4 Innovative Ways a Single Square of Cloth Can Help You Cut Plastic Waste and Simplify Your Purchases

Let’s begin with a square of cloth. We won’t give it a size, other than to say it is big enough to fold in half but not so large as to cover an entire king-size bed, which is in fact often covered with nothing more than a massive square of cloth. But, for our purposes, king-sized squares of cloth are far too whopping, i.e. vaster than anything we might just happen to come across.

So, it’s the smaller squares of cloth we are using, ones that might be liberated from, say, a T-shirt that has seen better days as an article of clothing but still has some material that isn’t completely threadbare. Or, perhaps we’ve discovered a forgotten drawer of grandma’s old tablecloths, and while stylish in their time, they might now work more suitably as a remembrance.  Maybe the back pocket of some Jeans has been torn away.

Suffice it to say, that it is within these realms of clothes and squares that we will now be moving forward, and our efforts will be finding ways to put them to good use. And, in doing so, we will be celebrating how these efforts will also reduce our uses of plastic and decrease the amount of stuff we must buy. In the end, we will conclude feeling as triumphant as ever.

1. Your Basic, No Frills Wash Rag

Fulfilled Homemaking

Luckily for us, with our sliding size scale, wash rags can indeed come in all shapes (though we are working exclusively in squares here) and sizes. But, a square foot works just fine as a wash rag for the dishes or cleaning rag for countertops and bathtubs. If one were so inclined, this could also suffice as rag for cleaning the body or the tires of a car. It’s versatile. To obtain such a rag, one need only to find but a morsel of cloth and put it either hanging of the lip of the kitchen sink or perched atop the spritzing portion of a spray bottle. In turn, this will mean that we’ve not run out and purchased a similar piece of cloth or a sponge or a loofah, all of which will likely have some component of plastic, be it polyester, that green grit stuff on the back of sponges or the outright flagrant use of plastic most loofahs bring to the party.

2. A DIY, Super Hip Carrying Case

Unlike the no-frills version of a wash rag, a carrying case will require slightly more skill and determination. Firstly, it will require folding the cloth, not exactly in half per say, but with enough overhang on one side to leave a lip, something that a button can be sewn onto. Next it will require sewing up the sides that have been folded together to make a pocket. Don’t overthink the sewing: It’s a needle, thread, and a bit of common sense. (We aren’t making a ball gown here.) Lastly, it’s easy to buy (or repurpose from some Jeans or Pants or a button shirt) a button to keep the case closed. From this, we can make a pencil case, a case to carry flatware for lunch, or little baggies for whatever tiny things we like to keep together. That means we aren’t buying stuff to do this job, and we aren’t going in for disposable knives and forks and similarly deplorable things.

*Don’t forget that, if an old favorite T-shirt or some underpants give out, it’s possible to save any favorite slogans or emblems this way. Just a suggestion.

3. A Sensible, Stylish Fashion Moment: The Patch

This is a simple equation really, but it’s one that equates to individual quirk and a pretty happening pair of Jeans or workpants or jacket. Find a cool piece of cloth, either at a secondhand store or from a closet, cut that sucker up into little patches, and use those patches to keep that favorite pair of Pants or that super comfy hoody going for a while longer. Patches are, in a word, flare. They allow something many people consider ugly — a hole in a garment — to whistle show tunes. It can be paisleys or stripes or a perfectly placed initial. Whatever the case, little squares of cloth, many of them, were literally made for this job. Besides, patching our favorites clothes means we aren’t buying new ones, ones that might require shopping bags, nylon (shame, shame) and a fold of money. It makes sense and it’s cool. Again, don’t fret about the sewing. It’s a patch! It’s all about “character”.

4. The Ultra Versatile Handkerchief 

Bohemian Romance

Handkerchiefs are a bit of a thing of the past, and not without reason: They are possible a little gross, equating to a pocket full of snot and boogers. However, they are also classically debonair when a fair maiden (or lad) is in need of some nasal assistance. What’s more is that, with a little practice, a handkerchief can serve as a colorful pocket square to accent a suit with just the right amount of funkiness (perhaps the whole reason that nasally challenged maiden or lad was conversing with you in the first place). There’s nothing to it. Find the right material. Cut it nicely. Fold it with old school sort of suave. And, pow! The snots are no longer an issue, and we — cloth collectors — are all the cooler for it. Plus, we aren’t buying plastic wrapped packages of tissues, nor are we donning petroleum-based suit accoutrements.

And, that is how we take an old square of cloth — be it clothing or material leftover from Great Aunt Edna’s curtains — and come out like champions of the world, environmental musketeers, miraculous MacGyvers, whatever you want to call us. We get the job done. One square of cloth, that’s all we need.