Frugal Eco-Friendly Alternative Products

Switch to these items easily to instantly be more frugal and environmentally conscious in your everyday life

So I am ALWAYS on the search for things that work better, cost less, and help save the planet. And now you can use this convenient list to find frugal eco-friendly alternatives to help you achieve all of these things too, and in more areas of your life!

There are so many ways to spend your money. Sometimes it can be difficult to cut through all the noise and determine where it is best spent. Ideally you’d want it to be in a more frugal and eco-friendly way. Also, if it works even BETTER than what you were using, well that my friend is what I like to call the Ultimate Tri-Fecta. Okay really I just made that up but the part about checking all three of those boxes is still true!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission at no cost to you if you click on them.*

Frugal Eco-Friendly Product Swaps for Plastic Anything

I’m on a mission to minimize my plastic usage as much as possible. That included a surprising amount of things. Like:

Tupperware

So instead of those dreaded plastic food storage containers that turn orange after one lasagna dinner I’m using these amazing Pyrex storage containers:

Now, if you’ve seen my post about the kitchen essentials that every beginner needs, you’ll know that I just LOVE everything about Pyrex. I’d pretty much use them for anything if I could because they are just so versatile.

These are large enough that I don’t feel like I’m cramming the lid closed when filling them with just a normal sized meal. True, the lids are plastic, but it’s less than the completely plastic containers and these will last much longer as well saving you that $$$ over time.

Sandwich Bags

Also, I’ve taken a daring leap and stopped buying plastic sandwich bags! I know, it scares me too sometimes. But, I’ve replaced them with the two products listed below. They both are an excellent substitute because they are washable, reusable, and work just as well as their Ziploc counterparts.

Plastic Wrap

Included in this new Buy Ban I’ve imposed upon myself and my unsuspecting husband is the ever common plastic wrap. No more of that in our house! Instead we’re using something very similar to the product above.

They work very well for covering bowls, other containers that I don’t have lids for, and even half cut produce to help keep it fresh. The fabric is a non-toxic food safe fabric that you can wash and reuse.

Grocery Bags

I thought that everyone had scrapped their use of plastic grocery bags by now. However, when I started paying attention at the grocery store I was surprised to find out that this is not the case. So many folks are still using a lot of them.

I know they are useful for things like cat litter removal (which I’ll get to in a minute!). But we definitely don’t need to walk out with 20 of them every time we leave the grocery store! Surely there’s a more frugal eco-friendly alternative out there?

You’re in luck because using a product like the one below instead is super convenient. They even have ones that keep food cold, it doesn’t get better than that!

Frugal Environmentally Conscious Alternatives for Cat Litter Bags

Alright, I’ve searched far and wide for a frugal eco-friendly alternative to using plastic grocery bags and clay cat litter. This has literally been a decades long search. And I’m here to tell you that while some products come close, one that meets all of my criteria (works better, costs less, and is eco-friendly) nothing is perfect.

So before I tell you the best products I’ve found so far, let’s take a quick side note to explain why this is such a challenge and why it’s so important to think about alternatives.

Why Cat Litter is Bad for the Environment

The first problem is that cats’ waste can be extremely toxic. You shouldn’t compost it or bury it in your backyard, because it can carry the parasite toxoplasma gondii which can be harmful if washed away into the sewer systems. Mostly humans are okay on a day-to-day basis, unless their immune system is compromised which is why they tell pregnant women not to even scoop cat litter boxes.

It also can harm sealife, which is another reason you don’t want to bury it or even flush it. Now, indoor cats stand a much lower chance of contracting the parasite, but it’s still best practice to avoid these methods of waste removal.

The second problem is the cat litter itself. It’s often made from rock materials that have to be mined, which is pretty bad for the ecosystem. And, these materials are not biodegradable so they have nowhere else to go but the dump.

Products for a More Frugal and/or Eco-Conscious Cat Waste Disposal

So allow me to suggest more eco-friendly things, like newspaper or wood pellets and a sifting box like with the system below (which is what I’m currently using).

