We have to talk about waste…
Unless you’ve been living off the coast of Fiji or in the amazon rain forest, you’ve probably realized at some point that our planet needs some help.
Americans generate heaps of trash each year and only a small percent of that is transferred from landfills & actually recycled or composted. This contributes to greenhouse gas emissions which then depletes our earths ozone layer. Our extreme mass consumption & over production isn’t only polluting the air, but also the oceans. Sad news, I know. However, there are ways we can all help minimize this problem, and recycling shouldn’t be our first line of defense. If we look at the bigger picture, recycling really should be viewed as our last resort in saving the planet. Instead of buying things knowing they can be recycled, we should focus more on buying less stuff in the first place.
However much you care about the planet, it can be really hard to help when you have to tend to your own busy life first. This page is designed to inspire you and offer easy ideas as to how you can help out and play an active role in conserving our earth.
Adopting a zero-waste mindset & lifestyle is all about being more conscious about what we’re buying, and eliminating all the unnecessary items from our lives.
“Zero-waste is the mother of environmental no-brainers. ”
How to refuse, reduce, reuse & recycle
Zero-waste living isn’t about recycling more, what it’s really about is acting on needless waste and eliminating it from coming into our lives. On this page I’ll walk you through a few simple steps on how to simplify your lifestyle, home, and even your diet through refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling what’s necessary.
Refuse:
Refuse any kind of single-use or throw-away plastics: This includes plastic bags at the grocery store, bottles, plastic straws and flatware. When we use these products we’re essentially promoting the toxic industrial process even more, only to use these single-use plastics for thirty seconds or less. It supports harmful chemicals to leach into our soils, food chain, and bodies. These products are the source of ocean pollution and is seen all around us.
Refuse taking part in unsustainable practices: This includes purchasing individually wrapped snacks, buying excessive packaging, and accepting freebies such as hotel samples or food samples in plastic. We can also take charge of our wasteful practices by refusing to accept printed receipts, which may promote retailers to email them instead. Or if you don’t like the way a product is packaged, you could email the company about switching to recyclable packaging materials.
Make a statement: When refusing something that may seem wasteful, you don’t need to be rude about it, just simply state your reasoning and opinion in a friendly manner. You can politely refuse a wasteful item by saying, “I’m sorry, but I’ve gone paperless,” or “I’m sorry, but I’m trying to simplify my life,” or “I’m sorry, but I have too much at home already.” While the individual act of refusing doesn’t actually make the waste disappear, what it will do is create a demand for alternatives. For an example, if we all refuse to use plastic straws at restaurants, refuse paper receipts, or use hotel freebies, then those products will no longer be offered.
Reduce:
Reducing will result in a simplified lifestyle that allows you to focus more on purchasing quality items versus quantity. It will also enable you to spend more time enjoying experiences, rather than filling your life with materialistic things.
The first step to reducing your waste is to evaluate your past shopping habits. Determine the true use and purpose for everything you own and determine if the reason for why you own everything you own, is because you actually need those items or if they’re items you just think you need. Through this process you’ll learn to eliminate the accumulation of junk in your life and you’ll be able to choose repairable quality over disposable quantity.
You can choose to donate or sell previous purchases to support the second hand market community, which not only cultivates generosity, but also increases people’s likelihood of purchasing used items. Getting rid of gently used items will help promote a simpler lifestyle, since having less will offer less things to worry about, break, fix, store, or dispose of later.
Curb your shopping and spending habits. By limiting your shopping habits you’ll not only save valuable resources used to make that item, but also a ton of money! Question all your possible purchases & spending habits, in order to consider the effect it has on the environment and choose products you could reuse or recycle.
Find satisfaction with what you do have, instead of getting caught up on believing what you should have. This mindset will make you a much happier person!
3. Reuse:
Many people associate the concept of reusing with the hoarding lifestyle. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and reusing can be a beautiful thing.
