Everyone is going to need something different when it comes to their daily routines. Do you work from home? Where do you purchase your groceries? What different things do you have access to at home?  

It also depends on your preferences as well as where you’re at in your low-waste journey. Remember, everyone is going at their own pace and there isn’t just one correct way to go about your journey. It’s important to remember that each action you take to reduce your ecological footprint is a step forward for yourself and our planet.

Our goal with creating tool kit suggestions is for you to try and find things around your home that you can reuse or repurpose without needing to spend too much money. Our kit suggestions do contain a few alternatives where you can choose to make an investment if that is something that is of interest to you. As always, please try to use what you have first. When it no longer works or runs out, that would be a good time to make the switch to an investment to sustainability. A big part of sustainability is about consuming less. 

Basic Tool Kit

Basic Tool Kit Suggestions: 

• Reusable bags for shopping- Find any bags around the house that could work!
• Replace paper towels in the kitchen with regular, cloth towels. 
• Bar soap for hand washing or washing your body in the shower (or both!)
• Reusable water bottle- This can be something you already own at home like a mason jar!

Food Tool Kit

This kit can be used to bring your lunch to and from work, to bring takeout home, or even when you’re eating out. We recommend leaving this bag in your car, so you don’t accidentally forget it. Don’t forget to use what you have at home before buying anything new!

Food Tool Kit Suggestions:

• Mason jar/Reusable water bottle
• One of each silverware
• Cloth napkins/towel
• Glass food storage (or plastic if that’s what you have)
• Reusable bag to carry it all

Grocery Tool Kit

A grocery kit is so simple, but can really make a difference for your waste/plastic consumption. Depending on the different stores that you go to, you may need to adjust the amount of each item you bring. Remember to use what you have around the house, you don’t need to go buy new items

Grocery Tool Kit Suggestions:

• Reusable bags
• Cardboard boxes/laundry basket

Bathroom Tool Kit

Many of the products that are used for personal hygiene in the bathroom are either made of plastic themselves, or come wrapped in plastic. That’s a big reason that we, personally, started with sustainable bathroom swaps and grew our business from there. There are a lot of things that can be swapped out in the bathroom, so we gave just a few suggestions here. We recognize that most of these items are not things that you will have laying around your house that you can repurpose, so our bathroom tool kit would be an investment in yourself and our planet!

Bathroom Tool Kit Suggestions:

• Bar soap
• Bamboo toothbrush
• Tablet toothpaste
• Shampoo and Conditioner bars
• Bamboo toilet paper
• Stainless steel simple razor 

Cleaning Tool Kit

Cleaning our living spaces is a necessity, but it doesn’t have to negatively impact our planet. Replacing items that are made of plastic or come in a single-use plastic bottle will help reduce your ecological footprint and limit your home’s overall waste. Try to find some of these items around your home, and make an investment in yourself when you’re able. 

Cleaning Tool Kit Suggestions:

• Plastic free dish soap (solid dish soap)
• Cloth sponge, bamboo dish brush, natural loofah, or a small cleaning rag to replace your plastic sponge
• Cotton towels to replace paper towels
• Wool dryer balls 
• Create your own general purpose cleaner (baking soda and white vinegar work well)

Advanced Tool Kit

This kit is for those that have mastered sustainable products around their homes and are very conscious about their consumption and ecological footprint on a daily basis. 

Advanced Tool Kit Suggestions:

• Vegetable or herb seeds- Growing your own vegetables and herbs not only saves you money, but also offsets your consumption, therefore reducing your ecological footprint even more! 
• Grow kit- Grow kits are a great long term investment for you to be able to grow your herbs or vegetables all year round!
• Compost bin- If you’re not ready or able to commit to a large outdoor compost, you can purchase or make a small one that will sit on your countertop with a lid. 
• LED light bulbs- Changing all the lightbulbs in your living space will not only help our environment to use less energy, but also lower your electricity bill. 

Depending on what you’re comfortable with, you can choose to gather items for just one or multiple tool kits on the list. We’re so happy to have you with us on our low waste journey. We know that if we work together we can benefit our planet. Make sure to tag us and use the hashtag #LowWasteChallenge to tell us which kit you’ve decided to build this month and how you’re liking it!

Do you have any other suggestions for items that should be added to a tool kit? Tell us in the comments below!