The three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) are not enough to achieve a true positive impact of our lifestyle on nature. For this reason, the zero waste movement was born, a trend that aims to reduce our energy footprint to the maximum.
What is zero waste?
The main idea behind the zero waste lifestyle is to generate the minimum amount of waste possible with our day to day. But how can we achieve it?
Change your routines following these simple five steps to get a more committed and sustainable life.
Reject
The first step towards sustainability and responsible consumption is to reject everything we don’t need. Eliminating the redundant things we own leads us to value more what we have and select it more carefully. In addition, it’s a fundamental step if we also want to save money and avoid having a consumerist lifestyle.
Reduce
But to achieve the minimalism of the zero waste lifestyle is also necessary to reduce among the things we need. This becomes especially important, for example, in clothes and accessories. As we already tell you, fashion is one of the most toxics industries in the world. So it’s not necessary to have a wide variety of garments in our wardrobe, if the ones we already own are sustainable and quality clothing. After all, the fewer things we have, the less we have to throw away.
Re-use
This third step is key in the zero waste movement. Make sure that all those things you decided to buy are reusable or look for more ecological alternatives. This has multitude of applications:
- In the kitchen, for example, we will use glass containers, reducing plastic as much as possible. Eat more vegetables and buy organic food to combine a healthy diet with a sustainable lifestyle.
- Think of all the disposable objects that pass through your hands in your day to day: from paper napkins, handkerchiefs, straws, tampons, plastic bottles … All these products have reusable alternatives, such as fabric cloths or a menstrual cup, that will help you greatly to reduce the amount of garbage that you generate.
- In cosmetics, you can choose bars (for soap and shampoo) and learn how to make your own toothpaste, avoiding buying non-reusable containers.
Recycle
We must recycle everything that we haven’t been able to eliminate following the first three steps. This way, we will give new life to objects we don’t use, avoiding the consumption of unnecessary products and increasing the demand for plastics and other non-biodegradable materials.
Compost
The final step of the zero waste movement is to make compost with all the organic waste that you’ve generated since you started this new lifestyle. This way, you can take advantage of your garbage to plant new foods in urban gardens.
Have you ever heard about the zero waste movement before? What do you think about these tips?
