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when I was a sahm I had time to make the orange peel cleaner - my own laundry soap my own spice mixes etc etc ! i’ve never used many paper towels - i perfer cloth napkins and rags / towels ! I repurpose jars too ! your def not weird !

Super normal zero waste habits. You have a fun personality. I buy all clothes (except panties)and linens second hand.

I reuse the rest wax from candles, melt it and make new candles. All I bought is a few metres of candle wick. I normally use glass tealight holders, but sometimes also reuse the small aluminim or plastic covers of tealights.

I use 60's and 70's flower patterned bed sheets to make dresses. So pretty. I too, save all jars. I resue paper pack8ng paper to make name tags for gifts. I don't use tape on gifts to be wrapped, just fold like usual, then tie a ribbon, or twine. My list goes on and on. Love your ideas.

By putting hair ties in the freezer, you are bringing bacteria there, which will be there with your food. Freezing does not disinfect, the freezer can slow the growth of some bacteria, but it will not kill them. It is better to wash it or spray it with alcohol.

I make single use cloths in the size of paper towels from old bed sheets people give me because "I'm patchworking/quilting". I do quilt with old linens but not with old washed out and faded bed sheets. That way they get a last use out of them and I don't need to buy paper towels. Also old socks come in useful for single use cleaning.

On the gift bags: Almost everyone I know does this, but you do have to look at the bag and thing about the recipient. One time a older guy coworker used a Victoria Secret bag for his gift at our boss's baby shower. Awkward!

Your place is absolutely gorgeous 😍 ❤ I love that more and more people are talking about buying second-hand items! Your place is so unique it's fabulous ❤

I love the hhearts tattoos. Question: Are the dots under your eyes makeup? I thought they're tattoos as well?

Please tell me how you take your used cutlery home to wash after you use it.

I am def gonna try the hair tie collecting. I do try to be conscientious about products I use and wear, but I do still have paper towels on hand, I don't have easy access to a washing machine, and that makes a big difference in what I will choose to wipe up a mess etc. Speaking of laundry, I do make my own laundry detergent and put in various saved containers, a big batch will last years without all the plastic jugs to deal with. I cant remember the last time I bought commercial detergent. Thanks for the video!

I use a Saalt menstrual cup and period underwear, they also have a menstrual disc. They give back 2%, education girls and women about period care and how to use them. All of their packaging is recyclable. They also have wonderful customer service and a CZcams channel with helpful info.

I agree with your message - stop buying shit!

I use Earth Rate poop bags, they use 65% certified post-consumer recycled plastic. All their packaging and roll cores are made with recycled materials as well.

I'm vegan and cannot be with a person who is not vegan. Never tried to change anyone. We must share the same values about animal cruelty and more.

Daughter and I have been using reusable period products like silicone cups and washable pads with snaps that go around underwear for years before many people were doing that. We’re still using those same products to this day. I can’t imagine how much money we’ve saved over these years-especially at today’s prices. I wash them very thoroughly and hang to dry on a little clip hanging rack so they last forever. I’ve been making my own laundry detergent for years, by the five gallon bucket full for pennies on the dollar compared to store bought for so much more product. It takes probably ten minutes to make a whole bucket. It cleans very well and smells really good. I just found around ten bars of Fels Naptha bar soap and Zote bar soap (both used in making laundry detergent) at the thrift store unopened for a three to one price tag compared to local big box stores so that will save me even more money per gallon of soap. I use white vinegar to clean out my washer to avoid build up once a week. I just run that through a light load of clothes because it’s a good natural fabric softener anyway. It cleans out the washer and the clothes at once. CZcams has recipe videos on homemade laundry detergents, a variety of recipes to choose from actually so you’re sure to find one that works for you. I’m also growing my own vegetables and preserving them. I installed bidet toilet sprayers on my toilets to avoid paper use as much as possible. I keep a stack of inexpensive black rags by the toilet and there’s a separate trash can with a lid to drop them into until wash day. We dry off cleanly sprayed booties with a rag instead of using toilet paper (unless it’s a big poopy mess, yuck 🤮). Here toilet paper is now at least one dollar a roll and that adds up quick in a house full of people using it. Especially with kids in the house, plus their friends. Teaching people to use the bidet and how to deal with the rags and trash can has saved us significantly over the years. Repeat purchase items take a lot out of your budget. So no paper products in the kitchen either unless it’s to put fried meat on it to drain. But that’s rare.

