Sustainability on a Budget: How to Cut Costs While Cutting Out Waste

Eat mostly vegetarian

Meat, fish, dairy, and eggs all tend to be more high-ticket items that can run up your grocery bill at the store. Animal agriculture is also a top offender when it comes to climate change, deforestation, and use of resources. By switching to a more plant-based diet, you can significantly reduce your spending while also eating more climate-friendly foods.

Because plant proteins often tend to be shelf-stable, there’s also less risk of food spoilage. You can stock up on dried beans, lentils, chickpeas, grains, canned beans, nuts and seeds in your pantry and build a meal plan around those, supplementing with fresh fruits and vegetables.

Shop by tare weight

Bulk shopping is a major money saver in several ways. First off, you’re only paying for the exact amount that you need. If a recipe calls for 10 oz. of pasta instead of 1 lb., there’s no awkward amount left in your box, because you can buy exactly the right amount (no box needed).

No other bulk stores have this proprietary system, and it makes for an easy, intuitive process when refilling.

Secondly, you’re not paying the upcharge for disposable packaging. At re_ grocery, we’ve designed a unique tare app technology that weighs your empty container and records it like magic onto a microchip tag, deducting the weight at checkout so you only pay for what goes inside.

No other bulk stores have this proprietary system, and it makes for an easy, intuitive process when refilling.

Because plant proteins often tend to be shelf-stable, there’s also less risk of food spoilage

This method of shopping also allows you to try a small amount of something to see if you like it before committing to a larger amount. Want to sample a spice at home, or try a new superfood powder in your smoothie? Refill grocery shopping makes it easy to buy just a bit.

Make food at home

If you’re on a budget, this single sentence can help you save a ton of money: “We have food at home.” One way to make it easy on yourself to eat at home when you don’t feel like cooking is to freeze food into portions next time you make a big batch. That way, it will be as simple as reheating food instead of ordering takeout.

…And make coffee at home

That goes for your coffee habit, too. If you’re used to ordering coffee out, save money and the disposable waste by brewing at home using this guide. Saving that $5 now can add up to hundreds over the course of a year.

Fill your freezer

We’ve already mentioned your freezer and that’s because freezing food is a crucial way to save money while also living more sustainably. Every time you put an extra serving of something away in the fridge, it’s like money in the bank.

Refill grocery shopping makes it easy to buy just a bit

If you don’t already, consider freezing:

• Leftover baked goods and cookie dough
• Buttermilk and other liquids in muffin-tin amounts
• Lemon zest, coffee, tomato paste, grated ginger, grated garlic, and herbs (in olive oil) in ice-cube amounts
• Whole peeled knobs of ginger (for grating directly onto your skillet or into a smoothie)
• Trays of cut fruit or berries (flash-freeze for 15 minutes first and then put them into a bag to prevent clumping)
• Leftover spinach and kale
• Pizza crust, pizza dough, flatbread, naan, tortillas, crackers, and bread
• Meat and seafood
• Beans, soup, curries, casseroles, and other prepared foods

Become a sauce person

Sauces and dressings are often ingredients that end up sitting leftover in the fridge, but they offer so much flavor and can be used across many different dishes. If you have extra dill sauce from a salmon dish, chances are it will make a great dip for roasted potatoes or cut veggies later in the week. If you have leftover vinaigrette from last night’s salad, it will probably taste great on today’s hummus sandwich.

Plant an herb garden

Store-bought herbs can often be around the same price as the plant itself, so next time a recipe calls for some herbs, consider buying the potted kind for your garden or windowsill. The herbs will last longer and keep growing so you can have fresh flavor without the waste.

If you’re used to ordering coffee out, save money and the disposable waste by brewing at home

Save stale bread

Homemade bread is a great way to save money, but it goes stale after a day. You don’t have to toss stale bread, though—just run it through water and reheat it in the oven at 450F uncovered for 10 minutes. Alternatively, blitz it for breadcrumbs or use it in a panzanella.

Cut up rags for cleaning

When that old, ragged t-shirt is too far gone to wear anymore, cut it into squares to use for cleaning. Paper towels and microfibers from cleaning cloths lead to needless waste and expense, but using your own rags to polish and dust around the house is completely free.

