trying the 24 most popular ✨underconsumption core ✨ hacks 

my grandmother (peak slavic war-generation depression-era specimen) used to rinse, dry, fold, and store every single plastic bag that came her way. she'd use them for food storage, item storage, as makeshift aprons, surface protection for dirty work, gardening gloves, you name it, she'd do it over and over again until the thing fell apart. my parents used to criticise her mercilessly for the plastic bags always hanging from her laundry racks, but now we see she was in fact so ahead of her time. naturally, she also used to mend her clothes and socks until they were more mending than fabric, and all the visible mending gave such a twee vibe to her items. she also adhered to the classic slavic outside clothes -> house clothes -> gardening clothes -> cleaning rags lifecycle. she'd knit rugs and dish cloths out of old pantyhose (I loved those so much, such a fluffy texture!) I've come to realise my funny gran was actually a sustainability queen, and I strive every day to be more like her ❤ of course, all of these habits come from hardship and poverty, and glamourising them is not the point. rather, humans' creativity in the face of rampant inequality is admirable. here in the 1st world we've been coddled into some very silly, unsustainable, hyperconsumerist habits, and we would do well to take a leaf from our ancestors' and fellow non-wasteful humans' books.

"Cheapskate X environmentally conscious" is my entire budgeting strategy

"Spend time in nature because there's nothing to buy there." I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! I just got back from a 5 day backpacking trip. I always feel so free when I'm carrying everything I need on my back with no need to go back into civilization until the food or coffee runs out. Literally just walking all day until I feel like stopping. Opting out of society and consumerism.

I get the same rush from creatively repairing something as I do from buying something new. Except that repairing something is better, because you get a spark of pride whenever you use it, whereas the rush of buying something quickly disappears.

Growing up, my mom would add water to shampoo bottles, dish soap, hand soap, laundry detergent, etc to make things last longer. I still do the same thing as well.

Hahah the TEA of "If you have to buy new things to participate in a 'style' then you don't have style"

I keep all the plastic "bags" from toilet paper packaging or similar items to use them to collect my trash when I'm hiking or traveling.

I have a pair of capri pants that I embroidered flowers over a stain, and I showed it to a lady who was talking to my mom and she thought it was originally like that. I was so happy when she told me that my embroidery looked like the stuff in the store cause I just started trying embroidery.

Tips for fabric waste: sensory books for babies or sniffing mats for dogs and cats

My local library has a “gear library” where you can borrow camping/hiking gear! I love it and have used it to borrow backpack carriers for my toddler. Wonderful concept, every town needs one.

I use a lightbulb to mend socks

I have tried to block and report Temu for so long but i keep getting their adds. I'm about to lose my mind🤯

Re unwanted gifts: Don’t give unwanted gifts to others. Don’t give people stuff just because you feel like you have to give a gift (eg Christmas). Ask your loved ones if there are things they’d like, and if they don’t give you an answer, simply don’t give them a material gift (unless you like, happen to stumble on something that you know for a fact they’d like). Instead you can give for example a donation to a cause that’s important to them.

My 96-year old mother has been taking broken pairs of earrings and combining them to make a "new" pair of earrings. She alters her clothes to update her style and wears her pre-made turbans sideways, which gives them a different look

I didn’t set out to make a sustainable choice but when my husband and I first spent Christmas together I bought a set of cloth string-closure gift bags of varying sizes. I have reused those bags for every occasion on which we exchange gifts so I haven’t had to deal with wrapping or unwrapping any gifts for 12 years now.

All of the things, yes! Except borrowing...I cannot tell you how many times I've lend something to someone, only for that person to not be nearly as careful with it as I am and I just....I don't lend stuff anymore. We're very conscious consumers at home, and when I've spent years maintaining something (from books to appliances) only for the person who borrows it from me to be extremely careless resulting in the item breaking down way before it would have. And it is not just one person, it seems to be most people around us :( And yes, things are meant to be used. But it is not okay to me when I've had a book for years, read it multiple times and kept it in pristine condition, only for someone else that I lend it too to scuff the edges and corners like it is nothing.

