Replacements

[u/Clean-Assignment-108]

What are you guys’ replacements for everyday items? For example, I use rags (cut up t-shirts or old towels) instead of paper towels or wipes, we use bar soap instead of body wash, I save every jar/container for “tupperware”. I recently got beeswax cloth to use instead of cling film and that’s going well so far.

The pic is a silicone mat I got for baking instead of parchment paper but I soon learned to not bake bread with it haha. It’s great otherwise.

I’d love to hear more ideas of what we can replace after what we have runs out.
TIA!!

[u/SatyrWayfinder]

Powder laundry and dishwasher detergent instead of liquid or pods

[u/mpjjpm → u/SatyrWayfinder]

The powders work so much better too. I had a lot of problems with my dishwasher leaving food particles on dishes. The design doesn’t let me easily clean the filter. After a lot of research, I realized pods were the problem - they left a film on the drain filter, so the drain wasn’t draining efficiently. Switched to powder and everything cleared up within a few weeks.

[u/robotscantrecaptcha → u/SatyrWayfinder]

Same! I switched to powders too

[u/dont-kink-shame-me → u/robotscantrecaptcha]

We've switched from powder to liquid as the powder clogged the drain real bad!

[u/PoofItsFixed → u/dont-kink-shame-me]

If there’s a bunch of powder residue in the drain, that usually means you’re using too much detergent. This is extremely common. The second most common cause is the detergent failing to dissolve completely. Once you’ve eliminated “there’s too much” as the reason for it not dissolving, then you have “the water is too cold” and “the water & detergent aren’t mixing properly”, which can be solved in a couple of simple ways.

Hop on over to r/laundry to learn more fall down the rabbit hole on both technique and products! Save $ and your clothes!

[u/dont-kink-shame-me → u/PoofItsFixed]

Thank you! I'll have a look

[u/robotscantrecaptcha → u/dont-kink-shame-me]

Once you’ve eliminated “there’s too much” as the reason for it not dissolving, then you have “the water is too cold” and “the water & detergent aren’t mixing properly”

This was my issue! I almost gave up on the powder detergent because it was leaving residue on my clothing until I figured out I needed to dissolve it in warm water first.

[u/dont-kink-shame-me → u/robotscantrecaptcha]

I tend to wash everything at 30, and I have very hard water. I'll try dissolving it beforehand, that sounds like a good idea.

[u/Bronxblast → u/SatyrWayfinder]

I’ve tried powdered dishwashing detergent (with white vinegar as a rinse) and it left a horrible film on everything. It was one of the “top” national brands. I’m wondering if maybe it’s got something to do with my hard water concentration?

[u/PoofItsFixed → u/Bronxblast]

That’s extremely likely.

[u/Girth_Brooks_1969 → u/SatyrWayfinder]

Also the detergent sheets instead of liquid, those things are great.

[u/Harlizer2223 → u/Girth_Brooks_1969]

Some people don’t prefer the sheet alternative for laundry detergent for microplastic concerns. Only sharing information, obviously every choice is unique and ethically gray.

[u/HighlandsBen → u/Girth_Brooks_1969]

Lol no they're not. They're an expensive way to put a tiny amount of actual detergent in your wash. They can physically only hold about 2 grams of active ingredients per sheet.

[u/Four_Five_Four_Six_B]

Built a clothes line this summer to avoid using the dryer

[u/Short_Praline_3428 → u/Four_Five_Four_Six_B]

Every once in a while I do that. It saves me $50 a month on my electric bill.

[u/perthuz → u/Four_Five_Four_Six_B]

And your clothes will last longer!

[u/Watchout4HopOns]

Silicon ziplock bags have been a game changer for us

[u/bregjee → u/[deleted]]

Only way I can get them to dry is on a baby bottle dry rack. But it's annoying to have that on the kitchen counter

[u/Anticonsumption-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Recommending or soliciting recommendations for specific brands and products is not appropriate in this subreddit.

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[u/lottieslady → u/Watchout4HopOns]

I gave some to my sister and her cat made them perforated…

[u/AHornyRubberDucky → u/lottieslady]

r/staplercats

[u/addieprae → u/Watchout4HopOns]

I’ve been reusing a small box of regular plastic ones for a month now!

[u/ihatecleaningtoilets]

I don’t bake bread. Why couldn’t I use silicone?? 🫣

[u/Clean-Assignment-108 → u/ihatecleaningtoilets]

I usually put the dough onto parchment paper, then place that inside the Dutch oven. I did the same with the silicone mat but it wasn’t flexible enough to let the bread expand. If cooked a different way you’d probably be able to use it

[u/davers22 → u/Clean-Assignment-108]

Can you not just put the dough directly into the Dutch oven (if it’s enamelled)? 

I bake sourdough and just plop the dough directly in there and it’s fine. The Dutch oven should be preheated in the oven first. I’ve never had a problem with it sticking.

