So you’re ready to go zero-waste but feeling overwhelmed with where to start? We get it. Changing your lifestyle isn’t an easy task, and even though it seems like you have the right intentions by rushing through the process, going zero-waste takes time! There’s more to zero-waste than a few product swaps.
In fact, the best way to start your journey and make sure your new habits stick is to ask yourself some critical questions about your current lifestyle. From there, you can move on to taking action and replacing your old products with their green alternatives! We’re here to guide you through going zero-waste in 2021, so here’s how to start your journey.
Critical Questions To Ask Yourself:
How Much Do You Actually Waste?
Before even thinking about purchasing eco-friendly products, you must assess your current waste. And the best tip we can offer is to be 100% real and honest with yourself. It doesn’t help the environment to make justifications or excuses as to why you’re wasteful in certain areas of your life. In fact, the more honest you are, the better you’ll be at going zero-waste! Living a low to zero-waste lifestyle is all about putting in the effort; it’s not about being a perfect environmentalist.
Once you have a good idea of how much you waste and what areas of your life you’re the most wasteful in, then you can move forward into creating new routines and habits. We suggest going slow with your zero-waste journey since it can be overwhelming at first. It’s tempting to want to throw out everything made out of plastic and go purchase new products, but if you really want to change your lifestyle, it’ll take time, so go slow!
Where Can You Start?
Let’s start your journey by prioritizing where you can start reducing waste and breaking wasteful habits. Perhaps you’ve been buying bottled water your entire life. Well, a great place to start is investing in a reusable water bottle made out of stainless steel. Or, say you order takeout food pretty often and never think twice about the plastic utensils they provide you with. Grab yourself reusable utensils made out of bamboo and keep a stash in your car for when you need them!
One last place to start your journey is with your morning coffee. How often do you grab a coffee at your favorite coffee shop? If your answer is quite often, it’s time to start bringing your own mug and saying no to plastic cups!
Taking Zero-Waste Action:
Now that you’ve got your zero-waste plan in place, let’s go over how you can start changing your lifestyle in the most cost-efficient and straightforward ways.
Use What You Have
At the beginning of your journey, you’ll probably still have half-full shampoo bottles, soaps, hygiene products, and so on, which you might be tempted to immediately replace after realizing how wasteful they are. However, we recommend holding off on making the eco-friendly swaps until you’ve used up what you already have! Finish your old products, get good use out of them, and then you can start purchasing new products once you’ve run out.
Practice Repurposing
The concept of repurposing might become your best zero-waste friend. Not only is it a great way to reduce recycling or trash, but it can save you quite a bit of money too. Say you have a few glass food jars that you’ve used up; you can repurpose them into something you’d typically need to purchase. For example, use your old mason jars for the bulk section at the grocery store or to store leftovers instead of purchasing new containers. If you finish up your cosmetic products and are left with plastic containers, use them as mini planters!
Lastly, Start Making Eco-Friendly Swaps
Now, it’s finally time to shop for your replacement items. Whether you need refills on your hygiene products, household items, or even cleaning essentials, we have everything you can think of and the best part is, it’s all zero-waste approved. You don’t need to stress about whether or not it’s eco-friendly; we’ve already taken care of the research and the trial and error process of going zero-waste!
Remember, your zero-waste journey should be slow, controlled, and will improve over time. As you become more familiar with what’s better for the environment, you’ll notice that living a zero-waste lifestyle is probably much easier than you once thought!
