Category Archives:reusables

31
Oct

Reusable Paper Towel Alternative: Meet Bambooee

Reusable Bambooee Towel

Have you been wanting to ditch paper towels but aren't ready to give up the convenience? Bambooee offers a reusable alternative.

It's a habit, right? When you have a messy spill or need to blot the oil from a batch of oven fries, you pull a paper towel off of the roll, then toss it in the trash after you're done. It's OK - we all do it. The folks at Bambooee offered to send me a roll of their reusable paper towel alternatives to try out, and I thought it would be a good chance to see how this affected my own paper towel use.

How Reusable Bambooee Works

Bambooee towels come on a roll, just like paper towels do, so you can slip it onto your paper towel holder. Each machine-washable towel is reusable up to 100 times, and the company says that one roll of 20 bamboo sheets replaces 286 paper towel rolls.

They're made from organically-grown bamboo and are reusable and machine-washable.

Reusable Bambooee Towel

My Bambooee Experience

I used my Bambooee towels to wipe down the kitchen counter, clean up some sticky spills, and even wipe my baby's face. Normally I use a dish towel, sponge, or cloth napkin for things like this, but I know that a lot of folks reach for paper towels for jobs like these, and I wanted to try to simulate how most folks would use these.

One paper towel use that it hasn't replaced for us: cleaning the cat box. The reason we use paper towels and not reusable rags now is that cat urine is very toxic, and I don't trust that it will fully come out in the wash. I also wouldn't want to wash those rags with my other laundry, so it feels less wasteful to use a few paper towels than to run a load of laundry just for a few cat box rags.

We have been basically treating these like rags, using one Bambooee for a few days before tossing it in the wash. It looks a little bit messy on the counter, but if you fold it up and hang it on the oven door or over the sink, it fits well into our kitchen. I know not everyone cares about how things look, but having a tidy kitchen is important to me, since I cook a lot.

The one bummery thing about Bambooee: the sheets are not biodegradable or compostable, so when the sheet is done, it has to go in the trash. But! That's one sheet in the trash instead of 100 similarly-sized sheets of paper towels, though. The company says it's working on a compostable version, but they don't have a release date for that on their site yet.

Overall, I'd say that if you're having trouble letting go of your paper towel habit, Bambooee is a much better alternative option. If you're already using reusables, your stash of rags and dish towels is probably doing everything that Bambooee would do for you. Since the Bambooee towels are reusable up to 100 times, they might make a good replacement when your current set of rags bites the dust. How many uses do you feel like you're getting from a rag now, if you're using them: more or fewer than 100?

Want to try the Bambooee? You can find their products on their website. Their press release says that they're also available at retailers in the U.S. and in Canada, so you can look for them in stores too.

Posted:   |   Categories: bamboo, Bambooee, disposable products, Living, paper towel alternatives, paper towels, reusable, reusables
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29
Aug

How to Conserve: 5 DIY Reusables

Reusable Snack Bag

Earlier this week, we talked a bit about Earth Overshoot Day and how to conserve, so you can cut your own footprint. One of my favorite ways to reduce my impact is to use my crafty skills not only to repurpose materials that would be otherwise landfill-bound but to make things that replace disposables in my life.

I'm a big believer that even the smallest changes can add up. Every time you use a cloth napkin instead of a disposable one or bring your own reusable to-go cup, you're making a difference. Imagine if all of the billions of people on this planet just made a few small changes. The impact would be huge!

Sure, you can buy all kinds of reusables, but there's a satisfaction in making your own, isn't there? I'm much more likely to remember a cloth napkin at meal time when the drawer in the kitchen is packed with ones I made myself, you know? Check out how to conserve with some DIY reusables!

How to Conserve the DIY Way!

DIY Mesh Grocery Bags

1.  DIY Grocery Bags

This is kind of like green 101, right? But store-bought reusable bags have to be made in a factory and shipped all over the world. That uses a lot of resources. Shrink that footprint by raiding your closet for some tees that are past their prime, and making your own grocery bags instead!

