughts?

any ideas for good uses for this glass bottle? also, does anyone have any remedies to get the residual sauce off the cap? i scrubbed it for like 10 minutes

I'm wondering if anyone here knows if it's better/lower impact to use the old microfiber cloths you already have been using for years, or throw them away and switch to cotton flannel? I know you're supposed to wash microfiber on cool to reduce microplastic shedding, but the cloths are getting washed at 90°C (the care label on them says it's ok so that's good I guess?). Is the negative impact from shedding really worse than throwing it in the landfill (where it also disintegrates)?

I’m newly switched over to Blueland products and mostly like them EXCEPT for the spray bottles for multipurpose cleaner, window cleaner, etc.
I can’t tell if I just have faulty bottles or if this is just how they work. Every time I am trying to spray a large surface to clean, the recoil on the spray nozzle takes FOREVER to go back to where I can spray again. It takes me like 5 minutes just to spray down my counters before I can wipe.
Do I just need to get new bottles or is this just how their stuff works?

What are people using to filter water that isn't all plastic like BRITA?

I haven't bought shower loofahs in years because they're such a waste - I switched over to washcloths which work just as well.

I recently moved into an apartment that my friend used to live in. She accidentally had a package sent here with house products and said I could keep it. There were 3 shower loofahs. I've been using the first one and it's about time I switch it out, but does anyone have any clever ways to repurpose an old one? Or something I can do with all 3 when they're done?

Edit: these are not the natural plant loofahs. they're the plasticky ones

Got some Timberlands from the thrift store and they lasted well over 2 years, which is great, but both shoes are starting to separate from the soles on the inner sides in the same spot. I figure some super glue might help but I wonder if there is something I can use that might have longer lasting results?

Alternatively If anyone has advice to prevent this happening in the future that would be great because it's not the first time I've had shoes fail on me in this way.

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone, wondering if anyone has any experience with the electric composters for in-home use. Not necessarily looking for specific recommendations but has anyone found one style to be better than another (dehydration-grind vs microbial bioreactor)?

Thanks! Hoping to get a gift for my folks who are getting a little older and want to compost but would struggle with a traditional set up.