WEIRD ways that I live zero waste...

Yup, my zero waste life is WEIRD! From reusable toilet paper when hiking to trying out a deodorant crystal to something as miniscule as drinking out of a jar have triggered the haters in my comments. So, here is my weird low waste life. How is your eco life weird?

Videos mentioned/recommended:

Timestamps:
00:00 - Reusing tea more than once
00:36 - Deodorant rock?!
1:47 - Kula cloth
3:54 - I'm a bidet lover
5:10 - I use hankies every day!
6:56 - Drying my period underwear...in the kitchen lol
8:08 - Scrap paper grocery lists
8:47 - Using jars as cups
9:59 - I don't always wash my clothes...
12:15 - Zero waste is weird on its own!
13:08 - A glimpse behind the scenes
14:05 - Bloopers

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[juliehodges]

I'm 61. Nothing you talked about is weird. It's practical. In fact, all my grandparents used jars for picnic containers and also for drinks, especially if they were taking it out with them . They never used paper towels, I haven't for at least 30 years, and did not buy kleenex. They used handkerchiefs. I do, too, as does my mother. I'm way past having a period, but the last several years I used the flannel pads with snaps and washed them when I wasn't using a menstrual cup. My grandma had a rubber menstrual cup before kotex products went on the market. All these things are normal. Somehow society went wacky and became all about consuming, convenience, and materialism. It's normal to wash your blankets and comforters once a season, but your sheets once a week. You will be creating a healthier, happier world. And bidets are awesome. Good for you!!!

[kayleemcelveen]

"you're so poor, you drink out of jars", my friend, they make drinkware glasses that look like jars because people like the aesthetic, take your head out of your butt 🤣 Also, people in the south definitely still use Mason jars on the regular for sweet tea 🤌

[alanbirkner]

I'm 75, people used to use cloth handkerchiefs. They used to use cloth diapers. Now, we chop down trees to make TP and napkins. Tina, Al's wife

[nyagogo]

Supporter here. I do these too. Like all of them. I use a peri bottle as a portable bidet and a bandana when hiking. I’m wiping water and it doesn’t use much water. I reuse teabags, air clothes to remove smell, air dry washed laundry, and reusable pads, repurpose un-mendable clothes, and use washcloths for almost everything. I have “proper” hankies for going out and use rags at home. There are hygienic ways of reusing everything. It’s all it what you do. ❤ Many good wishes. And keep talking. I’m so into this.

[jeanjaz]

Many of these "weird" ways of doing things, are the way things were done for thousands of years - up until the last few hundred.
We called "reusable tissues" handkerchiefs.
People did laundry a lot less often and usually only "damp brushed" their over clothes, where they washed their underclothes.
That's why you use bed sheets, to protect your quilts or duvets. But we also had a duvet cover we could unbutton and wash. You always washed your feet and armpits before going to bed.

I LOVE my bidet! I don't feel clean after just wiping. 🤢

[katrikoskinen]

Hi! The weirdest thing in this video for me as a person who has lived her whole life in Finland, is that someone would report you for hang drying your panties! Here it's common to see panties all year around (in freezing cold also) hanging outside in the cities also on balconies etc. 😅

[MelianTheMaia]

As a Turkish lady living in Scotland, not having bidets in toilets feels weird and until I can get one installed in my own house, I use a bidet bottle. I have also been using reusable toilet paper at home made from cutting up old t-shirts. I find them easier to use if I wet them. I use one side for the front and the other side for the back. As I'm going to be washing my hands with soap, I give them a wash with soap and warm water, squeeze out the water and throw them in a plastic basket to pile up until I throw them in the washing machine.

I've also bought cotton terry towels which I have cut up in smaller pieces to use as reusable wet wipes that come in handy when eating meals. I have paper towels for the kitchen but mostly use terry towels to wipe surfaces and throw them into the wash when the dirty ones pile up.

