Try ecobags.com

WhosWho:

I always thought it would be cool if we could take our "empties" back and get them refilled.  Laundry detergent and fabric softener bottles are actually pretty stout, I think they would survive many refillings.  Something like milk might not be as possible... unless maybe you had glass bottles and you sterilized them before you got them refilled.  But then, with glass, there's a greater possibility of breakage, so that might be an unpopular option.

I totally agree!  For my cat litter in particular, I find it crazy that I'm supposed to just keep buying new 5-gallon containers (which aren't recycleable in my city!) instead of being able to just refill it at the store.

I keep the containers to use for mopping and washing my car, but I really only need so many before they take over my garage ...
 

I am also really bothered by all of the packaging our stuff comes in.  At my old job, we had cloth bags made up as a give away for conferences, but then we moved and had different contact information, so I got all the bags.  I use these bags for grocery shopping and I get plastic bags for the garbage from family or friends from when they go shopping to line my trash containers with.  When I redid my kitchen, I built in a space for recycling - one bin for newspaper and one bin for glass/plastic/etc.  I also have a compost pile which lowers the amount of garbage a lot.  So, I only have a small trash container in my kitchen that uses the throw away bags you get from the grocery store (I double bag in case something wet goes in there.) I haven't bought zip lock baggies in forever because I save and reuse my bread bags instead and also the plastic bags that you put your fruit and veggies in from the store (when I get a lot of those, I bring them back to the supermarket and reuse those also.)  I buy dog and cat food in big bags and reuse them to throw away weeds.  I do have a big garbage can in the garage and that gets a liner that I buy at the store.  I have also saved and reused the lining from cereal boxes (good for breading chicken - add breadcrumbs, chicken and smush it all in.)  I use a sponge instead of paper towels and throw it in the washing machine with the clothes every week until it's time to change it to keep it fresher.  I rarely break out the napkins unless we have guests, but I am thinking about using the cloth kind.  I use rags to clean with.  Every time my mom comes to visit, I have to make sure I have 1-2 rolls of paper towels because she will go through them in a few days and it takes me a year or so to go through one roll.  I also switched to soy milk instead of regular milk because I found that it went bad too quickly in my house and I had to throw it away which was wasting money and causing more garbage.  The soy does not expire for 2 months or more.

As all of you moms out there can tell, I don't have kids.  I am hoping to stick to this system even after children come, but maybe that is unrealistic.  I would be interested to hear thoughts about how children changes the equation.

Thanks,

Alison

 I use canvas bags for shopping, take thhm in with me and bag myself if they dont want to do it. I use crocheted bags for produce and "crushables"(eggs, chips, tomatoes, grapes). I also have a product called Klaboxes we bought in Germany(about 15 different ones), some have handles like baskets.  I clean my floors with rags, on my hands and knees.  We dont usually try new products unless they are free and then with my asthma they have to be odorless.

LBurgess:

Micro fiber is just as quick and easy and less waste. What gets me is all the plastic bags from the grocery store. I only do my grocery shopping at Wild Oats and one would assume that people that shop there would be environmental friendly. It ain't so! I was in line behind a guy that was buying a few things for his lunch and he asked for a bag to put it in, he then walked up stairs, sat at a table and ate. I just want to pop people like that in the back of the head and ask them what they are thinking. I want every place to do like Ikea does and charge .05 per bag, you don't see many people walking out the door with .05 bags at Ikea!

LBurgess, I agree. Some of the stores here are now offering reusable grocery bags for .99 each. I have a few of those and it really cuts down on the number of plastic bags that come into the house.People could even reuse their plastic bags at least a couple of times to carry groceries in before they end up in a landfill somewhere. I reuse them for my waste containers; they're handy for that.

Alison:

As all of you moms out there can tell, I don't have kids.  I am hoping to stick to this system even after children come, but maybe that is unrealistic.  I would be interested to hear thoughts about how children changes the equation.

I raised three kids like that. They don't have to change anything... you're the boss and you can do it any way you want. :) Women have been raising kids for thousands of years without paper and plastic throwaways and I really mean that. I did and still do all of what you mentioned, even down to reusing big paper bags for lawn trash. I don't have pets right now, but I get those large bags occasionally. I bought compost last year to get my raised beds started, and had several of those large plastic ones that I still use in the garage trash can.

I only use paper napkins when I'm having a houseful of company and then only because people won't use cloth napkins for fear of getting them dirty. ;) I don't remember the last time I bought paper towels. I refuse to just on principle. When someone asks for one, I give them a rag. Somehow, they don't mind getting that dirty!  

Don't worry ! I was raised on cloth napkins, handies,  using dish cloths for messes etc. Weren't napkins rings for people putting back their napkins for the next meal if they were clean enough? My mom still uses them, cloth bags, reuses bread bags etc. I still don't use paper towels much. Plastic bags at the moment are good for the diapers and used pet litter.   Lots of stores, libraries here sell cloth bags to use. Safeway, superstore are jumping on the bandwagon and selling cloth bags for .99 each. I use to work in the promotional products industry and had companys who sold bags from very cheap to high end.  I cut and pasted a link. I believe the prices are retail.  http://www.fiel.com/our-products/bags-promo. There must be similar ones in the USA. 

Also I like the swiffer for mopping because I have very little tiled floor to mop. but I don't like the swiffers wipes. I use flat diapers for it. I found a swiffer head pattern for the kniffy knitter using cotton yarn that I plan to make. 

 Goodwill is a great place to shop for carry all bags.   I love it when a cashier gets all confused because I bring my own.  Have had a few actually ask for a supervisor to make sure it was okay to bag the groceries, etc.   lol  

We buy bundles of inexpensive wash cloths or dishcloths for cloth napkins.  People seem more willing to use those than "real" cloth napkins.  When the cloths are stained or ragged they go into the rag bag, which takes the place of paper towels for cleaning up.

I have a low tech broom, dustpan, and a mop complete with mop bucket.

 Our disposable society--tons and tons of rotting plastic diapers in landfills and empty water bottles will be our legacy to those who follow.  How sad.

And the ultimate in the disposable society line of thinking is the disposable baby, er, I mean fetus/embryo.   

We use very few disposable items at our house any more.  I was given a swiffer but once their cleaner and pads were gone I made my own.  Old bath towels cut to the shape of the mop head works really well.  As for children adjusting, they will use what they are given.  My daughter knows that we don't have paper towels and where the rags are when she needs to clen up a mess.  The grocoery store I shop at a lot of the time keeps boxes for carrying groceries home in.  It's amazing how those boxes work for storage on shelves, like the cleaning rag supply, and my daughter has discovered they make wonderful barns, houses, caves, etc for her toy horse collection.

I don't have any place locally that will let you refill bottles.  I was looking in my laundry room the other day and realized just how many plastic containers I have in there.  I was wondering why laundry detergent makers stopped using cardboard containers and went to plastic.  At least the cardboard would eventually breakdown.  If I thru all the containers away today it would probably take up 3 trash bags.  I am stocked up until maybe Oct. or Nov. on laundry items.  If I have this much, it is overwhelming to think about the rest of the people in  just my area.  I am beginning to rethink some of my future purchases.