I’m not living a zero waste life – yet.
Because guess what? It doesn’t happen overnight. And if you try and make that significant of a life change happen immediately, chances are, it won’t stick.
That’s a major misconception about the zero waste lifestyle. We read stories about zero waste rock stars who haven’t produced trash in years (*cough* TIFT founder Lauren *cough*), but that’s just their highlight reel. Everyone who is zero waste had to start somewhere, and I bet they’ll tell you the same thing – it’s a process.
So if you’re any bit interested in living a zero or less waste lifestyle, here are some key things to keep in mind:
ESTABLISH YOUR “WHY”
Most everyone who decides to explore the zero waste lifestyle has a “why” behind what they’re doing. Get specific with your “why” so you can return to it on a daily basis as your inner motive.
Are you a surfer who hates seeing plastic wash up on the beach?
Have you experienced a health scare or issue after using a beauty product containing toxins?
Are you tired of spending $6 on a latte every single day?
Are you fed up with our political leaders not giving a damn about climate change?
Write it on your mirror, tattoo it on your bicep – always come back to you WHY.
ASSESS YOUR WASTE
Dig through your trash!
Just kidding….kind of.
The easiest place to start is assessing where you’re making a lot of waste and focusing on those areas first. Even if you can’t solve every aspect of that area right away, you can start to prioritize the steps you want to take. Which leads me to my next point…
PRIORITIZE
Maybe you realize you’re throwing away a lot of trash by getting to-go coffee and takeout on weekdays. Prioritize making coffee at home and taking it in a reusable mug, and meal prepping and packing your lunch.
Maybe you’re a product junkie and realize you’re throwing away tons of shampoo, lotion and soap bottles. Look into shampoo bars, bulk beauty items and sustainably made products.
Looking at the big picture of all the waste in your life can feel overwhelming, but once you break it down and focus on one area at a time, it becomes so much more doable.
Check out asome of my favorite zero waste items broken down by “areas of waste” at the bottom of the post for ideas on where to start.
REPLACE ITEMS AS THEY RUN OUT
Where all my budget-conscious friends at?
Repeat after me: I do not need to buy every zero waste alternative at once. Phew, that felt good didn’t it?
If you have the cash, and the desire to do a full overhaul of your life at once, by all means, go for it!
But what I’d recommend is purchasing zero waste alternatives once your non-zero waste items run out. Because buying something then throwing it out unused is pretty wasteful too, right?
For example: if you just spent an arm and leg on razor refills, use them up. No sense throwing away an unused item. But once they’re out, switch to the zero waste alternative like this safety razor.
And chances are the price of the zero waste item will be on par, if not cheaper, than the non sustainable drug store alternative.
But on the topic of using up your old items….
RESEARCH HOW TO PROPERLY RECYLE OLD ITEMS, DONATE, SELL OR UP-CYCLE THEM
Your goal is zero waste, so don’t go throwing your old items in the trash now!
Recycle whatever you can. Compost whenever you can. Find a way to reuse an old item whenever you can. Donate items, or gift them to friends. The goal of zero waste living is to keep matter out of landfills.
And for everything else, look for a TerraCycle program. They’ve found a way to recycle just about anything. #badass
REMEMBER: IT’S A PROCESS!
It won’t happen overnight, and it might even take a year or two to go fully zero waste if that’s your goal. But you know what, you’re awesome for wanting to make this change and for making the effort to do so.
Everyone’s zero waste journey is different. So never compare yourself to other people. Get inspiration from them, communicate with other zero waste-ers in the process when you have questions or concerns, be supported by other people – not intimidated.
I’m just baby steps into the process myself, so what do you say to doing this thing together?
9 comments
This is helpful! I was just wondering how long it took Lauren to go zero waste. I’ve been doing it slowly now for about 6 months but still have a ways to go. Some changes are definitely easier than others. Thanks Lauren for all the inspiration & tips to make it easier!
If you’re looking for a 100% compostable toothbrush (without plastic bristles) I would try Brush Naked over brush with bamboo. They have plant based bristles so you don’t have to deal with using pliers to remove bristles at the end of their life and knowing that eventually plastic bristles will end up (after recycling/eventually) in the waste stream or a landfill. Just a thought! But if you already use plastic toothbrushes, you can also reuse them for cleaning to extend their life even longer.
this may be a way to easy of a question…. What do you do when you have to buy in bulk. Example… I went to Sprouts today and had to get slivered almonds. They have those bulk bags for you to use so they can weight it.
Thank you and love your blog.
Stephanie, you can bring mason jars or other reusable containers to customer service or to an employee who can get the tare weight for you. They can write it on the container and then subtract that from whatever the total is. Hope this helps.
Hi Stephanie – I bring my own reusable produce bags at Sprouts to fill at their bulk section, because it is often difficult to have someone available to tare my jars upon arrival. If your jars are weighted beforehand, the cashiers can easily subtract that from your item weight at checkout (as I’ve seen it done before). I do still produce trash my way, as I use those little twisty tags to write item #s, but far less than I would if still using the plastic produce bags! Hope this helps.
I found shops like these in NZ and obviously you guys have them in USA but how about UK? Do you have any links to where in uk we may go packaging free?
A great piece of information. I think this is what I was exactly looking for. All tips in a single click. I would definitely try to follow these suggestions. I really enjoyed this post and I hope you will keep posting this kind of post in future.
Your safety razor and Tear Cycle links come back with a 404.
Do they still exist?
Thanks for flagging this! The links have been updated. We very much appreciate it, happy reading!