Doing laundry is an inevitable part of life, but how you do your laundry can have a profound impact on your wallet and the planet. Eco-friendly approaches to laundry can also make the chore more convenient and less of a burden.
For example, one Reddit user posted a genius hack for transporting detergent to the laundromat using old pill bottles.
The Redditor's hack involves portioning detergent powder into empty pill bottles once a month instead of lugging heavy containers to the laundromat. This is especially convenient because the Redditor is disabled, has lots of empty pill bottles available, and lives in an apartment without onsite laundry.
"When I need to do laundry, it's contained, light, and ready to go to the machine!" wrote the original poster.
Another benefit of the Redditor's hack is that it eliminates the use of laundry detergent pods. These pods contribute to global plastic pollution by adding unnecessary microplastics to the environment.
Not only do laundry pods negatively affect the environment because of the plastic particles they release into waterways, but millions of them have been recalled for safety reasons because of their health risks to children if accidentally ingested.
Taking inspiration from this Reddit hack, there are even more things you can do to make your laundry routine more sustainable. You can wash your clothes in cold water to save energy, use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, and choose eco-friendly detergents that don't transfer toxic chemicals onto your body or into your water supply.
Redditor users following the r/upcycling subreddit have been loving this hack because it makes life easier while doing laundry and reuses ordinary pill bottles that might otherwise end up in landfills. One commenter described it as a "grab and go" solution.
🗣️ What of these benefits would most effectively motivate you to use fewer plastic-packaged cleaning products?
🔘 Freeing up shelf space ✨
🔘 Avoiding toxins and microplastics ☠️
🔘 Saving money 💰
🔘 Not interested 🚫
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"That's so smart," another Redditor commented. " I'm shocked I've never seen someone do this in shared laundry situations!"
"Great idea!" wrote another user in the comments. "I will pass this along to my friends and family."
"Those pill bottles are also good for hold quarters for laundry," suggested another.
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