When taking incremental steps to a more environmentally friendly lifestyle, it’s critical to examine your behaviours and identify areas where you can make significant improvements to your daily routine.
A fantastic place to begin is by integrating more zero-waste products.
You may save money while also keeping waste out of landfills.
How to Start a Zero Waste Lifestyle
When you first begin your zero waste journey, you should concentrate on two things.
The very first thing you need to do is utilize each product until it is no longer useful – try and make each last a lifetime and only purchase to replace items that are no longer useful.
Your second point of focus should be on the amount of food you find yourself discarding.
This zero-waste advice for beginners will serve as a convenient shortcut to waste reduction.
Please bear in mind that following this approach, your home will not be completely waste-free.
However, your garbage bag will be significantly lighter than it was previously.
I assure you will notice a considerable reduction in the amount of waste you generate.
Best Zero Waste Products for Beginners
When you begin using this checklist, make an effort to push yourself! Begin by attempting to fit one week’s supply of waste (per person) into a mason jar.
If you do not succeed, you may just go over your garbage jar and identify where you made a mistake, then prevent it next week!
As I’m sure you’re eager to begin, let’s go straight into this zero plastic checklist.
1. Reusable Bags
It’s incredibly simple to forget to bring your reusable shopping bags, but it is also extremely frustrating when you do!
If you forgot to bring your reusable shopping bags when at the grocery store, here is another quick tip. Purchase no more than you can carry.
This way, when the receptionist asks if you’d want a bag, you can gently decline.
2. Shampoo Bars
Almost every shampoo sold in a conventional store is packaged in a plastic container.
The issue is that shampoo bottles are difficult to recycle, and approximately 552 million end up in landfills each year.
The zero-waste alternative is preferable because shampoo bars are available in unpackaged or paper packaging.
One shampoo bar should last between three and four months, and the ingredients are typically more natural and healthier for you.
3. Reusable Cotton Rounds
Cotton production methods used now are unsustainable. For instance, 20,000 liters of water are required to create one kilogram of cotton.
The better approach is to either purchase reusable rounds or, even better, to create your own.
All you need is a large cotton towel cut into squares or circles.
If you know well how to sew, you may watch a video on how to make these from scratch! After that, they can be stored in a tiny jar.
After using a cotton round, it will be washed and reused.
4. Bamboo Hairbrush
If you’re in need of a new brush or your old plastic one breaks, invest in a bamboo brush!
Using a plastic comb on a regular basis damages your hair and makes it appear dry.
Wooden brushes are far more beneficial to your hair. Wooden brushes are smooth, allowing your hair to glide over them without breaking them.
Additionally, the wood bristles distribute the natural oils on your scalp, keeping your hair healthy and silky.
Finally, because plastic brushes will eventually wind up in a landfill, a wooden/bamboo brush is a far more environmentally friendly and sustainable choice.
Additionally, if you choose a high-quality hardwood brush, it can last for years.
5. Cloth Handkerchiefs
Rather than using disposable paper tissues, you can purchase reusable handkerchiefs.
They are cost-effective, convenient, and waste-free substitutions.
Cotton hankies will significantly reduce any paper/tissue waste you may generate.
6. Reusable Stainless Steel Razor
Disposable razors are made of a variety of materials.
As a result, they provide difficulty for recycling facilities, and as a result, disposable razors are frequently not recycled.
Fortunately, there is an environmentally friendly alternative to disposable razors, and that choice is a stainless safety razor!
These are beneficial not just to the environment, but also to your skin, as they produce less irritation.
7. Bamboo Toothbrush
This is almost certainly among the first zero-waste swaps that many people make. Because it’s just so straightforward!
Bamboo toothbrushes are now available at a variety of local businesses. While bamboo toothbrushes contain a small amount of plastic (synthetic bristles), they are still the better alternative.
Plastic toothbrushes are still widely used by a large proportion of the world’s population, generating vast amounts of garbage in landfills and the oceans.
Due to the fact that they are made of a range of materials, they are also difficult to recycle.
Bamboo toothbrushes are a preferable alternative since bamboo plants grow quickly, require no maintenance, and can survive without fertilizers or pesticides.
Bamboo, on the other hand, has a smaller ecological footprint than plastic. It is biodegradable – bamboo toothbrush handles may be composted. (Note: the bristles must first be removed).
Furthermore, bamboo toothbrush handles take around six months to degrade.
8. Charcoal Water Filter Stick
Plastic is used in the majority of water filters and other purification devices.
Charcoal is capable of absorbing pollutants from both water and air.
Additionally, these charcoal sticks are made without plastic and are a fully natural method of water filtration.
Bear in mind that zero waste is a journey. It is not about the final destination, but about the incremental improvements that can be made along the road.
The recommendations in this list are not all about eliminating trash entirely, but they will significantly lessen your effect.
We hope that our collection of zero waste suggestions has aided you in your zero waste journey when you’re just getting started.
Now that you’ve read this short guide to a zero-waste lifestyle, all that remains is for you to go practice it!
