5 Easy Ways to Create Less Trash as a Family
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Post by Thenedra Roots for Maple
When you’re a parent of a child or multiple children, you fall victim to anything that makes your life a bit easier, because parenting can be hard. Whether that is buying individually wrapped snacks, Costco sized paper towel rolls, or sorting through the many art projects that your children bring home; that often equates to a lot of trash waste. I had always been conscious of the excess waste that I was creating and once I became a mom, that sort of went out of the door. I needed to utilize whatever was fast and convenient, however, after welcoming twins as a first time parent, I knew I wanted to pivot quickly.
Here are five ways that we as a family, create less trash:
Cloth diapers.
Now, before you get squeamish, let me just say that you will not touch any more poop doing cloth diapers, than you would with disposable! Cloth diapering a child, let alone two, seemed very intimidating for me. However, I learned quickly that it’s very simple once you get a system down. The average disposable diaper takes around 500 years to decompose in the landfill. 500 HUNDRED YEARS. When I learned that, it stopped me in my tracks. Cloth diapering doesn’t have to be all or nothing. As a family, we did cloth diapers only when we were home but when we were out, our kids wore disposable diapers because that is what worked for us.
Skip the paper towels.
If you are anything like me, you reach for a paper towel with every single spill, messy face, and surface that you notice needs some attention. This one was hard for me to adjust to. What we did instead, was buy more kitchen hand towels to use. You can find reusable paper towels on the market, but in my opinion, you can get the same result with hand towels, for less time and money. We keep a pile of towels on the counter and reuse them throughout the day and then into the wash. Add them to your shopping list on Maple!
Forgo individually wrapped snacks.
Now, there are lots of times where you need these for on the go, however it's more cost efficient to buy in bulk and sort them out yourself. I went to buy individual bags of crackers for the kids and quickly put them back and bought the same ones that come in a large bag. At home, I just pour some into a bowl for them and on the go, we use reusable ziplock bags.
Utilize a variety of materials for crafts.
The never ending art projects that always end up in the trash just about do me in. We limit craft and computer paper and paint or draw on materials we already have at home, such as: cereal boxes. We cut up the cereal boxes and let the kids paint or draw on those. This is a great way to get continued use out of things you already have, without creating more waste. Another idea is white board markers on the windows. Depending on the age of your kids, this is a really fun way for them to get creative and explore a new surface to draw on.
Invest in some fun, small ice packs.
At some point in your life, your child will go through the “I need a bandaid for any minor convenience” phase. It’s rough and very annoying. They want a bandaid for everything and bandaids have a lot of waste for being so small. Look into some kid sized ice backs that have their favorite characters on them. That way, we can deter them from using a bandaid that they will only leave on for a few minutes, and use an ice pack that can be put back in the freezer, to be used over and over again.
Even if you try one of these as a family, you’re making a positive impact on reducing waste. It often feels overwhelming balancing our responsibilities to our beautiful environment, while also needing to move quickly and calmly through parenting. It’s never a one size fits all, however you chose to create less trash as a family is what is right for you and is benefiting the environment.
Writing and Image supplied by Thenedra Roots for Maple.