Ever since I adopted a new fascination with eliminating my former 'crutches', I have found many things I don't need to buy anymore. The first reason that kicked off my quest to eliminate unnecessary purchases was not from a minimalistic, nor a financial savings lens. It came from my mission to significantly reduce the amount of waste coming in to my home.

I started to realize by reducing the waste or excess in my home, I was also saving money. I was making things with my own two hands, which gave me a feeling of connectedness that I never fully understood before. It also broke my misconception that eliminating these things would be hard. For each item I eliminated, I mentally committed to try it out for a week, or a month and if it worked, it eventually became second nature.

1. Countertop Spray

Ok, this one was easy. I found multiple recipes to make my own countertop spray and I had all the ingredients at home. Why on earth was I creating waste by buying something that always came in a plastic bottle. And why was I paying $7 for a bottle for this stuff? Now I save a plastic bottle ending up somewhere and my money. In case you're wondering, YES, the counter cleaner (spray) that I use is antibacterial and disinfecting.

2. Books

Have you ever moved houses and had to figure out where your massive book collection would go in the new place? I think that was my awakening to the fact that we had SO MANY books that literally just sit there and stare at us, while taking up a mass amount of space. These books don't pay rent! No one is borrowing them from our library including us. I used an e-reader but I didn't really enjoy the fact I was using an electronic device.

It dawned on me....I have a library card!! I live in Vancouver, BC and our local library is very current with their online ability to check availability of books. I am also REALLY into audio books..they are perfect for commutes to work, long stroller walks now that I have a baby, cleaning the house, etc, etc. Let me introduce you to one of my favourite apps, Libby If you have a library card, you can register it with Libby (all very easy), and sign out of your local library either books you can read on your device OR audio books.

The caveat to this genius is if the book is popular you might have to wait. So if you're in a hurry to read the book you desire, you might need to find another option like purchasing the ebook. As soon as I hear of a book I want to read, I go check to see if there's a waitlist and put a 'hold' on it, and now I have a steady stream of reading material as books become available.

3. Body Cream

There was once a time I spent WAY too much money on body creams and moisturizers. If only I knew then that I would come to love my natural, homemade solution even more than any moisturizer I'd purchased. The reason I switched was because I wanted to know exactly what was in my moisturizer. I wanted to be confident that if my baby sucked on my arm after putting it on, he would be safe from chemicals. And I wanted to control the packaging and contain it in a glass jar.

Now, my go-to body moisturizer is a coconut oil base, whipped into a cream along with some honey and lavender essential oil. That's it! When I get out of the shower, I rub together in my hands so it melts and rub into my skin. It lasts all day and smells lovely, not too strong at all.

4. Paper Napkins + Paper Towel

This was a big change in my household, another one brought about by my desire to reduce our household waste. My husband loved to depend on paper towel so I knew there was a good chance that switching to cloth napkins and cleaning rags wouldn't stick. We agreed that if it didn't work for us, we would buy more conscious paper towel. However, we have been successful in our mission so far! We had a Costco pack of paper towel we had to get through, so I believe we are now on month 6 of no paper towels and we're totally managing fine.

After having zero paper towel in the house, the biggest challenge to date was definitely (sorry this is gross) when our dog had a really upset gut and messed all over the house at 12am, 3am and 5am for 3 nights in a row. For that, we managed with some toilet paper for the grossest part and then cleaning cloths for the rest. So if that's the worst of it, then I'm confident this change can last for life.

5. Candles

Don't get me wrong, I love candles! Buuuuut some of them, even the good ones, can produce a really dark smoke and that got me questioning what's in them. Further, with a new baby in the house, I thought we should start the process of moving away from candles before he starts walking. Enter the essential oil diffuser....this has been a game changer for me.

My personal favourites are the Vitruvi diffusers and oils. I love their minimal aesthetic of their collection and that they maintain its simplicity. They also do a really good job of educating and engaging their customers with diffuser "cocktail" recipes and other DIY products you can make using their oils.

6. Reusable Bags

If you're like me you have become a reusable bag lady! I don't know why I felt the need to hang on to every single one I acquired. Reusable bags just seemed to come my way, either at tradeshows, from retailers when I would make a purchase, as gifts....they just kept multiplying! I seriously had more reusable bags than I could EVER need. So finally, on advice of my husband, I parted with some (most). Phew - I don't know why that was so hard for me but the closet is thanking us now.

7. Nail Polish

I used to have a massive collection of nail polish, in every colour you could imagine. Eventually, I started going to the salon only to get my nails done and realized these nail polish bottles were no longer serving purpose. I gave a lot away but still kept a few "just in case". I realize now, I prefer the lower maintenance option of having bare nails but I still LOVE the experience of going to the salon. To get the best of both worlds, I reserve trips to the salon for special occasions vs. part of my regular regime and monthly expense budget. Another time you will catch me getting my nails done is before a vacation trip - ahhhhhhh.

8. Gift Wrap

After months and months of studying how to be a better ZeroWaste-r, it started to pain me watching people open gifts only to throw out the wrapping, bows, and whatever accoutrements were attached to the gift. So I started to get creative and would look around the house for interesting ways to wrap gifts. I would reuse bags I had been given with gifts, or would use scrap fabrics, or my favourite is wrapping gifts in the pages of my Stendig calendar and using bakers twine to tie in a bow.

I encourage you to try reusing things in your home to wrap your next gift - post a pic on Instagram and tag @fancyfreeyourself -- I would love to see! Would also love to hear what you have stopped buying and why. Leave a comment below or email me direct!