A day in the life of a zero-waster
Do you want to live zero waste everyday? We all know those zero-waste forerunners who proudly show that all their years trash fits into one little mason jar. Although this is very admirable, it often feels unattainable for the mass. In this article, I’ll show you how easy it can be to change small habits throughout your day to get a little closer to those role models. Let’s get started!
How do you start your day with zero waste?
After waking up from a hopefully long and resting night of sleep, my first run goes into the bathroom. A place where we tend to use especially many plastic-packaged products. Many might think those over perfumed and unnatural strong mint-flavoured hygiene products are what you need to be clean and smell good. And I have to admit, when I first started using natural based toothpastes and mouthwashes, I missed the burning feeling I am used to from these products. But this once more lets us reflect on how unnatural those ingredients must be. Staying at the topic of mouth hygiene, there are two main products, I guess and hope everyone uses, which can be easily converted into zero waste options. First of your toothbrush. I buy Bamboo toothbrushes which are made in a fair and environmentally friendly way and can be recycled. Next up toothpaste, which can easily be made from scratch! Cool, right?
But of course, we don’t want to only smell and feel fresh from our mouths but also our whole bodies. For showering, I use only bar soaps, which are available for all uses. Including hair wash, hair conditioning, body wash and even body pealing. Next up after all this cleaning, I am hungryyy! As we had such a great start to our zero-waste day, I am confident we will continue strong although the kitchen is a place where we tend to produce the most waste.
How to avoid waste in the kitchen
Let’s have a look of how to life zero waste everday while cooking. The main aspect here is to think about where you get your groceries. If you have zero-waste groceries in your fridge, making a zero-waste breakfast shouldn’t be too hard. I buy my food in zero-waste grocery stores, on the market and only if unavoidable in the supermarket. Supermarkets can have some good package free items, but that’s rather rare. Often people have the preconception that buying in zero-waste stores is more expensive, but ohh boy is that wrong!
Start being a prepared-zero-waster
Although I am filled with my delicious vegan breaky, I need to think about what I could bring to work. One of the biggest factors of living zero waste is preparation. Which neither has to take long or be complicated, you just have to keep in mind what your day plan is to make sure your belly stays full throughout. Who doesn’t love an oldie but goldie like a peanut butter sandwich? Of course, there are endless options for a lunch to go, but I always try to keep it simple. A personal tip and something I love to do is baking oat bars or healthy cookies on the weekend, which you can just through in your bag during the workweek and your snack is ready. But be careful here we have the next possible waste-trap. How do we transport those delicious baked goods? Bee wax paper of course! What a question, right?
But what if it’s my Birthday?
Then congratulations! Alright jokes besides, what I want to address in this paragraph is what you can do if you can’t avoid creating waste. This happens to the best of us, and yes also to your biggest zero-waste role models. There will come a situation where you will for example receive presents or a co-worker wanted to be attentive by bringing you a coffee in a plastic cup (!!). First of all, this is alright! No need to criticize yourself or the co-worker. What I usually do in those kinds of situations is being thankful, of course, but also giving the person feedback like “Did you know there is a coffee shop that only gives our paper cups and even gives you a discount if you bring your own?”. Get a conversation started and you will see how people change their habits towards you but also for themselves.
Beer o’clock!
Finally, after an exhausting day at work, it’s time for those leisure activities. In the summertime, I love to go for a picnic with friends or on a coffee scrawl throughout the park. As a zero-waster, I look out for all those great food and drink options around me. A pro tip is to bring your own zero-waste kit. In my case, this includes a reusable coffee cup, silver cutlery, a food container and a tote bag. Now you are prepped for all those goodies! And don’t be shy to speak up if a store employee wants to put your snack tomatoes into a plastic bag. Nobody is going to be mad at you if you ask to get your groceries put into your own bags and containers.
Time to go to bed with that empty trash bag!
What a day it has been. Full of delicious food, great times with co-workers and friends and not to forget fresh breath! Looking back, I think we did great on our zero-waste day and I hope I was able to inspire you on your journey to becoming a zero-waster. I know changing habits can be challenging but take one step at a time and be proud of little improvements as every little trash avoidance counts. And soon living zero waste everyday will be as easy as 1, 2, 3.
