The 6 Main Concepts of Zero-Waste Living
Why do YOU want to be more eco?
There are plenty of reasons to become more environmentally-friendly: to fight climate change, to save wildlife, to create a better future for our children, for our own health…Just to name a few! Luckily, there are so many ways we can improve our lives to do so. One of the major problems that we have yet to solve is the problem of excessive waste.
We make a LOT of waste.
Globally, 2.1 BILLION TONS of waste is produced every year, with only 16% of waste recycled. Since the year 1950, we have produced over 8.3 billion tons of plastic: all of which are still here, and that number is growing.
In the United States alone, by a large margin, we produce waste disproportionately to our population. Despite only having 4% of the world’s population, we produce 12% of the world’s waste. Compare this to India and China who, despite having a combined 36% of the world’s population, only produce 26% of the global waste! This means that on average, American people are MUCH more wasteful than our Chinese and Indian friends on the other side of the globe.
But we’re better at recycling, right?
Not really. Unfortunately, even when it comes to recycling, America doesn’t come anywhere near to leading the global pack. Americans generally recycle about 35% of our waste, which is better than the global average, but we still sit far behind many other developed countries. Germany, for example, recycles a whopping 68% of their waste!
It’s time to change!
There have been many calls to reduce our waste recently, with the popular Zero Waste Movement starting to make some news headlines. But even if you don’t make it all the way down to ZERO waste, even a modest reduction to your waste can have huge impacts on the planet!
The Main Concepts of Zero Waste
So let’s look at some of the main concepts behind the Zero Waste Movement and how you can start to implement zero (or low) waste living into your life!
1. Reuse
This one is one we hear a lot. It’s part of the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan that everyone knows. But despite everyone knowing the slogan, very few people apply it fully to their lives.
Reusing means that you use every item you own as many times as you can before throwing it away (or recycling it). Don’t limit items to being used for exactly the same purpose! If you have a home garden, reuse your egg containers for starter planters. Reuse boxes and packaging for storage. Reuse shopping bags as garbage bags. Anything you can think of to repurpose an item is great for the environment! One of my favorites is to use the strong plastic bags that dry rice comes in as beach cleanup bags! They’re super strong and made to carry heavy loads.
2. Refuse
‘Refuse’ has recently been added to the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan (along with ‘repair’) as it is another way to reduce your environmental impact. This one’s easy to do! All of that annoying spam mail? Call and cancel subscriptions! Plastic bags being added to your groceries at the supermarket? Tell them you already have bags. People handing out flyers on the street that you’re only going to look at once and throw away? Give a polite smile and say “No, thanks!” Some stores won’t even bother printing a receipt if you tell them you don’t need one.
If enough people refuse things, the need to make them goes away along with the environmental consequences of making them.
3. Replace
We use a lot of stuff in our daily lives. Most of it has some components that end up in the trash, even if it’s just the packaging. As much as possible, we should be replacing as many of our home products with products that are used many many times before being thrown away or don’t end up in the trash at all! Luckily, these days our options for things that we DON’T need to throw away are increasing! Refillable toothpaste tablets, zero- or low-packaging shampoo bars, and reusable shopping bags, just to name a few!
BUY ALL THE REUSABLE THINGS!
Wait, no. Don’t just go out and buy every reusable thing on the market you can find. Before you start making your switch to environmentally-friendly alternatives, use what you have first. Even if your current toothbrushes are plastic, it is more wasteful to throw them out and replace them immediately with bamboo alternatives. Use what you have until it’s gone, and THEN make the switch!
When you DO buy reusable things like reusable shopping bags, make sure you consider the environmental impact of those as well! You can read my post about reusable shopping bags here. Or, check out my list of easy eco-swaps you can make at home here!
4. Do-It-Yourself (DIY)
One of the most important keys to leading a sustainable life is to learn to do more on your own! The more you do on your own, the less you have to rely on other companies to do things for you. You control what you use, how you use it, and how much you use! When things break, or when you need new things, first consider…Is there some way I could make it or repair it myself? The internet is your friend here! Do-It-Yourself usually takes a bit of effort, but the satisfaction involved is much higher than when you pay someone else. Rather than buying a new thing, knowing that you expanded your own abilities and fixed or built it yourself is a reward of itself.
Try growing your own vegetables, making your own toothpaste, or repairing your own furniture! It’s often much easier than we think it is, and there are so many resources out there to make it possible to do on your own!
If you want to try to make your own reusable eco bag from an old t-shirt, click here!
5. Make your things last longer
This step goes hand-in-hand with the re-use step, but as much as you possibly can, the absolute best way to reduce your impact from the things you own is simply to use them more and for longer durations! New things cost money, too! By using things longer, you reduce the environmental impact of producing more things and keep more money in your pocket! Just like how regularly changing your car’s oil can lead to an engine that lasts much longer, doing regular maintenance on your everyday items can keep them lasting longer, reducing the amount that you need to buy.
Here are some things you can do to make them last longer:
- Try switching to hang-drying your clothes (they last so much longer than when you dry your clothes with a machine!) to make them last longer
- Drying your razor blade after every use to prevent dulling
- Learn how to properly store vegetables so they last a long time in the fridge
6. Become conscious about your waste
This is the number one most important point on this list! If you don’t consciously decide to do any of the above things, remember this one!
Learn to be aware of what you throw away. Any time you throw something away, make a tiny mental note that you had to throw it away and give a thought to whether there was any need to. Was it something you needed in the first place? Could you have reused it before throwing it away? Maybe before you buy this thing again, there’s something reusable you can replace it with.
For some people, this exercise can be tiring or just plain annoying to do, but it’s important not to make such a big deal of it that you get overwhelmed and want to give up. Take it in small steps. At the beginning, just making a mental note of what you’re throwing away is plenty! It’s an awesome first step! It plants a seed that eventually will become a habit that grows.
Once being conscious of your garbage is a natural habit, you will naturally start to think a little differently once you’re at the store. “Hey, this is that thing I always end up throwing away after only using once…” Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of doing things just out of habit or because that’s just what you’ve always done.
TL;DR
In short, there are lots of things you can do to reduce your waste, but the main concepts that underlie all of them are:
- Reuse: Repurpose things before tossing them!
- Refuse: Don’t take home anything you don’t need.
- Replace: Eco-swap for more environmentally-friendly options.
- DIY: Make and repair stuff on your own.
- Find ways to make things last longer
- Be conscious about your waste: What are you throwing away? How much did you use it?
What do you guys think? Is there something I’m missing? Do you have any tips that you use in your daily life to reduce your waste? Put them in the comment section below!
Photo Credits:
Featured Photo by Anna Oliinyk on Unsplash
Beach Trash Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash
Garbage Truck Photo by Lucas van Oort on Unsplash
Bottle to Trash Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels