Below are DIY zero waste swaps, projects, low waste recipes, and plastic-free recommendations for common easy and reusable household items. This guide is meant as a reference to the zero-waste approach to product alternatives and lifestyle.
Most plastic-free items today seem tailored to the sort of customer who drinks from a mason jar, attends “flower potlucks,” and pays for decorative twigs to festoon their reclaimed wood farmhouse table.
If you already have plastic versions of these items, by all means, use them first, then make your own or hit the thrift store. Online shops or upcycled, reused marketplaces are also excellent resources for reusable zero waste swaps.
Arts, Crafts, Office Supplies
- Binders
- Vegan crayons
- Chalk – use slate, vintage, plaster of paris in an old cardboard tube, or DIY liquid
- Envelopes – fold and line yourself
- Erasers- natural rubber (you can buy vintage at flea markets)
- Glitter
- Hole punch
- Homemade glue (use first recipe for mod podge)
- Hot glue
- Labels
- Legos – earth block or wooden
- Markers – refillable paint or dry erase markers, china markers / grease pencil
- Needles/pins – buy vintage or in wooden case
- Paint – make your own, DIY milk paint, or buy plastic-free
- Paper – buy used, tree-free hemp, recycled, or make your own
- Pencils – stainless steel, unpackaged at stationery store
- Pens – fountain pen, Caran d’Ache, Lamy, refillable metal pen (handmade in the USA), DIY or buy from a thrift store. You can even make your own ink.
- Protractor – wooden or stainless steel
- Tape – gum arabic (available in bulk- in the US, Frontier offers it) and paper, or buy gummed paper tape
- Scissors- vintage forged or stainless steel
- Staples – vintage paper or binder clips
- Stamps – print directly on envelopes or buy lettres vert / individual stamps from La Poste machines
- Stickers
- Watercolors (substitute simple syrup for corn)
Save packing materials and reuse them, but when shipping things to the US or packing fragile items, clothes, and sheets always keep glass and liquids safe.
Imagine a suitcase full of beer wrapped in socks and underwear and nothing breaks. Vintage papers, notebooks, stationery, and arts and crafts supplies can be purchased.
Household Swaps
- Activated charcoal
- Air filter
- Air freshener- put a few drops essential oils in the toilet bowl (do not use if you have pets) or boil citrus peels, cloves, cinnamon sticks, etc. on the stove
- Baby items- Here, here, and refer to the comments here
- Boxes, moving supplies, etc.: Freecycle or rent. Carton Plein is one program in Paris
- Cleaning
- Canvas tent and camp bed (preferably secondhand) instead of nylon or an air mattress
- Composting- basic, Bokashi, vermicomposting
- Dehumidifier- boiling pot of water with citrus peels or essential oils, charcoal briquettes or road salt
- Diaper cream
- DIY Donald Judd sofa
- Drawer dividers
- Eyelash enhancer / brow serum: Castor or coconut oil
- Exercise / yoga mat: PVC-free or natural rubber
- Fan- diy cooler or wooden fan
- Flashlight
- Fly swatter- I have hands and cats, so I don’t need a fly swatter, but this one is leather if you absolutely must have one.
- Garbage can- a jar if you’re really zero-waste or plastic free iron dustbin (this one is by Brendan Raven Hill)
- Gift wrap – Furoshiki, cloth, or reusable containers. My friends use real flowers instead of bows.
- Gloves- natural rubber
- Goo-gone- olive oil, baking soda, or straight vinegar
- Hammer
- Mattress protector: wool, bamboo, or hemp mattress protector – they seem to all have polyurethane backings, which are not widely recycled
- PVC-free wood and aluminum headphones. Bamboo earbuds. Master & Dynamic has leather and steel headphones, but I don’t know where they source their materials or where production takes place.
- Ironing board – vintage, wooden, or bamboo
- Level
- Lint rollers – rubber brush (vegan) or clothing/upholstery brush
- Lubricant – olive or coconut oil to unstick zippers, grease doors, etc.
- Oil lamp
- Pest repellent
- Pet supplies (for cats)
- Phone charger: Solar, which you should have for emergencies anyway
- Rag rug tutorial (here for braided rug)
- Shopping kit
- Shower curtain- linen, recycled sail cloth, or hemp, with metal rings
- Solar still
- Sponges, steel wool, DIY sisal scrubs, and scouring powde r- dish brush, baking soda
- Storm kettle
- Thermos- a thirty-year old vintage Stanley thermos is still the best one I’ve used
- Toilet brush – wooden
- Tool set
- Trash bags – the best plastic free alternative to garbage bags I’ve seen is newspaper, which, like bio-bags, still doesn’t biodegrade in landfill conditions. Many people in Paris reuse paper bags, bread and meat packaging, etc., but composting is preferable to take care of the wet stuff, and then the dry things don’t need a liner.