2. Mason Jar To-Go Cup

Who needs an icky plastic cup and straw, when you can bring your own super hip to go cup? You can make this even greener by using your cup with a reusable glass straw instead of a disposable plastic one!

DIY Cloth Pad

3. Make Your Own Cloth Pads

I know, reusable menstrual products come with a bit of an ick factor, but aren't those tons of bloody pads festering in landfills even more ick-worthy? How about the GMO cotton and petroleum products used in disposable pads? And that feeling that you're kinnnndd of wearing a crinkly diaper? Once you get the swing of reusable pads, you'll never go back. Promise.

4. Reusable Snack Bag

Be gone, wasteful plastic baggies! Check out this simple tute for making a machine-washable cloth snack bag instead!

5. Cleaning Wipes

Paper towels, schmaper schmowels, I say. Who needs to destroy virgin forests just to wipe up spills? Not you, my friend. Not you. You can whip up your own DIY cleaning wipes in a snap!

Do you have any DIY tips on how to conserve? Share your favorite homemade reusables in the comments!

Posted:   |   Categories: conservation, disposables, DIY, how to conserve, replacing disposables, reusables
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16
May

5 Ways to Replace Single Use Plastic

Reusable Snack Bag

Single use plastic is a scourge on our environment, yet we continue to produce and use plastic products that are designed to head straight to the landfill after we use them just one time. Products like plastic straws and baggies are so ingrained in our culture, many of us can't imagine not using them in our day-to-day.

The problem is, all of that convenience is destroying fragile ecosystems and harming our health at the same time.

Many plastic products, like Ziplock bags are not recyclable, because the plastic is of too low a quality. Instead, they're landfill-bound, but often they don't make it that far. Whether they fall off of a trash truck or someone carelessly tosses them on the ground, those plastics make their way into waterways and eventually to the ocean where they become part of one of the huge plastic gyres. These gyres are massive areas of the ocean that are too polluted to support life.

Plastic is no good for our bodies, either. Plasticizers like BPA leach into food and water that they come into contact with. These chemicals are often untested, so we don't full know how they'll impact our health. Others are endocrine disruptors or even carcinogens. No, thank you!

Any time you replace a disposable option with a reusable one, you're making a huge impact on your health and the health of this planet. Here are a few simple ways that you can replace single use plastic with reusable alternatives.

1. Reusable Snack Bag

Just say no to wasteful plastic baggies! There are lots of companies making reusable snack bags, or you can make your own reusable snack bag!

2. Cloth Diapers

You might not think of disposable diapers as a plastic product, but those Huggies use a layer of plastic on the outside to prevent leaks. Cloth diapers have a hefty price tag initially, but you buy them once, and you're set! Compare that to the cost of buying disposables over and over, and you're not only reducing your plastic waste but saving between $900 and $1900 during your child's diaper-wearing years!

embellished glass straws

3. Glass Straws

Of course, you can skip the straw all together when you're grabbing a drink on the go, but if you don't want to give up your sipping habit, choose a reusable glass straw instead! Most glass straws are dishwasher safe, so they're easy to care for. They're also way cuter than clear disposable straws!

4. Picnic Ware

Next time you're heading to the park for a picnic, pack yourself some proper utensils instead of disposable plastic ones. If you're traveling and don't want to carry dirty dishes with you, opt for more sustainable disposables made from wood or bamboo instead of plastic.

5. To-Go Cups

When you head out to the coffee shop for that next latte, bring your own cup! The cup they put your coffee in may be made from paper, but those paper cups usually have a plastic coating to prevent leaks, and they come with a single use plastic lid. Boo!

What other ways can we replace disposable plastic products with reusable alternatives? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!

photos by Becky Striepe

Posted:   |   Categories: 5 gyres, Food+Drink, instead of plastic, Living, pacific gyre, plastic, replacing plastic, reusables, Shopping+Services, single use plastic
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