5 ways to start reducing your plastic waste today

The words “zero-waste” can seem pretty intimidating. After all, can you really achieve zero-waste? Like Anne-Marie Bonneau said in her book Zero-Waste Chef – You’re only really zero waste when you are dead.

Well. Let’s be a little bit more joyful – Shall we?

I like to call it “ The waste-less journey”. Maybe I can’t be 100% zero-waste, but I can definitely be less wasteful. And I can do it everyday! The words have less pressure in them, so forgive me for changing the name of the concept. 

Reducing waste is hard – Aren’t we all doing the best we can? Of course we are! But I need to tell you this one thing: There’s a lot of information that kept secret. And not the type of secret kept because it’s too good to share (like a sick surf spot). It’s the kind of secret tucked away simply because it’s not cool! Sustainability hasn’t been trendy because a lot of it demands time, consuming less and being mindful. This is not always beneficial for the economy and let’s face it, our personal busy lives either.

So let me tell you some of my secrets to start living a waste-less life today:

1. Start small and pick a room.

Like everything in life, starting small is the key for lasting changes. But sometimes, starting small can become overwhelming. There are so many options in the details, what do I pick? You can take a different angle on the perspective and go one step bigger. Pick a room. It can be the kitchen (our fave here, just saying!), the bathroom or even your closet. This room will be your focus for the next month (or how long you feel is right – I’m not here to tell you what to do!). Then, do the gentle exercise of noticing the things you buy for the room on a regular basis. Anything plastic or single-use articles?

Most probably, yes!

From there, on your spare time, target an item and do some research. Bathrooms are a really easy place to start – There are so many options for substitutions! At the end of your shampoo bottle, you might want to buy a shampoo bar instead. End of your chapstick? There’s some really cool options out there made with cardboard sleeves (hello, Go For Zero). Which brings me to the next point.

2. Planning, planning & planning.

Don’t stop reading now! I’m not asking you to make more plans in your busy life! This type of planning is just to remember to focus on the room you’ve chosen, and make plans as you go, to make a better choice the next time you need to purchase something. This goes from your deodorant, to the clothes you wear all the way to of course, planning your food (our fave, once again).

When I personally buy something and it’s not quite as sustainable as I’d like it to be, I already start asking myself : How can I do this better? Lately for me – it’s been underwear! I was putting off buying it because well – I wanted to do a sustainable purchase (did you know that a lot of the clothes we wear is made of plastic?). I’ve been thinking about it for months. So, I’ve had heaps of time to find my perfect fit – body-wise and environmentally-wise. When you buy something and feel like it’s not aligned, there’s often a more gentle option for the environment. I can almost guarantee you that someone out there is working on a sustainable option. Many aren’t perfect, but we aren’t striving for zero-waste – We are striving for wasting less. Less pollution, less carelessness and less powerlessness towards this situation.

3. Want and wait.

Wanting is such an interesting human experience. We all experience it. Do you remember when you were a child and that your parents were telling you to wait? How hard was it, right?! One of the perks of being an adult is that you don’t need to wait anymore to get what you want, if you really want it enough. And that feeling of want taps into something very interesting in our brains. When we want and we let it become a need, it becomes the same urgency than going to the bathroom. There’s no difference to the brain. You need it, you get it. End of the story.

But what if you stopped yourself from transferring your want into a need?

If you challenge yourself to wait, you’ll see that, unlike a pressing need to go to the bathroom, it’ll fade away. You just need to walk away from it, change the subject, ignore it for a minute and there’s a high chance that you won’t come back to it.

If you still really feel like you need it in two weeks, sure, go ahead! Who am I to tell you not to buy a ride-on mower when you’ve got an acre of land? But if you start tallying everything you want in a day, you’ll see that most of it does not need an immediate action. This has the bonus of saving you money too.

Just let yourself want, and then allow yourself to wait.

4. Use and reuse

This one is a huge rule in my household. If we need to get something, it needs to serve more than one purpose, or be something we will use often (it’s hard to use a lawn mower for something else than mowing the lawn – I know). It needs to serve multiple purposes and have the ability to be reused. We try to wring out the most out of everything. For example, on the very rare occasion we come across snap lock bags, we wash them and we reuse them. Yep – you read that right. I’m also not going to tell you that you should do that – It’s a lot of work. It’s not for everyone, and it’s been years in the making. But for us, it’s worth it. It makes us feel better that we aren’t just throwing things mindlessly, and it’s good for our wallets (I’m repeating myself but – sustainability can get you to spend a lot less!). We wring the most out of everything so if we are creating waste, at least we minimised it along the way by optimising what we have.

5. Do your research

I see you, researchers! If you like to have some reassurance before you buy (I know I do), you might already be in the habit of looking up online some reviews before buying something. There’s plenty of reasons to look things up: to know the quality of things, get a better deal and also know where to get things! Well, in a waste-less life, we do the same thing, but a bit differently. Because we love planning so much – We most probably foresaw that we were going to need to purchase something. So, I might look up my options months in advance. And when the time is getting closer to get that something, I ususally know exactly what I want and we start looking on Marketplace or Gumtree, to find items that are used. To me, it feels like an adult version of a treasure hunt. The excitement of finding the thing you need is unreal! There are also plenty of platforms and shops where you can borrow and/or rent things – tools, clothes, toys – Name it! You really just need to start looking for things with a different approach, and you won’t feel like you’re missing out at all. You will always find what you need and often, this approach means less clutter, less expenses and less traces left behind. Sometimes, it also means reconnecting with a family member because you can borrow a tool for a big job you’ll only do once. And that’s cool.

I like to think that these are good starting points to start the mindset going on waste-less journey, as they aren’t asking you to change anything in your life. There’s no fancy equipment, no crazy expensive course and nothing you need to change overnight. The more you start thinking about it, the more you are implementing little changes every day, making a difference in a lifetime.

I also invite you to check out our waste-free meal delivery service! We’ve crafted some delicious meals made with love, without ever using single-use plastics in the process and the most exciting bit – it’s all designed in a reusable system so you never throw out anything! We collect everything, sanitise it all and reuse it again and again! It’s perfect for busy people who have no idea where to start in the kitchen when it comes to sustainability and already use meal delivery services. We keep your life convenient, we cut some waste out of your life and we don’t skim on taste.

Did any of these stand out for you? Am I the only one washing my plastic bags? Anything you’ll try this week? Let us know in the comment!