Ideas for Action

• Carry cloth shopping bags, buy products with little or no plastic packaging.

• Reuse or repurpose leftover plastic containers and other household items.

• Choose stainless steel and glass containers for food and drink. 

• Instead of plastic wrap, use foil, parchment or wax paper.

• Buy bamboo toothbrushes. 

• Buy shampoo bars instead of bottled shampoo and unwrapped bars of soap. 

• Put laundry sheets in the washer and wool balls in the dryer. 

• Baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, salt make harmless household cleaners. 

• Make pesticides and herbicides from garlic, hot peppers, salt and vinegar.

• Do errands in one car trip, planning the route with care. Could you walk or cycle instead? Is public transit an option? 

• Repair or re-purpose redundant household items. Could they be donated?

• Buy organic, natural fabrics. Donate or replace old but wearable clothes at vintage and secondhand shops.  

• Buy  local, organically grown foods. Frequent farmers’ markets. 

• Replace meat and fish dishes with vegetarian or vegan meals, looking for products with minimal packaging.

• Research the best ways of keeping food fresh.  Make stock from vegetable peelings, salt, pepper and herb trimmings as a base for soup.

• Cook the family’s favourite dishes in bulk, freezing extra portions.

• Buy fresh produce in bulk and freeze some. Make your own preserves, pickles, sauces, spice mixes, granola, yoghurt, iced teas, cordials ...

• Sow seeds in windowsill containers and grow potted herbs, green onions, etc., on your balcony or porch.

• Hang laundry out of doors to dry in the sun and wind. 

• Switch off the lights at night; host a dark-sky party and see the fireflies!

• Let fallen leaves lie on flower beds until May, leave lawns uncut till June.

• Plant native species, give priority to pollinator-friendly plants, avoid pesticides.

• Install bird-collision deterrents on the outside of windows.

• Talk to family, friends, grandchildren and show them what you are doing.

CFUW-Ottawa members clearing litter from a park