I have been following several zero waster bloggers for years to see how they manage to live in a normal society and not generate any waste. There are many examples of people successfully living a zero waste lifestyle and I can give you examples of what that looks like.
A zero waste lifestyle is a way of living that avoids sending anything to the landfill or recycling. There is generally some waste involved but VERY little. The goal is of a circular economy to continually reuse materials; moving away from the current linear model of take-create-waste.
Imagine not putting anything to the curb each week and NOT dropping anything at a recycling depot. It sounds difficult but there are many people living this way, I will share some examples of how they do it.
What a Zero Waste Lifestyle Looks Like
There are many areas of waste in a normal person’s life (carbon footprint, rubbish, recycling, human waste…). A zero waste lifestyle refers mainly to the minimizing of materials that would end up in a landfill or recycling facility from a home. People who live a zero waste lifestyle do not use their garbage and recycling collection services.
There are two main areas of the home that zero waste families have learned how to reduce waste: food packaging and cleaning products.
Food
Purchasing food at a regular grocery store makes it very difficult to achieve a zero waste lifestyle. Almost everything in a normal grocery store is packaged. People that live a zero waste lifestyle shop at stores that fill containers that the customers bring into the store. The shopper needs to be organized and bring the appropriate number and size of containers for the food they want to purchase.
From the zero waste blogs I have read, shoppers are going to several different stores to get all of their food: bulk store for dried goods, farmers market for produce, butcher for meats and cheeses, fish shop for seafood, brewery for beer.
When it is time to go shopping, the zero waster will bring their clean containers (glass jars, plastic containers, cloth bags) to a store. They may have to weigh their containers first so that the container’s weight is not included in the price of the food. Food is added to the containers, the customer pays based on the weight and go home.
Examples of foods that you can purchase with your own container:
- rice
- pasta
- beans/legumes
- nuts/seeds
- flour/sugar/baking powder
- peanut butter
- eggs
- cheese
- meats (some stores do not allow this)
- yogurt/butter/nut butter
- spices
- tea/coffee
- candies/chocolates/cookies
- olive oil/vinegar
- crackers
- olives/pickles
Most of the foods available are whole foods (not processed). There are some frozen foods that you can get in a zero waste store like pierogies or spreads like hummus but usually the foods purchased without packaging are whole foods. Sorry, you won’t find prepared frozen pizzas/enchiladas or microwave dinners!
Some meat and fish shops will also allow you to bring your own container to avoid getting the plastic or foam packages of meat with the pad under it. From my experience, butcher shops inside of a grocery store will not allow this due to health and safety regulations. Smaller butchers have been compliant with my request.
Examples of zero waste drinks:
- homemade tea and coffee
- beer purchased a local brewery in a growler
- cow’s milk purchased in a returnable glass bottle
- homemade nut milk
- tap water (can flavor with fruit or vegetables)
- homemade wine
People who live a zero waste lifestyle generally compost their food scraps to make soil that can be used to grow their own food.
Cleaning Products
Our houses are full of cleaning products: bathroom, kitchen, skin, body and hair products. People living a zero waste lifestyle shop at specialty stores to purchase the ingredients to make their own cleaning products. Similar to the food stores, they will bring their jars and containers into the zero waste shop, fill them and pay based on the weight.
Most zero waste bloggers provide recipes for making your own cleaning and health care products. They claim to be healthier for you because the ingredients are all safe – there is no laboratory required.
Examples of cleaning products that you can purchase in your own container:
- all purpose cleaner
- toilet bowl cleaner
- glass cleaner
- laundry detergent
- body/face/hand soap
- shampoo/conditioner
Examples of cleaning products that you can make at home with ingredients purchased in your own containers:
- toothpaste
- lip gloss
- bath bombs
- room spritzer
- skin care products
- deodorant
- specialty soaps
The utensils used to scrub with are technically not zero waste because they will need to be replaced at times and cannot be reused. Zero waste lifestyle people will opt for natural materials for these products (avoiding plastic). Wood, rubber, animal hair, cotton and wool are materials that are used in the utensils.
Examples of other products zero wasters would have in their homes for cleaning (plastic free):
- wooden + horse hair scrubbers
- cotton handkerchief (instead of disposable tissues)
- menstrual cup/pads
- bamboo toothbrush
- dryer balls
- 100% cotton or bamboo cloths
The zero waste store that I shop at has all types of spray bottles, food containers, cloth bags, scrub brushes – anything you will need to do the job. If you already have an empty conventional plastic spray bottle or shampoo bottle, you can also wash it out and reuse it. You do not have to purchase all new products to start a zero waste lifestyle. It is encouraged that you reuse the things that you already have as much as possible.
Can Anyone Live a Zero Waste Lifestyle?
There are many challenges to living a zero waste lifestyle.
Zero waste stores are not accessible to everyone. In most large cities there will be a zero waste store. For some it will be convenient but for others there might be a trade off between driving farther to get to the zero waste store or simply walking to a regular local store and having some packaging to recycle.
People living with anaphylactic or other serious allergies should not shop at zero waste stores because of possible cross contamination.
There are not many package free “convenience foods” like frozen meals, vegan “meat” products, packaged salads. Food preparation takes time and many people do not make time in their busy schedules.
Perhaps the most difficult thing about a zero waste lifestyle is being comfortable with constantly refusing items. That means REFUSING to bring gifts, freebies, convenience items, new electronics into your home. Especially when you have children you have to teach them to politely refuse to bring home gifts with packaging, school work, wrapped candies and foods. The list goes on. In our current world of consumption we have to really consider what we bring into our home and how we should obtain it.
Benefits of a Zero Waste Lifestyle
Obviously one of the main benefits of a zero waste lifestyle is that our world will have less waste. Less waste means less impact on climate change. The amount of energy it takes to recycle a product is huge; energy to separate it, carry it to the curb, truck to pick it up, machines to sort, compact, ship it, melt it, reform it, create something with it, ship it to another store, drive it home, repeat. Not to mention plastic can only be recycled 9 times, paper only 6. Eventually these materials will go to a landfill or the ocean.
Meals that have been prepared from foods that were purchased at a zero waste store are generally healthier. This food is not processed, it is often organic and nutritious. Most zero wasters eat less meat and more plant based foods.
A zero waste lifestyle requires people to be prepared. Before you go shopping you have to know what you are going to buy and bring the cleaned containers to fit it.
Zero waste promotes a circular economy which helps build community. Keeping things local encourages connections between different areas of community including more community events and problem solving. Food is redistributed, waste from one business is a resource for another.
Caveot
Zero waste does not actually mean ZERO waste. It is a subjective term used to describe the minimization of waste. There is still waste involved in shopping at a zero waste store.
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