Another tip for ways to recycle clothes- check with your local animal rescues/ vets. Especially in rural areas like where I grew up, donations of old clothes/bedding/etc can be reused as blankets, rags, toys, and even tools used for training!
Instead of buying wool dryer balls, I make my own using old socks- I cut up a couple of socks and stuff the scraps into another sock until they make a ball, then tie a knot in the end
Love these lists! Tip on candles - you can freeze them and pop out the wax with a butter knife. It also makes it easier for the wick piece to come out. Most of the time, mine come out cleaner than the boiling water trick and your freezer is likely already in use, so no extra resources need to be used. Also, I just turned on the wrong burner the other night. Didn't realize it until nearly 20 minues later. AHH! One gift tip for you is to reuse any kind of box you have for wrapping. I did a dirty santa gift a bit dirty this year by taking all of my used cardboard boxes and doing a Matryoshka style gift. It was hilarious and zero waste, because you could still recycle the boxes. They weren't sure if they were getting food or a tool of some kind until they finally got to the last box and saw that they actually got money, which made it worth the effort.
Another one that I just heard yesterday is to freeze any fruits or veggies before they go bad. Something can be almost bad and saved by freezing. Then you can use it in smoothies, soups, or anything really. I do this with bananas all the time, but for some reason, it never registered with me to do apples and other things that way as well.
Yea that actually works a lot better than boiling it out and the wax holds it's consistency better for reuse as another candle :) making candles is a great way to upcycle old candles and reuse jars that would otherwise be thrown out. I learned how to make candles last year and it's been a lot of fun trying different essential oils and upcycling jars 😆
Note that not all places accept candle jars for recycling! I was dutifully cleaning mine our for years, only to realized that in my state (Delaware!) they can't be accepted. They require a much higher heat to break down than typical glass bottles do.
WHAT?! ugh that is so frustrating thank you for sharing! I'll be sure to caveat that now and will do research before I spend a day cleaning my collection thank you!
You can also catch the water from your wash machine at the end of each cycle. I use very large buckets or waster paper containers. It takes some time and a bit of muscle, but wash machines use a lot of water. You can then use the rinse water, which is relatively clean, for your next wash cycle, and you can use the wash cycle water to flush toilets, water outdoor plants, etc. Mine is a top load machine, so I'm not sure how this works for a front load. I've been doing it for years; it's a huge water saver. Then hang the laundry to dry, either on drying racks or hangers inside or outside on a clothesline or drying racks. It's what our ancestors did--likely without complaint. I'm a radical non-waste person but hadn't thought of taking a rag to the gym to wipe down the equipment. Going to start that tomorrow. Thanks!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist They use it for blind people or people who need a trained dog to help them in their every day life. I collect them and drop them off at a dog trimm salon. They need a lot of them!
I like to reuse fabric/clothes to stuff pillows or a sagging couch cushions. I also use older or ill fitting wool items to make decor such as throw pillows, cat toys and bedding for my cats. I have never learned to sew so I am limited. Emma, perhaps you could give us a quick tutorial on how you made your t-shirt rug 😁
Thanks for the suggestions Emma! 😃👍🏻👊🏻 .... Recently I discarded a pair of work boots, I always keep the laces if they're still decent, this time I was able to put the laces to use right away in another pair of boots in desperate need of them.
Glad you posted saving your laces. I've actually dumpster dived shoes or bought them second hand just for the laces. They have so many uses besides boot/shoe laces as well. Good post! Thanks!
