In a nutshell, zero waste is living with the aim of sending nothing to landfill. With the average human throwing away 400kg of waste per year, it can be difficult to imagine living without creating any waste. We understand that living zero waste may never be 100% achievable, but there are plenty of ways to make yourself more aware of how your consumption impacts the planet.
To simplify this, we're all about simplicity after all, we've highlighted three main practices below, to help you understand how you can start altering your mind-set to living zero waste.
1. Reducing our Consumption
In 2019, the UK spent £394 billion in the retail sector. This covers everything from your weekly food shops through to clothing, toys and everything in between. In fact, the UK spends more per household than any other country in the world. Quite astonishing isn’t it?
The key aspect of living a more zero-waste friendly lifestyle is reducing our need for consumption. This means buying less of what we don’t need, sticking to the essentials, and when we do have to buy something, making sure that it is long-lasting and sustainable.
Take your bathroom, for example, consider how many lotions and potions you have, and how many you actually use on a daily basis. If you aren’t using it on a daily or even weekly basis, chances are you don’t actually need it. Our plastic free shop covers all the basics, from handmade soap through to shampoo bars and toothbrushes. No plastic bottles. In fact no plastic at all, anywhere, ever. All the essentials you could need, that will also stand the test of time.
2. Re-using as much as we can
Recent figures have shown that recyclable bathroom waste accounts for 40% of total landfill waste in the UK. And this is unsurprising when you consider how many bathroom products come in plastic packaging.
But there is a way that we can re-use some of our packagings in our bathrooms. First off, you’ll need to make the switch to solid products, like shampoo/conditioner bars and body soap bars. Once you’ve done this, you can invest in longer-lasting containers and storage, such as our bamboo soap dish, or our soap travel tin.
By reducing our reliance on high-street toiletries, packaged in single-use plastic and re-using sturdier and long-lasting materials, we can have a huge impact on our planet's consumption.
Other ways that we can re-use in the bathroom, is by using long-lasting replacements for products normally sold on a single or short-use basis. An example of this is replacing single-use makeup wipes to washable make-up remover wipes, which you can find here.
3. Recycling what we can’t reuse
Although recycling is not considered 100% zero-waste, we sometimes have no choice. In this instance, it’s important to be aware that what you buy, especially when it comes to food and toiletries, comes in recyclable packaging. This way, you know there’s a better chance that it won’t end up in landfill.
For example, all of our zero waste subscription boxes come in 100% recyclable packaging, from the box that comes through your door, through to the packaging on each individual product.
It’s all down to becoming a savvier and more eco-conscious shopper!
So there you go, three ways to create a zero-waste lifestyle that can easily be applied to any lifestyle. Have you got any of your own tips to creating a zero-waste lifestyle? Let us know in the comments below.