10 wasteful things I still buy as a low-waste minimalist

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Hello, good to see you, glad you’re here

I’m Jane, and this is ten wasteful things I still buy while maintaining a low waste lifestyle

Yes, it’s me, coming clean, it’s true, I’m a fraud, I’m a liar, she should be drawn and quartered in the town square, whatever you wanna say. 

I overall make daily choices to limit the amount of waste I generate in every aspect of my life. 

But after living this way for going on six years, and slowly making the transitions to reusables or compostables, I’ve learned what has worked for me and what hasn't. 

I think it’s fair for everyone to have limits, and I don’t think you need to feel bad about maintaining those limits, whether it be about the prohibitive cost of certain swaps, or the fact that there are certain things you truly can’t live without. 

Many industries have yet to catch the plastic free buzz, and some of those industries are vital to people’s lives. 

Being lowwaste doesn’t have to be an all for nothing game, and you should tailor it to your needs. 

So let’s start with a handful of things that I do not buy second hand

#1 Underwear

You know why. Do not buy undies second hand. Don’t do it. 

If you still want to be a responsible consumer without wearing….used underwear, look for companies that use eco friendly materials like cotton or linen. Or companies that give back or have a social initiative. 

There are loads of brands like organic basics or parade that sell eco friendly and ethically made underwear, and I’ve partnered with a company called NKD which donates a pair of underwear to a women’s shelter for every pair sold. 

I have a link below you can use if you want to check them out:)

#2 Socks,

Again, in the same vein don’t buy used socks. 

Unless you find them in a thrift store and they’ve truly never been taken out of the package or they still have tags or whatever, just don’t do it. 

Organic basics sells socks, and Bombas socks have the same initiative as NKD where they donate a pair for every pair sold, which I love. 

Just know it is possible to work around having to buy things new while still keeping the health of the earth in mind, you just have to find the right brand

#3 Shoes

This is just a personal thing for me but I don’t generally buy used shoes unless they are truly still in the box, still have the stickers or whatever, and are totally never ever been worn.

Generally if you wanted to avoid shoes that have been on someone else’s feet, companies that use ethical business practices and eco friendly materials are becoming more popular. Some to consider are allbirds, Rothy’s, or Tom’s

#4 Workout wear

to cut to the chase it skeeves me out to wear tight fitting clothes that someone else may have sweated in. Particularly leggings. You know.

 So I for one just….try to take good care of my leggings so I don’t have to replace them, I have a couple pairs that were part of a costume that I was allowed to just take home when the shoot was over. 

Everlane is making leggings made from recycled water bottles which I think is really cool, also the Girlfriend Collective which is very transparent about the material used in their workout wear

#5 Acne cleanser

I struggled with acne for ten years, I still get the occasional breakout here and there. 

And I realized I was continuously throwing money and products at the issue.

 It was expensive and it was really affecting my confidence, so I figured if I found just one product that worked, I would stick to using it instead of using all this money and materials for different acne treatments. 

This cleanser is in a plastic bottle, it’s from Neutrogena, and once empty I will thoroughly wash it out and most likely terracycle it. 

Other ways I treat my acne is with plastic free spot treatments and I double cleanse every day with the charcoal facial bar from meow meow tweet

It’s not a perfect solution, and if I can find a similar product that contains the same acne medication in a glass bottle I’ll make the switch, but for my hyper sensitive skin this is just what I found worked and it’s the only product in my hygiene lineup that is in plastic

#6 Vitamins

Instead of buying several different bottles of vitamins and supplements, I pared down my collection to just one effective multivitamin, which is the Ritual daily multivitamin for women. 

This bottle is post-consumer plastic, and they ship it in a recyclable container. 

They’re vegan and frankly also really pretty, I really can’t say enough good things about Ritual and if you want to try them out, I have a link for you below:)

#7 Sunscreen

As mentioned my skin is so sensitive, if you look at it wrong it’ll breakout so it took quite a while to find a sunscreen that worked.

 And I’m sure you’ve already noticed but my skin is paper white so I can’t really mess around with protecting it from the sun. 

There are brands that sell sunscreen in those little metal tins but the formula was a bit too heavy for me, my skin wasn’t a fan. So after extensive research I made the switch to super goop unseen sunscreen. Despite it being in a plastic bottle, which again I will rinse out and terracycle, this brand is cruelty free and vegan and also reef safe. 

I’m not going to lie though, this was not cheap, I paid $34. But it’s such a light formula, it goes on almost like a powder and then just disappears on the skin. It’s like space lotion. 

#8 Condoms and contraception

So unfortunately I’m straight and I therefore have sex with men, and I have my sexual partners use condoms.

 It generates non recyclable waste. And I don’t feel bad about it, another way to look at it is that managing an unwanted pregnancy or an STI also comes with a lot of waste.

 So check out sustainable brands like Lola and Lovability. 

The IUD is a low waste option for birth control, but I just wasn’t comfortable with it so I’m sticking to my pills. 

Protect yourself, protect your partners. It’s what mother nature would want.

These last two list items are things that I’ve looked into low waste or zero waste options and just couldn't find products that worked for me or were in my price range.  

#9 Mascara

There are zero waste mascara companies out there but the quality was in my opinion sub par, and I have little short blond baby lashes that unless I coat them with mascara you can barely see them at all.

Some brands like elate and tarte do sell a mascara in what looks like just a bamboo tube but in reality there’s a plastic tube inside it, and I needed to stay within a certain price range. 

At the moment I’m using the hemp mascara from Milk, I’m loving it and the outer container is I believe metal. 

Milk is a cruelty free and vegan company as well. I can rinse this out when done and terracycle the container or send it to Wands for Wildlife so it can be reused. 

#10

This one is truly my dirty little secret but

Hair dye

I know, these long brunette locks are in fact fake. 

I’m a natural blond but once I started dying it darker years ago I was getting a lot more roles so I stuck with it. 

Going to a salon would potentially be more eco friendly because they buy their dye materials in bulk but living in new york city the average cost of a dye job is over $100 and I just can’t swing that every 6 ish weeks. 

Some vegan dye brands are overtone, madison reed, Arctic fox or lime crime. There are parts of most dye kits that can be recycled if you’re careful enough to wash any excess dye out

The ethical elephant has been so helpful to me in finding vegan and cruelty free versions of products for which I can't find an affordable zero waste option. 

Not every swap is going to be perfect in maintaining a low waste life, so when in doubt look for vegan options, cruelty free options, B-corporation options, or companies that use ethical and sustainable business and labor practices. 

Don’t be afraid to send an email to the company for more details on how their products are made, how they’re shipped and get as much info as you can before dropping the money.

So that’s the list, hope you found it interesting and the info is useful to you. 

Making low waste choices can look different for everyone and there’s no one right or wrong way to go about it. 

And it’s ok if there are certain things you’d rather not sacrifice. The important thing is that you try:)

So that’s it for now, thanks for watching, take care of yourself, take care of the earth, and see ya later:)