Regarding #16 cleaning cloths: I recently discovered Sashiko, a traditional Japanese stitching technique. It is decorative, but can also be used to reinforce cloths and clothing. One use case is making a "Zokin", a cleaning cloth, out of old dish towels or clothes. It's so cool. I love it because it's pretty but also extremely functional. The Green Wrapper has great tutorials on how to make them. I am starting my first one right now! Also, not you thirst trapping us while modeling upcycled flower earrings 🤩 Girl, you looked so cute!

Super video, thank you!! I use big bags from toilet paper, pet food etc. to go around the block and collect trash. Also, relatives live on a farm and reuse almost everything! Paper bags to collect seeds, regift things, clothing so patched up you sometimes couldn't recognize the original item (worn for farm work). As a kid this never made sense to me and I remember thinking of them as cheap and strange. Now I wish the whole of humanity would follow such steps!!

I just "McGyvered" a shelf in my greenhouse. I had seen those very simple floating shelves hanging inside a leather strap. But 1000NOK was not an option.. I have some sisal rope that I fix my cats scratching tower with occationally. So, I wrapped the ends of the rope together by using a darker brown jute thread. The shelf itself, I cut of a piece of a pallet and sanded it. It looks a bit more rustic, but perfect for my greenhouse 🤩

You can fix your cotton socks by sewing small patch from similar fabric. I use only woolsocks because they are easier to mend and I like how wool feels on my feet. One of my frugal/underconsumption hack is that when I buy vegetables or open jar of olives or package of feta or some other similar cheese I use them on that food and put usable scraps to freezer in small bags. I do have pizzaday/pie day regulary and I mainly use those scraps from freezer as filling. By not waisting food is one good way to save planet. This is extra important if you use animalproducts.

Growing up with a parent that lived through the depression taught me a lot. Talk to older people.

If you do something that will make your clothes smelly wear clothes that are already a little bit dirty/smelly. That way you can wash your clothes less which saves water and will make the clothes last longer. For example: If I want to cook some pasta sauce that includes roasting garlic and onions I will often change into some clothes that I have worn a few times and that need washing anyway.

If a container feels empty, let's cut it open and scrap it clean ! I think I never bought any cleaning clothes, my mom had the habit of cutting old bed sheets, t shirts etc into smaller pieces to clean around the house, so we have a *stock* (and we still do it !). On the case of reusing boxes for packaging, you can also use paper shreds (like those documents with personnal info you'd rather shred to bits) as filler to secure the items ! you could also make new recycled paper with it. These days, each time I watch one of your video, I do small sewing repairs on my clothes, it's really the right time format and the nice motivational push☺

Stealing your dad's clothes leads to another great hack for people with a) sewing skills and b) a small clothing size: You can thrift cheap but high-quality men's shirts and tailor/alter them to suit you! Done this many times, still wearing those pieces because they last!! And they're not only shirts, I've made dresses, shorts and beautiful tops out of men's shirts!

I have to say that the flower earrings you made are absolutely gorgeous! It's giving hot summer night, dirty dancing with my lover vibes.

I live in east germany and my parents are the most "sustainable" people I know. They didnt had much by the time the berlin wall exists and had to reuse, repair, share things. Its not because they want or try to be the trendy "sustainable" but because they grew up like that and cant imagine to buy useless stuff or throw stuff away. Even the 25 year old couch is now in the garden of a friend. 😂

My hack kind of borders on hoarding.. but I actually found it useful.. I absolutely hate throwing away (and even donating sometimes) clothes.. because I keep thinking "what if I need it later?" So what we have been doing as a family was we go through our wardrobes and pick things out that we don't wear anymore but that are still good and put them in bins in the basement. Then when we feel like we need a wardrobe update (generally at least a year later) we first check the basement and see if our tastes have changed and if we now would love to wear whatever it was that didn't like a year ago. This helps keep the closest small and more manageable and you don't feel as much guilt putting things away as you would throwing them out or donating them (yes, I know donating is good, but I still feel guilty for getting an item of clothing that I don't end up wearing). Also, you get a really fun experience of "shopping your basement" which seems to be a mix of archeology and thinking "wow, fashion really is cyclical"

I quilt so I save almost all fabric scraps. I make scrap quilts where you sew together all those small pieces creatively. I practice Japanese sashiko which uses small scraps to mend or decorate. I use small scraps of fabric to fill doll pillows which are given with scrappy fabric doll quilts to kids. So many uses for scraps. Fabric is expensive so waste not these small leftover pieces. Another idea is to find a quilter who also uses these and share them. Make coasters out of fabric scraps. So many ideas!

