Have you ever noticed how much you waste around your home? I’m sure over the years, I’ve noticed things I threw out that I could have reused or could have done a better job recycling, but only in the past few months have I noticed just how wasteful we had become at home. This prompted me to want to make a few changes and test just how much we could cut back on waste in easy, efficient and sanitary ways in our everyday lives.

I started noticing this issue when our baby began eating solids. For the first six months of his life, when he was only drinking milk, I used a burp cloth to clean up spilled milk and spit up, and there really wasn’t anything else to clean. But then when we started feeding him solids, the messes began. For every meal, we would use paper towels to clean him up, and then use more paper towels to clean up the table and his high chair. (The dog helps us with floor clean up.) I realized after a little while that we were going through so many paper towels. Which led me to take note of how much paper we waste at mealtime generally since Daniel and I use paper napkins.

Having a baby also made me see how dirty everything is! We try to keep a clean house and have cleaners come once a month to do the job really well, but dust collects so easily. So, there go Lysol or Clorox wipes, or more paper towels to wipe up surfaces.

And then I just kept noticing how much waste we were contributing and it began bothering me more and more. Here are a few ways I’ve been cutting back on waste in the past couple of months, weeks, and even days:

1. Replacing paper towels as much as possible: Remember those old Shamwow commercials that aired on repeat in the ’90s? Yeah, so did I, so I bought a pack and so far, they have worked really well. The trick is to not just wring and hang them dry but to also wash them in the laundry, which I do once a week. We use them to wipe up countertops and the table in the kitchen and, as long as we remember to do that, I think that will really help us cut back on how many paper towels we use every day.
2. Replacing paper towels, part 2: In light of how much cleaning I expect we’ll be doing of late (see here if you don’t know what I’m referring to), I thought I should look into another set of reusable rags to be used with bleach and other cleaning or disinfecting solutions. I recently picked up a pack of multi-purpose cleaning rags and just started using them. I hope that this helps us cut paper towel usage in the long run.
3. Replacing napkins: I found these cute ones on Etsy by CHOW with Me. I specifically wanted a reusable napkin that is the same size as an actual napkin and knew I’d have to buy enough for all three of us to use at least once a day and make it through a full week until laundry day. That meant that whatever I purchased had to come at a reasonable price. I liked the first two batches I received so I bought two more for a total of 28. Not only do these work well and I like the look of them, I’m happy I get to support a maker.
4. Saving on snack bags: Just in time for daycare to be shut down (thanks, coronavirus), we bought reusable snack bags. I had been wanting to buy those for a while but wanted to first test out how much we would really need them at his age. Turns out, this boy loves snacking and we really need to provide a variety of food for him every day, so now we’ll have them for daycare once he goes back and for whenever we leave the house. We also recently purchased reusable pouches so we can make our own vegetable and fruit mixes for him to feed himself through a pouch at daycare or wherever we go, which both cuts down on single-use plastic purchases and the amount we would spend on baby food.

Those are the ways I’m try to be less wasteful. Yes, we still have and use paper towels and even napkins, but we are trying, which is the whole point. There are a million ways to cut down even more, and I’m sure I’ll notice what else we can do as he grows up. If you have any tips for me on the easy, efficient and sanitary ways to waste less, please let me know!