Living & Crafting Sustainably [Pt 1]: The Single Use Problem

How can we sew, craft and live more sustainably?

While I regularly lament the environmental impact of our collective actions, I'm also regularly conflicted about what I can do to reduce that impact. Maybe you feel the same way, as a fellow sewer and crafter and occupant of this planet.

For instance, do you see the paradox of how reducing consumerism — because it contributes to the destruction of our increasingly fragile world — has an adverse effect on local economies and therefore jobs?

Undoubtedly, we buy more than we need. And we buy for convenience.

When you see the latest commercial for that ubiquitous floor dusting/cleaning cloth, do you shake your head in wonderment that we are still marketing so many single use disposable items? (Did you know that designers for that company have defended their disposable cloths as a sound method of cleaning floors because it doesn't entail using "a lot of hot water"?)

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All that said, how much are you prepared to sacrifice — mostly in terms of convenience — in order to reduce or eliminate your reliance on single use items?

Well, for the problem relating to the disposable dusting cloth, how about using a regular cloth to dust? (Or a rechargeable battery powered floor sweeper? I've had one of those for years.) If you must have something that fits into those well-marketed contraptions, you can DIY a reusable alternative. Here are three of them.

At HelloNest.co (https://hellonest.co/diy-swiffer-pads/), Stephanie Pollard shows you how to make your own (wet) floor cleaning pads, complete with an ecologically safe cleaning solution.

image courtesy of hellonest.co...

If you follow her recommendation, these don't even require any sewing. However, in the spirit of reduce, reuse and recycle, you may be able to find something in your home that can also do the trick.

The next one is for the dry floor sweeper/duster. TheHappyHousewife.com's Toni Herrbach (https://thehappyhousewife.com/home-management/how-to-make-reusable-swiffer-cloths/) shows you how to reuse fleece from an old blanket (scarf? old sweatshirt?) to make these washable versions.

image courtesy of TheHappyHousewife.com...

Finally, for those fixated on dusting surfaces that aren't the floor, Abby from SewMuchAdo.com (https://www.sewmuchado.com/tutorial-reusable-swiffer-duster-cloths/) provides a detailed tutorial on how to make reusable refills for that popular fluffy handheld duster.

image courtesy of SewMuchAdo.com...

I am an old fashioned mop and bucket gal when it comes to cleaning the floor. For my part, the only single use things I go through on a somewhat regular basis for cleaning (about one a week) are disinfecting wipes. For regular dusting, I just use a microfiber cloth.

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How about eliminating single use items in the kitchen?

I must admit to keeping paper towels and napkins on hand, but they almost always get used more than once. Hubby and I leave our napkins on the dining table and use them over several meals. Once they've reached the end of their life, they get used one final time to wipe oil and grease from pots and pans... because you can't send that stuff down the drain. (To do better in this regard, however, I have actually purchased some of my noodle bowl fabric to make matching cloth napkins for our placemats.)

One trend that I've easily adopted in the kitchen is silicone anything. When I began making bakery style chocolate muffins (featured on my pandemic projects page) on a semi-regular basis the past couple of years, I burned through a whole box of paper liners before I bought these.

Highly recommended silicone cupcake/muffin liners...

Not only do they solve the single use problem, the muffins come out much more cleanly than they ever did out of the paper liners. When not used for baking, you can use them for prep bowls. Definitely a win-win-win!

Does your community's waste management system require you to separate your garbage? Our city has gone that route over the past couple of years. We are supposed to put food waste out in a separate cart for curbside pickup; in the house, a smaller bin collects food waste as it's "generated". While some people have taken to purchasing single use compostable liners for these countertop bins, I figured there had to be a better way.

Newspaper "box" liners for food waste bins...

Since I still maintain an actual subscription to our local newspaper, instead of exclusively recycling them, some are folded into "boxes" to line our food scraps bin. The result is strong enough to allow me to pick it up and place it into the outside cart.

If you do a search online, you'll likely find two main ways to make these liners, one of which starts with a triangular fold. The method I use is a modified version involving a cuff and two one-third folds. (Modified since I use five full size sheets of newspaper to wind up with something big enough to fit our household bin.)

Now it's time for my single use pet peeve.

We still have plastic wrap in the house and I truly hate that we do. If it was totally up to me, I'd be rid of it entirely, but it's been difficult to wean hubby off the convenience of it. For example, I purchased these stretchable silicone lids within the past couple of years and use them whenever we have to cover a dish or bowl that doesn't have an actual lid, but he still routinely reaches for the roll of plastic first.

Silicone rules again!

Where I'm stumped for an alternative is when we pack sandwiches for a day trip somewhere. In the interests of ensuring that we don't touch the food unnecessarily before it goes into our mouths, we wrap them in plastic. I have searched high and low for a silicone alternative, but apparently none currently exists in a size that would accommodate sandwich wrapping needs.

I know that there is a reusable alternative to plastic wrap in the form of beeswax and fabric. Here is one such tutorial for making these wraps from MountainRoseHerbs.com's Kiley Gwynn ( https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/the-complete-guide-to-diy-beeswax-wraps-including-a-beeless-vegan-food-wrap).

The onerous process of making beeswax wraps...

I have to be honest here and say that the process of making and cleaning these — as well as using them properly — is much too onerous for me. I would much rather take (from my existing supply of) freezer strength plastic bags, cut them open and use them as wraps that can be cleaned again and again. They wouldn't be moldable like beeswax coated fabric, but being larger and with some fancy folding, they may be able to keep an item secure.

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Now that I've touched upon a single use solution that I'm not prepared to embrace, let me roll out another idea that won't sway me.

Image courtesy of AllFreeSewing.com...

Over at AllFreeSewing.com, there's a collection of zero waste sewing ideas (https://www.allfreesewing.com/Accessories-to-Sew/Zero-Waste-Sewing-Ideas). Among them is a tutorial for reusable toilet "paper", which is obviously not paper.

While I appreciate the optimism behind the idea, to me, it's not practicable for society to go back in time unless it's trapped in some sort of dystopian landscape.

I don't see myself ditching my vehicle for a horse and buggy and the same goes for depriving myself of toilet paper. I gave up makeup remover wipes and may yet do more, but I do have to draw some lines in the sand.

What single use items are you prepared to give up in an effort to live more sustainably?

'Til next...