ONE OF MY FAVORITES....I have found THE best bed sheets second hand with thread count I know I could not afford. Luxury sheets for thrifty prices.

I don’t think you’d deserve hate for opting for something more convenient here and there so you can still function as a person. Doing zero waste imperfectly is better than not doing it at all, and you’re aware of what you’re doing and focusing your energy on other aspects of your life that you can more easily sustain while balancing the rest of your responsibilities. It’s healthy and reasonable to have those boundaries. I think that modern life takes convenience for granted and thus expects more of us, because the use of these wasteful convenience-based products is so normalized. Greener habits just tend to take a little more time and energy, but when that’s every habit, that can quickly stack up and become a lot of added stress and responsibility that the average person who doesn’t practice sustainability doesn’t have to spend their energy considering. And it’s shitty that sustainability always has to fall on us as consumers instead of on the producers of products, it makes trying to do good exhausting sometimes and I think more people need to remember that. We do things in more analog ways and have to do so much research on purposefully opaque supply chains just to make sure our toothpaste isn’t hurting anything - most people just go to the store and pay a couple bucks for Colgate or whatever. This all comes together to say, being sustainable in every facet of your life is a ton of extra work sometimes, which can be difficult and draining when “normal” adult life already pushes us to our limit. It’s okay to not be perfect, and frankly expecting perfection when capitalism actively works against us is stupid. I’m sick of people in the sustainability community shaming each other for making a few exceptions for their own health. It should not have to fall on us in the first place, sometimes we do just need to take care of ourselves so we can preserve our own wellbeing, and that doesn’t make you a bad person.

I changed from J Cloths to washable cloths. Don’t you find you will be doing more washing - therefore using more water & soap? What’s the problem with paper towels?

The only one I don’t identify with is the hair ties from the road/sidewalks. Everything else seems normal to me even though I don’t do all of them. I need to be more consistent.

What I "love" the most is all of the influencers with botox, doing highly paid collaborations with "anti-aging" skincare brands...

Yeah! I was going to comment that I save shower & hand washing water to flush the toilet. Since living in the Middle East, where water was precious & scarce in the summer, I learnt to do this. I have a rectangular shaped Tupperware container (which lost its lid) in my sink. I find that you must clean both regularly as they get scummy. The one that freaks out friends, which I don’t do if they’re in the kitchen with me, is use a tea bag for a 2nd cup. That came from not liking strong tea but also saves money. 👍🏻

Absolutely love this video thank you

You had me at shower bucket but lost me at street hair ties. Lol. As far as second hand items, I wouldn’t do socks or underwear. I would only do bras if they were in good condition and from someone I knew. Hand or Bath Towels in good condition would be fine, but I think I’d prefer new for face cloths.

Nike hates women. Also I think Ann Reardon debunked the cost effectiveness of the air drier vs the oven.

I don't have paper towels in my kitchen either. Both my niece and nephew are very confused by this and always ask me why. When I visit them, they have both showed me their paper towels to educate me what it looks like and what I should buy 😅

If your kitchen sheers cannot cut green onion or peppers without the blades getting jammed, you need new scissors. I’m a sewer and therefore my scissors are sharp and maintained.

When dating I was not seeking a vegan partner as I did not want to limit the pool. I ended up meeting a vegetarian man who cares about animals so much and it’s the best thing ever! He is moving towards veganism and we don’t keep cheese and eggs in the house. We love sharing the passion of vegan cooking together

When someone comments “you have wrinkles” or “your hair is getting grey” or “you’re gaining/losing weight” etc. I smile and reply “I know, thank you!”