We can make reusing things a practical, by saying no to paper or plastic bags at the grocery store and using reusable bags. We can purchase gently used items at thrift stores, antique shops, or garage sales. We can also learn how to buy smarter, by purchasing items that can be reused, refilled, or are ultra versatile and durable!
Everyday basic reusable’s:
Bring a mason jar to your local juice shop or a glass mug to your local cafe.
Bring a portable stainless steel straw to restaurants or on the go and keep reusable glass, bamboo, or stainless steel straws for at home.
Bring reusable produce bags when shopping for fruits & veggies, and reusable totes or insulated totes for the farmers market, health food store, or super market.
Bring mason jars when purchasing your nuts, seeds, dried fruit, flours and grains, in bulk for easy storage.
Bring a stainless steel water bottle wherever you go.
Invest in a set of glass storage containers for leftovers.
Use bamboo or coconut dishes, cutlery, and cutting boards.
Use reusable lunch bags and storage bags for snacks on the go.
Keep a recycled stitched notebook for to-do lists, food logs, or jotting down quick notes.
4. Recycle:
When adopting a zero-waste lifestyle you’ll learn that it’s not all about recycling, and that true waste management starts with analyzing your consumption habits first. When we eliminate the amount of stuff we accumulate, we will ultimately be eliminating much of what needs to be recycled in the first place.
The issue with recycling: Recycling currently depends on too many variables to make it a sustainable long-term solution to our enormous waste problems. In an ideal zero-waste world, recycling would be standardized across the world, or even better, all products would be made from bio-degradable material & packaging so recycling wouldn’t be necessary. The good news is that by refusing what we don’t need, reducing what we do, and reusing the quality items we purchase, then it leaves little to be recycled.
The bottom line: When it’s absolutely necessary, recycling is a better option than sending an item into the landfill. It does save energy, conserve natural resources, and helps eliminate items from the landfill, but we must first reduce our consumption before we recycle.
The benefits of Zero-waste living
The benefits of zero-waste go far beyond just the environmental effects. Zero-waste improves your standard of living in all aspects of your life, it helps improve your health, it promotes financial abundance, and it saves time!
Financial:
Reduces consumption of products, which in turn saves you money. This will allow you to save money to focus more on travel and experiences, rather than the accumulation of stuff.
Reduces storage, maintenance, and repair costs.
Eliminates the need to purchase disposable plastic products.
Encourages buying bulk groceries, which is usually cheaper.
Promotes buying quality items over quantity, which saves money in the long run.
Promotes selling unused items to second hand shops, antique shops, or garage sales.
Health:
Discourages us to buy plastic products & packaging that could leach harmful chemicals into our food and products.
Promotes shopping in health food stores, which offer an abundance of natural alternatives for everyday products and healthy food.
Encourages buying items made from recyclable materials, which reduces our risk from exposure to harmful chemicals.
Supports living with less, reducing dust and allergies.
Promotes more outdoor activities and travel.
Encourages us to buy whole foods in bulk, which limits our consumption to packaged or processed foods.
Promotes an overall leaner plant-based diet, through reducing our meat consumption.
Time:
Anyone can benefit from a life freed from the burden of stuff and wasteful practices, which will allow you to spend your free time focused on experiences.
An accumulation of stuff takes us away from our roots, the outdoors. Living zero-waste will enable you to find knowledge, wisdom, empowerment, confidence, passion, and a renewed life purpose through having extra time to fulfill your passions.
Zero-waste shopping
Buying in bulk
Most people associate bulk shopping with purchasing large quantities of pre-packaged or individually wrapped food at large warehouse stores. However, this motto put on by large warehouse companies: “spend more to save more,” actually ends up making us buy more than we need. Which causes us to race against expiration dates and leads to wasted food, money and resources. Buying bulk at a warehouse store isn’t always a no-go and can be beneficial for certain items, such as organic frozen fruit, nut butters, grains, steel-cut oats or even certain kinds of produce. But most of the time the packaging and the enormous quantities are unnecessary for everyday items.
