On an average day, a person makes about 4 pounds of trash per day. You've heard the saying 'reduce, reuse, recycle' ever since you were a little kid, but have you ever really sat down and thought about what it means?
Reducing the amount of waste you make in a day is probably the hardest part of this process.
First, you are going to want to look at everything in your trash can to see what exactly it is that you're throwing away. After you've rummaged through your trash, you need to make a list of the things that you noticed a trend of.
This might include plastic bags, paper towels, household containers, or even wrappers to food.
You could even switch to online bank statements instead of mail, this is such an easy switch I don't know why people wouldn't do it. This also prevents getting annoying/unnecessary mail every month. Now, you need to think of reusable products to substitute for those items.
Reuse, Reuse, Reuse. Once you get used to going without all of this waste it will be super important to find reusable products that will provide the same function just without all the waste.
Reusable grocery bags, towels, using glass containers for food and household items instead of buying new in plastic packaging every time.
I struggle with the food the most, it is convenient just to get your food already neatly wrapped up, but this will cut a lot of waste out of your everyday life. It will help to shop out of stores that carry bulk products.
And last but not least, recycle. When living zero-waste you shouldn't have that much you will be throwing away, but if you do then it is important that all the items can be recycled.
Using resources that can be used again, even if it is not by you are still included in zero-waste. As long as these items don't wind up in a landfill, then my job here is done.
I hope that this persuades you to try to live zero-waste even for a little bit. It's not going to happen overnight, but once you get used to doing these things on a daily basis, it will make it that much easier later.