Appreciate you and your quality content/resources! Your channel is definitely one of the best home page recommendations I’ve ever taken a chance on watching! 😊 The recommendation was your video on laundry detergent sheets! So glad I watched because I have been using Tru Earth “eco” strips for several months now…As a vegan I’m so used to checking every single ingredient label, but I apparently let the ingredients of those damn strips skate by undetected…definitely won’t be purchasing anymore of their PVA!! 😒 Thank you for all the effort you put into living sustainably, helping others do the same, empowering others to take action, sharing knowledge, spreading positivity, and so much more! ✌️❤️🌎
you are SO kind thank you so much!!! I am so glad that video is performing well, I want to spread the word I'm so sad I Fell for that greenwashing for years!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist 🤗❤️!! Yes I hope a lot of people see it! I will definitely share on my IG asap! You know what’s crazy is they don’t even share the full list of ingredients on the packaging or their product page! After watching your video I was so upset I let that slip past me, so I went to the product page online and checked the packaging and I could only find the *active* ingredients. I seriously had to Google around for the full list of ingredients… I think I ended up finding them in an FAQ on their website, which is so ridiculous! And that was only for the laundry strips; I couldn’t find a full ingredient list for their other products anywhere (of course they all have PVA in them since they’re the “strip” concept, but I just wanted to see if they were hiding ingredients for all their products or just some…turns out they’re hiding it for all of them until enough people ask that they put it in an FAQ!)…. Those f*ckers should be ashamed… 😒 I wonder if other brands making this type of product hide their full ingredient list as well… would be interesting to check!!
If you need to stick something up in the wall, use this blue sticky thing instead of regular tape. The blue thing can be used again and won't rip your posters like tape does
Alternatively, you can do some super fun craft projects with used staples. If you save up enough they melt really easily and you can make your own metal pins and stuff 🤙 this can also be done with pop-top tabs. You don't need a staple remover just use a knife or fork...multi tool, pretty much anything that can get under the staple.....I never have trouble taking them out tbh....but maybe that's just me 😅
I recently bought an old planner from a previous year to use as an all-purpose notebook (this only works because the text in this particular planner is minimal and unobtrusive). It has: (a) paper I like (I use fountain pens so I am particular about this), (b) a third of the cost of an original notebook, and (c) maybe I rescued it from a lesser fate (eg recycling)?
Emma part 1: Use water from your dehumidifier for your plants💦🌱 Emma part 10: Shower your plants in blood water😈👹 Lol very great idea and the plant benefits make sense, I just thought the range was hilarious 😂 on a real note tho its awesome to see your continued growth and exploration in low waste living😁🥰
Well when you say it THAT way 😂 it sounds way more brutal. I'm not a vegan because vegan foods are expensive and difficult to find where I live so I've learned ways to compost bones. It really helps the garden take off when you nourish them with the bones of your victims 😄
@@maddyg4024 yeah, crazy thing is they don't stink up the compost bin either 🙂 Like it sounds gross but after baking to dry them and grinding them to powder it's not a bad fertilizer at all. The only time my compost bin stank like ugly bad was when I composted half a rotting watermelon (this was like 2 years ago)......I seriously thought about throwing out the bin that time..... but I fixed it buy adding extra aspen bedding and dirt 😁👍
@@justachonkyspider oooh i never thought of that process but thats genius! I had a similar experience when I tried composting. Now I am grateful I have the opportunity to compost through my community 😁 some day I will tackle composting again lol thank you for all your insights, i love continuing to learn🥰
I have become a chaotic zero waster what can I say ahahhahaha. The range is also hilarious we talk about food waste and pets and dirty toilet water and everything in between haha
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist oh, well, I guess it's fine then? it's just I've never seen them come with something other than shoes and clothing, so I sort of assumed that it's the only safe way of using them around the house
I love this channel! I’ve been watching old videos non-stop the past few days, and I just picked up litter around my apartment complex!! I have one suggestion for your videos to make them more accessible. When posting text information on the screen, please put the white text in a box with a black background and the black text in a box with a white background. It makes it much easier to read, especially for visually disabled people. Think Netflix subtitles! Thank you for acknowledging that not everyone can vote (due to systematic inequities). Keep up the great work!!
4:58 About not taking cold showers in summer because of energy consumption - are water coolers a thing like water heaters are? I lived in AZ for several years and never heard of an appliance that cools household water except for swamp cooler air conditioning.
Yes they are! Or I assume since my groundwater in Vegas is over 100 degrees F it surely HAS to be a thing to cool down the water, right? Just seems liek common sense to me i didn't actually look at my plumbing lol
Can you do a video on composting in the desert? I live in the desert and am blessed with a decent sized backyard, where I compost in my garden beds. But I have a friend who wants to compost, but doesnt know if/how he can since he has only a tiny rock garden.