The kind of bulk that is Eco-friendly, is the one kind of bulk shopping you do at your local health food store. This is when you buy food loosely from the bins at the health food store and it doesn’t involve any sort of packaging. It’s the kind of bulk shopping where you can bring your own mason jars and fill up your weeks supply of nuts, seeds, grains, legumes, flour, dried fruit, or snacks. Buying quality doesn’t come cheap, but in the long run it’s one of the wisest investments you can make for yourself and the environment.
Zero-waste shopping kit:
Bring reusable totes & insulated totes.
Use mesh bags for loose items, such as legumes or small produce items.
Bring reusable produce bags for fruits & veggies.
Use seal-able glass jars for buying loose items in bulk & to store in at home.
Don’t forget your grocery list so you don’t over purchase!
Choose Fair-trade ingredients
Purchasing fair trade ingredients, food, and products not only offers peace of mind for you, but it also offers companies with a credible way to make sure that their trade has a positive impact for the farmers and workers growing ingredients. It also provides jobs for farmers and enables buyers to trade with producers who would otherwise be excluded from the market. Choosing fair-trade and ethical sourced ingredients helps organizations to understand deeper about working conditions, treatment of workers, and trends to develop knowledge, skills and resources in order to improve the lives of many farmers and growers around the world.
Shop Locally
Rather than driving miles to a super market, try shopping at your local farmers market in the summer and your local health food store all year round. You’ll not only benefit from eating fresh, organic local produce, but you’ll also have to opportunity to reduce pollution and give a much-needed boost to your community and local businesses.
buy Ethical clothing
Choose clothing you can wear thirty or more times. When shopping ask yourself, “Will I wear this item thirty times?” or “Can I wear this thirty times?” Determine if the item you’re about to purchase will truly last or not. If not, it’s best not to purchase unnecessary clothing items that will just end up sitting in your closet, unless it’s for a special event. There’s a lot of resources used in making clothing, and if you’re just planning on wearing the item once, is it really worth it?
Shop second hand! Sometimes thrift store finds end up being your best finds. It can be fun every once in a while to take an adventure to your local thrift store or antique shop and see what’s in store. If you don’t live near a thrift store or antique shop, you can always shop from second hand shops from apps online.
Be sure to purchase certified organic cotton fabric when purchasing bedding, linens, or even clothing. Organic cotton products have gone through the least amount of processing & labor, making them the most ethical and Eco-friendly.
Zero-waste Beauty & bathroom
The bathroom is probably the second largest source of reoccurring waste in your home. But even in the bathroom we can easily eliminate our wasteful habits with the simple act of decluttering, implementing reusable products, glass jars, and using all-natural organic products.
Many signs of our personal obsessions and even self-doubts actually hide in our bathroom cabinets. Many bathrooms, (mine included), used to be filled with unlimited lotions and potions. Ranging from miracle creams & serums, skin-fix potions, and cosmetics, yet all these products ever did was collect dust, promote wasteful consuming, and ultimately end up getting thrown away.
Step 1: Beauty doesn’t originate in a bottle
Beauty doesn’t come from a serum or a fancy face cream, it comes from within. The first step to simplifying your bathroom is limiting your exposure to media and false advertising or claims. It’s important to keep in mind that beauty cannot be bought and it doesn’t come in a lotion or potion.
Step 2: Know your products
Simplification is the second step to achieving a zen-like bathroom and zero-waste lifestyle. It all starts by emptying your cabinets and drawers and evaluating what’s truly necessary. Ask yourself these questions when simplifying your bathroom products:
Is it expired?
Do I use this regularly?
Can this product be homemade?
Is this product safe & all-natural?
Do I have multiples of the same product?
Is this product sustainable or in reusable packaging?
Do I keep this product because everyone else has one?
These questions will help you further eliminate what’s unnecessary from your bathroom collection. De-cluttering your bathroom will help you give up expensive products that often give false claims and will help you save money.
