How to live a sustainable & eco friendly life
Some say it’s not possible to reach a zero waste lifestyle. Some even say zero waste is bad. And others don’t care about the topic. Moving towards Zero Waste Living is actually easier than we think.
If someone would have told you 20 years ago that you would be able to measure your health, find new friends and manage your business with a thing called a smartphone, would you have imagined that ?
It always seems impossible until it’s done. Some pioneers like Bea Johnson, Lauren Singer or Kathryn Kellog have proven that living close to zero waste is within everyone’s reach. In other words, all we need to do is start by taking little steps from where we stand right now.
And although it might be possible that we never reach living a zero waste lifestyle, what counts is setting goals and moving towards them – no matter how slow and no matter if we will ever reach them.
Why does moving towards zero waste matter ?
Reusable plant based swaps for a simple healthy life – sounds good ? Even if you never reach being zero waste this lifestyle has various benefits that can reduce waste, save money and increase health.
Therefor, I listed some benefits below.
Benefits
- Minimizing your waste
- Reduction of energy costs
- Support of local businesses
- Reduction of carbon footprint
- Less waste in kitchen & bathroom
- Decluttering of your belongings
- Minimizing air pollution
- Cleaning water cycles
- Using renewable energy
- Learning more about DIY recipes & practices
- Making an impact for future generations
- Promoting social equity
- Being part of a healthy ecosystem
- And many more 🙂
The principles of zero waste are aligned with the core values of the circular economy.
At wegozero our mission is to make it easy for everyone to adapt to a zero waste lifestyle. Why ? To preserve nature and make an impact for future generations.
What is zero waste ?
Zero waste means pursuing a lifestyle that is neither harmful for the environment nor for human health.
By following the 5 R`s – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot you can find simple ways to live a better life within an ecosystem.
The 5 R’s
There are many topics that are related to zero waste.
Find a few them listed below :
Management
Zero waste management is a term that evolved around the topic of waste management in general. This includes the handling of recyclables and residual waste for individuals and companies. Companies like terracycle make it possible to recycle literally everything.
Fashion
Zero waste fashion is related to textile producing companies that reduce their waste to a minimum. This can be related to the use of resources, like water and energy or to the most effective use of fibre. A good company – a carbon negative enterprise – is taking first steps by kickstarting a truly circular fashion line.
Cooking
Zero waste cooking is a movement that follows the principles of the 5 R’s in the kitchen. Besides recipes with local and low impact ingredients zero waste cooking supports refusing single use plastics, reducing the amount of food, using reusable items, recycling packaging and rotting leftovers. Check out zerowastechef for inspiration.
Grocery
Buying local organic plant based food in bulk. This would be the ideal zero waste grocery. More and more zero waste groceries around the globe sell their low impact food package free and offer recyclable trays for shopping. Pioneers like the little plant pantry in Amsterdam, Netherlands show how it works.
How does zero waste help the environment ?
Photo by Gustavo Quepón on Unsplash
Living zero waste means a life within natural boundaries – so how does zero waste actually influence our environment ?
By shaping loops in our everyday life and moving towards circular thinking patterns zero waste is preventing waste from landing in landfills. From the very beginning a product’s life cycle is designed to be a renewable resource. Therefore, resource extraction and waste at the same time are minimised. Air and water pollution is reduced and our carbon footprint shrinks.
Above all, zero waste helps maintaining a healthy environment.
Is living zero waste expensive ?
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
Is it really more expensive shopping zero waste using your own jars, trays and bags ? In some cases, yes in some others it’s comparable and in many it’s cheaper.
In fact, you can see this question from many different angles. It depends on how you define expensive and to what you compare it to. What period of time you’re looking at. Are you looking at it in monetary or non-monetary terms ? How valuable is packaging free shopping for you ? And so on…It seems this question needs to be answered individually.
One thing is for sure: in the long run using sustainable products that have longer life cycles will save energy and resources.
Summing up living zero waste is not about reaching the goal of living without waste. It is about taking action that is beneficial for everyone living on planet earth.
Seeing the bigger picture moving towards Zero Waste Living will help us reduce time, money and make a positive impact for future generations.
