Reduce, Reuse, Rethink¶
This started as a quick table I shared with a local "Reduce, Reuse, Rethink" community group. It was a way to share ideas, collect new ones, and get honest critique of the solutions I'd come up with. It has since grown into a more complete guide to how our family is trying to shrink the amount of garbage and recycling we produce.
The goal isn't perfection. It's to notice where waste comes from, fix the easy things first, and keep chipping away at the hard ones.
Why "rethink" matters more than "recycle"¶
Recycling is the last resort, not the solution. A lot of what goes in the blue box is never recycled. This is especially true of soft plastics like chip bags, snack wrappers, and plastic film, which most curbside programs can't process at all. The order that actually matters is the waste hierarchy:
- Refuse: don't take it in the first place (straws, flyers, freebies, bags).
- Reduce: buy less, and buy things with less packaging.
- Reuse: choose durable and refillable over single-use.
- Repair: fix before replacing.
- Recycle: for what's left, sort it properly.
- Rot: compost food scraps and natural materials (green bin or backyard).
Two rules that keep this practical:
- Use up what you have first. Throwing out a working plastic item to buy a "green" replacement creates waste. Replace things when they wear out.
- One swap at a time. Habits that stick beat a weekend overhaul that's abandoned by the next month.
How to read this guide¶
Each item has a status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ✅ Doing it | Already part of our routine, and it has made a noticeable difference. |
| 🔜 Planned | Problem identified, good solution found, not doing it yet but could start soon. |
| ❓ Unsolved | Problem identified, no good solution yet. Suggestions welcome. |
| 💡 Idea | Something worth considering down the road. |
Kids' lunches and snacks¶
This is our biggest source of non-recyclable waste. Single-serve snacks are convenient precisely because every portion is individually wrapped.
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thermos and Nalgene bottle for school drinks | Juice boxes with plastic straws | ✅ | Easy win; the kids are used to it now. |
| Reusable lunch containers (bento box, small stainless tins, small jars) | Every individual cup, wrapper, and pouch | 🔜 | This one change is the foundation that makes the rest of this section possible. |
| Applesauce from a large glass jar, or homemade, portioned into small reusable containers | Single-serve plastic applesauce cups and pouches | ❓ → 🔜 | Applesauce is easy to make and freezes well. Reusable silicone squeeze pouches work for kids who prefer pouches. |
| Popcorn from bulk kernels; homemade baked potato or tortilla chips | Non-recyclable chip bags | ❓ | Popcorn is the cheapest and simplest. Bulk stores carry kernels, but rarely chips. As a fallback, a big bag produces far less packaging per serving than multipacks of small bags. |
| Dried fruit from bulk; homemade fruit leather | Welch's-style fruit snacks in plastic wrappers | ❓ | Fruit leather is just puréed fruit dried at a low temperature in the oven or a dehydrator. |
| Homemade pudding in small jars | Single-serve plastic pudding cups with foil lids | ❓ → 🔜 | Basic pudding is milk, sugar, cornstarch, cocoa or vanilla, and about 10 minutes of stirring. You also know exactly what's in it. |
| Homemade granola bars or energy bites | Individually wrapped granola and snack bars | ❓ → 🔜 | Oats, honey, nut or seed butter (check school nut policies), and dried fruit. Make a batch on Sunday and cut it into bars. |
| Cloth napkins and reusable utensils in the lunch bag | Paper napkins, plastic cutlery | 💡 |
Tip: The hardest part of lunch-packing swaps is the morning rush. Batch-prepare snacks on the weekend and portion them into containers so packing a waste-free lunch is just as fast as grabbing a wrapped one.
