This has easily become my new favorite series! Not only to prove to everyone that zero waste living doesn’t have to be expensive but it can also save you money. And, I love this series for myself to help better calculate my savings from my zero waste life.

So, let’s jump right into part FOUR of zero waste swaps that can save you money year after year. Here are the previous iterations:

This is how much money a zero waste life can save you part 1

Zero waste isn’t expensive! Here’s how much it can save you part 2

How much money using reusables can save you every year part 3

Loose-leaf tea

Plenty of people associate bulk shopping with a large price tag. While it may be the case for some items, other items are the same price and some others are much cheaper. The best example is tea. my friend Tiny Waste on TikTok showed us side by side how much money her boxed tea cost per volume vs how much loose-leaf tea from the bulk store cost per volume and the results are astounding!

According to her findings, the tea bags (which also produced several handfuls of waste) cost around $2.09 per ounce while the loose-leaf tea cost $1.50 per ounce. The tea bags were 1.73 ounces which gets you 20 servings. That’s approximately 0.08 ounces per serving or 12.5 servings per ounce of tea leaves. So, if you just buy 2 ounces of bulk tea, you’d get 25 servings of tea for just $3.00. Let’s say you drink tea once per day for a whole year. You would need 29.2 ounces for the year. So…

Bigelow tea bags would cost you $61.03

Loose-leaf tea at the price Tiny Waste paid would cost you $43.8

Of course, some tea bags will be cheaper than Bigelow. But some loose-leaf tea may also be cheaper but it may also be more expensive. But, I think these are both good estimates for middle of the road brands and prices. This also does not account for the fact that loose-leaf tea is usually a higher quality and you can brew it 2-3 times if you wish to save more money and waste.

But, running these numbers, loose-leaf tea will save you about $17.23 per year.

Reuse jars vs buying new

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is almost never a need to buy new jars unless you’re canning food to preserve it. But, if you just need jars for a bulk store run, to store leftovers in, or to organize your pantry, use what you have. I get jars all the time from pasta sauce, peanut butter, pickles, bouillon, and so much more. While some of the cost is technically factored into the price of the goods you’re purchasing, we can’t give an exact dollar amount to these jars. So, let’s just call them essentially free. I mean, your other options are to donate them, recycle them, or throw them away so you might as well use it, you bought it!

A 12-pack of 8-ounce Mason jars from Target runs around $13. A 12-pack of 32-ounce Mason jars from Ace Hardware will cost around $14. Let’s say you do a mix of both. Maybe you want 24 jars per year (one pack of each), that would cost $27. Not bad, honestly. But, that’s still $27 you can save per year by using free, upcycled jars. Of course, the savings are higher if you reuse more and more jars and prevent yourself from buying more new ones!

Reuse scrap paper vs buying new

I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought new paper. Grocery lists, to-do lists, notes, and more are all written on scrap paper that I get for free in the mail. I get a lot of mail from the VA for my healthcare as well as a lot of scrap paper when my ballots arrive in the mail annually.

This small paper pad from Target costs $6 and should last you about a year for your groceries. But, let’s say you also need one for a to-do list and other notes. That’s $12 per year on the low end of this basic list. But maybe you usually buy something a little more in-depth and aesthetic like this one from Etsy. It’s $14 for 55 pages which should last you a year if you take one trip per week. But you may also need another notepad for notes and a to-do list which may cost you $6-14 per notepad depending on the brand.

On the low end, you’d spend $12 per year and on the high end, $28 per year. Again, not the largest savings in the world, but savings are savings! Especially when scrap paper is FREE.

Reusable pads

In previous iterations of this series, we’ve covered period underwear and menstrual cups/discs, but we haven’t touched on a third option: reusable pads. But how many do you need? It depends on your flow and how often you want to wash them.

If you’re trying to stay as cheap as possible, this set of 5 reusable pads from Period Co. costs only $20. You would have to wash them daily and reuse them immediately. But, if you want enough to last you your whole period, you’d need 3-6 pads per day for 5 days on average. That’s 15-30 pads which would run you about $60-120 up front for Period Co. brand reusable pads. So, it would cost you $20-120 for reusables and they should last several years, if not a lifetime.

Meanwhile, disposables cost around $8 for 42 pads from popular brand, Always, or $7.83 for 12 pads from an organic brand such as Natracare. That’s 20 cents per pad from Always or 64 cents per organic pad from Natracare (learn more about why organic menstrual care matters here). The average person needs 3-6 pads per day for 5 days on average for a total of 15-30 pads per cycle. The pack from Always will get you through your cycle for just $7.83 per month and Natracare would run about $19 per month. Annually, that would cost you between $93.96-$230. Of course, this costs more if your period is heavier and/or longer.

So, reusable pads may cost a bit up-front, but they still have the potential to save you $73.96-$210 per year in the first year, and every year after that you’d save the full $93.96-$230!

DIY cleaners

Did you know you could make your own cleaners? It’s really easy! You could simply use white vinegar on it’s own and dilute it with a bit of water. But, if you don’t like the smell, I encourage you to infuse it with citrus peels or evergreen trees like pine or spruce. These also have other antimicrobial and cleaning properties as a bonus! I use this cleaner all over my house and it’s just so cheap. Other cheap methods of cleaning are using water, baking soda, salt, and lemon.

For easy math, let’s say you make your own homemade citrus-vinegar cleaner. You will need about 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of water, and a few citrus peels. Half of a gallon of vinegar costs about $3 from several different brands and stores. Therefore, a cup would only cost about 38 cents. A cup of water from your tap is just a few cents, let’s just say 5 cents. And the citrus peels are essentially free since you were just going to throw them away anyway. That’s a total of 43 cents for 16 ounces of cleaner.

Meanwhile, this 32 ounce cleaner from Lysol is $4 or if you’re looking for a more eco brand, Mrs. Meyers costs $5 for 16 ounces.

Per ounce, homemade costs less than 3 cents, Lysol costs 13 cents, and Mrs. Meyers costs 31 cents. That makes it about 4 times cheaper than mainstream cleaners and 10 times cheaper than other natural cleaners!

Now how long they last depends on how often you’re using them. If you clean every room once a week, it may go very quickly. If you (or your kids or your pets) make frequent messes, it will go even quicker than that. For easy math, let’s say you use 16 ounces per month. That would make the grand total per year…

$5.76 for the homemade version, $25 for Lysol, and $59.50 for Mrs. Meyers.

So, homemade would save you around $20-54 per year. Keep in mind, this is just an all-purpose cleaner. This also means you no longer have to buy toilet cleaner, tile cleaner, and all the other specialty cleaners. This homemade one will suffice!

Reusable Swiffer Pads

Swiffer’s are great for cleaning but they’re also great at wracking up the waste. If you use a Swiffer, good news, there are plenty of options for reusable pads! This will, of course, greatly reduce your waste, but also save you some money year after year.

This is likely also the cheapest option up front, too. Other ways to reduce waste include a steam mop with reusable pads but that can get pricey. If you’re in the market for any of these items, shop secondhand to save the most money!

But, let’s focus on the Swiffer.

A pack of Swiffer pads costs $10 for 24 pads that are single-use. Depending on the size of the floor you’re sweeping, you may even need more than one per use! But, let’s say you mop once per week and only use one pad per mop for easy math and to be generous (of course, you may even mop more than this). At this price, it costs 42 cents per pad. Using one per week would cost you $21.67 per year.

Now, you have lots of options for a reusable option. For free, you could simply slide an old sock over top or cut up some old clothing into rectangles for free, upcycled reusable mop pads. Or, if you’d rather buy something, I suggest this small business on Etsy that gets you a set of 6 reusable pads for $15. You can easily use 6 of these per day, wash, and reuse them again the next day for the same cost! Meanwhile, using 6 disposable ones per day would cost you $2.50 per day.

So, in the first year, this swap would save you $16 but every year after that you’d save the full $21.67.

Join a Buy Nothing Group

One of the hidden gems of eco-living is Buy Nothing Groups or No Buy Groups. You can get the full explainer of these groups, including how to join, in this video. But, in short, these groups are designed for you to give stuff away for free and to receive stuff for free. No catch! You simply trade or just give stuff to your neighbors versus the landfill. I have even gotten rid of stuff that I deemed borderline trash such as old jars, a wobbly shelf, and a half-dead plant.

This one is hard to find an exact dollar amount for how much it could save you per year, it really depends on how much you use it. But, I’m willing to bet it’s at least $100 per year saved by finding free items in your group. In theory, though, it could be several $1000. So, let’s go somewhere in the middle and say it can save you around $100-500 per year to be conservative.

Free Little Library

Another free hidden gem of the eco world are Little Free Libraries. Maybe you’ve seen one and just didn’t know what it was. These little boxes are set up by residents or businesses and they’re totally free to use. You drop off books you’ve decluttered and you take books to read for free. You’re allowed to keep them or return them. What a read way to read for free! Of course, you can use mainstream libraries, too.

I don’t get all of my books per year, but in 2024 I did snag 7 books from Free Little Libraries and I estimate Dan got about the same number. So, just in our household, we got 14 books for free that otherwise would have cost around $20 a piece or $280 saved this year. Of course, if you get more, that’s even more savings!

Don’t forget to return the favor to your neighbors and donate your old books. Some also have children’s books, puzzles, artwork, and more!

Beeswax wraps

While not my favorite swap to use in the world personally, it’s gotta save some money, right? Well, a pack of 3 assorted sizes costs $20 from the big brand, Bee’s Wrap. But these can be easy and low cost to make yourself or buy locally. For easy math, let’s stick with this $20 set. They claim they last a year, but this also depends on how often you use them and how you take care of them.

While they do reduce the need for saran wrap, they may also help you cut down on disposable aluminum foil and plastic bags as well. According to Statista, the most common number of rolls of Saran Wrap used per year is 2-6. It’s $5-10 per roll of plastic wrap depending on the brand which would cost you $10-60 per year.

So, if your plastic usage is already low, it will cost more to use beeswax wraps. Again, I still encourage you do it to lessen the environmental impact and make your beeswax wraps last as long as possible. I really don’t think you need to replace them every single year. But, even if you do replace them every year, on the high end you still save $40 per year.

Fewer Trash Pick-Ups = Reduced Trash Bill

I’m not sure how common it is in other countries, but in most parts of the US, we have to pay for our trash services. The cost depends on a few things:

The size of your bin (smaller = cheaper)
The frequency of pick-ups (fewer pick-ups = cheaper)
If you need to schedule a bulk pick-up

According to Home Guide, in the US, trash on average costs $25-100 per month or $300-1200 per year! If you want to lower your bill, inquire about getting a smaller bin and/or scheduling fewer pick-ups. Perhaps once or twice a month instead of every week.

Of course, I cannot give you an exact dollar amount since this depends on your region and the availability of these services. But in theory, you should be able to get from that high end to that low end simply by reducing how much you throw away every week, month, and year. Reducing waste can theoretically reduce your trash bill by $700 per year!

Now for the grand totals…

Loose-leaf tea: $17.23

Reusing jars: $27

Scrap paper: $12-28

Reusable pads: $93.96-$230

DIY Cleaners: $20-54

Reusable Swiffer Pads: $21.67

Buy Nothing Group: $100-500

Free Little Library: $280

Beeswax Wraps: $0-40

Fewer Trash Pick-Ups: $700

Total: $1271.86 - $1897.90

Not gunna lie, I did not expect the savings to be this high! This is still the lowest we’ve seen in this series, but it just goes to show that little savings of $20 here and there sure do add up!

Again, that is just THESE ten swaps! Our first ten swaps saved $1415-2359, our second ten swaps saved $951-2995, and our third set of 10 swaps saved $731.60 - $2942. That means with these 40 swaps, you can potentially save a total of…

$4369.46 - $10,193.90 !!

You could literally save over $10,000 with just 40 simple reusable swaps. That is wild! This truly goes to show you that while zero waste may feel expensive up front, look at how the savings add up when you use multiple swaps and use them for years and years and take care of them. Wow!

Send this to someone who says zero waste is expensive!

Unfortunately, this series is getting harder and harder as the swaps become a little more abstract. It’s easier to calculate physical swaps than it is habits. So, if you have more zero waste swaps that save you money, leave them below so that I can continue this series!

How do you live low waste on a budget?

As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)

Emma

Zero Waste Living Can Save You Over $10k Per Year, Here’s How