Last Updated: June 27, 2022
Single-use products are convenient for us but awful for the planet because they can only be used one time. With these reusable equivalents, you can kiss those single-use trash monsters goodbye.
Sometimes it can feel like we live in a world of disposables. Pick up your takeout food, and suddenly you're bombarded with paper napkins, plastic silverware, plastic straws, plastic wraps, plastic containers, and other throwaway bits and bobs. While convenient, it certainly feels bad throwing all that junk away. And that’s just takeout food! In your home, there are tons of items designed to be bought, used once or twice, and then thrown away.
It doesn’t have to be this way: With new products and materials, there are modern swaps you can make to help reduce “single-use” waste in your life. And most of these reusable versions of products are hidden gems — that is, most people don’t know there are swaps for some of their favorite products that they don’t have to throw away. We’ve rounded up our favorite options below.
Single-use products are items (often plastics) designed to be used once, then immediately disposed of and usually taken to a landfill. Things like the plastic wrapping around takeout silverware, styrofoam containers, paper wrapping around straws, or even plastic straws themselves are all single-use products.
One of the most common forms of single-use products is single-use plastics — items like plastic straws, silverware, bottles, packaging, and containers. Single-use plastics make up half of all plastic produced worldwide. Most single-use plastics cannot be recycled, and those that can be recycled are often more expensive to use than simply buying new plastic.
Reducing single-use waste can seem daunting, but this is one instance where striving for improvement is better than trying to achieve perfection. A simple step everyone can take to reduce single-use waste is to start phasing out household use of single-use products.
It turns out, when you really look into it, a ton of single-use products have reusable equivalents that make for easy daily swaps to help your home produce less waste and to help the environment stay cleaner.
You’ve probably heard about the plastic straw backlash sweeping the country. Some cities and states have even banned single-use plastic straws, citing the amount of waste they create.
Luckily, reusable straws make for an easy swap. Check out our article on the best reusable straws alternatives, and consider carrying one in your bag or backpack.
While single-use plastic bottles are recyclable, only about 21% of recycled bottles end up actually being recycled.
Carrying a reusable water bottle is a great way to reduce plastic bottle and cardboard cup consumption, while expressing your personality and looking healthy and stylish.
We all buy countless plastic bottles that sit in our cleaning cabinet or caddy. But companies like Grove, which is working toward being plastic free by 2025, offer glass reusable glass spray bottles in pretty colors to serve as your new cleaning go-to.
With cleaner concentrates, some water from your faucet, and your handy color-coded glass bottle, you can clean weekly without filling up your recycling bin with huge plastic bottle packaging.
This one’s a pretty easy swap, especially since most of your favorite brands, stores, and workplaces make their own tote bags for all occasions.
With all these options, bringing a couple of your own reusable tote, grocery, or day bags to the store to cut down on single-use plastic and paper bag consumption should be a breeze.
We get it. When it comes to school lunches, the plastic bag is hard to beat. That’s why instead of reinventing the wheel, Grove offers reusable plastic storage bags.
Often made with strong, flexible, food-grade silicone, reusable bags are the perfect substitute for all those lunchtime goodies. Check out this first-person review of transitioning to reusable food storage for a full breakdown of the different reusable options.
Similar to plastic snack bags, the convenience of conventional paper towels makes them hard to get rid of. While classic kitchen towels can take care of most spills, sometimes you need something different.
Cue reusable paper towels. Disposable bamboo “paper” towels and heavily reusable European dish cloths can be used repeatedly and cut down on paper waste. Read about what it's really like making the switch to reusable paper towels — and how they stack up against traditional alternatives, with our first person review of reusable paper towels.
Another kitchen staple that’s the epitome of single-use plastic is saran wrap. Try swapping this garbage stuffer for one of the many reusable wraps available nowadays. Some of the most common reusable food wraps are beeswax wraps, made with beeswax, cotton, and tree oil.
This lotion has a case made from 100% infinitely recyclable aluminum that can be refilled again and again with lotion refill sticks in different scents and textures. Saying goodbye to huge plastic lotion bottles with big plastic pumps is fantastic for the planet and saves some serious space in your home as well. This convenient travel-size lotion case is also cute and compact: a real win-win.
In the laundry room, there are many opportunities for reusable and eco-friendly swaps. One of the easiest is trading out single-use dryer sheets for reusable wool dryer balls. Just like dryer sheets, these wool balls reduce wrinkles, but they can also reduce drying time by creating more air pockets in your laundry load.
When you notice pet hair all over your jacket, that plastic lint roller can be your best friend. But it is also a single-use fiend with all those little sticky squares that go straight in the garbage. Try trading it out for a reusable lint brush.
Lint brushes can be reused thousands of times and are often much better at freshening up outfits. Plus, it looks a lot more stylish than those plastic sheet rolls when you pull it out of your bag.
When it comes to quickly taking off makeup, most people immediately grab for disposable wipes. But with new specialty cloths and towels, you can remove all your makeup with just water, and reuse the makeup removers again and again. For more on making the transition, read this review of makeup remover towels — and how they stood up to teens and adults alike.
When it comes to reducing single-use waste, the grocery store bulk aisle is your best friend. But bulk items are often purchased using a single-use plastic bag. And the produce section is often a prime culprit for plastic, with single-use bags often used to corral vegetables and fruit.
Easily avoid this added waste by bringing your own reusable produce bags. Cotton and mesh produce bags are great for shopping for bulk items, fruits, vegetables, and more.
Even if you’ve switched to a reusable toilet brush (instead of the plastic ones with the throwaway pads), you still probably replace it fairly often because, let’s face it, the brush touches some unsanitary stuff.
But, you can actually purchase a brush that has a reusable handle with this Grove Co. Toilet Brush. Although you can’t preserve the brush from going into the trash eventually, you can at least reduce how often you’re disposing of it with this different take on the old toilet brush. The brush also comes with a stand filled with diatomaceous earth, a natural rock that, when ground, absorbs excess water while resisting mold and bacteria.
Refillable deodorant cases are becoming more and more abundant, but finding a natural deodorant that works in one of the cases is a different story. Peach put out this refillable deodorant and aluminum-free deodorant refill stick in May 2021, with deodorant that lasts up to 48 hours for odor protection. If that doesn’t intrigue you, the colorful case and different refill stick scents may just draw you in.
From natural household to personal care, everything at Grove is healthier for you and the planet — and works! We recommend monthly shipments and product refills that you can edit or move at any time. No monthly fees or commitments required.
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