Quick REUSE tips within the home.

The team at Res.Awesome are proud to announce the release of our easy to use waste reduction guide. We created this to help you minimise waste in your home and make positive steps towards Zero Waste in your life. The guide is available for purchase on our website and is packed full of information on how to keep your home as sustainable as possible. The full guide includes a handy monthly checklist to help you stay on track and streamline your cleaning process. Head to our Shop and download the comprehensive guidebook - it leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of sustainable living.

To celebrate, we thought we would share a few quick tips to get you started. When tackling your whare (house) we recommend dealing with one room at a time. Assess your workflow in the space and begin thinking about what products you really need. A lot of cleaning products are really damaging to both our environment and our bodies. The packaging, the chemicals, the price - oh my! Ridding your household of all the nuisance is a lot easier than you may think. To get the ball rolling we will give you ten tips for your kitchen space. This area of your house is one you probably spend a lot of time in and quite possibly generate most of your waste in too.

“What you do today, can improve all your tomorrows”

Ralph Marston

1. Buy seasonally and locally

Produce sold out of season or shipped from lands far away require a lot of packaging, storage and transportation. Head down to your local farmers market to check out the range of amazing seasonal produce. Dunedin is very lucky to have access to some of the best products around. Local orchards, vegetable growers and farms mean we can take our pick from some amazing fresh produce. The Otago Farmers Market has everything you could possibly need from honey to wine, to eggs and dairy. If dropping a stack of cash at your local market is a little out of financial reach, you will notice a huge difference in price even at the supermarket when you start focussing on products that are currently in season.  

2. Resource

When you do a little digging into the resources available in your local area, you may be pleasantly surprised to see how many businesses are reducing packaging. Saving your egg cartons and milk bottles to be sterilised and refilled is a really great way to cut down on waste. In Dunedin we are lucky to have milk suppliers who serve milk on tap or others who will happily reuse their bottles once returned.

3. Reuse Food Scraps

Pumping your food scraps into future meals helps you gain the most nutrients from your food. Keep your veggie scraps aside, you can even freeze them if you want. Veggie scraps and meat bones are perfect for making a nutrient-dense, kickass stock. We can often get a lot more from our food than we initially think. There really is an art to making a healthful bowl of broth. Invest in a slow cooker or a pressure cooker to make this process a whole lot easier. Your wallet will thank you for it long term!

4. Compost

Reuse your food scraps and replenish your soil at the same time! Set up a compost bucket and a heap over a sunny weekend and watch your waste output get smaller. You have the added bonus of avoiding a smelly rubbish bag in your kitchen. Putting food scraps into our general waste is really bad for our environment. It has such an easy fix that comes with oodles of benefits. Stay on top of turning your compost and watch your garden flourish. Feed the nutrients back into your vegetable patch and enjoy homegrown produce. Check out the Bokashi Bin system for a no-fuss solution to your composting needs.

5. Refill

When your eco-friendly detergent runs out, simply take it with you next time you hit the store. There are so many options when it comes to refilling your containers these days as many retailers have hitched themselves to the sustainability bandwagon. This strategy reduces plastic waste and diverts unnecessary packaging from ending up in landfills or in our natural environment. Check out Bin Inn in Dunedin for your refillable cleaning needs.

6. Make

Things like bread, crackers, dips, hummus, yoghurt etc are usually the worst for indecent amounts of plastic packaging. Fortunately, these products are relatively easy to make at home. Creating your own snackable items comes with the added benefit of knowing exactly what goes into your food; no preservatives or harmful additives in sight!

7. Make and Repurpose

Repurpose old rags and textiles by chopping them up and turning them into cleaning rags or tea towels. This is a great way to cut down the cost of cleaning supplies and cut down on fabric waste. 

8. Swap

Swap out your plastic food wrap with a yummy smelling alternative. Beeswax food wraps are easy to make and are a fun project to get the kids involved in. Reusable food coverings are the way of the future and seriously cut down on the plastic waste that takes so long to break down in our natural environment. Check out our online store where DIY Beeswax food wrap kits are available for purchase.

9. Replace your chemical cleaner

Here is a recipe for a citrus vinegar cleaner that will have your home sanitised and smelling great.

Simply soak your leftover citrus peels in vinegar. Over time the concoction will begin to darken. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be simply topped up with vinegar when you are getting low. Replace the peels when they start to look a bit gross - this is totally fine and a normal part of the process, as you are essentially pickling your citrus peels. This solution can be used for all cleaning jobs and for the more delicate areas of your home, feel free to dilute this solution with a little water. A more gentle option is to forego the vinegar and simply boil citrus peels in water. Once cooled you can use this a simple spray for minor spills and odd jobs.

We use this cleaner all around the house and love that it allows us to get rid of nasty chemicals from our homes.

10. Respect

Respect Papatūānuku, rākau, ngahere, whenua and all beings who reside when gathering with appropriate karakia. Remember your reciprocity! Our final tip may seem a little obvious, but we believe it should be the fundamental backbone behind the decisions you make for your home. Remember that every item you purchase was not produced in a vacuum and will be disposed of at some point down the line….. unless you are really onto it with your repurposing! Making wise decisions about what you bring into your kitchen space shows that you respect our land, waterways and our people - especially the people you share your home with. If we rid our kitchens of harmful substances, we are keeping our whānau safe and reducing pollutants that ultimately impact our future generations.

We can’t wait for you to get your hands on our comprehensive Reuse Revolution guide - check out our online store if you want to revolutionise your home space. There are so many handy nuggets of information that we believe will really change your life for the better. Thank you for reading and we cant wait to see our Reuse Revolution guides flying off the shelves and into your homes!