I air dry as much as I can by hanging stuff on the clothesline in the garden on dry (for Scotland) days and in the spare bedroom when not so dry or cold outside. I open the windows a tiny bit to prevent any mildew and do hang stuff to just air out like a sweater or t-shirt I may have sweated in but doesn't stink.

The glass jars are also a must-have to store dry food items, leftovers in the fridge, and despite having many glasses, I have this one glass passata bottle that I use to drink water in the living room (I have several bottles around the house because I'm lazy 🤣) as it holds more water so less trips to the kitchen, ensures I'm drinking more water, it's free like you said and it's healthy because it's glass.

Sadly, I feel the reusable deodorants don't meet my needs and I prefer to go with the commercial roll-on brands for men since they have a stronger smell. Also, since I work from home, I mostly stay in my PJs and only have my hubby and cats to offend with any whiff of sweat if there is any 😂 I have two long showers a week so I change into new PJs or house clothes after I wash. But overall, your habits are not weird at all and are in fact sensible. Keep up the good work 💪

[bfinfinity]

About washing comforters, I heard this experience decades ago: Two friends bought the same exact comforter / bedspread. Around a year later one visited the other, they lived some distance away from each other and didn’t visit often. The one visiting saw the comforter just like hers, except her friends looked new. Her own was looking shabby and worn out. WHY did her friends still look new? Because friend only washed hers when needed, maybe once per year. While she was washing hers much more frequenly. She learned she was over washing the comfortor and it was the washing machine that was wearing it out, not by her using it daily. And besides that, she was wearing out her washer and dryer sooner, plususing lots of soap.

By being more careful and not just washing on a schedule, but when something is actually dirty, you save fabric (clothes, bed linens, comforters, towels, etc.)

I also do a smell check on winter tops, as I do not sweat as much in winter. If it looks clean and doesn’t smell bad, it get to be worn again before washing.

I also save up clothes to run the washer, and keep buckets to soak underwear and other dirty clothes in a mix of laudry soap and borax. I learned this decades ago from and older lady. Cloth diapers and underwear, and anything else, come out so clean and white after being soaked in this mix. She told me to put the bucket in the tub and add 1/2 to 1 cup of borax and fill the bucket at least 1/2 full with hot water to dissolve the borax. I have been doing it ever since. Then a shorter wash cycle gets these soaked items perfectly clean. So it. This also saved electricity and wear and tear on the washer.

[DeliciousSmores]

I love that you're unashamed of revealing these "weird" things you do. I take this small, black zipper bag that came with my reusable pads to work with me every single day. I hang it from my jeans' belt loop so it goes everywhere with me. I store my earbuds, candy, and fresh hankies in one zipper, and then use the other zipper for used hankies only.

[tenaoconnor]

Toilet paper and tissue are a kinda new thing. We only think old fashioned stuff is wierd because of advertising. I remember my grandparents using hankies, my hubby always had a red or blue snot rag hanging out of his back pocket lol. I switched to cloth “toilet rags” over a year ago, saves me so much money, toss them in with the rest of the laundry. I cut up couple old t-shirt into hand sized squares, works great. I also have one of those salt crystals, works pretty good.

[shmataboro]

Guess in a weirdo too, I also do most of these .
Air drying clothes doesn't just save money and save the planet, ot also makes the clothes last longer. When you use a clothes dryer all that lint on the filter is fiber from your clothing. The dryier is wearing out your clothes prematurely.

[TravelSoMuch]

*Not me sitting down to watch this with re-used tea steeped in a random jar* (right after using my bidet with washable tp and pulling on the same pants I wore yesterday!)

[mariaocean]

I've had this debate with my father many times. Long story short, back in 1990's my dad lived nextdoor to an young family. That dad had a good job so they decided to have 4 kids within 6 years. That dad lost his job, with no money they started using dish towels as cloth diapers, - my dad stepped up and decided to be an good neighbor and buy them an few packs of disposable diapers. I asked him many time why he didn't buy them proper cloth diapers - he said that was gross. But my argument was that with 4 young babies disposal diapers wouldn't last long. It took the neighbor several months to find a new job.