I compost above ground in a bin and it's taken a while but I am FINALLY seeing progress! I may make a shorts about it but not a full lenght video since I am no expert and the only thing I did was hope hahaha
Totally irrelevant, but I had a dream the other night that you made a video about your pinecone collection, so I think it's a sign you should make one 😂😅
IT IS A SIGN! I made one for Patreon, so maybe I should make it public due to demand ;) I just packed them all up for our upcoming move so the Patreon videeo isn't the full collection, but maybe this fall when I unpack them (and have more cones) I can show them off on the public channel!
I have watched so many of your videos but not all yet and I was looking to find the under eye stuff in the blue bottle. I can't seem to remember which video it was in.
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist Glad I can help! I like them, they have a nice purpose, recycled paper, wrap less options, and also a bamboo version. They offer subscription and some additionnal products like a spray to replace wipes. I'm very happy with them 😊
If you can't compost at home. What about taking your compost to a park. Luckily right now I take it to my parents. When I don't have them anymore, is a park okay
One warning about unsubscribing, is a lot of companies still store your information (I think maybe you were kinda getting at this, Emma). I’ve unsubscribed from mailing lists, only to mysteriously start receiving emails from them a few months to a year later. This has happened a few times with Joann specifically. 🙄 It’s unclear to me whether or not deleting your email address will change anything. I wish more companies gave you the option to have your information removed from their system.
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist I have no idea. It's a thing that bothers me so much. So now I don't really sign up for coupons at all, unless it's a company I know I will be using again and again.
When you use "to each their own" so casually, this really makes me uncomfortable. Though I assume you don't know that this phrase was used for the gates of Buchenwald.
Who gives a crap actually has the whole individually wrapped thing figured out. On their website it says: "We have to wrap our rolls in something to make sure that moisture from the outside world doesn’t end up sullying your pristine rolls. We chose 100% recyclable paper with vegetable dyes that biodegrade easily. We could wrap 6 rolls together (that’s the limit) like we do for our supermarket 6 packs, but that requires a THICKER paper. The net paper used (by weight) to wrap a 6 pack in heavy duty paper vs. six individual rolls in the thin paper we use is effectively the same, so there wouldn’t be any environmental benefit. The other option would be to pack the box with naked rolls but then do a 48 roll plastic overwrap to keep the nasties out. As a business that’s always looking to remove plastic from our supply chain, this didn’t seem like a suitable option for us to explore further." blog.whogivesacrap.org/home/goodcrafts/why-individually-wrapped
Ehh it's alright. I went back and forth with them over email and kept explaining that in my individual household, I don't need this wrap for sanitation. Makes sense in bigger households, shared spaces, etc but not for me. It's wasteful. and, just cause something can be recycled or composted doesn't make it a perfect solution. That is a bandage, the best is always ZERO waste when possible and I think they can definitely at the very least make it an option on their website
Another tip for ways to recycle clothes- check with your local animal rescues/ vets. Especially in rural areas like where I grew up, donations of old clothes/bedding/etc can be reused as blankets, rags, toys, and even tools used for training!
for sure!!
Instead of buying wool dryer balls, I make my own using old socks- I cut up a couple of socks and stuff the scraps into another sock until they make a ball, then tie a knot in the end
I do the same thing. I don't use aluminum foil much but if I have some that can be cleaned, I also use those in socks to help combat static.
WOAH! Genius!
@@denisemarie485 great idea!
Love these lists! Tip on candles - you can freeze them and pop out the wax with a butter knife. It also makes it easier for the wick piece to come out. Most of the time, mine come out cleaner than the boiling water trick and your freezer is likely already in use, so no extra resources need to be used. Also, I just turned on the wrong burner the other night. Didn't realize it until nearly 20 minues later. AHH! One gift tip for you is to reuse any kind of box you have for wrapping. I did a dirty santa gift a bit dirty this year by taking all of my used cardboard boxes and doing a Matryoshka style gift. It was hilarious and zero waste, because you could still recycle the boxes. They weren't sure if they were getting food or a tool of some kind until they finally got to the last box and saw that they actually got money, which made it worth the effort.
Another one that I just heard yesterday is to freeze any fruits or veggies before they go bad. Something can be almost bad and saved by freezing. Then you can use it in smoothies, soups, or anything really. I do this with bananas all the time, but for some reason, it never registered with me to do apples and other things that way as well.
