My Great Journey Toward Living with Less Waste
I was folding laundry one evening when the news played in the background. The reporter talked about rising waste levels and how much trash ends up in landfills every year.
The numbers sounded overwhelming, but what caught my attention most was a short clip showing piles of plastic mixed with everyday items people used for only a few minutes. Seeing that made me pause for a moment. I looked around my home and realized how many things I threw away without thinking.
I wanted my home to feel more mindful and less wasteful, especially now that I had a baby watching everything I did.
As I looked through jars, boxes, old clothes, and little scraps from past projects, I began to see how many things still had a use if I gave them a second chance. Not every idea worked, but each project taught me some lessons.
These five projects shaped my journey toward living with less waste and helped me care for our home and the environment in a way that feels steady and honest.
1. The Jar Project That Started Everything
When washing dishes with my baby sitting in their highchair nearby, I was tapping a spoon against the tray. I had three empty jars lined up by the sink – jars from baby food that my child had refused after two bites. Normally I would rinse them quickly and toss them into recycling without thinking.
That day, while waiting for the warm water to fill the sink, I noticed how the jars made a soft clinking sound when they touched each other. It felt calming in a simple way. My baby laughed at the sound, so I tapped them again, letting the jars gently knock together like tiny bells.
Instead of throwing them away, I peeled off the labels while my baby watched. Some pieces came off easily. Others stuck to my fingers and curled into little rolls of paper. I placed the jars on the windowsill to dry, not because I had a plan for them, but because they looked strangely pretty sitting in the afternoon light.
The next day, I used one jar to store cotton swabs because the old plastic container had broken. Another jar held leftover craft ribbon that kept getting tangled in a drawer. The third jar became a home for dried flowers I found during a walk with my baby.
Those jars slowly turned into the first small reminder that less waste often begins with noticing simple things you already touch every day.
2. Turning Old Fabrics Into Something Useful
The fabric project started when I opened a storage bin full of my baby’s outgrown clothes. The pieces still smelled faintly of laundry detergent I used during the newborn stage.
Some items had tiny stains from mashed peas or breastmilk Whereas, one onesie still had a faint marker line from the day my baby grabbed a pen faster than I could stop them.
I sat on the floor and held a tiny yellow onesie in my hands. The neckline had stretched from being pulled over a wiggly head, and the bottom snaps didn’t close as smoothly anymore. I didn’t want to keep the outfit, but I also couldn’t let it go.
So I cut a small square from the back panel of the onesie. The fabric curled slightly around the edges as I cut. I placed the square on my desk and topped it with a small dried flower. The combination looked sweet in a way I didn’t expect. That became my first fabric coaster.
Later, I made a bookmark using the sleeve of a shirt my child wore during their first trip to the park. The sleeve still had a faint grass stain near the bottom, and I left that stain in the bookmark because it told a quiet part of our story.
3. The Cardboard Play Corner for My Baby
To be honest, the cardboard play corner didn’t begin as a project. It happened because I was too tired to break down a large delivery box one afternoon.
So I leaned the box against the couch and planned to deal with it later. My baby crawled over, pulled themselves up, and started tapping the inside like a little drum.
They crawled inside, turned around, and sat in the middle of it like it was a brand-new room. I watched them peek out of the opening, their face full of excitement. That gave me the idea to turn the box into something more fun.
I cut a small square on one side to make a window. The cut wasn’t straight because my baby wanted to pull at the cardboard while I worked.
Next, I taped a piece of paper on the inside wall so they could draw with crayons. Within minutes, the paper was covered in uneven circles and tiny scribbles. The crayon marks even spread onto the cardboard itself, but it looked cute because I knew exactly who made them.
4. Creating Decorations from Nature Finds
My baby loved picking up leaves – not pretty leaves, just whichever ones were closest to their little hands. Sometimes they handed me a crumbled brown leaf as if it was the greatest treasure. Other times they carried a tiny stick for the entire walk.
Back at home, I often found these little souvenirs in the bottom of the stroller or tucked inside the diaper bag. Instead of throwing them out, I began setting them aside in a small bowl on our table. The bowl slowly filled with interesting shapes, dried flowers, curled leaves, and smooth stones.
One quiet afternoon, I tied a few dried leaves to a string and hung them on a small hook above my desk. The colors were simple with soft brown, faded green, pale yellow but the little garland made the space feel warm.
Later, I made a tiny wreath from a thin branch my baby grabbed during a walk. The wreath wasn’t even round, but its imperfect shape felt honest.
5. The Leftover Craft Box That Changed My Routine
Believe or not, this project began out of frustration. After a year of crafting during naps and small pockets of time, I noticed how many tiny scraps were scattered around my home.
Short pieces of ribbon, mismatched buttons, fabric corners, tags from old clothing, dried flower stems, and tiny wooden pieces, all of them too small for big projects, yet too useful to throw away.
One day, instead of cleaning them up into different places, I put everything into a single shoebox. At first, the box looked messy, but when I opened it later, I realized how many ideas lived inside it. A small ribbon matched an old button. A piece of twine fit perfectly around a tiny jar. A leftover fabric scrap paired nicely with a plain tag.
This leftover box helped me reduce waste without feeling overwhelmed. It also gave me a small spark of creativity on days when I didn’t have energy for anything big.