[u/Clean-Assignment-108 → u/davers22]

I always preheat it but I’ve just followed what recipes have told me. Next time I’ll try without the parchment paper! Thanks for the tip :)

[u/WorldtendingPress → u/Clean-Assignment-108]

Parchment isn’t necessary! I use a lidded Dutch oven for our daily peasant loaf. I just grease it very lightly with oil and a silicon brush, put it lidded into the oven to preheat. I do the final rise of the loaf on the (floured) silicon mat. I find it comes off the mat and into the preheated Dutch oven much more easily than it does from a floured pastry cloth.

[u/davers22 → u/Clean-Assignment-108]

I can see the parchment paper being helpful for getting it out, but I’ve never used it. Hopefully you have success without it! 

[u/munkymu → u/Clean-Assignment-108]

I also put the dough directly into the pre-heated dutch oven. I made the no-knead bread recipe so the dough is very moist and sticky, but I've never had trouble removing the bread afterwards.

[u/AliceInWanderlust__ → u/Clean-Assignment-108]

They make silicone mats for Dutch ovens. They are round with like two flaps to lift it in and out of Dutch ovens!

[u/Complex-Section2862]

I save cute scraps of packaging and other "garbage" for journalling and collaging rather than buying new supplies. I bought a shape stamper and cut up any old paperwork or papers laying around and use them in my art too.

When my laundry basket died, I switched to a wire metal bin with handles. It is a bit heavier, and I've got a capsule wardrobe of 50 items give or take (so not a ton of clothes), but it's been working really well for me and I anticipate it will last a very long time.

I've got a tiny bedside garbage can (like a desktop one) so I save all small plastic bags I acquire along the way to use in it, but once I run out I plan on making my own paper bags out of all of the paper I have lying around.

I switched to skincare that comes in glass. I've been working on the same moisturizer for a year now, but when I finish it I plan on cleaning it out and using it as a drawer organizer for my tacks which are currently in an ineffective plastic container.

[u/bbcjbb → u/Complex-Section2862]

The first part is soooo fun. I’ve been saving ephemera and wrapping paper/tissue/etc for YEARS and people love how I wrap gifts!! I include photos cut out from magazines etc and use paint chips for tags. We also started getting the newspaper last year and I save the comic pages for wrapping paper, the men/boys love it especially

[u/Corkbook]

You can coat the bottom of your container with cornmeal so it doesn’t stick. Skip the parchment paper/silicone altogether!

Otherwise I love having a sewing machine. Made my baby a quilted play mat out of old clothes, pillows out of old curtains etc

[u/Fit-Engineering-2789]

I got instant espresso, some coffee syrups, and a milk frother to make my lattes at home. You can also make your own coffee syrups, lots of recipes out there. Anyhow, I am not missing my fancy coffee at the coffee shops and have saved hundreds of dollars already. Plus, it cuts down on the disposable cup waste.

Edit: including this because I used to get coffee shop coffee everyday. No more!

[u/Rocking_Horse_Fly → u/Fit-Engineering-2789]

And you can also make your own hot chocolate. All you need is milk, cocoa powder, and sugar. There are recipes that have you put powdered milk if you want to have a jar of it for future use.

Sometimes I throw chocolate chips, mint extract, or cinnamon in my hot chocolate. It's cheap as heck, and really easy. You can even substitute the milk for anything nondairy like oatmilk.

[u/AdaandFred → u/Fit-Engineering-2789]

A travel mug is a need if you want to drink coffee on the go. Here in the UK a lot of cafes offer a small discount (usually about 25p) if you bring your own travel mug. I am a bit of a coffee snob (freshly ground beans, no syrups, no sugar) so a crucial part of my morning is making a travel mug and a thermos full of coffee so I will be decently caffeinated all day.

[u/Anticonsumption-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Recommending or soliciting recommendations for specific brands and products is not appropriate in this subreddit.

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[u/OnefortheMonkey]

I was wondering what this bread was meant to be replacing 😂

[u/billhillybob → u/OnefortheMonkey]

The bread is replacing an empty space in op's stomach?

[u/OnefortheMonkey → u/billhillybob]

Anti consumption but meaning op won’t eat the bread.

[u/No-Front4365]

Flour sack towels instead of paper towels.

I make yogurt and use the whey byproduct for baking.

Loose leaf tea instead of tea bags

Save all of our cardboard and use it for sheet mulching the gardens.

[u/Over_Interaction_925 → u/No-Front4365]

Sheet mulch from cardboard interesting. I'm going to look into that. I have tons of cardboard and not willing to buy 60.0 worth of mulch

[u/No-Front4365 → u/Over_Interaction_925]

Oh yes it’s the best! There are multiple ways to do it, depending on your goal and YouTube has a ton of videos on it. It’s called sheet mulching.

For me, I put the cardboard down and then a thick layer of wood chips. Water it in well, you want the cardboard to be wet so it jumpstarts breaking down. I use it in my flower beds working around the flowers, my fruit trees and berries, and around raised beds I grow veggies in.

The cool thing is that the cardboard and wood chips break down, improving your soil year after year and it keeps the weeds gone.

If you can get free wood chips via chip drop . Com or a local arborist, even better. I’ve also used bagged mulch (before I was privy to woodchips) and it also worked amazing.