I always travel with a little bundle of (washed and ready to reuse) zipper lock bags, as well as string and a few clothespins. They don’t take up much space, and that way I can shop at farmers markets without taking more plastic bags, and I can make an impromptu indoor clothesline any time I need to.

Hi, at first I need to say that I love your Videos. One important theme in underconsumption for me is: accepting your body as it is and by doing so not buying things to e.g. get your hair curly or sleek and so on.

Your heading for "save your fabric scraps " actually reads " save your fabric craps " lol, you have just misseď out the S at the beginning of the word . Dear Gittemarie , you are bringing out the teacher in me : )

I knit the cotton dish cloths and my friends are all addicted. They all use them until they disintegrate and I use my old ones as protection in between my cooking pans.

My Mum grew up in the UK during WW2. An original “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” Queen. NGL though, walking almost two miles to school on darned socks/tights is not my favorite memory. In fact at the time I was embarrassed by that way of approaching life, all my friends had all the ‘cool’ 80’s fashion, brand new. Now I appreciate the lessons she taught me.

Second comment on this video, but I guess it’s good for the algorithm - Use the boxes you get stuff in to organise your home. Got a delivery? Free organisation. Given a gift? Free organisation. I (finally!) bought the 3-in-1 sandwich toaster/waffle iron/grill I’ve been wanting for years. Cut that box in half and now my picknick stuff is easily accessed and organised. Is it as aesthetic as the clear acrylic containers that restockers want us to buy? No. Was it free and something I already had? Yes. I’m currently sitting next to a lidless plastic ice cream container with an expiry date print of Feb-2013 which has held my muffin liners and similar bakeware since.. 2013 I guess. Reorganised yesterday to a different bakeware organisation solution, and this container is 100% about to find a new purpose in my home.

you had my whole heart at 'how can I MacGyver this' 😂 I always thought I loved to MacGyver stuff because I'm a pothead and all the potheads in my life are very creative problem solvers. Then when cleaning out my grandparents' house after they passed, we found all kinds of MacGyver'd decor and projects! My favorite was a set of curtains. She ran out of the beautiful seashell material she'd used for the curtains and still needed one more piece. She bought plain, sand-colored fabric that matched the background, splatter-painted to give it sandy depth, and then cut a small piece of the shell fabric and attached as a border. 🤯 I was so blown away to learn MacGyvering is a family trait I inherited 🥹

7:36 Im catering for 30 people for a weekend.... and I don't have enough catering / cooking stuff😬. So I've been op shopping (thrift/ second hand), borrowed, buy nothing groups, face book market place..... I may have too much now but until I do the event I won't know exactly what I need. And it will be multiple repeat event so it's an investment... for 1/10 th the price!!

I can’t steal my dad’s clothes really. He’s the OG sustainable king so most of his clothes are older than I am 😂

The earrings you made was so creative and you looked stuning!

Girl, i just clicked onto the video and had to pause to comment this. You look absolutely stunning!! My gay heart can't handle it lol

'Use up your tech'. Listening to this on the headphones of which one side got cablebreak, so one ear works and the other just hangs around. Also lost the silicone piece in my bag 😂

I've followed you for ages and am loving your recent videos! Your energy right now is fantastic, you can tell you're enjoying life

My mother’s family had washed stockings in a number of their pillows. So. The ‘stuffing pillows with old clothes’ might’ve been a depression era hack.

