Have you ever considered how much plastic you use every single day? A takeaway coffee cup, plastic water bottles, single-use cutlery, plastic bags for your fruits and vegetables... These are a couple examples of waste that every single one of us could easily reduce in our day-to-day lives. Now, more than ever before, people are beginning to understand the terrible impact these products have on the planet, and one thing we can't argue about is- it's time to make a change. This list compiled by Bored Panda shows creative ways people have decided to help mother earth by reducing their waste. Let's hope this will inspire you to be the change our planet desperately needs!
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Confetti Made From Fallen Leaves! Loved This Zero-Waste Decoration Idea
This Guy's Fence Is Made From Random Doors
My Tour Guide's Tool For Picking Up Littered Bottles Along The Trail
Taking A Stand
My Mom’s Husband Is A Pilot So He Wraps All His Gifts In Old Flight Maps
We Detrashed A Lake In Texas! 4,000 Pounds Of Beer Bottles And Beer Cans. With About 30 Scuba Divers And 4 Boats. Did It In About 4 Hours
Didn't Want To Waste The Failed Films So I Turned Them Into Little Paintings
My Pantry After Harvest Season Is Finally Over
Turning Christmas Cards Into Tags For Next Year
I do this every year. I also try not to use wrapping paper. One year I managed to wrap everything in fabric, or christmas tea-towels or pillowcases. The fabric can be re-used and the tea-towels and pillowcases can be part of the gift. Googe furoshiki.
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I used to do this. Perhaps I will start again now that its 'cool'... It used to be just 'cheap'!!
My mother was doing this when I was a kid 35 years ago. I still do this!
Been doing that for years, some of the pictures are just too nice to throw out.
My mother did this in the nineteen fifty's and still does it. I have followed my mother and even framed a few Christmas Cards.
I admit being an awful greeting card hoarder, can't bring myself to throw them away. Is hoarding eco-friendly too? Lol
When my family exchanged presents at Christmas/Yule/Winterfest time, we often used leftover scraps of wrapping paper as tags. We also reused bows. One particularly pretty bow lasted more than 10 years.
My mom does this....mostly because she still has the "re-use EVERYTHING" immigrant mentality but it's honeslty a totally viable solution.
I just don't do Christmas cards. And I write the TO & FROM on a square I cut from the paper.
My Mom Is Slowly Knitting A Scarf Made Completely From Tea Bag Strings
Stuffed Whales Made From Old Jeans
Here Is My Old Music Used As Wrapping Paper
Make A Baby Dress Out Of An Old Button-Up Shirt
great idea--sewing, or rather learning, is high on my list of things to do!
Had A Friend Complain About Straw Bans Saying That They’re Not Even A Real Litter/Marine Debris Issue
So I did a quick 10 minute sweep of 300ft of shoreline to prove them wrong.
Got My First Sewing Machine For Christmas, Made “Unpaper” Towels To Reduce Our Paper Towel Waste. They Clasp Together So It's Easy To Know Which Are Clean
Needed An Organiser So I Made One Out Of Cardboard Instead Of Purchasing One
I Hadn't Used My Reusable Bags Because I'm Pretty Socially Anxious And Was Worried About The Cashier Being Frustrated. But Used This For The First Time Today!
A Customer From Work Made A Reusable Bag From Hundreds Of Plastic Ones
i've heard about things like this--great idea! in my area, a group even knits mats out of them for homeless people in the area.
Small Wins: Convincing The Ice Cream Shop To Let Me Have It In My Reusable Cup Instead Of A Disposable Cup. The Guy Looked So Confused When I Asked!
i don't know why some businesses are against this (laws, maybe? idk), but i think they pay more for the container than they do the product that goes into it. allowing customers to bring their own containers benefits us all, at least twofold--less waste & higher profit margin. i know part of the reluctance to get on board has to be regulating the size of the containers that the customer brings, but surely that can be figured out.
