Sustainable Swaps To Save You $2000+ This Year

[@nannerdanner]

Menstrual cups for the freaking win. It’s so convenient and lasts forever!

[@nannerdanner]

*forever being like 5 years but that’s longer than a single tampon or pad!

[@sustainablejungle]

Honestly, they're such a game changer! I only wish they'd been around back in high school when I started (Maybe they were? But if so, they definitely weren't popular back then as I didn't hear first about them until years later).

[@karolinaq9359]

I always foundthe idea of these disgusting. They don't leak when being removed?

[@sustainablejungle]

Nope! I mean you do it while sitting on a toilet so you can just dump it and there is a slight learning curve to them when ypu first switch, but once you figure it out, it's totally mess free in my experience.

[@retropygmy]

I really loved my menstrual cup until I learned about the issues with silicon (even medical grade); there are studies that it does break down over time so I don’t consider it to be safe for my body. I started using a rubber one, but there are different issues with those too. I now use washable organic cotton based pads and hand wash them. I really wish I could get back on board with the cup though because it’s hella convenient.

[@Flassh81]

Something I started doing, and I picked up from a trip to the Philippines. I have a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket and a plastic 3qt measuring cup. I fill it with warm/hot water and bath in the shower with that. Shampoo, soap, face scrub. More than enough water. You use only 5 gallons, and I hope to see a smaller water bill despite no one else in the house doing this.

[@squitten.]

10:07 I switched to cloth pads YEARS ago and never looked back. I know that probably sleeves some people out, but if that’s you and you’re reading this I promise you will get used to washing them. It’s not hard. And they are one thousand percent more comfortable that that plastic crap in the grocery stores. And that’s not even me hating on plastic or being green. Those pads are genuinely so bad in comparison. Once you feel how comfortable a cloth one is the plastic ones will feel like low grade torture. I also use a menstrual disk because it’s far more convenient on day one when the flow is the heaviest and if helps lessen my cramps. How? I have no idea. But it has proven itself time and time again.

[@sustainablejungle]

Second all of this! I moreso use period panties (PFAS-free ones, importantly!) to cloth pads but both are such a massive quality of life improvement over single-use pads. They literally just feel like wearing underwear rather than a damp crinkly diaper. Plus, they're way better about not leaking. Anyone I know who made the switch says they just wish they had done so sooner.

[@Ally-ug3nq]

Watching this while doing evening 🌆 kitchen cleaning 🧼

[@gavv94]

About the rechargeable batteries, there is one problem with that: for example, non rechargeable AA batteries have a voltage of 1,5v, while rechargeable batteries have a voltage of 1,2v (at least that is the case in Germany and Greece). So toys, or other devices that use multiple batteries (like 3 or more) can’t really work with rechargeable batteries because of the voltage difference. I don’t know if this applies to USA as well, but it doesn’t hurt to check it out.

[@sustainablejungle]

Interesting, thanks for the tip! I've never had a problem of rechargeable batteries not being powerful enough to power my devices, but I'm also not a parent so I've never had to use them for toys. I pretty much only use batteries for various remotes 😅 I do notice their battery life is much lesser than traditional batteries, so I have to swap and recharge more often, but it's not too inconvenient. But can definitely see how it might be issue for more energy consumptive devices!

[@Quibber123]

It depends on the composition of the battery cell. Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries are 1.2V There's Ni-Zn batteries for 1.6V Finally the other common ones are Li-Ion which are normally 3.7V, but there are AA/AAA packaged Li-Ion cells that drop the voltage to 1.5V for general use cases. This comes with the downside of generally performing much worse when it comes to battery life, but depending on the use-case it may not be that noticeable. In the end it's best to do your own research when purchasing the rechargeables and keep the voltage necessary in mind. Different cell materials all have different use cases and advantages/disadvantages that perform better or worse depending on what you're putting them in.

[@Queina1]

Been using rechargeable batteries for years now. I've got the wool dryer balls. And a nice large stainless steel water bottle that keeps hot/cold. I do use bottled water of a sort though. I have a dispenser and it uses those large 5 gallon bottles. I get them delivered though because I'm disabled and can not lift or carry them myself. And since the dispenser is bottom loading I don't have to worry about trying to lift one to replace it when it's empty. I had bought a bidet toilet seat attachment a year ago. But then management here at my apartment building informed me that they weren't allowed unless you go through a licensed and bonded plumber that has to be on their approval list. The cheapest one quoted me almost 300 dollars, to hook up a single hose. Um NO! Oh and I don't have my baby making parts anymore so don't have to spend money on the monthly feminine products. So happy about that. I also wanted to say, I live in Oregon, and we're probably the only or one of the only states that not only does not charge a pink tax but also a sales tax.

[@rosethorne9155]

The funny thing is, I bought dryer balls, but hate using the dryer anyway. 😂 I make a lot of my own clothes and hate to see them warped or shrunk.

[@Preussfam]

What’s the ratio of vinegar to water that you use? I keep having the vinegar too strong and it eats the gaskets so it doesn’t spray. 😕

[@AlexMitchell-i1g]

Thank you, great video and some great suggestions. I do some of these already without realising I was actually being sustainable but some new ideas for me to consider for 2025.

