Here’s a couple examples from my life:
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Safety Razor. I get a better shave and it’s like $15 for 100 razor blades, which lasts me a couple years. Way way way better than the disposable multi-blade Gillette things, which sell 5 heads for $20.
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Handkerchiefs. I am prone to allergies, so instead of constantly buying disposable tissues, we now have a stack of handkerchiefs that can just be used a few times and then thrown in the wash. This has also saved me loads.
What about you?
Stop buying products you don’t need. I always wait months before I buy something and that way didn’t buy 99% of the stuff I’d have otherwise ordered.
Not flying by plane or traveling far by fossil fuels, will save more than most day to day trash you spare. Most trash is burned, but flying is much worse to the environment than burning trash.So simply stay at home or nearby.
Ordering fruits from local plantation is also better than ordering berries transported via ship around half the globe.
There’s much more invisible environmental destruction to products, than the product waste when disposed itself.
It’s not easy though, because you got to research where stuff is made and companies often refuse to give insight on their shady business.
I buy from the butcher instead of pre packaged meat in plastic. I only buy new clothes or a pair of shoes once the old one is broken. Sure I own 5 pair of shoes but I’ll wear each of them til they are trash.
Buying leather shoes and other clothes has lasted me much longer than fake leather shoes. I honestly wish we had shoemakers still around, I often have to throw good shoes away because the sole is completely done but otherwise fine.
Don’t get all the streaming services at once.
Ditch the car, live near transit, ride a bike.
Cheapest city with moderately decent public transit is probably Washington DC. With an average home price comparable to the one I live in without public transit of about $600,000 more than my current home. Even if I didn’t own my truck outright (8 years old, 58k miles) and the price of gasoline doubled, my payback period for 100% free public transit is greater than infinity with a 5% cost of money calculated in.
It’s a bit like solar. I’ve run the numbers, and had others run the numbers, and the conclusion is that it would require replacing solar panels twice before I made back my investment, even with a 0% loan for the panels and install.
I’d love to be part of it. I’d love to have European-style public transit. Even in the few places where viable public transit exists in the US, it’s not affordable to move to those places. shrug