Kitchen and pantry¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beeswax wraps (Abeego) | Plastic wrap, aluminium foil | ✅ | Abeego is Canadian-made. Wash in cool water; heat ruins the wax. They last about a year, and are compostable at the end. |
| Cover bowls with a plate | Plastic wrap, foil | ✅ | Free, and it works perfectly. This came from a community group suggestion. |
| Homemade dill veggie dip | Plastic dip tubs | ✅ | Sour cream or Greek yogurt with dill, garlic, onion powder, salt, and lemon. The sour cream still comes in a tub, but one tub makes several batches. |
| Homemade taco seasoning, salsa, and tortillas | Taco kits (box, plastic sleeves, seasoning packets, sauce sachets) | ✅ | Still working on tortillas. Store-bought salsa usually comes in a glass jar anyway. |
| Apple cider vinegar in a glass bottle | ACV in a plastic jug | ✅ | |
| Local honey in a glass jar | Plastic honey bottles | ✅ | From the farmers' market. Many vendors take jars back for reuse. |
| Local maple syrup in a returnable container | Plastic bottles of pancake "table syrup" | ✅ | Table syrup is mostly corn syrup. Pure maple syrup is the real thing. Buying direct from a producer at the market and returning the jug beats both. |
| Homemade mayonnaise | Plastic mayo jars | 🔜 | Takes about 2 minutes with an immersion blender. Food safety: raw-egg mayo keeps only about a week refrigerated; use pasteurized eggs if you're feeding young kids or anyone who's pregnant. Canadian Living recipe |
| Homemade ketchup | Plastic ketchup bottles | 🔜 | Doable, but tomato paste usually comes in cans (recyclable), so this is a net win. Chef Michael Smith recipe · My Plastic-Free Life recipe |
| Homemade salad dressing | Plastic dressing bottles | 🔜 | The easiest swap on this list: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, plus mustard, salt, and pepper, shaken in a reused jar. Wholefully dressing recipes |
| Homemade Montreal steak spice | Plastic spice shakers | 🔜 | Buy component spices in bulk and refill one glass shaker. Rock Recipes version |
| Coffee from a local roaster, in your own container or paper bag | Coffee tins and foil-lined bags | 🔜 | Many local roasters will fill your own container. Note that most "paper" coffee bags have a foil or plastic lining and aren't recyclable. |
| Bread from a bakery in a cloth bag, or bake at home | Plastic bread bags and tags | 🔜 | A no-knead bread recipe is the lowest-effort way to start baking. |
| Glass blender jar | Cheap plastic blender | 💡 | Only when the current one dies. Replacing a working appliance is a net loss. |
| Juicer | Plastic juice bottles | 💡 | Worth rethinking: this is a new appliance plus a lot of fruit pulp. Eating whole fruit is healthier and wastes nothing. Frozen concentrate in cardboard tubes is another option. |
Groceries and shopping¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Always use reusable bags | Plastic checkout bags | 🔜 | The real problem is remembering them. Keep a set in the car, hang one by the front door, and clip a fold-up bag to your keychain or backpack. |
| Reusable mesh produce bags | Thin plastic produce bags | 🔜 | Inexpensive, washable, and light enough that they barely change the price at the scale. Or just put loose produce straight in the cart. |
| Buy loose produce instead of pre-packaged | Plastic clamshells, mesh bags, shrink wrap | 🔜 | Loose produce also lets you buy exactly what you need, which reduces food waste. |
| Loose salad greens | Plastic clamshells and bags of greens | ❓ | Options: farmers' market greens in your own bag, whole heads of lettuce instead of pre-washed mixes, or growing your own. Leaf lettuce grows easily in a balcony planter. |
| Meat wrapped in butcher's paper | Styrofoam trays, plastic wrap, absorbent pads | 🔜 | Use a butcher counter or market butcher. Some will fill your own container, so ask. The absorbent pad under packaged meat isn't recyclable or compostable. |
| Bacon from the butcher | Plastic vacuum packs | 🔜 | Same approach as above. |
| Bulk store with your own containers | Packaging on almost everything dry | 🔜 | Bulk Barn runs a bring-your-own-container program. Bring clean containers and have them weighed (tared) before filling. |
| Bring your own container for restaurant leftovers | Plastic and styrofoam takeout containers | 🔜 | Keep one in the car. Most restaurants are happy to let you use your own. |
| Buy in larger formats | Many small packages | 💡 | When there's no packaging-free option, one large container usually beats many small ones. |
Where to shop locally: farmers' markets such as the Kitchener Market and St. Jacobs Farmers' Market, the butcher counter, local bakeries, coffee roasters, and bulk stores. Markets are where most of the packaging-free wins on this list come from.
