10 Things I Do Not regret buying
Since last year, my partner and I have been steadfast in reducing our purchases significantly to reduce our carbon footprint and live a more minimalistic lifestyle.
While we were never really massive shoppers, to begin with, this lifestyle has helped us be more grateful for the things we possess. There are few things that we purchased in the last few months that have certainly enhanced our lifestyle.
Disclaimer: This is neither a sponsored post nor a suggestion to purchase these items. It’s merely a viewpoint based on personal experience.
Here are ten things that we do not regret buying:
1)Reusable Vegetable Bags:
If you live in the U.S., you would recognize the rolls of plastic found in grocery stores to purchase vegetables.
You might even find a cucumber or a cauliflower wrapped in a plastic bag. My partner and I found this to be extremely annoying. We knew that using new plastic bags during our weekly visit to the grocery store created massive trash.
This was when we decided to purchase Reusable vegetable bags. We have been using these for more than a year now and cannot recommend them enough. I liked these bags so much that I gifted a set of them to each of my co-workers (team members).
These can be found on Amazon or any good grocery store that supports reducing trash. (Below photo is only a representation and not the actual product that we have in hand)
2)Silicone Baking Mat:
This is yet another product that has the potential to reduce trash dramatically.
We purchased this product only recently after our roll of Parchment paper was getting over. My partner and I love to cook and always felt terrible when we had to throw away parchment papers after a single-use.
We found the Silicone Baking Mat to be excellent since it was reusable and perfect for the purpose. You can use it in the oven for up to 480F (according to the product catalog).
We used it to bake cookies at 350F, and it worked perfectly. We haven’t taken it to the extreme of baking a dish at 480F, but at least for lower temperatures, it has been remarkable.
3)Cast Iron Utensils:
While reading up a few articles, I found out that using a non-stick pan could harm our health. Here’s a link to one such report:
While we aren’t sure of what might be unhealthy for the body, there was an online consensus that using certain utensils was much safer (non-toxic) than plastic or non-stick utensils.
These were Glass (for storage), Steel (plates, spoons, cookware), and Cast iron (for cookware).
We purchased a set of cast iron cookware almost a year back, and it has been fantastic. In addition to being non-toxic, the heat is uniformly spread across the pan (which enhances the cooking). It’s tough, and it can be used for years if maintained properly. A few articles also mentioned that trace amounts of Iron from the cookware could be absorbed into our body, enhancing our health.
This is yet another purchase that we do not regret.
P.S. These are also fantastic for making bread or skillet cookies and work perfectly in an oven.
4)Mason jars:
I love love love my mason jars. It’s one of the most convenient and non-toxic ways to store lentils, pulses, flour, freshly made plant-based milk, broth, or anything else for that matter.
Also, I use my mason jars to sprout moong beans, alfa-alfa sprouts, radish sprouts, etc.
To use the Mason jar as a sprouting container, all I needed was a sprouting lid that was readily available on Amazon (I wouldn’t say I like buying things from Amazon since it adds to the shipping trash, but unfortunately, the lids were not available in any of the nearby stores). Alternatively, you could also use cheesecloth to drain the water out, but I found it inconvenient and time-consuming.
I have also seen people use mason jars to pickle vegetables or make Sauerkraut/Kimchi.
If appropriately maintained, the mason jars can last for years, and there is no risk of plastics leaching into edible food.
5)Castile Soap:
I wanted to make my own All-purpose cleaner, soaps, and shampoos to reduce the plastic waste that came from buying these products.
Castile soap was the perfect ingredient to make all of these products.
Unfortunately, I haven’t found a place where I could buy the castile soap in bulk (although the castile soap I purchase is made of recycled plastic, it still doesn’t feel 100% right). But, only a small amount of castile soap goes into making these products. Therefore, if we buy a giant bottle of soap, it can last for months (maybe even a year).
I use castile soap to make homemade all-purpose cleaner, body-wash, hand-wash, and shampoo. There are a bunch of YouTube videos that show you the process of making homemade products. Again, a fantastic purchase.
