Hey Becky, I love that you talk about the environmental benefits of cutting out things/ using resuables, not all minimalist channels do & I think it's so important to highlight that these small changes make a huge difference ❤️
My mom bought a fabric Advent calendar from Avon forever ago, and you move a little stuffed mouse. My sister and I still love this calendar to this day, in our late 30s 😊❤
Hi Becky😊 Yes! Cloth napkins and rags are the way to go. We do keep a roll of paper towels on hand for really messy pet accidents, but that’s it. We got rid of our Swiffer mop years ago too. I use a Bissell steam mop. It only uses distilled water that it heats up to very hot, no cleaners, and the pads are washable. I absolutely love it! Like you, we have a reusable Advent calendar too that we put out each year and my kids still enjoy it even at 18 and 21 years lol. I’m sure your daughter will love yours for many years to come. It’s such a fun tradition. I love thrift stores for clothing as well. We are fortunate to have many options in our area. I sometimes shop from ThredUp as another option too. As always, thanks for the great info. Enjoy your weekend❤❤❤
I've never purchased water. We grew up drinking tap water. This whole bottled water thing is a fairly new phenomena. We do have an under the sink filter system, but I've never had any confidence that the water in bottles was any purer than that coming out of the kitchen faucet.
Same. I prefer filtered water, but I have a Brita and I use that water for everything. Everywhere I go now has water fountains or I'll flavor the water if I don't like the taste. Haven't bought water in years.
♥ I wish I was that level of eco minimalist but I admit I'm having a hard time giving up paper towels, liquid soaps (in plastic bottles), and plastic baggies.
Great video!! I completely agree on many points. We also never buy paper towels, plastic bags, soaps in containers etc. I am not good about shopping secondhand. I just can’t find what I need but my wardrobe is only 25 items. I bought them new, but they last. One note: in my powder room I use the blue land tablets for hand soap and I keep their glass container there. The reason is that I often have guest over and some guests do not want to use our bar soaps.
LOVE IT. I have become so bad at buying plastic since I got here. I have changes to a carry water bottle. I wish I could think of a way to do the soda cans issue. We do recycle the cans but!!!! This channel is so me.
I bought a massive pile of white towelling cloths that I use and then throw in the washing machine. You can use the cloth more than once, providing that each time you use it, it’s on a progressively dirtier job than the time before. Once I have finished with the cloth, it can go with the others waiting to be washed. There are a few really dirty jobs that I do use disposeables on; for instance, a paper towel for dog vomit, and I use toilet paper to clean the toilet. Apart from bleach, which I use infrequently and always on its own because it is dangerous to mix it with other cleaners, I only use very basic ingredients for cleaning. My first cleaner of choice is dish soap, but I also add cornflour, citric acid, epsom salts and ordinary cooking salt, depending on the cleaning task. Cornflour is mildly abrasive and is excellent for getting rid of odours. Citric acid is good for cloudy glass and other surfaces. Epsom salts are abrasive and they can also be used instead of fabric softener in the washing machine. I mix dish soap and salt to safely clean and disinfect kitchen utensils and the kitchen work surfaces. I don’t use scents in my cleaning products because I like to use my nose to check if my house smells funky to me. If it does, I’ll clean the source of the smell, which is often the bin, the fridge or containers that have held smelly foods, and then I open the window to let fresh air in. I’ve got a fair few glass mixing bowls of different sizes, and if I have leftovers to go in the fridge I use one of them with a saucepan lid or a plate over the top, instead of plastic wrap. I’ll use a clean linen drying cloth to wrap our bread in to keep it fresh. I use big bin liners to store seasonal clothes, and when I do a change-over I keep the old dusty ones and then re-use them for the original purpose of lining the kitchen bin. The clothes that are out of season just go into new (and undusty) bin liners before they are put away. I keep all my foods in the original packets because it is less expense and faff than putting them in fancy containers with labels. They are all in kitchen cupboards with doors so you can’t see them anyway, so there is no point.
We're making great progress on our decluttering/minimizing journey. We've reduced the amount of disposable products we use & buy second hand clothing as much as possible. I've reduced and curated my fall decor to a single tote. If I want to buy something new, I know I'll have to get rid of something in the tote so it will fit. That usually works quite well! The same with Christmas decor. I'm down to 3 totes.
I just started doing vinegar and water in a glass bottle and am going to use rags as well... i do keep one pack of paper towels for dog messes but rarely have to use them
I have that same air purifier 😊 I bought it 5 years ago and have never regretted it. Still works great and no problem finding replacement filters. I'm an apartment dweller and it sits in my dining room. Clears cat dander and cooking smell quickly.
About once a year i buy a large pack of white cotton wash clothes. I use them for bathing, napkins and in the kitchen for dishes and cleaning. I can bleach them and, if they get too worn or stained, i can throw them. I only have paper towels for kitty mishaps. I use vinegar for cleaning and a bit of bleach for the bathroom. I am allergic to chemicals and cant have any in the house. Vinegar does most everything.
I do buy paper towels for my kitchen, bc my daughter has sensitive skin. And washing rags or towels w the cleaner on them causes her to break out in rashes. But several years ago, I bought about 40 hand towels at the thrift store. And we use them instead of paper towels at meals, and for dusting and cleaning that doesnt use the cleaner that irritates her skin. We went from buying a case of paper towels from costco every month, to buying 1 case a year. I do have a swiffer, the simple one that you are supposed to buy the wet pads for. But I just wrap a hand towel around it and use my own cleaner, then wash the towel. I havent made the switch to the silicone bags yet. But have been looking at them! There are so many simple things we can do. Not everything will work for every family. But of we do what we can, we can make an impact.
Such great ideas and suggestions thanks so much for sharing them with us ❤️❤️ you are so right! Not everything will work for every family but every little bit helps! Love it!
I wish I could get rid of paper towels but I use them as napkins and for cleaners kitchen counters when I do not want cross contamination or when drying my hands after handling meat or raw eggs. Also for the toilets. Ugh. Also, I have a flat mop and spin mop. 😊. Great video…really, I have come a long way, overall.
Great video, Becky 🙂If we all adopt as many of your suggestions as we can it would most likely make a big difference to our environment, our health and our finances. It would also save us all quite a lot of our precious time and energy as shopping, unpacking and keeping loads of different single-use products is ongoing. We switched to many reusable options years ago and never looked back. Moving from a large home to an apartment I was concerned about dust, mould, and odours in such a small space so we have purchased both a de-humidifier and air-purifier after seeing what a difference they made in our daughter's apartment in SIngapore. We have yet to try ours as we only moved a week agao.
For cleaning use white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and lemons, eucalyptus oil and soap nuts, they are all natural and biodegradable plus it will clean everything including clothes and all surfaces, bathrooms even windows. So much better. Open windows, natural deodorant. Use soya candles, I make my own.
Thank you for these tips. I'd like to suggest you cut the background music. Even though it's at a low volume, I find it distracting. You have great info to share. Please try a few videos with no background music. I think you might find people appreciate it. Best wishes.
The only reason I buy paper towels is because when one of our dogs that has stomach issues has an accident or gets sick I use paper towels to clean it up so I can just throw it away. I used to not buy paper towels and my husband hated that I didn't buy them because when he wanted to use some I didn't have any.
