Achieving a Zero-Waste Lifestyle

It may seem like an impossible feat to achieve a zero-waste lifestyle. Think about it – everything we do and everything we buy generates some form of waste. This doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t habits out there that are easy to adopt that will help you become less wasteful and help elevate you to a zero-waste lifestyle completely. Yes, it is possible! We’ve put together a few helpful tips when it comes to becoming more earth conscious and promoting a zero-waste lifestyle.Start by renting a dumper from your local waste disposal company or go online with ewmdumpsterrental.com Throw away everything that is unnecessary to you and start changing your lifestyle at this pointRead on for some helpful information that will put you on the path to zero-waste.

Quit the Plastic

It may be a hard concept to swallow, but most of the world’s trash is generated from plastic items that are not recyclable or biodegradable. In fact, most plastic containers will take years and years to decompose, if it decomposes at all. That means more plastic containers will end up in the oceans and in landfills throughout the globe. This all piles up. There are, alternatively, larger name brand companies that sell biodegradable or eco-friendly containers that are more easily decompose and recycled. You could even adopt the habit of taking your own reusable shopping bags or glass jars into grocery stores where you can purchase items from bulk bins. It may seem like a small step, but the effects will be life-changing.

Don’t Waste Food

If you cook at home and have some leftover, store your food appropriately so that you can eat it again later. This will be both financially responsible and earth-friendly by not purchasing more food items that will generate more plastic products or waste. You can easily freeze your food in the freezer to simply heat up and eat later. If you do have food scraps, use them to create your own compost within your very kitchen and use it in your garden. This is a great way to reuse scraps and get the most out of every item you purchase in stores. Being mindful of your waste in food alone will help launch you into a zero-waste lifestyle. It will become easier with time.

Go Digital

We waste so much paper each day. How often is your own mailbox full of advertisements or bills you could easily receive in your digital inbox? Signing up to go digital in terms of paying bills, receiving statements and even getting coupons, will dramatically reduce your paper waste. There are even ways to unsubscribe certain advertisements or promotions so that they will stop appearing in your mailbox and ending up in the trash. Your favorite coupons to stores are all online and even newspapers are online, now. It’s a simple process that will dramatically help the earth and help you reduce your own carbon footprint in the process.

Organize Your Trash

Before you can adapt fully to a zero-waste lifestyle, you can take meaningful steps beforehand that will help get you into the correct mindset and habit. Organizing your trash by recyclable, compostable and non-biodegradable in separate bins so that it is more easily sorted through. Glass bottles, paper, and some containers can go into the recyclable bin, while the compostable items can be kept using in your own composting process. The non-biodegradable items can go into the regular trash bin to be carried off by waste management services to the appropriate landfill. This may seem like a daunting task, but once you start to get comfortable in organizing trash accordingly, it will become an easy daily habit to adopt. Your friends might even follow your example and take their lead in living a more sustainable and zero-waste lifestyle.

Take Your Own Food to Lunch

Whether you work in an office or from home, taking or making your own lunch each day is a major way to end waste. Using that same mindfulness when it comes to not wasting food, leftovers can easily be stored in glass containers and carted off to work where you will virtually waste nothing. You can heat up your food in the same container, take your own metal or wooden utensils to eat with and there you have it – a zero-waste lunch that is so much better than running off to the nearest fast food restaurant and getting something packaged in plastic. This is a great way to save money, too, since all your groceries will be used, and you won’t be wasting any food. Your body will even become healthier due to this process.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are several great ways to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle. How extreme you want to get right off the bat is up to you, but you can start small. After your habits become practice, these steps will be easily adopted daily, and your trash production will go down substantially. But living a healthy lifestyle is more than just going paperless or achieving zero waste. You also have to take your health into consideration. Eating right, getting lots of rest, and even improving the air you breathe in your home is very important. Read more on that here. Take the first steps, start slow and see how quick and easy this lifestyle becomes. The planet and your body will thank you.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.