6)Essential Oil:
Essential oils are amazing! Like the castile soap, I use essential oils to make many of my homemade products, such as underarm cream, soaps, all-purpose cleaner etc. (I also use some during PMS). I purchased my set of essential oils almost 1.5 years back, and I still have some left.
Essential oils should be used with extreme care (not everyone talks about this enough). Some oils are harmful to pets, young children, and even pregnant women. There are others that should be used only externally and never be ingested. As the trends about Essential oils have been increasing, the caution and warnings are unfortunately dying in the background.
While much research needs to be done on how to use these, I use minuscule amounts of oil to make my products. If used with proper care (and knowledge), these are excellent products.
7)Nut milk bag:
When I decided to follow a vegan diet, one of the things that I commonly purchased from the store was Almond and Oat milk.
We used it to make tea, coffee, and for our morning oats. While the store purchased milk tasted good, it produced a lot of plastic. Every week, we ended up with a plastic bottle. Although we recycled them (and reused them in some cases), we believe in reducing consumption than recycling or reusing.
I tried making my own nut milk and yogurt using cheesecloth, but it DID NOT work for me (to say the least). It was messy and time-consuming. After months of research and contemplation, I finally decided to buy a nut milk bag.
Nut milk bag made it super easy for me to prepare homemade nut milk and yogurt. Good quality nut milk bags seep out most of the (irritating) crumbs of oats or almonds and provide an exact, clean product.
P.S.: Always use the Nut milk bag inside out (the stitching part should be outside). It’s much easier to wash it that way.
8)Audible Subscription:
I have had my Audible subscription for over a year now. While I also read physical copies of books and Kindle, I am glad to have this additional audio resource that I could use while cooking or taking a walk.
Not everyone feels good about audiobooks. My partner would prefer reading a book through his Kindle than an audiobook, but it has been fantastic for me.
Last year, I read close to 14 audiobooks, and it has been worth the price. In addition to the usual books, Audible also has some excellent audible originals that are fun to listen to. A few of the originals that I liked were:
a. Call me Maybe by Cara Bastone (Fun RomCom)
b. The Mystwick school of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury
c. Rivals! Frenemies who changed the world by Scott McCormick (Comic and History)
d. Bedtime Stories for Cynics (Multiple speakers)
9)A Good blender:
We owned a $40 blender that we ended up using for almost 3.5 years. While it wasn’t the worst, we were very excited to purchase an advanced brand of blender.
We purchased it almost a year back and used it for various purposes (nearly every day).
We make delicious smoothies, cold coffee, homemade vegan ice creams, hummus, vegan milk, Indian chutneys (and masalas), and so much more. It has been one of our best purchases. Although it cost a little over $300, it was definitely worth the price.
10)Reusable Pads:
I was torn on what to include as my №10.
While this might be a taboo topic to talk about, I would definitely consider reusable pads as a great purchase. And before you say anything, Yes.. I have heard about menstrual cups. No.. I haven’t tried them. No particular reason for not trying them yet. I will definitely be looking into it in the future.
Reusable pads are something we can genuinely call innovation. While using cloth pads was common during old times, these modern cloth pads have unique designs that provide comfort and additional absorption than regular cloth pads. The ones I use are made of organic cotton but watch out for certain companies that were found to have significant levels of Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in them that could cause hormone suppression, infertility, etc.
Although on the pricey end, they are definitely worth the money since it helps reduce the massive waste caused due to single-use pads. Since they are reusable, you will reach the breakeven point reasonably soon!
While there are a bunch of everyday products that I love buying, such as organic vegetables, fruits, bulk spices, bulk vinegar bottles (for making homemade products), etc., the above list pretty much sums up some of the favorite items that I have enjoyed using and has enriched our lives and in many cases, reduced the trash we create every day.
Check out my YouTube channel for inspiring videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBfUxVSxC0koxGSkwzVRYzQ
