r/ZeroWaste 2d ago

Weekly Thread Random Thoughts, Small Questions, and Newbie Help — August 30 – September 12

1 Upvotes

This is the place to comment with any zerowaste-related random thoughts, small questions, or anything else that you don't think warrants a post of its own!


Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have and we'll do our best to help you out. Please include your approximate location to help us better help you! If your question doesn't get a response after a while, feel free to submit your question as its own post.


If you're unfamiliar with our rules, please check them out before posting here.


Are you new to /r/ZeroWaste? Check out our wiki for FAQs and other resources on getting started. If you aren’t new, our wiki can also use help and additions! Please check it out if you think you could improve it!


Interested in more regular discussions? Join us in our Discord!


Think we could change or improve something? Send the mod team a message and we'll see what we can do!


r/ZeroWaste Mar 13 '26

📣 Announcement ATTN: Marketers and sellers - this community is not here to provide you with free advertising, market research, or promotion for your latest AI invention

311 Upvotes

This community is for those working to reduce their environmental impact on the planet by reducing personal consumption and generation of waste. To seek support, share advice, and connect with each other.

We are now getting daily posts and comments from both stealth and overt marketers, including AI app developers who have invented some life-changing tech that will save us all. WE DON'T NEED YOUR FOOD WASTE APP.

Let us state this clearly:

This community is not here to provide you or your company with free market advertising/research or to sell us your product or app.

If you are only here to promote or research your product/blog/etc. and offer nothing of value to the community, it will be removed and you will be banned.

Zero Wasters, please report these types of posts.

For those arguing in the mod inbox about why your self-promotion post was not self-promotion:

This type of spammy self-promotional content is frowned upon across all of Reddit. It feels particularly egregious to have such blatant pro-consumption content and manipulation in the Zero Waste sub, and it will NOT be tolerated here.

Thank you!


r/ZeroWaste 5h ago

Show and Tell I’m a housekeeper that keeps partial TP rolls for myself.

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

My cleaning company throws out partial tp rolls. After moving out of my apartment into my car, I started saving them to reroll for myself. The one I rerolled is the upper left. Not the most perfect, but I’d rather do this than see so much go to waste. And I am saving money where I can :)

(My friend lets me crash at her place so this picture was taken on her floor.)


r/ZeroWaste 2h ago

Discussion How do you keep track of what you have in fridge/freezer/pantry to reduce waste and buying items, that you already had?

4 Upvotes

I want to reduce my food waste, but i dont find easy and actually sticking way, of how to track, what I have at home, while not being at home.

I always go to store, after my work, since i have quite a road from home to the store, and driving home is always on the way, so I save on time and fuel. But then, I get the idea, of what I want to cook, and then I roughly know what products I have, but not for sure, so there are multiple times, when I buy stuff, that I already had, and instead of using it, I now have 2 items of same product, and most of the time I dont use it all, and it goes to waste :/ And its just, couse I didnt know if I really had it, and if i had it, would it be enough, and thus bought to be sure.

I bet I am not the only one, so how do you guys solve this?

I can save you time, I wont be using any google sheets, or boards on the fridge, or apps, that I need to enter all products manually. I know myself, and I can use it for some time, but if it wont be easy, i will ditch it. I know also, there are apps, that scan receipts, but I dont always have store bought items, I do get a lot of stuff from my grandparents, like fresh eggs, or groceries, or even meat, so its not an option too.

Also, expirations, same issue, I dont know, when is stuff expiring, and I keep throwing that away.

I bet someone has great, and easy to stick solution to this.

Thansk!


r/ZeroWaste 5h ago

Question / Support how to recycle socks?