- Washer / dryer- line dry; use a washing board; pedal-powered
- Water purification / filtration- activated charcoal (DIY, linked above, or Kishu), DIY ceramic, boiling or distillation, survivalist method
- Windshield de-icer: Vinegar, clear grain alcohol, rubbing alcohol
People make fun of parents that buy wooden blocks and handcrafted toys for their children, but my brothers and sisters and I always had fun with them (if I’d gotten the metal pedal or wooden soapbox car I always wanted, I’d be a better driver today). Perhaps the problem is the kids are boring, not the toys. My friends buy plastic-free thrift store toys for their children, who are happy, creative, and well-adjusted. You might also consider joining a toy library or organizing a toy swap.
This goes for everything on the list, but borrow or buy household items, including electronics and appliances, used where possible. For example, when he met me, my husband took one look at my seven-year-old flip phone and gave me his old smartphone. If buying secondhand isn’t realistic, maintain and repair items instead of buying new, which is something I think everybody does anyway. I re-use a crate to hold recyclables, and a large glass jar for compost scraps.
Personal Care Alternatives
- Anti-fungal cream
- Beauty
- Birth kit
- Birth control: Not that I’m advocating or detracting from any form of birth control, it’s a personal decision whether you use plastic of not, but some use a fertility monitor or practice natural birth control instead of hormonal options, others opt for an IUD
- Bug repellent
- Breath mints / gum
- Breath spray
- Blush / Bronzer: Beetroot powder (make your own, or buy a lead-free version) or cocoa powder
- Concealer
- Cough medicine: My doctor always said dark chocolate was the most effective cough medicine, and he’s right! He graduated from Oxford and Cambridge with honors so it’s not like he’s some quack or anything. For homemade cough drops, click here.
- Curlers: Rag or pin curls
- Deodorant – baking soda
- Dry shampoo – cocoa powder, cornstarch
- Eyeliner: Kohl / kajal (not Middle Eastern or Asian, which can contain lead), cobalt ultramarine powder, Fat and the Moon eye coal
- Eye shadow: Turmeric powder, spirulina, clays, sage powder, or cocoa works; click here for DIY
- Hairbrush: Tek, rubber and wooden pin brush, bamboo, agave brushes
- Hair dye: Nettle leaf, black walnut hull, sage, and henna color brown tones. Beet powder, hibiscus, rosehips, and saffron give a red tinge. Lemon, quassia chips, turmeric, and chamomile dye blond hair or highlights. Click here for instructions.
- Hairspray- lemon / lime juice or sugar water
- Hair ties
- Heating pad: Fill a cotton bag with rice and warm it up.
- Feminine hygiene- switch to a cup, natural sponges, or washable pads (for DIY instructions click here) and, though tampons are not ideal, reusable hemp tampons. Period panties are intriguing, but so far I could only find ones made of plastic.
- Floss- Dental Lace, Vomel, Radius, neem or siwak
- First aid / medicine
- Hairbrush- wood and natural rubber
- Lotion or lubrication- DIY mango butter, bulk oil, especially olive or coconut. Note: If your doctor or veterinarian recommended KY Jelly for thermometers, do not substitute.
- Mascara
- Nail clippers / file: Stainless steel, bamboo, or glass
- Nail polish remover: Best to skip vernis ongles, but some soybean oil removers come packaged in glass
- Perfume: DIY or refill your Le Labo bottles in-store (cruelty free), Call of the Vialed
- Q-tips / cotton pads- I’ve never used Q-Tips- don’t your ears get clean every time you take a shower? Try a hemp washcloth to remove makeup, or reusable cotton rounds.
- Razor / shaving cream- safety razor and unpackaged soap
- Shampoo: water only, soap, clay, rye flour (for fine hair), gram flour (thick hair), bulk
- Straightener: 6 ways to straighten your hair naturally
- Sunless tanner: Henna, cocoa powder self tanning lotion
- Sunscreen
- Tissues: handkerchiefs, cut up old t-shirts / scrap fabric / rags, or Hankybook
- Toilet paper: soap and water, recycled (packed in paper), or family cloth
- Toothbrush and toothpaste- siwak, bamboo, and baking soda
- Tooth whitener: Turmeric or activated charcoal
Ellis Faas, Fat and the Moon, Elate Cosmetics, Ilia Beauty, W3LL People, and Kjaer Weis seem to be the favorite makeup brands in the zero waste community right now. Origins, Mac, Burt’s Bees, and Aveda have takeback programs for their packaging as well (Origins is brand agnostic).
