Easy Every Day Almost Zero Waste Practices

I have already written about how checking my consumption is one of the few ways in which I practice mindfulness. Today, I want to elaborate on this topic a bit more, particularly about how I ensure that I produce zero waste in certain areas of my life.

Nowadays there are a lot of people who practice a zero-waste lifestyle and I can’t help but admire their dedication. It takes a lot of courage and patience to commit oneself to not producing any waste.

As for me, I aspire to reach that level one day. But for now, I do my best to lead a relatively low-waste life. And in this post, I will share with you some of my easy everyday low and zero waste practices.

But before that, let’s talk about-

Why reduce waste?

The estimated global solid waste generated stands at 2.01 billion tonnes annually as per reports from the World Bank. And about 34% of this waste (683 million tonnes) comes from people living in high-income countries. World Bank also forecasts that at the current pace, this number is going to reach 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050! You can read more about the report here.

However, these might just seem like numbers, what does it really mean?

Perhaps it becomes easier to visualize the impact of waste when we read about things like-

In the Pacific Ocean, there is a “Pacific Island” twice the size of Texas that is created by the waste dumped into the ocean.
About one-third of the food produced for human consumption every year gets wasted.
Disposable diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years after they are thrown there.
Almost half of all seabird species, 22% of cetaceans, all sea turtle species, and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic found in or around their bodies.

Reading such scary statistics every time I researched this topic convinced me that I needed to do my part in lowering waste.

But here’s the catch

Soon I realized that the zero waste lifestyle is not only quite difficult to achieve, it sometimes borders on being a luxury. Not everyone has access to a bulk store in their city or community. Also, not all essentials are available in low or zero waste packaging- a classic example being medicines. And if you have a baby at home, then it becomes an even more uphill task. There are folks who still manage to be very low or zero waste and they do it wonderfully, but perhaps it is simply not possible for everyone to invest that much time into this process.

And yet it is essential that we do our bit in preserving the environment. After all, the earth is our only home and also the legacy that we will leave for the next generations.

5 Rs of Zero Waste

Before I go into my low waste practices, I have to mention the 5 ‘R’s of zero waste. This is the cornerstone of following a zero waste (or low waste) lifestyle. It goes something like this-

Refuse single-use plastic, paper receipts if possible.
Reduce mindless shopping, see if it can be borrowed.
Reuse what you have, repair if possible, shop secondhand.
Recycle whatever you can.
Rot your kitchen scraps and make compost.

I have started at the top of the pyramid and forging my way downward. I refuse plastic whenever I can; reduce my waste; reuse whatever can be reused and recycle things to the best of my knowledge. I am yet to start composting (rot) my kitchen waste but hopefully, I will be there one someday.

On that note, here are a few every day almost zero waste practices which I have incorporated in my life. They are easy to follow for anyone who wants to reduce their waste footprint and is just starting out on that journey.

Carry your own bag

Growing up in India in the ‘90s, it was a common practice to carry our own bags when going out to shop for things like groceries. Single-use plastic bags were not so rampantly popular yet.

Bringing my own bag to the shopping mall is perhaps the easiest switch I made. I simply got an affordable pack of 3 sturdy canvas bags and started carrying them with me every time I go shopping. I take them even when I go on vacation. In fact on a recent trip to Hawaii, I used one of these as a beach bag.

And once you start using your own bags, you begin to notice just how many single-use plastic bags are consumed by a single person on a grocery trip. Which makes this an easy enough change with a significant impact on the environment.

Refuse plastic whenever possible

This one is a bit tricky, especially with all the plastic that gets thrown in our way (for want of a better expression). But here are some things that I always do-

On the rare occasions of ordering food online for my home, I mention “no cutlery needed” under special instructions. I won’t say that the restaurant always follows this, but hey, it is a start.
I usually refuse straws. Actually I am still not used to the default practice of getting a straw with my water at restaurants in the US. Why can’t I just sip it from the glass? That way, if someone needs a straw they can ask for it and we save so much plastic in the process.
I have my set of mesh bags which I carry to the grocery store. This means that I do not have to use plastic produce bags to bag my fruits and vegetables. I am anyway going to wash them thoroughly once I am home, so putting them in extra plastic coverings seem useless to me.

Cloth over Paper

The next thing I did was to replace the paper towels and napkins wherever possible with cloths. I not only bought a bunch of washcloths for this but also repurposed old clothes like cotton shirts to make towels. I borrowed this practice from my childhood. Most Asian households use this method of recycling old clothes. And it serves two purposes-

Keeps some of the old clothes out of the landfill.
Reduces paper waste at homes drastically.

Your own Coffee Mug

I prefer drinking coffee at home. But when I get my cup of joe on the go, I carry my own mug. Most coffee places agree to serve in your own mug when requested.

Currently, 16 billion coffee cups are disposed of every year. The plastic coating on these cups makes them durable but difficult to decompose. Sure, you might think that a single person’s refusal to use them will not cause much of a dent. But remember that drops make an ocean. The power of numbers is undeniable.

Alternatives to everyday Products

My quest for leading a an almost zero waste lifestyle made me aware of so many areas where I made small changes for sustainability. Mostly they are about using alternatives for everyday products. Some of these are as follows-

Using glass and metal containers instead of the plastic ones in my kitchen. I always repurpose all the glass jars that I get from buying things like spaghetti sauce and spices. Since I have access to recycling glass, this makes more sense to me. Also, if handled carefully, glass lasts for a longer time than plastic.
Switching to a bamboo toothbrush that is compostable. This is perhaps the easiest change that I made. Plastic toothbrushes end up in the landfill and take decades to decompose.
Ditching the store-bought plastic water bottles. One thing that I like about the US is the presence of drinking water fountains in most public places. I carry my own refillable bottle whenever I travel and fill it up as required.
Using a tea strainer and loose leaf tea instead of teabags. This wasn’t a change for me per se as most people in India brew their tea using a strainer. Did you know that conventional tea bags are not compostable because they contain a bit of plastic?

So, to conclude

Practicing a low or zero waste lifestyle isn’t the norm in this age of consumerism. But, if we take only a few moments to reflect on the consequences of our thoughtless actions, we will see the irrefutable damage that those actions are leaving behind. From my own experience, I can say that the biggest hurdle is taking the initiative. Once I had committed myself to make low waste in my everyday routines, I found that it becomes easier from that point onward.

Now, each day, I put one step before another and continue on my chosen path. Maybe you can as well start this journey yourself.

Peace.

Do you have any related experience or story to tell? Please share in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.