It's one thing to say you want to embrace a zero-waste lifestyle. But actually doing it can be a challenge, especially when so many products seem to be designed in a way that actively prevents you from using every last drop.
But as a recent Reddit thread shows us, it is by no means impossible.
Posting to the r/Frugal subreddit, one Redditor posts two images accompanied by a simple message: "Toothpaste tube squeezers work on other tubes too!"
As is clearly displayed in the accompanying pictures, a specially designed product — sometimes called a toothpaste tube squeezer, sometimes referred to as a tube key — can be used to get every bit of toothpaste out of the toothpaste tube.
But the tool doesn't have to be limited to toothpaste. As the post shows, it can be applied to basically anything that comes in a squeeze bottle.
The original poster shows that they also use a tube key to get the most out of their moisturizer, but the same could be done for any bottle of lotion, sunscreen, or cooking paste.
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Other Redditors were quick to jump in with their favorite uses for the toothpaste tube squeezer.
"I bought a paint tube squeezer for my metal tube skin care items," writes one. "Never waste a drop ever again."
Others shared how they do the same thing, without even having to purchase the tube squeezer.
"I use the back of a sturdy comb to flatten out the empty part, roll that up and hold it in place with a binder clip," writes one. "Use what you have."
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Another chimes in, "I went even more frugal and 3D printed my own [tube squeezer.]"
As these posts show, the road to going zero waste won't always be laid out neatly in front of us — sometimes it takes just a bit of creativity and ingenuity.
Alternatively, you can simply head over to Reddit and steal all the creative, ingenious things other people are already doing.
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