You can also switch to paper bags. They are about as cheap as the plastic ones, and also better for the environment. The trade off in this case is if you have a long way to go to the dumpster and/or if your clumping cat litter isn’t working so well you could easily end up with a nasty mess on your hands.

Thus this method doesn’t meet the “works better” criteria. Alternatively, if you have a little room in your budget (so not hitting the “costs less” here) and want to prioritize earth-friendliness, go with something like the bags below. They say they are for dogs, but in this situation I think we can all agree waste is waste, am I right?

Green, Frugal Products for Services

Shifting over into a different area of life, you are probably paying WAY too much on services. A general rule for stuff like this, as pointed out by Lifehacker, you can often save more money by paying upfront instead of over time. So, if you can’t outright quit these services altogether, at least always look into the possibility of doing that for things like:

Cable

Join the millions of Americans that have cut the cord and canceled their cable TV subscriptions. With so many cheaper on demand streaming services available, why continue to pay a huge bill for TV channels that you mostly don’t watch with shows that come on at times when you don’t watch them?

Having to remember to set the DVR also adds an extra little thing to your life that doesn’t make it easier. Decide which platforms have the most content you care about and make the switch. Even paying for 3 or 4 different streaming services is probably still less expensive than what the big cable companies are charging you.

Memberships

These can be the ever common gym memberships that so many have but so rarely use. Or they could be something less prevalent but probably just as under-utilized: spa memberships.

A friend of mine recently confided that he and his wife are members of a popular massage business chain and had been for YEARS. Yet, they hadn’t had time to go even once in the last year.

The business gives monthly credits, which luckily don’t expire, but in their case these were just piling up! And the subscriptions for him and his wife were at least $100 per month, meaning they had spent over $1,200 in just the last year alone on unused spa visits!!! I almost fell out of my chair when he told me that.

More Articles about Saving Money for You:

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Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes have become super popular lately. Which is a cool thing, globalization delivered right to your door and all that. But if you aren’t careful, these can lead to giving you more stuff than you actually need or want while also eating away at your bank account on a regular monthly schedule. It seems like a little – $20 here, $50 there. But that is how they get you! Before you know it you have all of this junk and no money.

Cell Phone Plan

I love my cell phone with data service. But, do I have the fastest carrier? No! Do I have the latest smartphone with all the bells and whistles? Also no! When I was out of contract I found an incredible deal plan that Sprint was offering, unlimited data for 12 months for $3 a month!

It sounded too good to be true. As it turned out though, it was worth the jump after I did some investigating. I bought a Moto G6 for $250. While not the cheapest, still rated as an excellent smartphone at the time, able to do everything I want, and nowhere near the $700+ pricetag of the top phones.

UPDATE: Well my free year of Sprint finally ran out, and they did indeed raise my monthly unlimited data plan price to a whopping $65/mo! It was great while it lasted. But like all good things, it appears this too must come to an end.

So Cricket Wireless is offering a $40/month unlimited data bring your own device deal. That’s about the cheapest unlimited data plan out there right now. You better believe I dropped Sprint like it was hot in order to make the switch.

My Moto G6 is still kicking, though I’ll admit with even less battery life (about 8 hours with heavy usage) and occasional sub-par processing speeds. But for over 2 years old, I’ll take it!

The network service so far has been exactly the same. I live in a major city however so take that for what you will. If you’d like to check out what Cricket has to offer in your area you can find that HERE.

Bottom line here, don’t overpay in this area. If you can compromise on quality of service for a cheaper carrier, or find that you aren’t using as much as you’re paying for, switch it out!

A Last Note About Memberships

If you find that you are the victim of these “I’ll get around to using it” memberships, YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW! Try to switch to a pay-as-you-go mindset for most things in general. Your goal should always be to hold onto your money for as long as possible, within reason, before you let it go.

This goes for taxes, bill payments, money you have to spend on essentials, etc. And in staying with you, the idea is that the money should be able to work for you while you have it, such as in investments. Foregoing the memberships you don’t use is not only frugal and eco-friendly, but you also won’t need any alternatives to something you wouldn’t miss anyway.