Wardrobe Essentials
- Boro mending
- Clothes freshener – Combine equal parts distilled water and vodka in a spray bottle for zero-waste Febreze (safe on upholstery and bedding)
- Darning
- Dress shields
- Dry-cleaning- hand-washing, brushing, spot-cleaning and steaming. Use a garment bag instead of dry cleaning bags, which contain plasticizers that yellow and mold clothing
- Dryer sheets – skip the dryer and line-dry, use wool dryer balls, or add vinegar to cycle as fabric softener.
- Flip flops – natural rubber
- Hand-sewing – seam tutorial; basic stitches here or here
- Laundry soap – bar soap, soap nuts, or baking soda and washing soda. Click here for a zero-waste stain removal chart.
- Lingerie – diy bralette, general making your own tips
- Lint rollers – rubber brush (vegan) or clothing/upholstery brush
- Lint shaver – Comb, sweater or pumice stone, safety razor
- Natural dye bath recipe and chart
- Rain boots: natural rubber
- Shoe care
- Shoe horn- I never use these, but you could use a wooden or metal version
- Stockings / tights: Swedish Stockings, Pact, secondhand, organic cotton, or wool
- Umbrella: Grey domestic or renewable cork
- Workout clothes (see above for yoga mats): Use what you already have first; if secondhand isn’t an option, try Alternative Apparel, Nau tencel or merino wool, Pact organic cotton, Prana recycled activewear, Patagonia, Threads 4 Thought, Teeki
- Wooden or DIY hangers
Kitchen Products
- Almond milk
- Bean sprouts
- Blender – plastic-free, or eat whole fruits and vegetables
- Baby bottle: glass (that’s what my mom used for all of us!) or stainless steel
- Cling wrap – cloth towels, jars, or covered glass and stainless steel containers
- Coffee filters – French press
- Dish rack- I just use a cloth towel, but choose metal drying racks if necessary
- Dish soap – bar soap or castile
- Fish sauce
- Flour
- Food processor – mortar and pestle, ricer, plastic-free or secondhand food processor
- Homemade food coloring
- Ice cube tray
- Kefir
- Kombucha
- Meat grinder – have butcher grind meat, then place directly into jars, or use at home grinder
- Mustard
- Nut milks
- Noodle cups: DIY in a mason jar
- Olive oil
- Paneer
- Paper towels – flour sack towels
- Parchment paper / muffin liners – generally compostable, although I don’t use aluminum foil or parchment when recipes call for them. Food turns out fine. My mom uses silicone muffin pans and macaron mats; silicone behaves as a plastic, but can be fully recycled.
- Pasta – buy in bulk, or, if celiac, make it fresh. When I have leftover mashed potatoes I make gnocchi out of it- add rice, almond, or coconut flour and one egg or vegan egg replacement (I like chia gel), then form with your hands.
- Pickles
- Popsicle mold
- Quark
- Refrigerator- click here to store food without the refrigerator, here for a DIY zeer pot.
- Rice flour
- Salad spinner – use cloth or plastic-free
- Slow cooker – bring double-handled pot to temperature, then wrap in wool blanket and place in covered basket
- Soy sauce- here or here, for soy-free sauce. Vegans can substitute vegetable broth for beef/chicken, or just use coconut aminos.
- Sparkling water- seltzer bottle
- Straws – DIY, skip, or buy stainless steel / bamboo
- Starch
- Tapioca pearls
- Tea bags – teapot with glass or ceramic filter, tea ball
- Tortillas
- Vinegar
- Water bottles – secondhand canteen or Klean Kanteen
- Whipped cream – shake cream and sugar in a jar
- Ziploc bags – glass or stainless steel containers (good for freezing), drawstring cloth bags. Click here for zero-waste food storage suggestions.
As for exercise equipment like weights, medicine balls, and yoga mats, Use a towel and a big potted plant or big jugs of water instead.
I walk eight miles a day and up / down seven flights of stairs carrying groceries, but plyometric routines and using a chair or table for tricep dips is great. For basic zero-waste food tips, check the blog.