5 ways to reduce waste in the home with @natural_harry

This Plastic Free July, we're committed to lessening our impact on the planet. First up, we chatted to the lovely @natural_harry who gave us some tips on how to reduce waste within our homes.

Keep hold of good quality glass jars as they will make great dry food storage containers. Wash them well, then dry. They can also be used for a few little DIY projects like making your own tea mix and candles.

The goal is to minimise the single use packaging you bring into your home by shopping zero or low waste. Shop for staples at a bulk wholefood stores where you can bring your own containers and fill them up. Label your jars before you leave, meaning you don’t need to write a shopping list and it makes it so easy to unpack back into your cupboard when you get home.

Sign up to a subscription service to get organic fruit and veg delivered to your door. You always get what is in season. It keeps you creative and you are getting the freshest best quality. Of course if you want to choose, shop as often as you can at farmers market where most items are stored out of plastic. If you’re making a trip to a supermarket, bring bags with you to pack your loose items in like apples. And when you’ve unpacked everything, ALWAYS head straight back to your car or bike (whatever your mode of transport) and keep those bags there, so you don’t forget or get caught out when you make your next trip. You’ll love the feeling of being prepared!

Not only for the food adventurous, you’d be surprised at some of things you can make for yourself at home. For example you can make your own almond milk. The same goes for crafting your own bodycare and cleaning products from pure natural ingredients, not only reducing your consumption of single use plastic, but also the toxins in your home. (Recipes for these will be coming out in my third book, due to be published November 2020!).

Got a little veggie patch or herb pots that you want to give some extra TLC to? Compost your veggie scraps with compostable cardboard, paper and plant-based wrapping/paper towels etc, turning waste into nutrient dense fertilizer for your garden. Worms love it and it helps to keep methane producing items out of landfill.