For countertop spills and other cleaning, our Swedish dish cloths can also be reused hundreds of times before going to compost. Each cloth replaces 15-17 rolls of paper towels, saving you money and waste.

Focus on food storage

One preventable cause of food waste (and money waste) is spoilage. It can be helpful to keep a cheat sheet on your fridge listing the best ways to store commonly spoiled foods like lettuce, herbs, avocados, carrots, celery, fruits, berries, citrus, and other produce.

One easy way to prevent food waste is to store food in our clear glass jars so you don’t forget what’s inside (because what’s out of sight is often out of mind). They also include a helpful label tab for writing dates of purchase.

Use your food scraps

If you’re really trying to pinch pennies, get scrappy with your food. We can look to our older relatives and ancestors for clues on this one. It’s also a fun way to get creative with your family.

You don’t have to toss stale bread, though—just run it through water and reheat it in the oven at 450F uncovered for 10 minutes.

• Use bones or veggie scraps to make broth (which you can then use or freeze for later).
• If you’ve used egg yolks for something (like lemon curd), use the whites for a meringue or pavlova to go with it.
• Overripe berries go well in a coulis or a cobbler, while lemon peel can be used for zest to add flavor to any dish.
• Last night’s leftover pasta is great in this morning’s frittata.
• If you’ve peeled an apple for your kid, the peel can be used in vinegars or baked into chips.
• Broccoli stalks can be grated into a crunchy slaw, while carrot top greens make a great pesto.

Find the right products

How many natural deodorants, or toothpaste tabs, or laundry detergents have people tried before finding what actually works?

Buying a sustainable product that you don’t end up using can just create more waste, so it’s good to do a little research—or let us do the research for you. We’ve tried hundreds of reusables, household, and grooming products to curate the best of the best, the ones that we love to use every day.

Not sure where to start? Don’t worry about overhauling your products all at once. To save money, focus on incremental swaps as you run out of the old stuff, or start here with our guide.

One easy way to prevent food waste is to store food in our clear glass jars

Repurpose containers

One of the biggest ways to start eliminating waste in your week is to refill. At re_ grocery you can use our glass containers (and return them for $2 a jar each time you come in), but you can also bring in your own clean, empty containers to use. We love repurposing Youth to the People skincare containers for things like herbs, spices, or packing salad dressings for work.

Buying a sustainable product that you don’t end up using can just create more waste, so it’s good to do a little research

Next time you have an empty jar of pickles or preserves, scrub off the label and use it for refill. Forget the idea that all your pantry jars need to match—reusing what you have is always the cheapest and most sustainable option.

Get things fixed

In today’s society, we’re so used to planned obsolescence and having new products that we aren’t focused on getting things fixed. Going to a cobbler to get a boot resoled, figuring out how to patch a hole or sew a button, and getting our battery fixed instead of just buying a new computer, are all great ways to save money while avoiding overconsumption.

We love partnering with local textile studio SUAY for mending or dyeing old clothing, or recycling it at its end of life to be threaded into something new.

Swap or shop secondhand

When it is necessary to make a purchase, see if you can purchase via resell to make it both cheaper and more sustainable. For baby supplies, garden supplies, and furniture, check out local Buy Nothing groups, or join a clothing swap to pay nothing at all. Many resellers on apps like DePop will also accept swaps instead of cash, and this can be a great way to shop sustainably without touching your budget.

Reassess how to get around

Next time you travel, ask if you can drive instead of fly, or carpool instead of drive alone. Sharing gas costs with a few other people when commuting or traveling can save you a ton of money.

For baby supplies, garden supplies, and furniture, check out local Buy Nothing groups

The same goes for getting there locally—can you take the bus or subway instead of driving? Can you walk or bike instead of bus? At all re_ grocery locations, we offer a 10% discount for cyclists, so be sure to come in wearing your helmet next time to see your savings increase.

Sustainable living is for everyone. Whether you’re putting yourself through college, putting a down payment toward a house, or just trying to save money wherever possible, living sustainably and cheaply go hand in hand. Start where you are with these simple swaps and save toward the things that really count in life.

For more ways to save sustainably, be sure to subscribe to our emails to hear about the latest sales and join club / re_ to earn points and save money with every purchase.