Curious about getting started with investing? Check out this post on Micro-Investing for Beginners.

Frugal Eco-Friendly Personal Hygiene Product Alternatives

These are the things we all use (or should use) pretty much every day. And like everything else discussed in this post, you’ll have to decide what’s right for you. It’s not a zero-sum game, you can change out some things, or parts of some things in heading towards that “overall better” status we’re all trying to reach everyday. Here are some frugal eco-friendly alternatives:

Shaving Products

I haven’t purchased shaving cream in at least a decade. Not because I don’t enjoy silky smooth legs as much as the next person. But because you can re-purpose your hair conditioner to accomplish this function!

I realized I was always going through way more shampoo than conditioner, so when I discovered it could double as a shaving cream substitute I was sold. Obviously, I’m not a beauty blogger, but I like using Herbal Essences’ line of shampoos and conditioners as pictured above.

I’ve tried others but I always keep coming back to these. The products aren’t overly expensive, they smell wonderful, and work with my hair to leave it less oily than the many others I’ve tried over the years. I have fine, straight hair that always seems to get oily quickly , so this is what works for me.

Frugal Eco-Friendly Alternative: Makeup

If you haven’t already guessed, I’m a low maintenance kind of person. While I love getting dressed up and doing all the things, I’ve come to accept that I’ll never be someone who spends hours on their morning (or evening) routine. So easy-to-use, inexpensive products that I can apply quickly are my priority.

Items that serve more than one function are ideal, such as this BB cream from PuroBIO:

Certified organic and cruelty free, it moisturizes, protects with SPF, serves as a foundation to even out skin tone and somehow still feels light to wear while being simple to apply. Also, at around $20 I feel I can justify it because it replaces most all of my other skincare/makeup products. And since I don’t wear it everyday or use much at a time, it lasts quite a while.

Updated to Add: Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes

These are amazing! Not only do you get a bunch of wipes, which is more than you would ever need at one time, but they come in their own laundry bag! That in and of itself is a steal, because you can repurpose the bag to also wash things like your delicates.

Another impressive thing about these is that they are about three times larger than a standard cotton makeup remover pad – larger than the palm of my hand. Lastly, coming in at less than $15 for the whole set, these certainly check all my boxes of frugal, eco-friendly, and better than the original. You can find this perfect replacement by clicking the link above.

Loofas/Other Scrubbing Items

So growing up we used to have so many varieties of scrubbing tools in the shower. I know I wasn’t alone because they were also at my best friend’s house, my cousin’s house, etc. But now I’m an “adult” (term used loosely), and I don’t see the need for these things anymore. Because they:

• 1) Get gross and make the shower harder to clean
• 2) Take up room in the shower which bothers me because I like to do a lot of creative thinking in the shower and a cluttered space is a cluttered mind
• 3) Are often ridiculously overpriced
• 4) Are often made of plastic/other non-biodegradable stuff which will sit in the landfill long long after we’re done with them.

I find that 99% of my needs are met with the humble washcloth. It goes with me into the shower and comes out with me when I’m done to go right into the laundry. This way it stays cleaner, takes up no space in the shower, covers a variety of uses, and lasts much longer.

I even use a gentle rub with a washcloth to remove makeup, effectively replacing the cotton swabs. If you are in the market for washcloths, I’d suggest the ones below. They are bamboo cotton and though it says for babies, why should they be the only ones who get to use ultra soft cloths? My skin needs love too. But, if you already have washcloths, definitely just start using those and enjoy the savings!

The Best Frugal Eco-Friendly Alternative Products

If you want to practice more frugal living, start here by trying to cut down your spending on the things listed above. You may find that you can use some of the alternative suggestions instead in order to save money while being a little more Earth conscious as well. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

For even MORE ideas/ways you can save some cash while saving the planet, check out this post as well!

More Articles about Frugal Living

• How to Reduce Your Monthly Food Bill
• Start Building A Budget the Simple Way
• Negotiate a Lower Cell Phone Bill

Frugal Eco-Friendly Alternative Products