No More Plastic Bottles In The Shower
Had A Volunteer Help Me Make These Stools Out Of Our Discarded Books For New Library Seating
Turned Old Uniforms Into A Bed Cover For Our Foster Kittens. Cuts Down On Washing Too
We Wrap Our Holiday Gifts In Fabric And Reuse It Every Year. No Tape Or Paper Trash And It Looks So Much Nicer Too
I'm guessing the ribbon holds it all together? i'm not good at wrapping to begin with, but this sounds like a great idea
All Of This Year's Christmas Presents Wrapped Using White Paper From 1 Amazon Delivery Box
Used Some Leftover Yarn To Make Crochet Produce Bags
Posted to Snapchat and 10 mins later I have 45 orders of them (and counting) for friends and family wanting to cut the plastic!
We Enjoy Our Zero-Plastic Alternatives For Holding Home-Made Shampoo And Shower Gel. It Helps Our House Look More Rock 'N Roll
Update: ~400 T-Shirt Pieces, Now A Quilt Top
This is great! My kids were rowers and they bought a t-shirt for each regatta. A quilt from those would have been fun!
My Friends Smoked A 20 Lb Turkey For Their Halloween Party. After They Carved It They Were Going To Throw The Carcass Away
I took it home with me and made 14 pints of turkey stock.
I'm Never Going Back To Wrapping Paper! Used A Grocery Bag And Some String And Decided To Add An Origami Cutie To The Top
looking forward to the day that stores start asking "paper or plastic" again! paper bags are SO useful in upcycling
I Think I'm Going To Stop Buying (New) Clothes. Made This From A $4 Shirt
if i was better at sewing, i would definitely do this (i love Pinterest for ideas like this)!
I Made A Holder For Reusable Chopsticks, Silverware, And Straw That Doubles As A Cloth Napkin When Unfolded
I'm Going To Be Wrapping My Gifts In Furoshiki From Now On
I love the idea of each person receiving a gift in their furoshiki and then using it to wrap a gift for someone else - how far will it travel?
I Made Shampoo Bars: Total Cost For A Year Supply Was About $20, And No More Plastic Bottles
This Year I Made My Own Origami Pill Cases To Replace The Easily Broken Plastic Kind, And They Have Held Up Well
Local Custom: Around Here People Put Out Spare Veg From Their Garden For Anyone To Help Themselves
We walk around with a wagon. "Want bananas?" "No, get plenty." "Want bananas?" "No, get choke." "Want bananas? Please take some bananas." Then we leave the rest on the bench at dog park or Ho'okipa beach.
The Chairs In My Garden Are Made Out Of Shopping Trolleys
that's a new twist on them! have to wonder how much work it was to do? (and hoping that they were acquired legally...lol)
My Boyfriend Uses Lip Balm Religiously. I Saved His Used Tubes For The Last Year And Today I Am Re-Using Them! I Found A Recipe For Lip Balm On Pinterest
Went To A Party That Had A Big Recycling Can For Bottles, And A Small Recycling Can For Bottle Caps
Might Not Look The Prettiest But My Sewing Project So Far, Making Face Cleaner Rounds And Other Cleaning Cloths From Old T-Shirts That Can’t Be Given To Charity
Cat Food Bag + Leftover Bag Handles From A Workshop = Reusable Grocery Bag With A Giant Cat Face On It
i do this with feed bags of all kinds; you can use old belts for the handles, or use part of the excess bag that is cut off. my mom uses them as 'tarps' on her outside bird cages.
I Wanted To Buy Some Blueberries From The Farmers' Market But Didn’t Want Any Packaging And Forgot A Container. Used My Empty Water Bottle Instead
I Love This Idea - A Dog Poop Bag Dispenser Attached To A Lamppost Made From A Plastic Bottle By Local Scouts
1 Month Of Trash And Still Trying To Reduce
Cutting Up Unused Mesh Curtains To Make Reusable Mesh Groceries Bags, With The Emotional Support Of My Furry Buddy
When You Just Have To Use Plastic Packaging, Don't Be Fooled When It's Seemingly Empty: If You Cut It Open, You'll See There's Still A Lot Left
YES! I always do that. People think I'm weird, but you can go such a long way. I do that with my medicated lip balm, my toothpaste, etc.