Go cruelty-free with your products
Many animals suffer each year due to extensive testing from common cosmetic products. If you’re looking to leave a dramatically smaller footprint on our earth, I suggest using products made without animal derived ingredients. This will ensure your products didn’t undergo any kind of animal testing, which we should all be against for our cosmetics. There’s really no reason for animal testing, and sadly there’s no law requiring us not to test on animals. However, if we start purchasing cruelty-free products, there will be no reason for animal testing labs to exist.
Zero-waste alternatives for self-care:
Bentonite clay (face mask alternative + tooth paste base)
Organic extra virgin coconut oil (body oil/lotion replacement, hair conditioner, makeup remover+more)
Pure Castile soap (body wash, shampoo, & hand soap alternative + kitchen use)
Bamboo tooth brush + hair brush
vegan & cruelty-free mascara & makeup products
Rose hips oil or vitamin c (serum alternative)
Deoderant paste (glass jar)
Coconut oil + peppermint oil toothpaste
Activated charcoal powder (teeth whitener alternative)
Essential oils
Fresh Aloe Vera (natural skin remedy)
Rose water (natural toner)
All of these products are cruelty-free and safe alternatives to most toxic self-care products & ingredients. The products listed above are extremely versatile and can be used for almost anything. I recommend using products with minimal ingredients and keep them simple & sustainable!
How to leave a smaller footprint
My top 6 personal tips & tricks
Buy quality, not quantity
It’s better to pay a little more for a higher quality item, then always needing to repurchase the same items down the road. If your budget allows, spend a little more on a quality item, whether it be clothing, furniture, food, or even beauty products, so you can ensure that product or item lasts as long as possible. This is one of the easiest ways to implement the zero-waste motto into your daily life.
Become an Eco-friendly yogi
Practice yoga on a mat made from natural, organic and recyclable material such as cotton, rubber, bamboo or hemp. These mats will absorb your sweat, they don’t slip, and can be easily cleaned. They’re a much better alternative to most mats today that are made from PVC, which is one of the most toxic plastics. This is exactly what you want to avoid when trying to align yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally during your yoga practice.
Leave your credit card at home
Often times we don’t feel like we’re spending our money when we use credit cards, so we’re more likely to buy things we can’t afford or don’t really need. I recommend bringing cash when out shopping, so you can reduce your spending habits on things you don’t truly need. This will help eliminate waste and help you save a ton of money in the long run!
Less meat, more veg
Less is more when it comes to consuming animal products. It requires much less land, water, and energy to derive food from animals than from vegetables. If you can’t become a full vegetarian or vegan, try becoming a “reducitarian” and start by reducing your meat consumption to one-two times a week. Use the extra money you save from cutting out meat & use it to purchase local organic fruits & veggies instead.
Run!
Running is a free, all natural alternative to getting fit. As a cross country runner, this has always been my favorite way of getting fit and sweating out toxins. But for anyone who’s new to running, I suggest starting off slow and try running a couple miles a week. Then increase your weakly millage every other week to level up the intensity. You never know, maybe one day you’ll be running your first marathon?
Be “acceptable” without buying anything
Don’t fall into the advertisement trap of believing you need to buy something in order to fix your life problems. For an example, an ad for home organizers & storage bins is trying to sell their product by convincing you that your life is a mess. If you believe the ad, then you’ll likely head to the store and buy a bunch of new organizers. Only to find that much of what was causing clutter didn’t need to be thoughtfully organized, rather it just needed to be donated or removed from your home in the first place. Now you’ve spent money on stuff to organize the stuff you already had and realize you actually don’t have enough stuff to fill the organizers you just bought. The best way to organize your stuff is to simply have less of it!
References:
Vandyke, Anita, Louisa Maggio, and Melissa Stefanovski. A zero waste life in thirty days. North Sydney, NSW: Vintage Books/Penguin Random House Australia, 2018. Print.