Has trying zerowaste ever turned you into a hoarder / almost hoarder?
Because that’s been my case lol.
“I can re-use this!” & it’s just been sitting there being unused for months or years. I’ll find a use for it “one day” & I feel too guilty to throw it out. Even taking out what garbage I do have makes me feel guilty. So I wait, and wait, and wait.
And I don’t use “hoarder” lightly. I’m already a messy person, so adding a pang of guilt anytime I had to throw something away, or not knowing how I could give my extra 20-30 glass jars to someone who wanted them was becoming a big problem.
1.) do a trash audit, and write down what habits or actions are making this trash
2.) organize these actions in this order: easiest to change - can’t change (ex: medical waste)
3.) find your local no-buy, free stuff, eco-friendly groups so you can give stuff away that you aren’t re-using
4.) recognize that some zero-waste changes will also make you have to address other areas of your life (mental health, time management)
5.) make zero waste work WITH you, not against you. If you feel like you’re forcing yourself to do something that sucks, find another solution - otherwise you might give up altogether
6.) research different solutions for different actions - if the solution is expensive, try to find the cheap / free alternative until you can afford to use what you want (ex: re-using ziploc bags until you can afford stasher bags)
7.) take into account how your living situation impacts these habits (you might be successful at composting, & then move somewhere where you have to learn how you can compost in THIS situation, and that might be a few months and you feel awful for throwing away compostable items) something could be easy one place, and challenging / next to impossible in another. - so actions on the easiest to change - can’t change spectrum can change their places!
I’m sure I can think of other stuff later, but this is it for now. Thanks for reading, please share your advice & experiences if you can relate!
