As an avid thrifter and crafter, I am always looking for advice on how to reduce waste at home. I like anything I can do to reuse things, use our resources effectively, or to avoid purchasing something brand new. I get such a thrill from giving something that might go to waste a new life.
It’s also great knowing that I may have saved something from ending up in a landfill! Even though my actions to help reduce waste may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, I do think that everyone working together can create positive change.
Reducing waste also has a huge immediate impact on my household. It helps me to keep costs down and avoid tossing things that we paid good money for. By no means am I perfect at this, but I am always seeking ways to make improvements and use my resources efficiently.
From clever kitchen tricks to crafting gift giving, here are my favorite tips for how to reduce waste at home.
Turn your stale bread or bread ends into homemade bread crumbs! I actually bake all our bread from scratch, and most of the time we don’t get through the whole loaf before it goes stale.
To make breadcrumbs, run your bread through a blender or food processor until the crumbs are small enough for breadcrumbs. Lay your crumbs in a thin layer over a baking sheet and place in a 300 degree oven for five minutes. Remove and stir the crumbs around and place back in the oven. Repeat until crumbs are dry to the touch.
Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to three months.
I recently baked some banana scones that didn’t turn out great. I didn’t realize until after they had cooled that they were undercooked. My attempts to fix them resulted in them being a bit chewy. They still had good flavor, so I decided to salvage them by turning them into a pie crust.
I found this crumb crust recipe on Pinterest, and it turned out so good! You could replicate this with old cookies, cakes, or whatever baked good you want to salvage.
If I like the jar that a pantry item comes in, I’ll clean it up and remove the label to reuse it. I use them to store my homemade bread crumbs, but there are endless uses for glass jars.
Paint the lids, drill a hole, and add pretty knobs to create decorative storage for your bathroom supplies. Store homemade jams or jellies. You can even use them as candle holders.
Before you donate items to the thrift store, where they may end up in a landfill anyway, try gifting them to friends whom you know could use them. Do this with your own clothing, baby or kid’s clothes, old decor, books, and much more. Try listing the items for free on Facebook marketplace or Buy Nothing if none of your friends can use them.
When I do donate, I try to support mom and pop thrift stores over places like Goodwill. But donating is no guarantee that the item will get used.
When I need a gift for a friend, I try first to see if I can create a thoughtful homemade gift with something I already have on hand.
I’ve gifted handmade pillows, hand poured candles, a hand sewn tote bag, vintage glassware, and faux floral arrangements made from thrifted vessels and floral pieces.
If you go with homemade, be sure that what you are giving will actually go to use and that thought has been put into the gift.
I don’t have a compost pile, but my mom does. I often make little trips over there to toss my compostable toothbrushes into her bin. You can turn old fruits and veggies, paper towels and tissues, coffee grounds, eggshells, and more into compost to avoid waste. Here are some tips to get started with composting.
If you’ve inherited a lot of china or have a collection of china pieces that aren’t part of a set, consider creative and clever ways to repurpose them. There are endless possibilities, but my post on repurposing china might give you some ideas.
Have some broken china that you don’t want to throw away? Consider giving it a second life with mosaics! I did this with some chipped Blue Willow dishes to create a mosaic tray, but you could do a tabletop, stepping stones for your garden, and much more.
In this post, I shared just eight ways to reduce waste, but I’m sure there are so many other ideas. Do you have any creative ideas for how to reduce waste? Share your advice in the comments!
Design, thrifting, and entertaining are my passion, and I share that passion with you through this blog. I also love being in the kitchen and crafting cocktails. I love Jesus and occasionally, I talk about him too. He has been so powerful in my life, and I love to bring him glory with my hobbies.
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