12 Easy Zero Waste Swaps to Kickstart Your Zero Waste or Low Waste Lifestyle
A low waste lifestyle requires making some adjustments to your day to day habits. One part of that is what you choose to buy. It can be hard to get started with sustainable living, especially since waste is such a broad and ubiquitous part of modern life. That’s why we put together this list of 12 common household items you can easily swap out for sustainable options:
Water Bottle – try a reusable water bottle, tap water tends to outperform bottled water in double-blind taste tests. It’s also orders of magnitude cheaper and looks better too!
Food – buy bulk if you can, otherwise use the butcher for your meats and don’t buy any prepackaged fruits / veggies. Meal prep goes a long way in reducing waste. Also if you’re main concern is carbon emissions you should probably go vegan (even if it means using plastic).
Beverages – try to buy drinks in aluminum cans instead of glass or plastic bottles. Cans are much more recyclable and have a lower environmental footprint than other materials.
Toothbrush – Plastic toothbrushes can’t be recycled and just generally suck. Swap them for bamboo toothbrushes are aesthetically pleasing, biodegradable and compostable.
Produce Bags – Those little film-like bags in the produce section that take forever to find the opening? Just stop using them! The grocery store can weigh and bag your produce without them and you’ll probably save years of your life fumbling with those infernal bags.
Other Bags – You can keep using plastic bags to carry stuff around, but if you need something a little more stylish pick up a tote bag or backpack and bring it with you whenever you’re heading out.
Shampoo/Conditioner – Shampoo is generally a scam and can rob your hair of truly essential oils. If you need to use it there are a host of zero waste options available.
Body Wash – Use bars of soap, they are cheaper and last longer than liquid soap and can be better for your skin.
Clothes – Buy vintage or second hand, avoid fast fashion brands. Some estimates put clothing production at 20% of future emissions, and some studies name cotton production as the biggest drain on our water supplies. Try to buy second hand or shop from brands that source sustainably.
Tampons – generally speaking, the less plastic we have in our bodies the better. That’s why it’s worth trying a menstrual cup.
Tissues and Paper Towels – save some trees and use rags to mop up the mess.
Be creative – there’s no reason you can’t use or reuse one thing for another. Follow r/zerowaste on Reddit for some creative ways to waste.