I Recycled My Families Old Socks
I Started Making A Basket Out Of All Of The Plastic Bags I've Been Hoarding
Zero Waste Win: It Took Some Serious Cajoling But I Convinced Superstore To Put My Deli Stuff Straight Into My Own Containers
Maybe Not The Most Ground Breaking Thing Ever But The Most Used Drinking Glasses In My House Are Just Old Pasta Sauce Jars
We use mustard glasses. more comfortable because these are not threaded
Instead Of Placing Garbage Cans Around This Beach, The City Made A Giant See-Through Fish With The Words "Goby Loves Plastic, Please Feed Him"
Kids enjoyed feeding him so much, that he's usually full by the end of the day
Looking at these pics just wondered how many paper is wasted in receipts. In some cases are useful, but should be optional.
At some stores, if you have an account, they will send your receipt to email instead of printing it. If you use Walmart pay with your Walmart app, you can get a digital receipt. PetSmart and Home Depot also have this option. I'm sure there are others.
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The ones involving plastic bags, unless you reuse them endlessly, they still end up in landfills. What are you going to do when that reusable bag made of disposable bags rips or falls apart? All it did was delay the inevitable.
If we keep delaying the inevitable, then it will slow the march towards the landfill whilst we come up with alternatives.
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Gift bags and the like regularly get traded back and forth between myself and some friends. There's some pretty, Christmassy tissue paper that has been going back and forth between me, Helen and Vikki for a few years now - it's almost part of Christmas, seeing it wrapping something.
We re-use gift tissue paper a lot. You can actually iron it to make it look all smooth again :)
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I would love to go zero-waste, but in all honesty, I have found it to be very expensive
And SO time consuming. I mean, making your own rug?? Honestly, I don't think I would have time for that.
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One of the hardest things on being on a zero-waste journey is that many of your friends start to see you as a crazy person. They don't get it. And you can feel kinda lonely. And it hurts to see how, even thou you give your best, many of them just don't give a F. And they simply don't want to make small important changes just because they're lazy. Sad.
This is such an inspiring post. I've already made some big consumer habit and household changes based on the ideas shared here.
I've found it so hard to find alternatives to plastic products when i first started to actively reduce my waste. I found this website which made it so much easier to do that and thought maybe it'll help you too - https://ecoalternatives.to/
Start thinking like your Grandparents. Perhaps they have told you stories about the Depression. My Grandmothers lived through this era. Nothing went to waste. Chicken and Turkey carcasses were used to make soup. Nothing tastes better. Look up recipes on the Internet. Use those glass bottles from pasta or jam to store the soup in the freezer. No plastic consumption here. I can make 10 jars of soup for about $4.00. You do the math. Intentionally buy meat on sale. When you cook it, cook extra so that you can make sandwiches from it for your “brown bag” lunch. I bought a lunch bag and glass and plastic containers that would fit into it. Make your own coffee or tea at home and take it to work with you in a metal thermos. I must admit that I buy a case of bottled water. I live on a well and if the powers goes out, I have no pump. I will use the bottles then. Spend some money and get yourself and insulated water bottle. Add ice and tap water and go. These can be washed.
Um... I was raised poor. We did most of these. (The plastic grocery bags weren't around then, however, so, yeah, I'm old.) Worn out clothes = rags or rag rugs; jars are re-used; good parts of things like jeans/shirts = kid clothing, etc. Oh, and there is no such thing as left over garden produce. It's eaten or it's preserved. I was always amazed by how wasteful people were and thought how "rich" they must be.
We had our first garden this past year. Had no idea how much we would actually produce and I ended up filling the entirety of the underside of our queen-size bed with jars of pickles (that's my canned goods storage area; we have a very small house). Unfortunately, a friend gave us a LOT of seeds for habaneros, and we grew WAY more habanero peppers than any normal human being could possibly use ever. Ended up throwing the last batch out into the garden for composting, in the end. We were mincing & freezing them but seriously nobody with normal taste buds could eat that many habaneros.
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I'm encouraged by this post! Every little bit of effort that someone makes to RR&R is a great thing!
I feel wasteful as hell now, but never too late to start being better!
i'm loving these ideas--i use a lot of them, but am always looking for more ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
I saw you mention you make your own toothpaste, would you mind sharing the recipe?
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Where did the tyre table go??? I refreshed the page before commenting because I wanted to see if anyone had identified all the people on it. Now it's gone. As best as I could tell, it had Gandhi, Mother Teresa, MLK, Obama, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and ... Bill Gates (who seems a little odd in that grouping). I was hoping someone could help identify the rest, as I suspect I really *should* have been able to recognize them.