Hi Gittemary, just wanted to say how validated, and how much better I feel about my true self when I watched this video. Living on a street where it seems people live in the "keeping up with the Jones'", your videos always bring me reassurance about how I live my life. Thank you, from Vancouver Island, Canada

I don’t wear sox anymore but I do recommend a darning mushroom. A tennis ball has fibres that you can catch. We have various plastic bags and we wash them. They are in the washing up every day. My mum has jars and containers from when I was a child. We used to always get staples from a co op or bulk sellers where you take your own bag but we no longer have one close and it makes me cringe at all the packaging from the supermarket. Left overs are brilliant for lunches. I also like to take a snack and a sandwich when I go out for the day. Love the idea of embroidery in imperfections. Patches and embroidery on clothes used to be fashionable when I was younger. Yes I am that old. Such a lovely reminder. Textile waste or cabbage is handy for stuffing. It is lovely sharing stuff. All the new and changing eco stuff makes me sick. Every season there is something new. I grew up with out money and I never went without. Make do and mend. I grew up with a passionate bush walker. My grandparents met rambling in the uk and my parents met bush walking in Australia. I always give my phone to my Mum so I only up grade when her phone is wearing out. I love regifting. In the Hobbit/LOTR the hobbits give presents on their birthday and some of those gifts were things they had been given. I so love this idea. I love rehoming gifts I don’t want. I subscribe to get the discount on something I want and then I unsubscribe. My mum has always saved envelopes, packaging etc. all our shopping lists and reminder lists are on the back of envelopes or pages from old address books or old note pads. My mum pours water on her green tea several times every morning. She doesnt use new tea every pot. Yes using old clothes are great for rags. Also cotton tshirts are great for making a cover on a worm farm. Make sure it is 100% coz those little wormies end up eating it. Never stole my Dads clothes but stole my ex partners clothes when we were together of course. We always wash down the benches when we do the washing up. Dish liquid is good for all sinks and counters and it is good for getting stains out of clothes. We are using up lots of paper napkins but we have cloth napkins for special occasions. I was taught to sew as a child coz we had no money and we had to make our own clothes. Now I am an adult friends get me to alter their clothes. It amazes me how many people can not see a button. My mum and step dad used to always put their heads and skills together and were able to make, mend and repair anything. Trends are so ridiculous fast. Be classic. Be yourself. Waiting to buy something that is not a necessity is a great idea. Sometimes you get it, sometimes you forget it, sometimes you miss out. It is all fine. If something works and I use it I keep it.

Re. no. 8: Share stuff with your colleagues, find a friend to share with. My work Slack has a tool pool because there’s no point in 10 people at the same work place owning 10 e.g. miter boxes. We built a catio on my friend’s balcony (aka. Catcatraz), so now I also have a staple gun and netting nippers. I’m adding picture frame moulding to my living and sleeping rooms so she will have a laser level and tall ladder.

In regards to the last tip, it is not always the case. Refrigerator have become so much more energy efficient that replacing an old one with a energy efficient one it's better for the environment. The energy used for the production is offset by the energy savings.

I feel like the people who will really do well with the whole "underconsumption core" will be those who are relatively financially prohibited from the general consumption habits that too many people take part in.

I love this! I save my own fabric scraps and have been that weirdo that asks family, friends, and even strangers for specifically stained , old, and holey garments to use in my crafts so nothing gets tossed. Sometimes their old torn pants make it back to them as a new purse for the holidays lol 😂

I live in a very small home and I borrow things from my mom all the time so I don't have to store them. She has about everything someone would ever need since she's lived in the same place over thirty years.

I as looking at some WW2 rationing coupons that were my parents. On the back it says, “ if you don’t need it, don’t buy it”. Good idea

I'm already back from holidays in Danmark an so I appreceiated "the danish vibe" of your video : ) In our Airbnb we had a garden an there were a lot of fallen fruits an so I saved this fruits the whole holiday and had a nice fruit porridge

I also cut open cosmetics (there's no option to refill them where I live) - it turns out there is SO MUCH produce still there when it feels empty. It works best on any kind of creams and balms but I've done it with the shampoo or conditioner bottles as well.

