All week long, you’ve sorted all your trash religiously into bins for plastic, paper, glass, and metal. Come Thursday (or whichever day you’ve designated as the Taking Out Trash Day), you stare in bewilderment at the literal heaps of packages you now must take to the nearest recycle-friendly container. Yup, although sorting your trash for further recycling is already a solid step forward to a more eco-friendly life, there’s still a lot of room to do even better. Enter the zero waste philosophy. Basically, it is what the name says it is - a life where you don’t leave any trash after you! Goodbye heaps of plastic, and au revoir miles of paper!
That’s right, zero waste living sounds like a dream come true to anyone who’s all about preserving our planet Earth, but how to start living zero waste? It isn’t like you’d be very welcome to go to your nearest Walmart with your own jars, cotton bags, and beeswaxed paper to wrap your stuff in! Worry not; you’ll find tons of useful zero waste tips in this article! And you know, you can always start with little steps, like using reusable cloth pieces instead of paper towels, and then adding in more and more zero waste hacks to your daily routine once you feel comfortable enough with those little changes. Still, if you’re more of an ‘all in or nothing’ person, you’ll find these useful tips very doable and easily adaptable to your own life.
Now, ready to glean some info on how a zero waste lifestyle could look? If so, you know the drill - scroll down below until you reach the submissions, read the zero waste tips, and give your vote for the ones that seemed the most enlightening. After all that is well done, share this article with your friends. Who knows, they might be in for a zero waste challenge!
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Donate Unused Items In Good Condition To Support The Second-Hand Market
Wash Clothes When They Are Actually Dirty, Instead Of After Only One Wear
Think Second-Hand First When Purchasing Something
Put On A Sweater And Socks Before Turning Up The Heat
Check Out Your Farmers Market
Learn To Repair Something When It Breaks
Line Dry A Load Instead Of Using The Dryer
Pick Up Litter When You’re Out And Dispose Of It Properly
I go out every spring once the snow melts and clean the garbage litterbug jerks throw down my country road. I also do sections of adjacent roads. It amazes me how dirty people are sometimes and disgusted by how they have no compunction about polluting the beautiful and pristine countryside.
Surround Yourself With Tools And Items That Are Meant To Last A Lifetime. Try To Only Buy Objects Once
Dewalt for me! Then Dremel and Bosch. Tools are an investment and I hate dealing with poor quality tools that don't do the job properly or makes the job more difficult and then I have to go and replace the cheep tool anyways.
Bring Reusable Produce Bags For Fruits And Veggies
Get A Library Card To Support Your Local Sharing Economy
Turn The Water Off While Brushing Your Teeth
Buy More Locally Made Goods
Always Run A Full Dishwasher Or Load Of Clothes
Don't put your clothes in the dishwasher and don't put your dishes in the wash machine. The warning labels write themselves.
Buy Food Without Packaging Or Minimal Packaging
The Problem ist that Food with less packaging is more expensive and more difficult to get.
Meal Plan To Avoid Food Waste
Take Public Transit If Available Or Carpool
Me... bus is cool... We are also getting metro system in place now...
Don’t Leave Your House Without A Full Reusable Water Bottle
Also, don't drive your Kubota to the liquor store to get beer. According to Officer Kirby, it is technically drunk driving.
Use Bar Soap Instead Of Liquid Soap, It Tends To Come With Less Packaging
Learn Where To Properly Dispose Of Items Like Gift Cards, Old Cell Phones, Batteries And Unusable Cords Can Be Turned In
My local supermarket now collects mobiles and batteries. The local council office has multiple other disposal bins. Officeworks takes used ink cartridges and e-waste.
Ask Yourself If You Truly Need It Before Making Any Purchases
Start A Backyard Compost
Ditch Paper Towels And Use Tea Towels And Rags
If It’s A 30 Minute Or Less Walk, Get Outside Instead Of Driving
There's only one business in my town an it's a little bar. So yeah, I walk there.
Keep A Bucket In The Shower To Water Plants Or Flush The Toilet
Learn To Regrow Kitchen Scraps
Wash Your Clothes In Cold Water When You Can
Open A Window To Cool Down Your Home Or Air It Out
Bring Your Own To-Go Cup When Getting Coffee On The Run
Eat More Vegetables And Legumes
Keep A Stocked Pantry To Avoid Getting Takeout On Busy Nights
Make Your Morning Cup Of Coffee With A French Press Or Pour Over With A Reusable Filter To Avoid Extra Waste
Turn Old Sheets And Towels Into Handkerchiefs, Rags, Napkins, And Cloth Produce Bags
Use a chamber pot like the one pictured. Then water your plants with it in the morning!
Store Your Food Properly To Make It Last Longer
Ask For A Real Mug At The Coffee Shop When Staying In
Swap Tea Bags For Loose Leaf Tea In A Reusable Strainer
Try To Avoid Palm Oil
You can identify palm oil because the bottle will show tiny green coconuts like the ones in this photo.
Try Canning To Preserve Food
I've done a bit of microwave bottling in the last 12 months and it's great!
Don’t Buy Anything Impulsively!
