Spring cleaning has a consumption problem

As soon as spring rolls around, we open the cupboards, pull out its contents and decide what needs replacing. Before you know it, there are 3 piles of clothes that ‘aren’t good enough anymore’, 5 rubbish bags that need to be taken out and 10 online shopping carts that are ready to be ordered.

My point is that – somewhere along the way – spring cleaning became less about embracing the season of flowers and fresh starts, and more about unnecessary consumption.

Please don’t feel like I’m scolding you … I might be the author of this blog, but I’ve fallen for this trap pretty much every spring as I find myself walking through the mall holding shopping bags full of sugar-honey-iced-tea (if you don’t know what I mean, Google it).

But last year, I asked myself three questions that changed the way I looked at the ‘spring is here, let’s replace everything’ movement:

• What can I use less of?
• What can I keep using?
• What actually needs replacing?

So, let’s tackle each question – and see if we can make our spring cleaning a little less about buying things and a little more about making better choices.

 

What can I use less of?

This sounds simple, but it’s actually quite difficult in a world built for us to use more.  That’s why the word overconsumption even exists.

There is evidence to suggest that overconsumption is something we’re becoming more aware of. Google Trends reported record-high searches for ‘overconsumption’ in 2025, as conversations around how much we buy, use and waste keep growing.

When you look around your home, it’s quite easy to forget just how much of what you own eventually gets discarded – or replaced – in the name of ‘upgrades’. Let’s look at me, for example …

Before I made the switch to eco-friendly products, I’d buy a bottle of laundry detergent, use it, chuck the bottle and move on without thinking twice. But think about the impact of that decision over time. I probably went through 50 bottles in five years.

Fifty.

Now, I’m sure that you are already using Evolve Biodegradable’s 500ml refill concentrates, 50ml refills concentrates and the refill options across the cleaning and laundry range. 

But someone around you might not be. It’s something so easily overlooked.

And I know what you’re thinking:

Surely one bottle isn’t going to save the planet.

Probably not.

But if we start looking at the things we use repeatedly and asking, ‘Do I really need to throw this away every time?’ suddenly the changes don’t look so little. 

So, let’s start asking our friends the difficult questions and holding ourselves accountable.

What can I keep using?

This question might be my favourite because it can be turned into a fun, household activity thst promoted thinking outside the box.

Maybe you’ve bought two All-Purpose Finisher 750ml Sprays from Evolve Biodegradable, and now you have a perfectly good extra spray bottle. Don’t chuck it. Don’t recycle it. Think about what else you could use it for. You could use that second bottle to spray the plants in your garden, or you could keep it as a backup.

Maybe you have a Laundry Fragrance Booster container that looks like it’s seen one too many winters … keep it.  I use old containers to organise my makeup, sort my sock drawer and generally keep the little things in my life from becoming one big, chaotic pile under my bed.

Those little 50ml concentrate bottles? Perfect for camping. Which – now that spring is here – I’ll definitely be doing more of.

If something is heading towards that throwaway pile, let’s challenge ourselves to think a little differently. Who in the house can come up with the most creative way to reuse it?

Because asking questions like:

Can I reuse it?
Can I refill it?
Can I choose a different material when it eventually needs replacing?

is often much more useful than simply asking:

‘What’s the most eco-friendly thing I can buy?’

 

What actually needs replacing?

Now we get to the question that might be the most challenging of all: what actually needs replacing?

Because sometimes the answer is obvious. That old T-shirt that has more holes than a cartoon drawing of cheese. The container that has finally cracked and is supposed to hold your sauces. Your cleaning bottle’s spray trigger that no longer sprays.

Fair enough.

Those need replacing. They no longer do what they were made to do.

But sometimes, we convince ourselves things need replacing because we’ve decided there’s a better option. And that’s why I want to highlight plastic.

Just because something is plastic doesn’t mean it needs to be replaced.

Plastic is a useful, durable material that has endless reuse possibilities. It’s easy to fall into the trap of treating something as disposable simply because it’s made from plastic.

But our real issue lies with single-use plastic.

So, if you have a plastic item living in your kitchen, bedroom or dining room and it’s still perfectly usable, let it live. Let’s not decide everything needs to be replaced with bamboo (even though we love our bamboo products).

Because, throwing away perfectly usable things so we can replace them with something that looks more eco-friendly, ironically, isn’t very environmentally friendly.

If something genuinely needs replacing, that’s when we can start thinking about better options.

Maybe that means choosing bamboo. Maybe it means choosing something biodegradable, plant-based, refillable or simply something that will last.

It’s about making the better choice when you actually need to make a choice.

Wrapping it up

So, this spring, before you add something to your cart, ask yourself:

• Does this actually need replacing?
• Is there a better option?
• Can I repurpose this when I’m done using it?

And, perhaps most importantly:

Do I have to throw it away?