About gifts - I'm turning 50 in a few weeks, and a while ago, I posted an extensive wishlist on my blog. My sister told me that that was such a greedy and imbarrassing thing to do. I think it's the best thing I can do: I'm quite old by now, I have basically everything that I need, and I know exactly what I do need. I don't want gifts "just because" - I much prefer help with the garden, or something secondhand from my wishlist (even something you found in the back of your storage), than a thing you just got at a store because you thought that you needed to give me something, even if that happened to be an expensive gift. One - I much prefer things to be secondhand or sustainable or from indie makers, I don't do fast anything. Two - I'm picky with what I like. Three - I much prefer something that will last for a long time, reminding me of the one that gave me the gift, than something with a short lifespan, for example I'd love a plant for my garden instead of a bouquet of flowers. But no, my sister thought that it was tacky and greedy... I thought that I was being thoughtful and considerate!

I did a sew on patch heart on a denim dress, it looked so cool

Girl the clip when you put on your diy earrings?!?!? I swear to god you're the most beautiful person in the world 😍❤️ Also reusing your hairclip like that was pure genious!

Fix your own electronics! The best precision tool maker makes facilitating this, and the right to repair as well, their mission. They really do make excellent tools and they also have a good RU-vid channel that walks you through changing screens and batteries on lots of different products which are the most common needs. It’s not as hard as you think. You could do a whole episode on this!

I cut up clothes that are beyond repair and use them for rags and I have two aprons made out of just fabric scraps that I love lol.

Thank you so~ for keeping it fun… keepin it movin! Yes to have a tag 🏷️ for it, *the Walk I’ve walked for all of this life/ 4 decades; “under-consumption core” is a ❤. I would adore having the kind of friends who could share gear w/ me! All fabulous!

You have inspired me to use my old stained t shirts as washcloths instead of buying new ones! Thankyou for the video

If you want your jars to match you can choose the lid. For example I just keep the metallic ones

OMG embroidery over stain! 😮 That's a new one for me and I'm all in! Thank you!

Off the topic, but you look absolutely stunning in this video.

I love cloth napkins. Especially if I find them in a thrift shop. Hankies are my other thing. I have thrifted ones and home made ones from old clothes and pillow cases.

I love to Mcgyver things! Reusing old clothes can also be good when you have pets. I made my guinea pig a bed out of my old bathrobe and he absolutely loves it. They also enjoy toilet roll tubes or paper bags filled with hay and houses made from old cardboard boxes

For me, it's 'go out to the shops and buy it in person if you want the thing'. Generally, after facing the faff of getting out and going to the shops and finding the thing, it really makes me confront whether I actually truly need the thing. (If I do manage to get out and can't find the thing, then I have to do the research about where I can best find the thing I do actually need.) When it's that much effort to buy things, it really cuts down on it.

I loooove this trend so much, it is super funny and inspiring to see this "reverse" trend ! Here is my contribution : I have a veeeeery old toaster, like it belongs to my mother when she was a student (-> she is 62 now) and it still working ! It is baby chick yellow with little bread slice shape around it, so not the best addition for a kitchen aesthetic vibe, but hey, it works and now i am attached to it ! And I convinced myself that it is almost a cute japanese appliance (the mind power is strong here 😜) Enjoy your old stuff ! And try embroidery : it is really fun and you can make beautiful enhancement, even if you only learn a stitch or two !

I noticed today on the Ziploc bag box that I bought recently that they are encouraging people to wash and reuse the bags. I use them very sparingly so I haven’t bought a new box in a long time, but it was still nice to see. Definitely falls into the greenwashing a bit since it’s still technically a single use plastic when you could just use a container. But like you said, sometimes that airtight seal is important, so in that case, I’m glad that they put the message on the box.

I have a darning tool that has a mushroom pattern on it, it's so cute! I'm still bad at darning though. XD but I try

I used to watch your videos years and yeaeeeaars ago and just found you again. I am so glad to see that you are still on this path and still inspiring others! You go girl!!!