Bathroom and personal care¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety razor with a bamboo handle | Disposable razors, cartridges and their plastic packaging, razor stands | ✅ | Replacement blades cost pennies and come wrapped in paper. Disposal: collect used blades in a sealed metal tin (a "blade bank") and take the full tin to scrap metal. Never put loose blades in the recycling. |
| Shaving soap and a brush | Aerosol shave gel cans | ✅ | One puck lasts months. |
| Shampoo bar | Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles, plus the plastic shower pouf | ✅ | Keep it on a draining soap dish so it doesn't turn to mush. A wooden brush or natural loofah replaces the pouf. |
| Bamboo toothbrushes | Plastic toothbrushes | ✅ | The bristles are still nylon. Pull them out with pliers before composting the handle, or reuse old brushes for cleaning grout. |
| Toothpaste tablets in a jar or tin | Plastic toothpaste tubes | 🔜 | Rethought: homemade toothpaste (usually baking soda based) has no fluoride and can be abrasive on enamel. Toothpaste tablets solve the packaging problem without that trade-off; choose a version with fluoride or check with your dentist. |
| Deodorant in a cardboard tube or refillable case | Plastic deodorant sticks | 🔜 | Rethought: "it has to actually work" is the whole game here. Homemade recipes are hit or miss. Commercial plastic-free options in compostable cardboard push-up tubes are a more reliable starting point. Expect a week or two of adjustment. |
| Cloth shower curtain | Plastic shower curtain liner | 🔜 | Look for a tightly woven hemp, linen, or cotton curtain that can go in the washing machine. Many "fabric" curtains are polyester, which is still plastic but lasts years instead of months. |
| Safety razor for the whole household | Disposable razors | 💡 | Converting the rest of the family is the next step. |
Laundry and cleaning¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Powdered detergent in a cardboard box | Liquid detergent jugs and pods | ✅ | The shiny finish on the box is usually printing or coating and normally fine for curbside recycling, but check the regional sorting guide. Pods dissolve, but they ship in large plastic tubs. |
| Soap nuts | Liquid detergent | ✅ | Honest note: results are mixed. They work for lightly soiled loads but struggle with grease and stains. Keep a stain stick or a bar of laundry soap for tough jobs. |
| Vinegar and baking soda for general cleaning | Spray bottles of single-purpose cleaners | 💡 | Reuse one spray bottle. Never mix vinegar with bleach. |
| Wool dryer balls | Dryer sheets | 💡 | They last for years and cut drying time. |
| Cotton rags from old t-shirts | Paper towels, disposable wipes | 💡 |
Around the house and on the go¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel mug | Single-use coffee cups and lids | ✅ | Most cups are plastic-lined and aren't recyclable. |
| Nalgene bottle | Single-use water bottles | ✅ | |
| Reusable straws (stainless steel, silicone, glass, or bamboo) | Plastic straws | ✅ | We have neon-coloured ones that my wife won't use in public (fair). Plain stainless or glass ones are more discreet. Better still, skip the straw entirely when you don't need one. |
| Bamboo utensil set | Plastic takeout cutlery | ✅ | Keep it in a backpack, bag, or glovebox. |
| Refillable Zippo lighter | Disposable plastic lighters | ✅ | |
| Steel or wooden bird feeders | Cheap plastic feeders | 💡 | Replace when the current one breaks. Metal also holds up better against squirrels. |
| Growlers from local breweries | Beer cans | 💡 | Rethought: aluminium cans in Ontario are deposit-return and get recycled at very high rates, so cans are already one of the better packaging options. Growlers and refills are still great for supporting local breweries, but this swap is a small win, not a big one. |
Getting around¶
| Swap | Replaces | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bike to work, or work from home | Driving: fuel, emissions, and the stress of the commute | 💡 | This doesn't reduce trash, but it's likely the single biggest environmental impact on this whole list. Combining errands into one trip is a good intermediate step. |
Lessons learned so far¶
- The bathroom was the easiest room to fix. A few one-time purchases (razor, shampoo bar, bamboo toothbrushes) eliminated a steady stream of bottles and packaging with no ongoing effort.
- Kids' lunches are the hardest. Convenience packaging exists because it saves time. The fix is batch prep plus good reusable containers, not willpower at 7:30 a.m.
- Homemade beats store-bought for condiments. Dressing, dip, and spice blends are cheaper, quicker than expected, and taste better.
- Markets do the heavy lifting. Most packaging-free food on this list comes from the farmers' market, a butcher, or a bulk store, not the supermarket.
- Not every swap is a win. Buying a new appliance or gadget to "go green" often creates more impact than it saves. Question each swap: does it actually reduce waste over its lifetime?
Getting started: a one-week waste audit¶
If you want to try this yourself, the most useful first step is simply looking:
- For one week, don't empty the bins without looking. Note what's in the garbage, recycling, and green bin.
- Find your top three repeat offenders. These are usually snack wrappers, produce packaging, and drink containers.
- Pick one easy swap per offender from the tables above.
- Repeat in a month. Once those habits are automatic, pick the next three.
Resources¶
- My Plastic-Free Life: Beth Terry's long-running blog and book, Plastic-Free.
- Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson: the origin of the "refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot" framing.
- Plastic Free July: a yearly challenge, and a good low-pressure way to start.
- Your regional waste sorting guide: rules for what's accepted curbside vary by municipality and change over time.
- Local farmers' markets, bulk stores, and community "buy nothing" or zero-waste groups: the best source of ideas tailored to your area.