The soapberry story - check out the quinoa controversy. I stopped buying it.

At 61 years old, I feel happier and more beautiful than ever. I have earned every line and wrinkle on my body, they tell the story of my life. My grey hairs are silver strands of glitter! I don’t want to erase any part of my past.

Love (most of) this! The only part I disagree with is the cloth napkins vs paper towels....it takes A LOT of water to do laundry vs using a paper towel which decomposes. One way I save money and which may be ICK to some people....I find items curbside that other people have thrown away but which I can repurpose or simply clean properly/maybe repaint if necessary. I LOVE thrift shopping when I need something....but my threshold is "no second-hand shoes/boots/sandals and no undergarments". Thanks for sharing 👌

I have shampoo and conditioner pumps that are original packaging because it works. I can see a use for the toothpaste one for people with hand mobility issues, but I can also see a right mess of it due to kids. An amazon “must-have” I can get behind is the PantryChic if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Ms Manners says that reusable cloth napkins can be used until they are so dirty you can’t take it anymore.

My husband and I were brought to use things until worn out or recycle them into something else usable. I use sheets from thrift stores to sew with. Towels are great from thrift stores. Cheaper than new. My kids calls us hippies because we were raised in the 60 s and 70 s. I don't care because we are trying to save our planet.

I have never understood the ick factor people have with used clothes ,dishes ,or linens. People pay high dollar to sleep on used sheets at a hotel .Most people don’t have the ‘cooties’ that people fear and if the do a good wash should take care of it . Also who is to say that the ‘nasty’ people didn’t try on the new clothes at the store.

We give vegetable scraps to the wild turkeys that roam in our woods

Just a tip for people who don’t want to do the Frankensoap thing. Soap sticks to itself so just get a new bar of soap and the sliver of soap and put the sliver on top of the new bar, flat side to flat side, and they just stick together as they dry. Eventually they completely melt together as you use it.

A woman I work with who is only in her thirties looks like she had a stroke - but it is Botox overload. People pass her by in absolute horror.

I put my bitty soap scraps into a pump bottle, add water & use it as soft soap. Sometimes have to crumble it up. Since I make my own soap, this isn't so much franken-soap as just liquified soap of the same kind. How do you get the sticky goop off the jars from the labels? Underwear, bras, socks & shoes must be new. That's a health thing, other than that, 2nd hand is great. Why are people freaked out by 2nd hand sheets & towels? If they are good quality they will last for decades.

2. Is gross. As for second-hand, really, pants are a no-go even though they're being washed.

I don't think any of this is weird. I just often wonder about the re-usable cloths- don't you waste a lot of water washing them? Maybe it's because water can be quite scarce in our country. I use paper towels for a few things and I re-use them if possible. Just spread them out to dry and use it again. If they are not that clean, I use them to wipe spills off the floor, wiping outside window sills, etc.

We agree that not everything natural is good for you. My husband takes great delight in telling those people that mercury, arsenic and lead are natural. Also, some natural things will send me (dairy) and my husband (peanut) straight to our local hospital ER, due to allergies. Botox and plastic surgery both have medical credit for with genuine medical needs. However, as we all know, they are greatly overused. I myself have had plastic surgery. Not for cosmetic surgery but to correct a birth defect.

I ask my friends at work to put paper towels after drying their hands to my bag and reuse them in my workshop. Yea, I get those looks. :P And I always collect paper napkins after parties for the same purpose

My favorite is coffee grounds which I use 3 times: 1. To make coffee, 2. In the fridge to reduce odors, and 3. When the fridge bowl fills up, I dump it into my kitchen compost which then goes into the bottom of a large plant pot and is then covered by leaves and soil and breaks down surprisingly fast. 🎉

Lovely apartment and very you - which every home should be. Enjoy.