Thank you for showing us highly efficient hacks! 🤩 When I saw your new flower earrings, the instant thought of mine was that you could've also clipped them to ✨spice up✨ your regular heels or flats for some fancy event 👠🥿

Ha! Happy to see my ultimate hack mentioned: "Spend time in nature because there's nothing to buy there." I just came back from a little stroll, and it's such a way to aid your mental health, too. And you might find some mushrooms. 🍄🍄🍄 My camping gear is a sad excuse for camping gear, and nowadays I carry this with pride. My sleeping back? Bought in 1998. Still works just fine, unless I want to sleep in the cold. My clothes? I just use old jeans that have a little give, so I can bend down if I find mushrooms. Tent? Oh boy do I hope there's no gusts of wind if I sleep in it. Only thing I spend money on is the shoes. And then I use those shoes until they eventually fall apart beyond repair. I'd love to have those stylish hiking shoes, but who cares? Why does it matter when you move in the woods? It's not a fashion show. I'm on my third pair of hiking shoes, and I've been moving in nature since my childhood. I'm 34 now.

Since people can't really earn money with underconsumption (very few sponsors and hauls possibilities) I'm pretty sure it'll fizzle out pretty soon.

Not me learning embroidery for the sole purpose of making my mending more aesthetically pleasing 😂 Palestrina stitch is the bane of my existence though 🥲

For those who don't know how to sew, you can also iron on patches over stains.

I love cloth napkins so much. We have a few dozen in rotation and they are so easily laundered alongside towels. I am not a super dedicated zero waste person (yet) but we go through 1-2 rolls of paper towels in a year and I can't even imagine otherwise. Kitchen towels, rags, and napkins are just better and so much nicer to use in most cases. Most people I know buy gigantic packs of paper towels every 2 months. Some buy paper napkins also.

Also the fabric of my destroyed tote bag is quite soft so I use it to remove my lipstick

Cloth napkins are definitely on my list to look out for at the thrift store! Just moved so I need to get a lot of stuff and I'm enjoying the process of slowly finding what I need second hand. My favourite find so far is a bookshelf I picked up for free from someone gutting an old house. Would never have found one like it new!

One underconsumption thing I've started doing is mending my rubber dish gloves with super glue. Ik it's probs better to not use them at all but I get grossed out by cleaning dishes and I was tired of throwing them out when they got holes

"theres nothing to buy in nature!" Love it! To get the gear you need (in the us) thrres eBay, rei garage sale, Patagonia resale and a bunch of stores specifically for second hand camping and backpacking gear. But also, borrow first! Try it out and if it seems like your going to continue using it, then try to find it second hand. (The reason there is so much second hand gear is because people think they're going to get in to backpacking or hiking so they buy all the gear and then go once)😊

When my Dad passed away my Mum gave me one of his favourite flannel shirts. It was worn out in the cuffs so I just sewed some fabric over them so I could wear it. I also darn socks and put heart shaped patches on clothes. I wear clothes until they are thread bare. Then I cut them up to use as cleaning cloths.

I must say that the most shocking part of this video for me was that some people throw away fabric scraps 🤣 I have scraps that are older than me in my stash and depending on their size they’ll either end up in quilts, patches, pockets, or small projects like a drawstring bag! (Also people don’t use cloth napkins for everyday? What? Idk if this is just my family but we’ve had cloth napkins for as long as I can remember and only use disposables when everyone’s too sick to wash and put them away. It’s understandable if it’s not for everyone though!

The Depression Era saying still used in my family today is "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do, or do without." Also, I thought it was normal to wash and reuse plastic bags. People don't do that?

Heey, thank you for this video, it always helps to make me concious about the habits I have and don't think about anymore, which is great! I want to add to number 24, that this is not in every case more green, especially with products using electricity or other resources. If you have a fridge, dishwasher or washing machine from the 90s, they are probably much less efficient than recent models using new technology. An old fridge can use up to 5 times more electricity, and dishwasher and washing machines used more water and gas or electricity to heat the water. So it could be more sustainable in the long run to buy a new machine sooner rather than later. Provided that you buy one with eco-friendly options and fill it efficiently (: I have to admit, I know know much about how old machines can be recycled, especially plastic parts. So still buying a new fridge every 3 years, probably not great. But I do think this is something to think about and research!

the LYXBAG would be super cute during the fall with a nude or tan or even tonal outfit! i’m thinking a tan wool coat with that bag!!

