Reusable Stuff: When Washing is Actually the Lazy Option

QE's lunch supplies

Yes, it is easier in general to throw something out rather than deal with washing it.  There are disposable items that will never lose their place in my household: garbage bags, for example.  While I love my bamboo kitchen cloths, I do not see us ever making the switch to "un-paper towels."  And I might be using the occasional cloth diaper wipe right now (can't be bothered to acquire a full set), we will categorically never be  a "family cloth" kind of family.

Sometimes it seems like frum people are obsessed with using as many disposable items around the house as possible: why do you think Amazing Savings is so popular?  But my family is definitely not one and done on everything.
Environmental concerns are part of my rationale when selecting washable/reusable household items, but I have good, practical, non-crunchy reasons for a lot of them as well.  Here are a few examples:

• Grocery bags: They're sturdier, they hold more, and you usually get 5 cents back per bag used (5/week=$13/year!).  Also, my kitchen isn't filled (or at least, it's less filled) with plastic or paper that I'm neglecting to bring back to the store.  
• Lunch/snack bags and containers: They're sturdier, they're cuter, and I rarely have to stock up on ziplocs.  QE's backpack is filled daily with Lunchskins snack bags I got at Target, the Planetwise ones I got for free from a Black Friday crunchy store purchase, and a heap of assorted small Rubbermaid containers.  BSB packs his peanut butter sandwich in a Wonderbread sandwich box that I found at a supermarket a couple of years ago.  These things last a long time!
• Stainless steel water bottles: They're sturdier (noticing a pattern here?), and it means not having to buy cases from Costco.  We're big tap-water drinkers.  No patience, money, or kitchen space for bottled!
• Plastic tablecloth: Growing up, my siblings and I simply learned not to make a horrendous mess at the Shabbos table, thereby reducing the need to protect the pretty tablecloths.  But I and other friends have found that if your significant other didn't learn to be neat as a kid, they'll have a hard time with it as an adult.  So I compromised by buying a sturdy (duh) plastic tablecloth that is easily wiped and looks less pathetic than the disposable kind.  

In these cases, bothering with a reusable item means that you're reducing waste and so on in the greater scheme of things, as well as reducing the need for storage space and regular shopping trips to replace finished items.  As noted, the washable versions of these items are also significantly sturdier than the disposable kind, which results in less potential for spills and tears.

Most of these items aren't hard to find.  Specialty stores and websites abound, but Target has a huge selection of lunch containers in all shapes and sizes.  I have a few steel bottles from Old Navy (although my favorite is from Bed Bath and Beyond), and you can get reusable shopping bags at most supermarkets - but I've given fun ones from specialty stores as gifts.  

Also, it's a lot more fun to eat a dinosaur-print bag of grapes than a boring ziploc one!