My zero waste journey (and how you can do it too) 😌
Just about four years ago, a friend and I were moving in together for our junior year of college and we decided to try out the whole zero waste thing. I was pretty skeptical at first - I mean, there were so many questions I had. What would we do for hair ties? How would we get tofu package free? Toilet paper?! So many, many questions. But I was willing to try - after all, I had just gone vegan. If I could do that (with a family from Texas and France, aka the lands of BBQ and cheese), then I could do anything right?
How we did it
We started off slowly and just challenged ourselves to do it for one semester, which I actually appreciated a lot. We also made sure to use up all of our old products that came in plastic packaging so that we wouldn’t be creating more waste unnecessarily.
The first steps we took included composting (which we kept in our freezer to prevent flies and smells), making our own hair products and toothpaste, and learning to shop in the bulk sections with our own containers. Because we were both vegan, we didn’t have to change our diets too much because a lot of the foods we eat (like beans, rice and oats) all came in bulk bins.
Once we were comfortable with all that, we challenged ourselves to more things like only shopping secondhand, recycling our clothing that was too worn to be donated, and saying no to freebies was another leg of the journey during that time.
During that semester, we cut down about 90% of our day to day trash.
Following these lifestyle changes, I began adopting even more sustainable habits like bringing my own container when I go to a restaurant just in case there are leftovers, shopping predominantly at the farmer’s market, bringing my own cutlery, opting for secondhand books over new ones, and getting my clothes tailored and repaired instead of tossing them out.
The simplicity of this lifestyle, the reduced stress from having fewer things, and the knowledge that I was taking steps every day to be a better human were my fuel.
That being said, there are still things I will continue to work on, like volunteering more in my community, reducing my air travel, and just generally being educated on politics and what’s going on in the world.
Recently someone asked me what the hardest part has been about going zero waste, and while I would never go back to my old ways, there are a few things I’ve struggled with more than others since I started reducing my impact:
• certain food products are off limits to me simply because of the packaging • vegan floss • clothes - I used to be a shopaholic, but now I have a much greater appreciation for my clothing! • bringing my own cutlery places - I don’t know why but this habit took me a while to form. But once I did it became second nature! • accepting that I don’t need all matching jars • traveling - composting is the hardest part about traveling for me cause I don’t have easy access like I do at home • stressing about your friends/family’s/roommate’s waste - I used to get so frustrated with my family but after a while I had to force myself to stop because this stress wasn’t helping anybody
While I’m sure there are a lot more, I’d like to also include some of the things I’ve gained from living this lifestyle so that it doesn’t seem so incredibly intimidating:
• appreciation for farmer’s markets • moving apartments is a lot easier with less stuff • learning that having fewer clothes doesn’t make me less happy. In fact, it makes me more happy (and I save a looootta money from not shopping) • the satisfaction from getting creative with repurposing or anything really, and knowing that something that could have been super wasteful can not be simply by changing your mindset around it • saving money • finding value in people and not things • eating healthier from the lack of processed junk food
What do you struggle with most living #zerowaste? What do you appreciate the most? Let me know in the comments 🤗
Xoxo, Sabs