*everyone on bored panda impulsively purchases with the credit card that is so clearly shown*
Plant A Small Garden
Unplug Electronics When Not In Use
Find Your Local Cobbler To Repair Tired Shoes
Pack Your Lunch Instead Of Eating Out Every Day
Reduce Your Meat Consumption. If You’re Not Ready To Go Vegetarian Start Small: Try Meatless Monday, Weekday Vegetarian, Or Even Weekday Vegan
Bring Your Own Container For To-Go Food And Leftovers
Swap Your Plastic Toothbrush For A Bamboo Toothbrush
Change Light Bulbs To LEDs
I'm genuinely wondering when people will start advocating for candles or "natural" lighting, when they start looking at lab/engineering waste. I wonder how much waste is produced just to create LEDs. Particularly I wonder about holiday lights that burn out after a couple months (wild considering it's led.) I think sometimes our replacement technology isn't cleaner, just because it lasts longer. I guess I wonder about trade offs.
Look Into Collecting Rainwater Or A Greywater System
Rainwater collection is illegal in some areas. Be sure to check your local codes
Serve Dinner With Cloth Napkins
Get Some Houseplants At A Local Nursery To Purify Your Air, Don’t Forget To Return The Little Plastic Pots!
Or use the little plastic pots! Keep them and add to them for cool pencil holders, little trash cans, a little bucket for compost, or plant another plant in them! They have very many uses!
Try To Shrink The Amount You Recycle. Zero Waste Is About Recycling Less Not More
Avoid Receipts When Out, Ask If One Has To Be Printed
Join A Community Garden
Ask For No Straw In Your Drink Order When Out
Bring your own stainless steel straw! (Doubles as a shiv if this get dicey.)
Surround Yourself With Items That Serve Multiple Purposes To Streamline And Cut Excess Junk
Ditch Plastic Shower Loofahs For A Real Loofah Or A Bamboo Bath Brush
So far I have found one made of potato fibre that is quite rough. Trying an actual loofa next.
Beware Of Greenwashing, Always Do Your Research
Get Rid Of Pests Naturally
Look Into Rechargeable Batteries Instead Of Disposables
This is generally not advisable for standby devices like smoke detectors or carbon monoxide detectors.
Switch From A Plastic Disposable Razor To A Metal Safety Razor
Build A Zero Waste Kit And Put In The Trunk Of Your Car Or Carry It With You When You’ll Be Out So You’ll Always Be Prepared
Repurpose Stale Bread
Go Paperless For All Your Bills
Use Both Sides Of The Paper!
Always Say No Thank You To Free Promotional Items. They Tend To Be Cheap And Break Easily
Vote With Your Dollars For A Sustainable Future
Learn How To Freeze Your Food Without Plastic So It Doesn’t Go To Waste
You can reuse plastic freezer bags. Turn them inside out, put them in the dishwasher, dry on counter.
Make Homemade Gifts To Give To Friends And Family
I genuinely wish people appreciated home made gifts. It was on this website that people had a sh*t-fit over whether gifting a hand made blanket was worth doing. It's a lot of blood sweat and tears, and 99% of the time it's not appreciated. I hate gift exchanges unless it's between really close relationships.
Find Your Local Tailor To Help With Clothing Repairs
Instead Of Buying Something When You’re Having A Bad Day, Do Something (Go On A Walk, Take A Yoga Class, Meet Up With A Friend)
I'll manage my own self-care thank you. If I want to buy a new book, or pretty socks, or an entire cheesecake to make myself feel better then that's damn sure what I'm going to do!
Swap Disposable Pads And Tampons For Cloth Pads Or A Menstrual Cup
Try Cloth Diapering
Know Where Everything You Buy Comes From Whether It Be Food, Clothing, Or Other Household Goods
Ask For No Plastic And Reused Packaging Materials For Online Orders
Wrap Presents In Newsprint!
Swap Cotton Rounds For Reusable Rounds
Ditch Plastic Q-Tips For Plastic-Free Or Reusable
Ditch Sponges In Lieu Of Compostable Scrubs Or Brushes
Ditch Tissues For Handkerchiefs
Nope. Not giving up my tissues. As someone with severe allergies I'm not carrying around a bunch of snotty cloths. Also not very sanitary in the Age of Covid.
Host A Clothing Swap With Friends
Pick Up A Lonely Banana
Make Your Own Face Mask From Stuff In Your Pantry
Try Wheatless Wednesdays To Cut Back On Intensive Grain Farming
My whole life is wheatless, I guess that's one good thing about being celiac?
Avoid Junk Mail By Placing A Sticker On Your Box
I mean, they are still printing them, even if it doesn't go in your box
Make Your Own Febreze Spray To Freshen Your Room For Pennies!
Make Dry Shampoo To Stretch Between Washes
Dry shampoo is disgusting, used it once and it stink and I was choking for days. Just take a shower if you need to wash your hair.
Try Making Your Own Lotion
Swap Little Plastic Chapstick Tubes For DIY Lip Balm
Try Making Tooth Powder To Avoid Unrecyclable Toothpaste Tubes
Try Your Hand At An Easy All-Purpose Cleaning Spray
Try Homemade Mouthwash
Try Elderberry Syrup If You Feel A Cold Coming On Instead Of Immediately Reaching For A Plastic Pill Bottle
Make Your Own Deodorant
Most of these seem to be only feasible if you live in a nice, green suburb with a large house and big back yard (think Phil & Claire from Modern Family). Absolutely useless for lower-income people living in tiny apartments in the city.
Need to wipe? Just do the boot-scoot! It's good enough for dogs!
Load More Replies...Most of these seem to be only feasible if you live in a nice, green suburb with a large house and big back yard (think Phil & Claire from Modern Family). Absolutely useless for lower-income people living in tiny apartments in the city.
Need to wipe? Just do the boot-scoot! It's good enough for dogs!
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