Low Waste & Natural Spring Cleaning Tips

These longer sunnier days feel more like springtime, and I've definitely gotten bit by the spring cleaning bug! I feel that a household refresh is an amazing way to usher in the start of new season, and it is one of my favorite seasonal living activities to do this time of year.

Since transitioning to a lower waste lifestyle, some of my most favorite (and easiest) swaps have been in my cleaning supplies kit. Before, I used loads of paper towels, clorox wipes, and had a whole cabinet full of cleaning products (filled with who-knows how many toxic chemicals!?). ⁠Now my cleaning routine is totally natural, minimal, low waste, and effective. I refill my glass bottles with vinegar and water plus a few drops of essential oil for scent. I use baking soda combined with vinegar to scrub those extra tough spots, and use old cut-up tee shirts as reusable cleaning wipes. These are just a few of the easy sustainable cleaning swaps ⁠I’ve made.

Before making these low waste and natural cleaning swaps, I did a lot of research because I wanted to do what was best for my health and home, as well as for the environment. And I learned that all these years I’ve been overcomplicating my cleaning as well as being needlessly wasteful and toxic. In an effort to help you reset and refresh your home this spring, I’m sharing my tips on how to make sustainable and natural cleaning swaps.

Low Waste & Natural Cleaning Agents

Below are my easy DIY cleaning agent recipes that you can use to replace the toxic and wasteful cleaners more commonly found at the market. I love my reusable glass cleaning bottles from Cleaning Essentials. They are so sturdy and provide easy measuring marks for different cleaning recipes on the side of the bottle. I like to add some drops of high quality essential oil to my cleaners for scent and added antibacterial properties. If you want to go the extra mile, you could reuse old citrus rinds for scent by infusing them into the vinegar for a few weeks before making these recipes. I also prefer to buy my vinegar, baking soda, and isopropyl alcohol in bulk so I’m using much less plastic. For the more grimy messes, I sprinkle baking soda on top, then spritz it with my natural all purpose cleaning solution. The vinegar and baking soda combination is an excellent cleaner and deodorizer.

For hand-washed dishes, I use bulk-refilled liquid biodegradable castile soap (diluted with water) which works incredibly well. For laundry detergent, I fill up an old glass beer growler with natural liquid detergent at my local low waste refillery. And for dishwashing detergent, I also stock-up on Dropps pods at the same shop. This is a convenient option that I’m so privileged to have in my city. If I didn’t have a local refillery, I’d probably make my own detergent recipes using my friend (and low waste/low-tox educator) Crystal’s recipes that she shares on her instagram account.

Natural All purpose Cleaning Recipe

50% Distilled White Vinegar

50% Water

20 Drops Essential Oil

Natural Glass Cleaner & General Disinfectant Recipe

50% Water

50% Isopropyl Alcohol

Natural Wood Polish Recipe

40% Distilled White Vinegar

40% Water

20 % Olive Oil

*the oil separates in the bottle overtime, but just give it a little shake before spraying.

Sustainable Cleaning Supplies

When it comes to cleaning supplies, I’m still using some plastic tools that I’ve had in my cleaning kit for many years. If they are functional then they should be used! It would be even more wasteful of me to toss out perfectly good reusables for a more naturally-made option. However, when my plastic cleaning supplies break down, I’ll replace them with wood, glass, or steel items instead. Wood and steel last longer and wood will decompose, whereas plastic will not. Furthermore, glass items, like my spray bottles can be endlessly recycled without diminishing the quality of the glass, whereas many of the plastic cleaner bottles cannot be recycled more than once. A few of my favorite stores to source sustainable homewares and cleaning supplies from include Practical Goods, Helen Milan Home and Cultiverre.

Here’s a list of my current sustainable cleaning supplies swaps. I’m still working on converting a few more things, like my toilet bowl scrubber and large scrub brush to more sustainable options, but while I use what I have, I’m happy with my progress.

Sustainable Cleaning Swaps

Wooden cuban mop used with a washable towel instead of a plastic swiffer mop with single use wet sheets.
Hand brush with horsehair bristles instead of a plastic hand broom.
Natural bristle broom instead of a plastic broom.
Wool dryer balls to replace single use dryer sheets.
Bamboo dish scrubbie with natural bristles or twine biodegradable sponge instead of a plastic sponge and dish brush.
Cut-up old t-shirts soaked in a jar of all purpose cleaning solution and used as reusable cleaning wipes instead of single-use clorox wipes.
An old pair of nylon gardening gloves to replace plastic cleaning gloves and disposable gloves.
An old pair of denim jeans cut into squares to dust with instead of using microfiber towels.
Steel and wooden lint roller to replace single use plastic lint roller sheets.
Clothing drying rack to air dry linens instead of using a dryer machine.

A note on sustainable decluttering…

When it comes to the decluttering portion of spring cleaning, it’s definitely easy to get carried away. As I’ve simplified my life I’ve definitely enjoyed making space in my home, and in order to do that I’ve had to part with items one way or another. While this is a good thing in many instances, it can also be wasteful in others. As you declutter, I recommend carefully considering why you are parting with each item, and how you might actually be able to repurpose it, mend it, refashion it, or pass it onto someone else that you know will utilize it.

A lot of times we send valuable items to the dump, to pile up forever in a landfill, when it could have had many more lives. More often though, we donate items to local charity stores thinking that surely our clothing or homewares will be purchased by someone in need. The unfortunate truth is that many of our donated items end up in the landfill before gracing the thrift store racks. Either because of damage or because the shelves are already full, sometimes our good intentions don’t end up helping the environment. So before decluttering too much, I encourage you to be intentional about what you part with, how you part with it, and most importantly why.

Instead of dumping or donating items, consider hosting a yard sale, or a clothing swap. Sell clothing directly to vintage shops, gift items to friends and family, mend and repair, refashion and repurpose items, and most importantly learn what you truly value so you don’t accumulate more items you don’t actually use or care about.