Hello Gittemary! I just want to say that you're my favorite RU-vidr and your videos make me feel so much better about life in general. Thanks :)

Thank you Gittemary, this kind of videos is so helpful! ✨ One thing I've been doing for a while is cutting the tube of face cream to be able to use every last drop of it!

I will admit that I do put something’s I buy into new containers that do match. Here’s why: I live alone and the smallest bag of flour is still a lot for me to consume. We don’t have a bulk store nearby so I get the smallest but still need to seal it up for freshness. Same with chocolate chips or crackers or chips or something like that. I’d rather buy a big tub of goldfish than individually wrapped ones. And do not get me started on brown sugar! 😂 But if something comes in its own airtight container (like coffee beans) I’m not going to switch it for the sake of matching UNLESS it’s a really weird shape. I have a very tiny kitchen so pantry space is at a premium. And I have a very adventurous kitten and no pantry door (curtain on tension rod that covered the pantry cupboard had to come down for obvious reasons). I need to know that whatever I’ve decanted will stack nicely and fit together tightly to make a wall she can’t get through easily, or it will be all on the floor in the morning. 😅 And glass is absolutely out of the question at this point in the pantry (jam jars are used for pickled veggies in the fridge) Decanting and matching containers for aesthetics? Super wasteful, as you pointed out! But for reducing food waste in very specific situations? Absolutely!

My plastic bags typically get reused as trash bags and litter trash bags.

I love sewing and repairing items as it gives me an excuse to watch TV I consider watching TV generally a complete waste of time, but if there is something that needs to be stitched or repaired, that is my automatic excuse to throw on a movie and get to the Repair😂

Thank you so much for your content! You have become an inspiration to this middle-aged woman . I want to do better and be better for our environment and for others.

Matt, check out the book The Cozy Minimalist. She literally walks you through setting up a space.

If you're like me and your clothes look hideous when you alter them yourself, you can usually contact dress shops and ask if they employ or can recommend a tailor or seamstress, and then your clothes look good and you're supporting a small business, too. My daughter's prom dress arrived without a zipper, and it only cost us $12 to repair. That was the zipper plus the labor.

I’ve discovered your channel and I love it . I’ve been doing so many of your tips since ages thanks to my parents :) they have always been sustainable😅😊

I love plants but I don't want to buy plants in the store every time. So every time I see a nice plant I ask for a cutting or just cut off a piece. I also like this much more because you can see your plants growing yourself.🌿

This use of the word nifty is new to me and adorable 😂

Great video, Borrowing not buying things such as books and also repurposing cosmetics as art supplies when they no longer work for you , your family and friends.

Thank you so very much thank you thank you. I go through jeans very quickly because of the wear and tear from work. And I could not throw any of them away because the guilt of 'waste' even though all the jeans served their purpose for me to make an income. Literally this very moment as I'm listening to you I'm scrolling for the umpteenth time trying to find a place to donate fabric scraps and then you said stuff it into a pillow. The light bulb finally went off! Months ago I bought dog bed cases to stuff my dogs/cats old beds into to make them look nicer but mostly to be more functional for washing. But they were the wrong size, they were too big. I didn't want to bother with returning them. It's bothered me that all the extra fabric was just hanging about, but just now I finished stuffing all my jeans and holy t-shirts into the pet beds. Now they're all nice and stuffed. thanks to you just quickly mentioning one little thing has erased a giant pile of clothes that has been sitting in the corner of a bedroom for months. You've erased the burden of trying to find a way to recycle these textiles. I feel so much lighter ❤

About the glass containers for pantry items : nescafe glass jars. Familymembers drink nescafe, and they gave me so many clean jars and i have all the dry goods in them. It looks nice, it is the same size and most important : i did not need to buy them

I have a hole in the canvas of my Converse. I will also attempt to fix this with embroidery! Haven't tried embroidery before, but I figured it would always be better than keep wearing with the hole. 😅 Plus, it is an opportunity to pick up a new skill. 😊

Your lovely vibes motivate me to try many of these creative ideas. Thanks for sharing, keep it up!