4 Upvotes

i’ve always been a sucker for socks, i always get gifted them and i have a huge collection now. i simply don’t have the room and it’s becoming overwhelming. what’s the best way i can remove the quality ones? some haven’t even been worn so i’d like for them to be put to use.
i have a few pairs that are way past their prime which i am going to take to a textile bank unless there is a better alternative.
im based in the uk.


r/ZeroWaste 19h ago

Question / Support Furs

36 Upvotes

Hi guys,
I work in a theatre’s costume shop and we’ve been in the process of cleaning out our garment storage for 3+ years (we have SO much stuff…). One of the sections we’re looking to significantly downsize is our fur collection. We have probably 100+ genuine fur garments (coats, shawls, hats, scarves, etc.) and we’ll probably keep only a few. I’ve tried to look into it before about animal rescues I can donate them to but I haven’t had a ton of success where I’m located in the Midwest. Any other suggestions?


r/ZeroWaste 1h ago

Discussion How to *actually* get rid of plastic?

Upvotes

Yes, I've looked up this question for answers more than once, in every subreddit I could think of and also google and duckduckgo. Everything gives me the same answer on how to cut plastic from my life but I want to know how to destroy it. I do litter-picking around my neighborhood and manage to recycle everything I can, but at the end of the day I have a lot of single use plastic that is too broken or damaged for recycling and that's what I don't know how to handle.

Cutting it up into small pieces to avoid animals eating it releases microplastics. Leaving it in the scorching hot sun does the same. Burning it releases mega-cancer into the air. Composting it contaminates the whole compost. Throwing it in the trash makes it just go elsewhere, not dissappear. My country's recycling systems are inefficient and most of them just burn trash or bury it in natural areas. What can I even do about this?

And also yes, I am in treatment for my OCD, this is just a question that I can't stop thinking about.


r/ZeroWaste 3h ago

Question / Support Solid conditioner bars for long, dry hair? I've tried a few different brands and all of the shampoo has been great, but the conditioner just isn't doing enough for my long hair. Am I forced to use liquid leave in conditions that come in plastic containers or slice my hair off?

1 Upvotes

I would really prefer to keep my hair long


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Show and Tell Desk drawer, organized with a jar and three random cardboard boxes

Post image
159 Upvotes

Was is Marie Kondo who once said people already have all the boxes they need to organize their drawers?

Desk organizer made from three boxes (cut down to size) and a glass jar. I put all my little pieces of paper in one box to use as scratch paper while working.


r/ZeroWaste 3h ago

Question / Support Zero waste store (ZWS) shampoo bars, has anyone tried?

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm trying to switch from Dip shampoo and conditioner bars because I want to save some money. Has anyone tried the ZWS ones? I'm looking at the scent called "Earth". I have very thick wavy hair that's around shoulder length.


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support What can I do with hundreds of these?

Post image
57 Upvotes

I work at a vet clinic and our 3 cc syringes come packed in these polypropylene casings. We don’t have recycling (and even if we did it probably wouldn’t ever really be recycled), so what could I do with these? All ideas welcome!


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Show and Tell No more cardboard cat scratchers!

Thumbnail
gallery
65 Upvotes

Not that there’s anything wrong with them, except for the fact that both my cats could care less about cardboard or sisal. I wanted to share what I’ve been making though! I use a piece of scrap wood and pick up free carpet scraps from my local flooring outlet.

When the carpet gets too worn out I go get a new piece of carpet and attach it to the same piece of wood. I love this because it costs pretty much nothing and I’m not throwing away whole cat scratchers!

Also, why do scratchers like this not exist online?! My cats are so particular. They ONLY like carpet but they won’t scratch vertically, only flat or at an angle. Lol


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support What to do with excess foam

18 Upvotes

Hi gang. My GF is a custom home interior seamstress. She works full time out of our home and makes a decent living doing it. One thing thats become a problem is that due to the nature of making cushions and what not, she has accumulated a TON of excess cushion foam. Mostly it comes in the form of odd shapes and cutoffs not big enough to use for her projects. I work for a college and we have managed to donate some to their sculpture department, but it just keeps accumulating. We are generally environmentally conscientious so we are trying to figure out other avenues to not create waste. I'm just wondering if anyone here has any experience in dealing with excess foam, or if anyone has any recommendations on the sorts of places that could be donated to or of industries that could be able to use it. Thanks gang, i really appreciate any and all feedback!


r/ZeroWaste 2d ago

Show and Tell Heard you guys might like floor turtles!