[racheljames]

I think some of the things I do would be weird even by your standards :P I am a cynic and think a bunch of people have gotten together and pushed totally unnecessary ways of living because it increases product consumption. Do I need to shower daily or even every couple of days? No, let alone several times daily as some people do. Do I need to change underclothes every day... also no. I usually shower weekly unless I get really dirty or sweaty in the meantime, it's better for my skin (I have psoriasis, and also dislike getting wet generally). The washing clothes after a single use thing has always been really weird to me... I grew up washing my clothing on weekends unless I got super dirty and it has stuck. I swap my bedding out seasonally, but wash my pillowcase more often (use a pillow protector). I do a load of dishes when the sink is full (about every 3 days). I do a load of laundry when the hamper is full (usually ever 3 weeks). I vacuum every week (my Mum used to do it daily when I grew up... not sure why, some strange love of excessive cleanliness... we all have asthma and the cleaning probably didn't help). I don't use anything except dish soap, bicarb, vinegar and laundry powder for cleaning (and the occasional use of window cleaner, spot remover for the carpet or clothing stain remover since I already have those products). I don't think I have ever bought beach.

I just keep a small stash of clothes on the back of a chair or hung up on door handles and items get washed depending on their use. Denim needs less washes, singlets more.

Society's cleanliness standards are weird, excessive and largely unnecessary, unless you exercise lots or have a heavy manual job - my Dad was a tradie lifting heavy stuff all day and Mum was a nurse so they needed their showers... me not so much :) No one would know unless I told them.

[suzihofelich]

Ok, I am old enough that tissues were not common, everyone carried a handkerchief. Why buy glass jars for storage or a drinking cup, they are included with your pickles, jelly and other foods.

[bykateswann]

I watched most of this while drawing and didn't really look up, but when I did I noticed your Spokane mug! :) I do all these things too and I don't think they're weird at all tbh! I especially will swear by crystal deodorant for life, and the cloth hankies! If you REALLY want weird... I will admit to using the same squeeze bottle originally meant to water plants as a bidet for the past 5 years... like, I already had this bottle in my home.... haha. I will use it until it breaks and then just buy a new bottle!

[jenheath]

I cut up a bunch of ratty t-shirts into squares and we use them in the kitchen for messes instead of paper towels. If they get too greasy or too stained, they either get tossed or relegated to the garage for even messier messes. I have terrible allergies, and when I realized how much I was spending on tissue, I started using what I very delicately call 'snot rags, ' which are just old, threadbare washcloths that made it to the rag bucket. Though, I think the *best* money-saving zero-waste item I've ever bought was a menstrual cup. Had it imported from Germany about 15 years ago, before you could get everything from Amazon, and it's easily saved me $1000 in the time I've had it. A lot of things we think are necessities are just items of convenience that separate us from anything 'icky, ' but I think the savings and the environment are worth dealing with a little bit of ick.

[crystalninive]

Yup, I do all of these. I also just use the reusable tp and the bidet bc it seems disrespectful to wipe your butt with TREES. I also reuse silk floss. A lot of these things are just weird in the USA imo. Europe (and probably a lot of the rest of the world) has a much wider spectrum of tradition of being frugal. Hanging laundry? That's a basic. When I go to the US, I am shocked by the amount of waste generated by disposable things. None of these things that you do are weird. Keep helping people with your example! Great video!

[crystalputman]

The easiest way to remove the residue from the jars is to make a paste of dawn dish-soap and baking soda. I do not like to use elbow grease for anything. This trick works amazingly!!

[varinafulcher]

I can’t be bothered taking labels off either! I reuse scrap paper, I even write letters on the reverse of letters to family. If underwear elastic goes, they go in the wee wipe pile for use there. I reuse my clothes a lot, before washing.