Tausi Insider

Photo : Mila Rachmania ( Shutterstock ) The holidays are a season of giving to others, but it’s also an opportunity to give a little something to yourself—that is, the freedom from your insurmountable pile of reusable totes. The thing is, no one else wants more totes, so you have to be sneaky-sweet about it. The best way is to present it as part of an otherwise generous gift. I first started gifting totes because I needed extra packing material for the Christmas cookie tins I was shipping to friends and family. I was running low on paper bags and spotted my bag of bags. Perhaps you have one of these too: a reusable tote bag full of simply more reusable tote bags. I have my favorites, but the rest just take up space. Maybe some of them are even lovely and sturdy, but sadly, never used. It turns out, though, that they do keep cookie tins from sliding around. Neatly folded, or bundled around the main present, they looked like part of the package, and provided a buffer when getting to...

Photo : Golubovy ( Shutterstock ) While wrapped presents are a big part of the joy of holiday gifting, all that disposable wrapping paper can seem pretty wasteful, not to mention expensive. Bringing in some reusable alternatives that actually look nice can add some sustainable and cost-effective beauty to your holiday gift-giving routine. The best alternatives to paper can even be a part of the gift itself. Here are some of the best ways to upgrade your wrapping skills with a sustainable twist. Towels Using cloth napkins, dish towels, or tea towels as wrapping can be both festive and reusable. During the Christmas shopping season, you can often find good bargains on these, and you might be surprised at how little you’ll spend on something that it’s hard to imagine anyone having too many of. Dish towels can be found in sets, as well as cloth napkins, making this practical, multi-use “wrapping” even more cost effective. Leftover fabric If you’re a crafter, you probably have leftover...

Photo : namaki ( Shutterstock ) Single-use plastic is a plague upon the Earth that the more environmentally conscious among us try in vain to avoid. No matter how careful you are to bring your re useable tote and buy stuff in recyclable and compostable packaging, eventually y ou’ll need to go to the grocery store for produce, which means you’ll become responsible for at least one more single-use plastic bag. There are plenty of ways to reuse plastic bags outside the kitchen , but plastic is annoyingly useful for certain kinds of food storage, and that’s mostly what I keep mine around for. Usually, reusing a bag is as simple as shaking it out and stuffing it in the “extra bags” drawer with its siblings, but every now and then, I run into a situation that requires actual cleaning. Washing and drying plastic bags might sound like a hassle, but with the right technique, it’s pretty simple—and an excellent way to get as much use out of them as possible. Here’s how to do it. How to cl...