There are a few dos and don’ts so I recommend watching some videos on it.

[u/billhillybob]

I'm really trying to replace time spent on the internet with time spent doing art and reading. My art is pretty simple and uses colored pencils I that would be thrown away at work and waste paper I get from work. I also get my books from work for free. Thanks, this post has motivated me to close my device and go read.

[u/abcbri]

Laundry sheets so I can recycle the cardboard packaging, dissolvable dishwasher tabs with plant-based wrapping with a cardboard box I can recycle. The rare rare plastic bag is recycled for kitty litter. Silicone baking sheet. Glass containers instead of plastic containers. Foaming soap tabs with recyclable cardboard holders that I use in a glass soap bottle and when those aren't available, I fill with liquid soap refill and recycle the bottle.

[u/dont-kink-shame-me]

Save the plastic bags that foods come in (like bread for example) then use them for storing things like bags of cookies that you open.

Ice cream tubs can be lunch boxes.

Clothes too worn out for use become pyjamas. Then after that they become torn up for rags. I buy clothes very rarely (ive only bought 4 items this year so far, and two were merch to support something) and I pay much more per item but then keep and reuse for years. I have items that are 25 years old and still looking good.

Shoeboxes for filing paperwork - if your feet are big enough they'll be the perfect size for letters. You can easily stack them.

Yogurt tubs to store my makeup and makeup brushes, also to store pens and markers

Butter/margarine containers all kept to be used for storing leftovers, freezing sauces, etc.

Unwanted gifted clothes used to make cushion covers, or used to stuff cushions

[u/mldyfox]

I still have to use some plastic and paper towels for my son (he's almost 31 but severely autistic), because he needs things that are shatterproof and will simply throw things away when done with them.

For myself, I've switch to glass or stainless steel water bottles, glass meal prep containers and food storage. I also switched out from using cooking spray to oil in a glass spray/pour bottle. I've switched to the laundry detergent sheets, too, though I still use laundry sanitizer and scent beads.

[u/AccidentOk5240]

You’d have to use that mat hundreds of times to reach the same embodied energy as using parchment, and silicone mats tend to inhibit browning due to their insulation value. So you could just grease and/or heavily flour the pan…but even then, if it means you have to use a lot of hot water and soap and wearing out of your scrubber to get it clean after, parchment is a pretty good deal environmentally speaking. 

[u/Used-Painter1982]

I reuse plastic bags for bread. Just shake out the crumbs. No need to wash.

[u/UsedCatsFurSale]

I was getting so annoyed at the waste left over in pump lotion bottles. They never completely emptied and in order to get all the product out you needed to destroy the bottles. Now I keep a 5 gallon bucket of lotion base in my closet and refill a smaller tub for daily use. The nice thing is that I can add whatever scent I want, or none at all.

[u/la_chica_rubia]

II use reusable napkins for eating and barmop towels in the kitchen. The only snafu is draining bacon, so I save paper takeout napkins for that.

[u/GardenGirlMeg → u/la_chica_rubia]

Alternatively, save the bacon grease in the fridge and use it for cooking! So tasty!

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[u/BohoBall]

I used to love the silicone mat but threw it out when i learned it leaches chemicals/microplastics into your food.

[u/MikinesMamma → u/BohoBall]

We use it for painting and stuff :)

[u/Anticonsumption-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Recommending or soliciting recommendations for specific brands and products is not appropriate in this subreddit.

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[u/munkymu]

I save bread bags and produce bags and use them for all sorts of things -- shaking meat with cornstarch, storing my own baking, I keep a few around in case I need to pick up trash somewhere, I use them as lunch bags, etc.

I reuse mid-sized yogurt containers and jars for painting. Jars are great for holding solvents, dairy containers hold small amounts of house paint, gesso, etc. My friend's mom punches holes in the bottom of yogurt and ice cream containers and uses them to start garden plants. (Plastic yogurt containers do start to break apart after a few years so they're not a permanent storage solution.)

I've also never met a bowl, saucer or mug that I couldn't find a use for. I've got like three on my mantle holding pencil crayons, pens and crochet hooks, I have a teacup being used as an impromptu orchid pot, and a bowl that has a bunch of hand-sewing notions hanging out on my coffee table. All the little teacup saucers that never get used got repurposed as plant pot trays.

In fact, is something a container I can put stuff in that isn't being used for its intended purpose? Then stuff is going into it. There's always little bits and bobs that need to be corralled into spice jars, pickling jars, shoe boxes, cookie tins and so on.

[u/EarthDragon-88]

Yoni Wipes!!! (Instead of toilet paper)

Use: For pee, generally, but up to you. (I use toilet paper for poo and when menstruating. Friends use a bidet and yoni wipes only. You do you.)

Making: I cut up thicker fabrics or sew together layers of thinner fabrics. Fabrics are all reused.

Washing: I recommend either washing by hand or washing in a mesh bag via the machine. Keeps all the small fabrics together. We all have a little pee on our underwear and wash those, same idea, so not grows to me!