[@AndyLundell]

If switching to rechargeable batteries feels like a hassle, you're probably using one of those cheap two-battery chargers that the battery companies practically give away. I recommend getting a nice charger that can can charge at least a dozen batteries at a time. (The good kind that can keep a battery topped off and ready to go without damaging it.) Then get MORE batteries than you need, and make a rule that whenever you take a battery from the charger, you have to put a new one in. If you do that, you'll always have full batteries, with a minimum of fiddling. Using rechargables can really be less hassle than opening a package of single-use.

[@Rebecca_christopher]

High giving myself that I do every one of these things! Just wish I could save even more money though, haha. 🤣

[@WindowIntoMyWorld]

I found the zero waste movement when I was a super young teenager so I have never in my life bought things like paper towels or disposable pads, ive never drank out of a disposable water bottle unless I was SUPER young like 6 lol

[@Szczurzyslawa]

1. I wish we could do solid math on the cost/environmental impact of washing all the washing cloths + we'd need a LOT of them, since we wash only every week or two (vs how bad is the production and packaging of paper towels. They're also way cheaper here than the price you mentioned so there's also that). 2. I never understood... buying water in general, but I was just lucky my parents always had osmosis filter installed at their tap 😭 and I just continued the trend 7. I was confused then I remembered americans use drying machines lmao. Yeah just skip...that. We have sub 40 sq meters flat and we air dry anyone can do it 8. I'm pretty sure we all have enough clothes already. I legit didn't buy anything for past few years at all 10. I stand so hard by menstrual cups/discs they're amazing. My life became so much easier since they became a thing... +cotton/linen liners etc

[@katybridges3477]

I save the water as my shower heats up and use it in my garden. I save soapy water for flushing the toilet. Helping the ecosystem helps my budget, too.

[@sustainablejungle]

That's awesome! Love water saving methods. I don't collect water as the shower heats but that's a wonderful idea that I just might start doing now. Thank you! I do save all the water flushed from my RO system and use that to water houseplants or my garden. We also follow a 'if its yellow leave it mellow' rule and only flush #2 or stinky #1 (also encourages me to be more mindful of staying hydrated so win win!).

[@katybridges3477]

@@sustainablejungle great idea, but I find if I do that too much, the toilet bowl gets hard to clean. I save 7-8 gallons of soapy water per shower and use that to flush more consistently. Saves me lots of cleaning. I will look into a composting toilet for when I add a second bathroom.

[@BetsyCookSpeer]

We compost too but I'm talking about foods that cannot be composted like meat and fish.

[@silvernewman47]

Being poor means living sustainably apparently lmao I'm not American for one and it's jusr funny how these alternatives are basically what I've always known. Like the cloths made of old shirts and old clothes in general. I don't even need these so called bidets because we have the analog kind. I have a moka to make coffee and have a travel mug. Safety razors is all we get and it's vintage. We don't need that many batteries. The dryer thing had me cackling because where I'm from everyone has clothing lines since it's sunny and warm and we never had a dryer or even considered getting one lmao and yes the clothes last a really long time probably because of that. Like 90% of my clothes are hand me downs or thrifted. We don't get separate products to clean APC are the go to here since the jugs of vinegar aren't really a thing here. And period products are either pretty cheap or yeah we can yet reusable stuff since that knowledge is passed down from older generations who didn't even have disposable ones. And we are from the countryside so yes composting isn't even something people think about because everyone just does it without thinking. In short: being poor means you're already beiing sustainable but not saving anything because we don't have money rip

[@BetsyCookSpeer]

We don't have to buy expensive garbage bags because we have food waste collection in our town which means nothing yucky food-wise ends up in our bin so the bin doesn't need to be lined by a plastic bag. If you don't have food waste collection, at least collect it in a small bag to throw out on garbage day and save your bin for clean plastic waste which sadly is way too much!

[@sustainablejungle]

Personally I compost at home so none of my food and organic waste goes to landfill at all.

[@karsnoordhuis4351]

I don't know what people are doing that they use so much paper towel. Our roll seems to last about a year orso. What i do know is that you need to pay attention with thw batteries. Most devices will work fine on 2.4V but some require the slightly higher voltage from non rechargable batteries. As for the clothing line in the winter: this is what we use the garage and/or attic for. Couple of hooks + a roll of clothes line and you are done!

[@sustainablejungle]

Great point about the batteries. Thanks so much for adding! And if only I were so lucky to have any of those things in my house to utilize. I live in a 400 square foot tiny house (no garage, no basement, no attic) which is also my crafting business studio and my home office...so when I say I quite literally have no space to spare, I'm unfortunately not exaggerating :(

[@LouiseBERTIN-f5p]

Im' sorry HOW MANY average laundry per year in the US ??? It's literally one laudry a day all year ? Are they half full ? I genuinly don't understand. It must cost SO MUCH in electricity and water over time.

[@marissapatton8444]

I was rolling up my reusable napkins before my family got here for Christmas thinking "man how long have a been using these? I've probably saved a TON on paper towels!" Haha. And goodness knows i can't make it without my emotional support water bottle. I'm surprised you didn't mention making your own laundry detergent! I don't do it but Iknow it's an easy way to save a lot and you don't get all the plastic waste from liquid detergent.