4 Ways To Start Zero-Waste Living

Most newbie guides for starting a zero-waste lifestyle is chock full of simple swaps, but in reality, there is so much more to zero-waste living than just replacing your household items.

Here are the 4 building blocks of a zero-waste lifestyle and how you can begin today:

1. Buy Less

The average American disposes 4.4 lbs of trash every day, not including the 70% lost in the manufacturing process itself.

Buying less stuff is the most important thing you can do to ease into a zero-waste lifestyle. Before making any purchase, be sure to ask yourself these series of questions:

• Is it necessary?
• Do I really need it?
• Do I need to own it?
• Can something else make do?

2. Buy Well

For the purchases you DO need to make, remember to buy well. Think about an item’s full life-cycle.

Consider the following when making a new purchase:

• Who made it?
• Can you find it local?
• Can you find it secondhand?
• Can it be repaired? Or is it built to last?
• What happens when you’re done with it?

Always check the preloved or secondhand items market first for any purchase, and if you’re buying anything new, make sure you’ve covered all the bases above.

Also, never settle for buying something you’re not 100% happy with because you’ll just end up being unhappy about it somewhere down the line and look for something else to replace it. So whatever you choose to buy, make sure you love it.

3. Be content

In this age of consumerism, it’s difficult to find contentment. Ad companies have mastered the art of manipulating our minds to convince us that we need their product to feel problem-free, complete, or accomplished.

But if you want to start a zero-waste lifestyle, you need to also master the art of saying no. Learn to be content by practicing gratitude.

Material things don’t give you worth, nor define who you are as a person.

4. Find balance

Starting a zero-waste lifestyle is not about perfection, but making better choices that minimize your carbon footprint on the planet. We live in a world where things are designed to be disposable, and it’s practically impossible to be 100% zero-waste all the time. But that’s okay. You’ll just have to do the best you can, however you can, wherever you are.

Read the full blog post by Going Zero Waste here for more tips on starting a zero-waste lifestyle.

Have you started your own zero-waste living journey? Tell us all about it in the comments below!