A Guide to Starting a Zero-Waste Lifestyle

Recycling is one of the most popular ways to reduce solid waste. But although it helps lessen trash, it is not enough to cope up with the amount of garbage that ends up in the environment. Continuously causing harm to nature, animals, and humans.

Every day the world generates million tons of garbage from households, offices, groceries, and factories. Making it impossible to recycle every single piece of trash. Especially as not all materials are recyclable. Such as: Styrofoam, steel cans, broken objects, and single-use plastic packaging. The best way to ultimately minimize trash is to avoid waste coming from our hands. Including the recyclable ones.

This is where zero-waste lifestyle comes. An advocacy to send zero waste in landfill. Although this seems impossible given that almost all products we use and consume come with packaging that will eventually become wastes, people living a zero-waste lifestyle only make a small jar of trash a year. Which they don’t send to bin. Instead, they keep their jar of garbage as a motivation to reduce their trash even more.

Living a zero-waste lifestyle is challenging. It requires making lots of changes in your day-to-day life. Taking small steps and being patient with yourself and the process is important to make the transition easy. Allowing yourself to adjust little by little and learn new ways on how to improve your trash reduction each day.

 A good way to start is by eliminating unnecessary packages when buying groceries. Grocery trash is one of the major contributors to wastes in landfill. From biscuits wrappers, condiments bottles, toiletries containers, and cellophanes to pack meats and vegetables. Carefully choosing each item to put in your basket can greatly minimize waste that you bring into your home.

Opt for unpacked items to reduce trash. For instance, buying apples in pieces instead of in packs. It is helpful to pick those that don’t have stickers as small trash accumulates and can still affect the environment. Buying in bulk is also good as it means less packaging. Many people with zero-waste lifestyle practice bringing their own cloth bags when doing grocery. So, they don’t have to deal with plastic cellophanes to pack veggies, fruits, and other items. For wet products like meat and fish, they bring their own jars to prevent water drippings and secure them well in the grocery basket.

Other people who choose to have a zero-waste lifestyle learn to make their own cleaning products and toiletries. As these products are usually packed in single use packages and containers.  Some also make their own make-up and perfumes to further reduce their solid wastes.

Biodegradable garbage such as vegetable peel and yard wastes goes to compost pit to use in garden. Growing your own food like herbs, fruits, spices, and vegetables is a huge help not just in minimizing waste but also your expenses. It is very convenient as you can pick them freshly from your yard. Helps you live healthier too as you don’t have to use chemical fertilizers to nourish the plants.

There are many ways to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle especially if you are determined. It can be challenging at the beginning but it is very rewarding along the way. Not just for the environment but for yourself. It can help you make better choices in your life. Motivates you to: (1) buy less which lets you save money. (2) grow your own food which ensures fresh and healthy produce for your recipes. And (3) use what you already have instead of buying new every time there is a new trend.

Every effort towards zero-waste can go a long way to minimizing trash in the environment and saving the Earth.