Yea that actually works a lot better than boiling it out and the wax holds it's consistency better for reuse as another candle :) making candles is a great way to upcycle old candles and reuse jars that would otherwise be thrown out.
I learned how to make candles last year and it's been a lot of fun trying different essential oils and upcycling jars 😆
ohhh i'll give that a whirl i have a lot i need to clean! So many great tips, thanks Erin!
@@erintannehill yes!! my fav tip :)
@@justachonkyspider good to know!
Turn off your oven or stove a few min before the cook time. You can use the residual heat to finish cooking your food! Saves some energy 😊
YES!! A great tip!
Note that not all places accept candle jars for recycling! I was dutifully cleaning mine our for years, only to realized that in my state (Delaware!) they can't be accepted. They require a much higher heat to break down than typical glass bottles do.
WHAT?! ugh that is so frustrating thank you for sharing! I'll be sure to caveat that now and will do research before I spend a day cleaning my collection thank you!
Keep them and refill them with wax
You can also repurpose old T-shirts into hair towels, especially if you have long hair. They're better for your hair than terry cloths, anyway.
yes!! great idea!
Wow, I didn’t know I had to clean out my trash and junk folders! So nice to be all cleaned out! Now I’ll continue the video. 😊
they can use so much energy to store allllll that data!
You can also catch the water from your wash machine at the end of each cycle. I use very large buckets or waster paper containers. It takes some time and a bit of muscle, but wash machines use a lot of water. You can then use the rinse water, which is relatively clean, for your next wash cycle, and you can use the wash cycle water to flush toilets, water outdoor plants, etc. Mine is a top load machine, so I'm not sure how this works for a front load. I've been doing it for years; it's a huge water saver. Then hang the laundry to dry, either on drying racks or hangers inside or outside on a clothesline or drying racks. It's what our ancestors did--likely without complaint. I'm a radical non-waste person but hadn't thought of taking a rag to the gym to wipe down the equipment. Going to start that tomorrow. Thanks!
I'm renting so I don't want to redo my plumbing, maybe one day!
I collect bottle caps. Here they are used for training dogs. Thank you for this video, love to watch these! And now my email box is clean 🥰
woah how do you use them for dog training??
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist They use it for blind people or people who need a trained dog to help them in their every day life. I collect them and drop them off at a dog trimm salon. They need a lot of them!
I like to reuse fabric/clothes to stuff pillows or a sagging couch cushions. I also use older or ill fitting wool items to make decor such as throw pillows, cat toys and bedding for my cats. I have never learned to sew so I am limited. Emma, perhaps you could give us a quick tutorial on how you made your t-shirt rug 😁
what a great idea, I need to do this! I have videos up already on my rug :)
Thanks for the suggestions Emma! 😃👍🏻👊🏻 .... Recently I discarded a pair of work boots, I always keep the laces if they're still decent, this time I was able to put the laces to use right away in another pair of boots in desperate need of them.
love the reuse! Extra laces are cat toys in my house hahahaha
Glad you posted saving your laces. I've actually dumpster dived shoes or bought them second hand just for the laces. They have so many uses besides boot/shoe laces as well. Good post! Thanks!
Appreciate you and your quality content/resources! Your channel is definitely one of the best home page recommendations I’ve ever taken a chance on watching! 😊 The recommendation was your video on laundry detergent sheets! So glad I watched because I have been using Tru Earth “eco” strips for several months now…As a vegan I’m so used to checking every single ingredient label, but I apparently let the ingredients of those damn strips skate by undetected…definitely won’t be purchasing anymore of their PVA!! 😒 Thank you for all the effort you put into living sustainably, helping others do the same, empowering others to take action, sharing knowledge, spreading positivity, and so much more! ✌️❤️🌎
you are SO kind thank you so much!!! I am so glad that video is performing well, I want to spread the word I'm so sad I Fell for that greenwashing for years!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist 🤗❤️!! Yes I hope a lot of people see it! I will definitely share on my IG asap! You know what’s crazy is they don’t even share the full list of ingredients on the packaging or their product page! After watching your video I was so upset I let that slip past me, so I went to the product page online and checked the packaging and I could only find the *active* ingredients. I seriously had to Google around for the full list of ingredients… I think I ended up finding them in an FAQ on their website, which is so ridiculous! And that was only for the laundry strips; I couldn’t find a full ingredient list for their other products anywhere (of course they all have PVA in them since they’re the “strip” concept, but I just wanted to see if they were hiding ingredients for all their products or just some…turns out they’re hiding it for all of them until enough people ask that they put it in an FAQ!)…. Those f*ckers should be ashamed… 😒 I wonder if other brands making this type of product hide their full ingredient list as well… would be interesting to check!!
@@kat_thefruitbat RIGHT!! When I saw they left ingredients out i thought how SCUMMY of them! I agree, they should be ashamed!
If you need to stick something up in the wall, use this blue sticky thing instead of regular tape. The blue thing can be used again and won't rip your posters like tape does
great tip thank you!
Alternatively, you can do some super fun craft projects with used staples. If you save up enough they melt really easily and you can make your own metal pins and stuff 🤙 this can also be done with pop-top tabs. You don't need a staple remover just use a knife or fork...multi tool, pretty much anything that can get under the staple.....I never have trouble taking them out tbh....but maybe that's just me 😅
Wow, never heard this. How interesting -- and sustainable!
@@sustainfem thanks :) I like making all kinds of things.
WOAH! Maybe I'll start collecting metal!
@@sustainfem right?!
@@justachonkyspider so many great upcycling crafts :)
I recently bought an old planner from a previous year to use as an all-purpose notebook (this only works because the text in this particular planner is minimal and unobtrusive). It has: (a) paper I like (I use fountain pens so I am particular about this), (b) a third of the cost of an original notebook, and (c) maybe I rescued it from a lesser fate (eg recycling)?
great idea and reuse!!
Love this series!
it's the BEST!
Emma part 1: Use water from your dehumidifier for your plants💦🌱
Emma part 10: Shower your plants in blood water😈👹
Lol very great idea and the plant benefits make sense, I just thought the range was hilarious 😂 on a real note tho its awesome to see your continued growth and exploration in low waste living😁🥰
Well when you say it THAT way 😂 it sounds way more brutal. I'm not a vegan because vegan foods are expensive and difficult to find where I live so I've learned ways to compost bones. It really helps the garden take off when you nourish them with the bones of your victims 😄
@@justachonkyspider yesss some who matches the energy😂 thats awesome you found a way to compst them😁
@@maddyg4024 yeah, crazy thing is they don't stink up the compost bin either 🙂
Like it sounds gross but after baking to dry them and grinding them to powder it's not a bad fertilizer at all. The only time my compost bin stank like ugly bad was when I composted half a rotting watermelon (this was like 2 years ago)......I seriously thought about throwing out the bin that time..... but I fixed it buy adding extra aspen bedding and dirt 😁👍
@@justachonkyspider oooh i never thought of that process but thats genius! I had a similar experience when I tried composting. Now I am grateful I have the opportunity to compost through my community 😁 some day I will tackle composting again lol thank you for all your insights, i love continuing to learn🥰
I have become a chaotic zero waster what can I say ahahhahaha. The range is also hilarious we talk about food waste and pets and dirty toilet water and everything in between haha
Where I live soft plastics can be recycled at store drop offs with plastic grocery bags. :)
amazing! I'm sure there is one in Vegas SOMEWHERE but not near me
great video! personally i wouldn't put silica gel packet this close to foods... maybe in the same drawer, but not directly into the jar
really? The ones I have all came from food packaging...
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist oh, well, I guess it's fine then? it's just I've never seen them come with something other than shoes and clothing, so I sort of assumed that it's the only safe way of using them around the house
I love this channel! I’ve been watching old videos non-stop the past few days, and I just picked up litter around my apartment complex!!
I have one suggestion for your videos to make them more accessible. When posting text information on the screen, please put the white text in a box with a black background and the black text in a box with a white background. It makes it much easier to read, especially for visually disabled people. Think Netflix subtitles! Thank you for acknowledging that not everyone can vote (due to systematic inequities). Keep up the great work!!
that means so much to me, thank you! I will work on that text idea, I appreciate the kind feedback! Always learning and trying to be more inclusive :)
4:58 About not taking cold showers in summer because of energy consumption - are water coolers a thing like water heaters are? I lived in AZ for several years and never heard of an appliance that cools household water except for swamp cooler air conditioning.
Yes they are! Or I assume since my groundwater in Vegas is over 100 degrees F it surely HAS to be a thing to cool down the water, right? Just seems liek common sense to me i didn't actually look at my plumbing lol
No, water heaters heat water or deliver the "cold" straight to the fixtures. It does not cool water.
Can you do a video on composting in the desert? I live in the desert and am blessed with a decent sized backyard, where I compost in my garden beds. But I have a friend who wants to compost, but doesnt know if/how he can since he has only a tiny rock garden.
I compost above ground in a bin and it's taken a while but I am FINALLY seeing progress! I may make a shorts about it but not a full lenght video since I am no expert and the only thing I did was hope hahaha
OMG ANOTHER ONE YESSSSS
THIS SERIES IS ENDLESS!
Totally irrelevant, but I had a dream the other night that you made a video about your pinecone collection, so I think it's a sign you should make one 😂😅
IT IS A SIGN! I made one for Patreon, so maybe I should make it public due to demand ;) I just packed them all up for our upcoming move so the Patreon videeo isn't the full collection, but maybe this fall when I unpack them (and have more cones) I can show them off on the public channel!
I have watched so many of your videos but not all yet and I was looking to find the under eye stuff in the blue bottle. I can't seem to remember which video it was in.
probably my zero waste bathroom video! I hope that's where cause I don't remember the brand....maybe butter me up organics?
I don't know if "the good roll" is available in the US, but they have a wrapless option :)
OMG THANK YOU! I'll be checking it out once my WGAC is gone!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist Glad I can help!
I like them, they have a nice purpose, recycled paper, wrap less options, and also a bamboo version. They offer subscription and some additionnal products like a spray to replace wipes. I'm very happy with them 😊
@@Juste_Elie woah that's amazing! Sounds like I need to review some more lesser known TP brands!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist I'll be enjoying more videos, then 😁
@@Juste_Elie yayyyy thank you!
If you can't compost at home. What about taking your compost to a park. Luckily right now I take it to my parents. When I don't have them anymore, is a park okay
Do NOT dump compost in public places!
One warning about unsubscribing, is a lot of companies still store your information (I think maybe you were kinda getting at this, Emma). I’ve unsubscribed from mailing lists, only to mysteriously start receiving emails from them a few months to a year later. This has happened a few times with Joann specifically. 🙄 It’s unclear to me whether or not deleting your email address will change anything. I wish more companies gave you the option to have your information removed from their system.
woah how can we be completely removed?! That's so sad!
@@TheSimpleEnvironmentalist I have no idea. It's a thing that bothers me so much. So now I don't really sign up for coupons at all, unless it's a company I know I will be using again and again.
When you use "to each their own" so casually, this really makes me uncomfortable. Though I assume you don't know that this phrase was used for the gates of Buchenwald.
Oh snap no i did NOT know that I've only ever heard it used casually and will immediately stop using it thank you for educating me so kindly
Who gives a crap actually has the whole individually wrapped thing figured out. On their website it says:
"We have to wrap our rolls in something to make sure that moisture from the outside world doesn’t end up sullying your pristine rolls. We chose 100% recyclable paper with vegetable dyes that biodegrade easily.
We could wrap 6 rolls together (that’s the limit) like we do for our supermarket 6 packs, but that requires a THICKER paper. The net paper used (by weight) to wrap a 6 pack in heavy duty paper vs. six individual rolls in the thin paper we use is effectively the same, so there wouldn’t be any environmental benefit.
The other option would be to pack the box with naked rolls but then do a 48 roll plastic overwrap to keep the nasties out. As a business that’s always looking to remove plastic from our supply chain, this didn’t seem like a suitable option for us to explore further."
blog.whogivesacrap.org/home/goodcrafts/why-individually-wrapped
Ehh it's alright. I went back and forth with them over email and kept explaining that in my individual household, I don't need this wrap for sanitation. Makes sense in bigger households, shared spaces, etc but not for me. It's wasteful. and, just cause something can be recycled or composted doesn't make it a perfect solution. That is a bandage, the best is always ZERO waste when possible and I think they can definitely at the very least make it an option on their website