Thumbnail
gallery
2.9k Upvotes

These lil guys are made from (in order of layers) fabric scraps, old microfiber cloths, and old rags! They live on the floors of kitchens and bathrooms and when theres a spill, you can move em with your foot and mop it up! Saves the good towels and prevents bending over :) i keep the tails long so they can be tied or hung on cabinets if theres no floor space

I make these lil critters as wedding presents (in a set of two so they dont get lonely and in case a pet wants one as their own lol)

The blue ones used old pharmacy scrubs, and the plaid ones used a goodwill table cloth!


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

News Shifting the cleanup cost of packaging waste to companies could encourage greener packaging

Thumbnail
theconversation.com
275 Upvotes

r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support Suggestions for labels?

3 Upvotes

Hello all - first time posting on this sub.

I just started growing my own herbs, vegetables and fruits. As a solution to need to hang my herbs to dry, I thrifted this rad wrought iron, window-esque, wall-mount with built in clips.

So as to not contaminate my fresh herbs by touching the clip directly to the stem bundles, I was wondering if anyone had thoughts as to what I could use to potentially both bundle and label each of my hanging herbs while they dry?


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support What to do with broken TV?

Post image
7 Upvotes

A real old TV of mine just had the screen break and I’m disassembling it trying to figure out what to do with all the bits all the tech works just not sure what to do with any of it. Worst case I can use it as greebles for art projects but beyond that I’m kind of shot for ideas particularly anything practical


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support Additional uses for essential oils?

16 Upvotes

An old roommate left behind a bunch of essential oils, and I want to use them up in ways additional to an oil diffuser. Honestly, I just forget about the diffuser I have most of the time so I want some other ways to use them up. I thought laundry was an option but a quick read on this thread disproved that! Any ideas?


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support I have too much paper at the end of the school year, what do I do with it?

11 Upvotes

I get piles worth of handouts from school, and most of it is double sided, so it cant be saved as scratch or sketch paper. And it's wayy too much to actually save for craft. What do I do with all of it?


r/ZeroWaste 1d ago

Question / Support Any ideas for reuse?

Thumbnail
gallery
0 Upvotes

These are the casings for Claritin rapid dissolve. They are like a type of metal but they could also be plastic (I don’t really have a lot of knowledge for types of materials)

I love to do crafts and art so if anyone has ideas like that that would be cool. I’m open to any ideas though really. Practical or artsy. Anything would be great!


r/ZeroWaste 2d ago

DIY Uses?

Post image
54 Upvotes

Standard bic lighter inside for scale - lid does not close.

I have a few of them. I dont want or need any more containers to store stuff in. Was gonna make little sewing kits to put in the free pantries/libraries around, but then I worried about kids taking them and touching needles. 🙃

Any ideas?


r/ZeroWaste 2d ago

DIY Sunday sock mending

Thumbnail gallery
22 Upvotes

Found these in the bathroom bin! They should know better by now :)


r/ZeroWaste 3d ago

DIY I used an old wallpaper sample and a paper shopping bag to wrap a gift🎁

Post image
591 Upvotes

The bag is the perfect size for the gift inside, but has the store’s logo on it. I trimmed a sample of peel-and-stick wallpaper I had on hand and covered it up and make it prettier. Not completely zero waste, but creative reuse ♻️


r/ZeroWaste 3d ago

DIY Lid and hot glue = makeup brush scrubber

Thumbnail
gallery
400 Upvotes

Usually I save yogurt, sour scream, or chip dip containers but the container broke and I still had the lid so I used a bit of hot glue to turn it into one of those makeup brush scrubber pads. Tested it out and it works great!!


r/ZeroWaste 4d ago

Show and Tell Someone said you'd love my new watercolor palette

Thumbnail gallery
896 Upvotes