I would not say that I am zero waste. But I definetely try to reduce my waste to the minimum, doing all I can. I would call it Low Waste.
If you do not live alone or with people that share your views on waste and the environment, it can be hard to stay low waste, because other people may not agree with your own beliefs. However, there are a few little actions that you can do to reduce your personal waste and maybe give an example to the people around you.
Giving an example might be the est thing to do when it comes to personal beliefs. People will probably not like you to tell them what to do, but if you live your own life and give the example, they might actually be interested by that and start doing the same.
In this first article about Low Waste, I will share with you my little tips to reduce your waste on your own without bothering others and having to take decisions for many people. These will only affect you, and the planet.
According to the website The World Counts, we will use 5 trillion plastic bags in 2018. Yes, that's a lot. 5'000'000'000'000.
"That’s 160,000 a second! And over 700 a year for every single person on the planet."
You can check out that website for more numbers, but the best thing to do, if that makes you feel sad, angry or overwhelmed, would be to join the low waste movement and help with your daily responsible actions.
In the occidental world, we tend to forget about the impact of our waste on the planet, because we hide it very well. And when we see movies or documentaries about places in poorer countries, we are amazed by how much waste there is out on the streets. What we forget is that we probably produce much more waste than those countries but we just burn and bury it in landfills.
There is a lot of information out there about zero or low waste. Some swaps are really easy, some others require to think about what we really need or want. I like to think that not so long ago, there was not so much waste produced as now, and people were fine. How far you go is your own choice : you can simple choose to include some responsible habits in your daily life, or to try to go completely zero waste, like Bea Johnson, writer of the book Zero Waste Home, The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying your Life by Reducing your Waste. That I got for my birthday a few years ago and has become my Bible.
Here are the easiest tips to reduce your waste:
Switch your plastic bags for reusable cloth produce bags ot tote bags. I am a huge fan of tote bags, I must have 6 of them in total. But I hardly ever accept a plastic or paper bag from a store when I shop and will probably use them for a lifetime. When you go groceries shopping, if you are responsible for it, you can refuse the single use plastic bags they give you and reuse the ones you already have or bring your cloth produce bags. They can be quite expensive, so I personally made my owns from a light recycled curtain cloth.
If you use a napkin daily, you could use cloth ones, wash them when they are dirty and reuse them over and over again. It makes no difference to me, and it looks much fancier!
Instead of using plastic bags to store food or snacks, I use lunchboxes. It works perfectly for me, even though they take a bit more space. I am planning on sewing my own washable pouch for my snacks.
When you go out, it is important to stay hydrated, yes. Why not bring your own bottle of water? I have a stainless steel one, that can be used as a thermos as well : it keeps my drinks cold or warm. In many countries, water is drinkable everywhere, sometimes you can find filtered water distributors as well. You can get good water for free and without producing any waste. If you have the habit of buying coffee ot tea out, you can use a reusable coffee cup or a thermos, which will probably not save you money but will keep many cups out of the landfill.
Same for eating, you can bring your own utensils or lunchbox when you go to fast foods or take away restaurants. I was not used to those, but in North America I noticed that they are much more common. Often, even though you eat there, you do not get a plate nor utensils, everything is single use and goes to landfill after. When I know I want to take the food away and go especially for that, I bring my own lunchbox. If I am out for the day, I just bring my utensils. I find it hard, sometimes I forget to bring my own. If I were to choose, I would simply not go to those restaurants and choose those where they give you "real" plates and utensils.
How to be low waste in your bathroom? It is actually easier than you think. I wrote a blog post on my minimalist and eco-friendly bathroom essentials that you will find here. Here are a few examples of what I changed: I now use bamboo toothbrushes that are compostable (except for the bristles) and way more fancy than hose ugly plastic ones, I replaced my body wash by a soap bar, and discovered that baking soda might be the best deodorant ever.
Last but not least, ladies, your periods. Pads and tampons produce a lot of waste. A lot. and they also cost a lot of money. So why not try out the new alternatives, less expensive and with almost no waste? There are lots of videos and articles about reusable pads and menstrual cups to do your research and find what works best for you.
If you want to share any Low Waste tip in the comments, feel free to do so, I will be very happy to read about that. Do not forget, every tiny step counts. So many people think they cannot do anything about ecology because they represent nothing on a global scale, but if every person able to do so started including those little actions in their everyday life, the world would probably be a greener place.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead