#Reusable

[reasonsforhope]

"Kristina Smithe was running the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing cups of water to stay hydrated, when she started to think about how much waste such events produce. On the flight home, she did the math: 9,000 runners, 17 aid stations and something like 150,000 cups used once and thrown away.

“I was just shocked that, even in California, it’s not sustainable,” Smithe said.

That sparked her idea for something more durable — a lightweight, pliable silicone cup that could be used again and again. After working out a design, Smithe ordered her first shipment and tested them at a race in 2021.

Now her business, Hiccup Earth, has 70,000 cups that Smithe rents out to interested races to replace the typical white paper cups that can pile up like snowdrifts at busy water stops.

Billions of disposable cups are used around the world each year. These cups are often made of plastic, but even if they are made of paper, they typically have a plastic lining that makes it difficult for them to biodegrade. And making these cups, and disposing or burning them, generates planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

“That’s just a small subset of the amount of plastic waste that we produce, but it’s a pretty visible one,” said Sarah Gleeson, solutions research manager and plastics waste expert at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown. “It’s something that generates a lot of waste, and waste — depending on what exactly it’s made of — can really last in landfills for hundreds of years.”

As she was getting her business off the ground, Smithe emailed race directors to ask if their event used disposable cups.

“The answer was always yes,” she said. Her response: “If you’re looking for a sustainable solution, I have one.”

Now, she rents out the cups by the thousand, driving them to events in massive totes and leaving bins with the company logo for collection after use. Smithe picks up the used cups and washes them in a proprietary dishwasher.

At the PNC Women Run the Cities race in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early May, Smithe helped quench the thirst of thousands of runners, dropping off 17-gallon tote bags full of her flexible blue cups.

After that race, Smithe, 35, estimated she’s taken her cups to 137 races and spared 902,000 disposable ones from the landfill. She also says her washing process needs only 30 gallons (114 liters) of water per 1,500 cups. An average efficient household dishwasher uses 3 to 5 gallons (11 to 19 liters) for far fewer dishes.

“It’s just a solution to a problem that’s long overdue,” Smithe said.

One trade-off is that the cup rentals cost race directors more than other options. Disposable cups might run just a few cents each, while 10,000 Hiccup cups would rent for about 15 cents each. That price drops if more cups are needed.

Gleeson, of Project Drawdown, sees the reusable cups as just one of many ways that innovators are looking to cut down on waste. Such solutions often have to be rooted in convenience and grounded in local or small applications to get more people to adopt them. Some cities, for instance, are experimenting with reusable food takeout containers that customers return to nearby drop-off spots later on.

While no one solution can fully tackle the problem, “The scalability is there,” Gleeson said. “I think in general, high adoption of these kinds of solutions is what is able to bring costs down and really maximize environmental benefits that you could get.”"

-via AP News, May 27, 2025

[cerenae]

did you know that ONE disposable pad takes at least 500 years to decompose? (source: national geographic)

say goodbye to endless purchases with reusable pads.

it only takes starting with one pad to see the difference. choose sustainability, choose the future.

[healthilyathome]

From Insta

[a-strawberry-mouse]

Bag pocket one complete!

Total colors visible:

Red

Orange(two)

Yellow(four)

Purple(two)

Later I will do the lower right corner. It's currently in good shape though worn a bit. It'll be one of the second phase repairs.

[sarahvansloten]

Fortified to-go bag #1 (2025), “reusable” takeout bag with added fabric and stitching in yarn

[thepastisalreadywritten]

•

[lookwhatijustfound-blog]

Reusable shopping list from 1920s

[lalitabou]

A Hommage to cats. Link: https://lalitabou.etsy.com/de/listing/1769759669/weisse-katze-tragetasche-realistische

Etsy Shop: https://lalitabou.etsy.com

#totebag #tote #bag #shopping #reusable #cat #illustration #cartoon #drawing #white #cute #kawaii #fluffy #red #rose #flower #graphic #etsy #funny #fun #quote #gift #unique #forher #catlady #catlover #owner #pet #fashion #birthday

[sew-much-to-do]

DIY Reusable Food Wrap (How To Make Beeswax Wraps)

Here's how to make reusable beeswax wraps that are an eco-friendly alternative to cling wrap. Using the warmth of your hands to make them pliable, you can wrap them around fruits, veggies, bread, and containers like bowls and casserole dishes. They can also be made into reusable sandwich bags.

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖

sew-much-to-do: a visual collection of sewing tutorials/patterns, knitting, diy, crafts, recipes, etc.

[ssaa08]

How to start a zero-waste lifestyle

How to Get Started If you’re thinking about adopting a zero-waste lifestyle, I completely understand that it can feel overwhelming at first. The good news is that there are some simple and manageable steps you can take to get started. One helpful approach is to take a moment to look at the single-use items you rely on daily. By identifying these items, you may find alternatives that work just as…

[everydaydeeds]

Day 4040 - We've been experimenting with using cloth diapers overnight in addition to during the day. Promising start, need to work out some kinks.

[reasonsforhope]

"Spain’s Catalonia region rolled out a pioneering women’s health initiative [at the beginning of March, 2024] that offers reusable menstruation products for free.

About 2.5 million women, girls, transgender and nonbinary people who menstruate can receive one menstrual cup, one pair of underwear for periods and two packages of cloth pads at local pharmacies in northeast Spain free of charge.

The Catalan government said that the initiative, which is called “My period, my rules,” was meant to “guarantee the right to menstrual equity.” The regional government cited statistics that said 23% of women polled by Catalonia’s public opinion office said they had reused hygiene products designed for a single use for economic reasons.

Tània Verge, Catalonia’s regional minister for equality and feminism, called the program a “global first.”

Scotland’s government passed a law in 2020 to ensure period products are available for free to anyone who needs them. But in comparison with the Catalan program, in Scotland the products are for single use and are distributed through schools, colleges and universities, not pharmacies.

“We are fighting menstrual poverty, which affects one in four women in Catalonia, but is also about gender justice. We are fighting the stereotypes and taboos about menstruation,” Verge told The Associated Press. “And (...) it is about climate justice. We need to reduce the tons of waste generated by single-use menstrual products.”

The distribution of reusable products is also aimed at reducing waste. The regional government said that Catalonia produces about 9,000 tons of waste from single-use menstrual hygiene products.

The reusable products are acquired by the public health care system, which covers the entire population, and distributed by Catalonia’s 3,000-plus private pharmacies. The program cost the regional government 8.5 million euros ($9.2 million).

“I am completely in favor of this initiative,” 29-year-old graphic designer Laura Vilarasa said. “It will give women a product that is absolutely necessary to have for zero cost.”

Spain’s national government passed a law last year granting women with debilitating menstrual pain the right to paid medical leave."

-via AP News, March 5, 2024

[latteontheroad]

Flat white. Nimia, Eton, England. February 2024.

[a-strawberry-mouse]

Is it not beautiful?

Does it not look like a party?

I did this yesterday and hopefully I can get a bit more done today.

I'm working on my Halloween costume which, motivation and time permitting, I should finish in time. I may post it, I may not. Heavily depends on how well working on it goes.

[nawtacop]

Megapost I've been working on for a while 'cuz I thought it'd be fun to upload the max # of files tumblr will let me

-feel free to redistribute these!

if you like my art I could really use help affording HRT rn, I'm about to start a new job that's paying me $5 a hour less than the position I applied for...

-I'm kinda struggling atm honestly so if you can please tip, share or stream my music thanks <3

new website is slowly coming together as well! I'm trying to host some of my best work there and provide download links eventually.

[jabroni-spumoni]

Yeah good luck riding that home, buddy.