1. Go through your rubbish
Before you make swaps in your life, you need to realise where in your life you're producing trash. Is it food waste? Packaging? Single-use items? Or just generally things that you use on a daily basis like that old toothbrush you've decided to replace or a tub that's recently broken?
Take a look in your trash can/rubbish bin and try to get a general understanding for areas where you make the most rubbish, and make a mental (or physical) note of this. For me, as I still currently live with my parents and they, thankfully, feed me, so my main source of trash was fast food, tags from clothing items, sweet/chocolate wrappers, and toiletry product containers.
2. Pick an area you want to start on
Personally, I think it's easier to think of swaps you can make in each section, then combine these together.
For example, let's say that you want to first tackle food waste. Ask yourself, why am I wasting this food? Is it because your portion sizes are too big so you can't finish the food? How about you start to cook a little bit less, or put any leftovers into a container for lunch tomorrow? If it's unedible things, such as a banana skin, maybe consider starting a compost? (NB. I honestly don't know too much about composting, since in my family we just have a container that my dad empties - thanks dad! - but I'm pretty sure there's a lot of stuff online if you just google, 'how to start composting', alternatively, I know some councils in the UK collect food waste so you might want to see if this is something your local council offers).
If the area you want to tackle is plastic packaging, consider buying fruit and vegetables loose, rather than in prepacked bags, or shopping at your local farmers' market. You could also see if anywhere in your area sells food from bulk (ie. from a really big container and then you take what you need from it). Alternatively, if nowhere near you sells produce, such as grains or flour, in bulk, then try to get the biggest bag you realistically think you would use, and try to get it in paper, or a recyclable option.
 |
| Me surveying the bulk options at a store that recently opened near me |
Finally, clothing labels and wrappers etc. I would say the easiest way to achieve the former is to reduce how much clothing you need and shop your own wardrobe first. Did you know that the average American only wears 20% of their clothing? Ridiculous right! Think of all the money you could have saved if you hadn't bought all that clothing or the money you could now make, going through the clothes and selling the ones you no longer need/use/want. If you really need new clothing, buy second hand, or borrow an item from a friend or family member, or host a clothing swap with your friends. As for the latter, wrappers, refuse them. Is it really worth all the oil, energy and plastic required to cover that piece of chocolate for the 5-second gratification you get? Wouldn't you feel better waiting until you got home and eating something there? I agree this is really difficult, and I still sometimes fall at this hurdle but baby steps :)
3. What not to do
I think it can be tempting seeing people living a zero waste lifestyle who have all the 'perfect' containers, bags, or essentials but the worst thing you could do is go out and buy everything you think you need. The likelihood is you probably have something at home that could do the trick. When my family and I first went bulk shopping, we didn't have loads of produce bags, but we got a paper bag and continued to use these until they ripped/basically disintegrated. Even now that we have a few produce bags, I made some more using a t-shirt that had a hole in.
 |
| One of my first low/zero-waste hauls! Nothing crazy but a huge reduction in plastic packaging! |
If you do, however, find yourself really needing something, see if you can first get it second hand or if you do buy it new, buy it to last and make sure the materials aren't damaging to the environment (eg 100% organic cotton is better than nylon, for example).
4. Remind yourself it's ok to make mistakes
The fact that you are even reading this article is great! Awareness is a great place to start. Make sure you keep light-hearted about this - there will be times when something doesn't work right for you - maybe it's that new shampoo that just isn't right for your hair, or you tried a new shop that was too far away to be suitably convenient. It's ok. I think the most important thing about zero waste isn't making no waste at all, it's that you are trying to reduce your waste. If you are going to make this lifestyle change, you need to make sure it's sustainable for you. It doesn't matter if someone else does a zero waste thing differently, if it does work for you, that's great, if it doesn't try a different technique, or shop, or product, or think of another you could do it.
I hope you like these tips and that they may have reduced the worry that I think hearing 'zero-waste' sometimes induces! Please let me know if you have any queries or would like some more information - this was quite a whistle stop tour!
Amy xx
