Tips to go Zero-waste in your daily life
We are so dead set on our convenience that going zero-waste might seem like a daunting task but if we take one step at a time anything is possible. Growing consumer awareness and information on climate change and our civilization’s carbon footprint is forcing many to reconsider their lifestyles entirely. This growing demand for environmentally conscious market production has motivated several industries to alter their unsustainable practices. But this change is not moving at the required pace so consumers themselves need to take pre-emptive action. Going zero-waste in this age of abundance is not as hard as it sounds, you can just follow some basic tips in your daily life to reduce your carbon footprint.
1.Reduce plastic consumption
You can achieve this target very easily by identifying your purchases and what they are packaged in. Most discarded plastic comes from packaged goods and single-use utensils. An easy way to reduce plastic when shopping is to carry your reusable bags and buy groceries in bulk to reduce the packaging that you get with your purchase. Carry a travel utensils kit and reusable tumblers the next time you get coffee or eat outside.
2.Purchase naked products
By altering the way you purchase your products you can eliminate the need for packaging entirely. Ditch your packaged produce in favour of paper bags or pay your local vendor a visit and buy locally.
3.Reuse or upcycle
Identify your needs and don't always look for new things to buy. Look for things that you already own and try to look for different ways in which they can be repurposed for various uses. Most products that we discard are not really at the end of their productive life and still have utility. Going Zero waste does not need to be boring, make it a fun project by employing creative ideas to maximize the utility of products that you already own.
4.Use refillable items
By using products that are refillable you can eliminate the need to purchase additional units of a commodity and therefore the packaging too. But by refillable, we mean that you must use products that can be refilled at the shop’s location or can be refilled through a delivery system. Like when buying milk don’t buy the tetra pack ones and instead find a local supplier that will give you the required amount without packaging. Recently many big brands are also concentrating on this method to ensure customer loyalty and sustainability, like Body Shop’s recent test initiative to assess the viability of refillable products commercially.
5.Minimize food waste
In a world where many struggle to get one meal a day, a culture of overconsumption has prompted many to waste food. Reducing food waste is important to lead a zero-waste life. Assess your requirements and stop purchasing extra things, use food scraps as fertilizers or try composting in your home. Plan your meals in advance and use your creativity to use leftovers!
It is time to make a switch from a decadent lifestyle to one of consideration for other living things and our planet. It is never too late to take positive action but the sooner the better. Living without waste does not mean that you have to live like a hermit, it just means taking a conscious approach to our consumer choices. Save your finances and your consciousness by adopting a zero-waste lifestyle.
Sources & References
https://www.sustainablejungle.com/zero-waste/zero-waste-tips/
https://www.zerowaste.com/blog/how-to-go-zero-waste-get-started-and-ditch-the-single-use-life/
https://selfeco.com/blogs/selfeco-blog/100-ways-to-live-trash-free-adopt-a-zero-waste-lifestyle
https://reducewastenow.com/blogs/guides/zero-waste-for-beginners