Getting into Zero Waste in the early months of 2018, I've been through many alternatives to try better my personal impact on issues I cared about over the years I was severely committed to this sustainability approach. Mainly, I focused on plastic usage in the home before taking some incentives into gardening\food production and sustainable fashion. Overall, I've tried at least 50 zero-waste alternatives. Not everything worked for me, some were too much work, and some I'm still doing to this day. Here is a list of my favorite Zero Waste alternatives and why I am sticking to them.
KITCHEN
Reusable Waterbottle | I have used reusable water bottles all my life so it wasn't really a change in that regard. When I picked one within a Zero Waste mindset, I focused on the material and production rather than it simply being reusable and came to set my love on stainless-steel bottles over both glass and plastic due to their sturdiness, clean taste, and medium-weight. A bottle brush is definitively needed to make you want to continue using your bottle after some time though.
Cleaning brush with changeable brush head | Zero Waste-wise this is a reduction alternative and a choice to pick natural materials in my cleaning tools over plastic. I still use the first handle I got and I keep replacing the heads. This option has yet to become cheaper than its plastic option, but it's mine so I continue using it since I don't want to waste it. My biggest issue is a lack of a scrape to get off the hardest stains like you can find on the plastic ones.
Silicone Baking Sheets | I don't think this swap is much better than disposable unbleached baking paper, but I really wanted to try this one out because I bake a lot. I really like the idea behind them and they are so easy to clean. As long as these stay alive I will keep using them.
Stasher Reusable Silicone Bags | These have grown so much on me, and now I use them daily. I like their sandwich bag and larger sizes. The smaller ones are too small for my purposes. Otherwise, they do everything I want a Stasher bag to do - keep my hot and cool food good in the fridge, freezer, and dishwasher!
Ocean Saver Washing Detergent(s) | Bring your own bottle + cap, add lukewarm water, and shake until dissolved. This product is everything I could wish for, and while the reuse part of it would fill my ZW-shaped heart itself, I was won over by the fact that their glass spray is phenomenal! (Something often lacking in ZW alternatives.)
Reusing food jars from the store | I've been cleaning and drying the jars from jams and sauces for a few years now and I always find uses for the jars during summer and fall. Yes, thank you, for "free" reusable jars to store food and stuff in.
HAIR & BODY
Shampoo\Conditioner\Soap Bars | Game changer. I adore shampoo bars. Their best features are their lightweight and small size. They are so easy to travel with, last me for months, and smell amazing. I use Lush which uses SLS which I do not prefer due to their effects on marine wildlife, but I have yet to find a shampoo bar without it that works on my hair. I keep them in two metal tins from Lush, and cut them into two pieces to make them last longer.
Bamboo Toothbrush | Toothbrushes have much been the same to me, so changing from plastic to bamboo wasn't really much of a sacrifice. I like them, so I've continued to use them. Bamboo is a controversial and greenwashed ingredient so if it is any "better" than reducing plastic consumption is hard to say.
Safety Razor | I saved up to this one, and I have not regretted it. I'm saving a large amount of money by not buying into the marketing of conventional razors for women. The upfront cost is higher, but in 4 years I've only bought blades once and they cost me less than 70NOK for 20 pieces, saving me a lot of money overall.
DIY Sugar Body Scrub | This is one of my favorite recipes if I want to spoil myself a bit. It uses kitchen staples as ingredients (sugar and oil) and you only make what you need at the time of use to keep it from growing bacteria. That way I won't waste ingredients, know exactly what goes into the product, and usually have it at hand at all times. It's also much cheaper than buying a scrub at a store, and lacks packaging -- something that was a big thing within Zero Waste when I first began using this alternative.
Organic Cotton Rounds | I use these daily in my skincare routine to substitute for single-use cotton rounds. I use it together with a towel that I have specifically for my skincare. These are easy because you can just rinse them after use and throw them in the washing machine after a few uses. I choose organic cotton because it uses fewer pesticides, fertilizer, and water than conventional cotton (and it was my only option at the time.)
Tooth Tabs | YES. I love Tooth Tabs, but it has to be Happy Tabs. I've tried other brands and they simply do not have the right consistency. They make brushing my teeth fun! Mostly, I use conventional toothpaste thought and save these for when I need to pack lightweight, e.g. for travel.
Silk Dental Floss | I've used plastic dental floss all my life, and never gotten the hang of it. It was too slippery for me so the textured feel of silk floss offered was such a positive surprise. I'm still on the corner about if I prefer the compostable death of silkworms over petroleum-based options thought. Overall, I'm currently choosing health, alas the type I will actually get myself to use. (This is definitively one option where you easily can notice the gray areas in the "sustainability" approach of ZW.)
Period Panties & Cup - I have used both these options and currently panties are definitively winning after I had to struggle with a cup at a cottage last fall and finding myself becoming increasingly unhygienic due to a lack of sanitary options. Thus, I decided to try period panties and I love how they can look beautiful on you and still do their job. Washing them are easy enough as they go into the washing machine (in a Guppy Friend bag) after a thorough cleaning in cold water. I think the main con of these is the price, which was why I for some years ahead used the cup as a much more affordable option.
CLOTHES
Bio-D Washing Powder | I've used this washing powder since I bought it and one of my favorite things is probably that it doesn't smell and I feel like it is taking care of my clothes. The strong scents of conventional products have been off-putting since I started using gentler and unscented products.
Guppy Friend | Instead of collecting microplastics from my clothes, the main benefit of this product for me has been how much it saves my clothes from the harsh parts of the washing cycle. They definitively last longer and protect my more fragile pieces in the wash. I try not to buy plastic-based clothes anymore so I normally don't have a lot of put in the bag in that category.
MINDSET
This post would not be complete if I did not mention the main impact my time within this movement has left on me, namely the change in my mindset. I have definitively a more conscious relationship with where things come from - how they are produced, which materials are used - and I don't see things as disposable anymore. Instead, I aim to repurpose, reuse and rot what I can. I've found myself learning to mend and take care of my clothes, learning to sew and crochet, compost my food scraps so my garden beds circulate, and learning more about my local flora and fauna (finding myself stepping into the same paths my grandparents chose for their garden decades ago). These are actions that have felt right to my core. Composting my food waste felt incredibly satisfying and watching food plants grow was a deep lesson in the slow rhythm of the seasons and gratitude.
Unfortunately, these have also been some of the hardest initiatives to uphold. I'm currently not composting due to not having been able to educate myself on it in time and finding it difficult where I live when we only have a few months of decent temperatures a year (it moves incredibly slowly). As well as not living at home or being able to invest in a certified warm-compost bin. My garden this year became some staple herbs as I was laying on the sofa with COVID-19 for the entirety of spring, and the majority of the summer has rained away. Maybe next spring will bring better odds for the outdoors.
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