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7 Tips for Starting Down the Path to Zero Waste

Author Bio

Jonathon Engels, a long-time vegetarian turned vegan, is currently on a trip from Guatemala to... Read More

Starting down the path to a zero-waste lifestyle is something that we can all do now to make a personal impact in thwarting Climate change. Sure, there are governmental policies to worry about. There are Conservation efforts to Support. There is renewable energy, food miles, and public transport. But, right now, we can all adjust the way we live, and we can all reduce the amount of waste we produce.

Truthfully, the route to zero waste is wrought with obstacles. Our economy and culture are built around convenience and over-consumption, neither of which is conducive to reducing waste. So, it will take thoughtfulness and restraint on our parts to make it happen. There is no product we can buy to fix this, no short-cut. But, there are important first steps we can take to begin making a difference.

Eliminate the easy stuff.

There are some forms of waste we produce every day that we can easily eliminate. We can avoid take-out food and to-go containers. We can buy loose, fresh produce instead of packaged stuff. We can opt for ingredients or bulk purchases instead of single-serving frozen dinners or snack packs. We can ween ourselves off of mail-order shopping and, even better, move towards secondhand stuff. We can all look at our typical shopping list, think through it, and find ways to reduce the waste it ultimately creates.

Plan out waste streams.

As we generate these new shopping lists, we should also consider where the waste we will create goes. While waste reduction is the most important part of zero-waste living, understanding where “waste” might be reimagined is critical, too. We can reuse and repurpose things we might have once thrown away. We can adjust our shopping based partly on whether or not the packaging and/or the item can be recycled. We can think of all this before we buy stuff so that we aren’t filling garbage bags.

Wait before purchasing.

The on-demand, have-it-now economy has done us no favors in terms of environmental or fiscal responsibility. Television, supermarkets, and internet sites are constructed to make us spend impetuously, buying junk we don’t need instead of saving our pennies or sticking to our shopping lists. That’s why it’s good practice to wait a while before purchasing anything unnecessary. Maybe life wouldn’t be all that different without a tabloid magazine or stylish new phone cover. Maybe this 3.0 version of whatever isn’t all that better than the 2.9 version.

Become a DIY enthusiast.

The more we have moved to buying products instead of ingredients or materials, the more specialized and varied those products have become. We have hundreds of toothpaste options: whitening, tartar-control, cinnamon-mango, all-natural, etc. The same is true for shampoo, snacks, drinks, cleaning products, and everything else. That’s a different package for each variation. Making toiletries, cleaners, snacks, and drinks at home, with just a few ingredients, is easy and drastically reduces what goes in the trash bin, and these versions are greener to boot.

Begin composting/vermicomposting.

Food scraps and compostable materials are not garbage. They are future fertility. When we send them to the landfill, we are contaminating valuable resources. The loss of topsoil and soil life is a major issue, and we are throwing away our most effective way to improve the situation. Composting is a sensible means to handle yard waste—leaves, grass clippings, twigs—and paper products, and vermicomposting (using worms) will make short work of any food scraps. Instead of waste, we could be creating life.

Get reusable where possible.

The reusable shopping bags, water bottles, and to-go cup movement have most certainly made an impact, and there are ways to expand what we are doing. For example, reusable shopping bags aren’t restricted to supermarkets alone, and reusable water bottles/to-go cups can hold all sorts of beverages, including fountain drinks. Reusable vegetable bags can help us avoid the plastic ones in the produce section. Buying in bulk can keep us from acquiring new jars and bottles for peanut butter, olive oil, spices, herbs, and apple cider vinegar, and it can help us avoid plastic packaging for items like sugar, rice, pasta, grains, beans, nuts, seeds, flour and so on. And, again, secondhand shopping—reusing what others have thrown out—reduces waste, too.

Use what you’ve got.

Considering what’s reusable, it is important not to replace impulse-purchasing of other stuff with reusable items. In other words, reusable bags are only effective at reducing waste if we buy them and reuse them dozens if not hundreds of times. We can’t get a new one every other week because the new design is cool. Likewise, if we get a new reusable water bottle every couple of months, we aren’t doing much good. We have to maneuver back to being a culture that uses things fully, even repairing things, rather than constantly and unnecessarily replacing them.

Whether it’s taking one or all seven of the tips, anyone can get started today, and that personal effort will be the beginning of making a difference instead of merely demanding one. Once we clean up our own homes, it will be much easier to demand the same of corporations, factories, and political policies.

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that are raising awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
Support Independent Media: Being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your own food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!