You're trying too hard to get downvotes, man. From now on, only upvotes from me!
Load More Replies... Looking at these pics just wondered how many paper is wasted in receipts. In some cases are useful, but should be optional.
At some stores, if you have an account, they will send your receipt to email instead of printing it. If you use Walmart pay with your Walmart app, you can get a digital receipt. PetSmart and Home Depot also have this option. I'm sure there are others.
Load More Replies... The ones involving plastic bags, unless you reuse them endlessly, they still end up in landfills. What are you going to do when that reusable bag made of disposable bags rips or falls apart? All it did was delay the inevitable.
If we keep delaying the inevitable, then it will slow the march towards the landfill whilst we come up with alternatives.
Load More Replies... Gift bags and the like regularly get traded back and forth between myself and some friends. There's some pretty, Christmassy tissue paper that has been going back and forth between me, Helen and Vikki for a few years now - it's almost part of Christmas, seeing it wrapping something.
We re-use gift tissue paper a lot. You can actually iron it to make it look all smooth again :)
Load More Replies... I would love to go zero-waste, but in all honesty, I have found it to be very expensive
And SO time consuming. I mean, making your own rug?? Honestly, I don't think I would have time for that.
Load More Replies... One of the hardest things on being on a zero-waste journey is that many of your friends start to see you as a crazy person. They don't get it. And you can feel kinda lonely. And it hurts to see how, even thou you give your best, many of them just don't give a F. And they simply don't want to make small important changes just because they're lazy. Sad.
This is such an inspiring post. I've already made some big consumer habit and household changes based on the ideas shared here.
I've found it so hard to find alternatives to plastic products when i first started to actively reduce my waste. I found this website which made it so much easier to do that and thought maybe it'll help you too - https://ecoalternatives.to/
Start thinking like your Grandparents. Perhaps they have told you stories about the Depression. My Grandmothers lived through this era. Nothing went to waste. Chicken and Turkey carcasses were used to make soup. Nothing tastes better. Look up recipes on the Internet. Use those glass bottles from pasta or jam to store the soup in the freezer. No plastic consumption here. I can make 10 jars of soup for about $4.00. You do the math. Intentionally buy meat on sale. When you cook it, cook extra so that you can make sandwiches from it for your “brown bag” lunch. I bought a lunch bag and glass and plastic containers that would fit into it. Make your own coffee or tea at home and take it to work with you in a metal thermos. I must admit that I buy a case of bottled water. I live on a well and if the powers goes out, I have no pump. I will use the bottles then. Spend some money and get yourself and insulated water bottle. Add ice and tap water and go. These can be washed.
Um... I was raised poor. We did most of these. (The plastic grocery bags weren't around then, however, so, yeah, I'm old.) Worn out clothes = rags or rag rugs; jars are re-used; good parts of things like jeans/shirts = kid clothing, etc. Oh, and there is no such thing as left over garden produce. It's eaten or it's preserved. I was always amazed by how wasteful people were and thought how "rich" they must be.
We had our first garden this past year. Had no idea how much we would actually produce and I ended up filling the entirety of the underside of our queen-size bed with jars of pickles (that's my canned goods storage area; we have a very small house). Unfortunately, a friend gave us a LOT of seeds for habaneros, and we grew WAY more habanero peppers than any normal human being could possibly use ever. Ended up throwing the last batch out into the garden for composting, in the end. We were mincing & freezing them but seriously nobody with normal taste buds could eat that many habaneros.
Load More Replies... I'm encouraged by this post! Every little bit of effort that someone makes to RR&R is a great thing!
I feel wasteful as hell now, but never too late to start being better!
i'm loving these ideas--i use a lot of them, but am always looking for more ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle!
I saw you mention you make your own toothpaste, would you mind sharing the recipe?
Load More Replies... Where did the tyre table go??? I refreshed the page before commenting because I wanted to see if anyone had identified all the people on it. Now it's gone. As best as I could tell, it had Gandhi, Mother Teresa, MLK, Obama, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and ... Bill Gates (who seems a little odd in that grouping). I was hoping someone could help identify the rest, as I suspect I really *should* have been able to recognize them.
You're trying too hard to get downvotes, man. From now on, only upvotes from me!
Load More Replies...