Eco-Friendly Swaps to Make at Home Throughout Each Season

The past few years, I have tried to find ways to use up more of the stuff we have at home, and to find swaps to decrease our all over waste. Some options have been more doable than others. But here are a few of the best ones I have tried so far.

#1: We bought chickens, so it is very rare that we have to buy eggs from the grocery store anymore. I really enjoy eating eggs every day for breakfast, so I was very excited to have fresh eggs every day. Although I initially wanted them so that my child could have the best eggs possible, I decided I really wanted to find ways to use the egg shells as well.

Some of my favorite uses for egg shells are crushing them up and using them in my garden beds, feeding them back to the hens, and most recently, making chalk for my child to draw with.

#2: We got pallets from a friend of my husband’s and made our child a mud kitchen out of it.

See Mud Kitchen Post here: https://wilderhomelifestyle.blog/2025/03/30/mud-kitchen-made-with-free-wood-pallets/

My husband used a planer to make sure the wood was smooth and safe for kids.

#3: During Christmas time we got an organic Christmas tree. After some research, we decided that an organic Christmas was worth the trek to get it. The main use for us was obviously as a Christmas tree. However, I was most excited to feed it to my chickens. Because I love giving them festive treats.

#4: Beeswax wraps are so easy to make, and we honestly use them for a lot of things. So it was a lot more cost effective to make them myself. Some of our most used ones are the small squares which I was to cover half eaten yogurt (courtesy of our toddler), pea cans we use to feed our ducklings, and jars.

#5: Possibly my favorite swap of all is homegrown luffas. The plant takes what feels like a million years to produce the gourds, then so long to dry. But it also needs so many months to grow that it is a real pain. We ended up harvesting about 10 completely dry luffas, and about 45 luffas that had to be dried out and made into dish sponges. It was so time-consuming. But I love luffas so I will probably do it every year for the rest of my life.