10 Sustainable Swaps For a More Clutter-Free Home

Here’s the beautiful byproduct of choosing sustainable products over disposable ones: you end up with a more clutter-free space! No more heaps of paper napkins stuffed into cabinets and drawers! No more water bottles crowding your fridge and pantry! With these simple swaps, not only will your home breathe a little bit more, but so will the planet. What a win-win.

Here are ten of my favorite sustainable swaps I’ve made over the past few years:  

1. Swap cotton pads for cotton rounds. I love a good toner moment, so I go through cotton rounds like water. Enter the reusable cotton round. I store mine in a chic little container, and use them up throughout the week. Then I toss them in the wash along with my towels and do the whole song and dance all over again. Pro Tipsy: if they’re looking a little worse for wear (i.e., covered in makeup stains), add some non-chlorine bleach to your next load. They’ll look good as new!

2. Swap dryer sheets for dryer balls. Dryer sheets…who needs them when you have a fun crew of wool dryer balls ready to shake things up! I keep about five wool dryer balls in my dryer at all times, and I’m convinced they cut down drying time by ten minutes, while also fluffing up my clothes. And they last up to five years—all the more reason dryer sheets are a thing of the past!

3. Swap plastic bags for Stashers. I’m quietly phasing out my dependence on plastic bags, but until then, I’ll pine for a full-blown collection of Stashers. These are sustainable reusable bags made of silicone that you can freeze, boil, and even pop in the microwave. They’re dishwasher safe and make food storage all the more eco-friendly. 

4. Swap paper napkins for linen napkins. How chic! How classic! It’s nice to restore a bit of tradition and refinement to the dinner (or lunch) table, and cloth napkins do just that. I love my white linen napkins, but choose whatever color and fabric works best for you. White is a bold choice for dinner napkins you might think, but when you have Oxiclean and/or non-chlorine bleach, tomato sauce stains are a non-issue.  

5. Swap plastic Tupperware for glass Snapware. Investing in a set of glass Snapware is one of the best things you can do for your kitchen. Not only are they so satisfying to use (I never tire of the snapping sound), but they make leftover storage a breeze. My plastic Tupperware never felt fully clean even after a run through the dishwasher, but with glassware, there’s no funny lingering residue. Plus, these last forever, unlike their ever-warping Tupperware counterparts. And since they are longer-lasting, I’m more likely to take care of them (ahem, keep much better track of the lids and bases). 

6. Swap exfoliating gloves for a body brush. I’ve been using a body brush for five years now, and haven’t once missed those soggy pink exfoliating gloves dangling in the shower. Unlike your average body pouf/glove situation, which last only a couple of months, the body brush lasts a full year. Plus, body brushing is such an invigorating start to your day! 

7. Swap store-bought cleaning products for homemade products. Making my own cleaning products has been one of the great game-changers of my adult existence. Whereas I used to stand frozen and perplexed in the cleaning aisle of the grocery store, I now cruise right past it. Using simple ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide to clean your home frees up SO much space in your utility closet. Plus, who wants to breathe in all those icky chemicals? Not chic!

8. Swap plastic bags for mesh produce bags. I always feel icky using dozens of plastic produce bags, so to reduce that guilty ick factor, I bring my own mesh produce bags to the grocery store. I keep them tucked in my reusable grocery bags so I don’t forget them, and if they’re ever in need of a rinse, I just toss them in the wash. Simple! (Kind of) chic! 

9. Swap bottled water for a water filter. I can’t understand the appeal of stocking up on bottled water. The bottles take up SO much space in your fridge, plus they’re clunky and annoying to carry from the grocery store. And don’t they also leach plastic into the water over time? No merci! Instead, might I suggest a water filter and reusable water bottle combo. I use a Berkey filter for its efficiency, and the fact that you only have to replace the filters every five years (!), but there are tons more on the market. The ZeroWater Pitcher is also an excellent option. 

10. Swap paper towels for cleaning rags. Replacing paper towels with simple cleaning rags is the ultimate sustainable swap . No more leaning towers of Bounty in my pantry! I used to consume nearly a roll of paper towels to clean my home...quelle horreur! Now I use a combination of microfiber cleaning cloths and cleaning rags. I still purchase paper towels in case of emergency but use them far more sparingly now that I have my beloved rags to clean the ragtag parts of my home.