Most of us by now have heard the phrase “zero-waste,” especially when referring to manufacturing facilities or even restaurants. Zero-waste is a concept that the very idea of waste should be eliminated; instead, any and all products, resources, materials, and leftovers should be returned for further use in the same or in a different capacity. Nothing should be thrown away, ever: there would be no such thing as waste. And while there are many individuals and groups working to make that a reality, it’s a rather difficult achievement because of the way we have set our society up to be one of convenience and disposability rather than reuse.
Thankfully, though, there are some ways you can help turn your home into being (or get it closer to) a Zero-Waste facility. By keeping in mind the entire life-cycle of the products we buy and throw away, we can all do our part to reduce or eliminate waste from our life. Here are some tips to help you get started.
Buy In Bulk
By eliminating all packaging of food supplies, we could substantially cut the amount of packaging trash we throw away each day. Pick up some reusable containers and shop in bulk for everything possible. This could include rice, nuts, soaps, grains, seeds, cereals, peanut butter, etc.
Stop Buying Things In Plastic
Beth from My Plastic Free Life has pretty much eliminated plastic from her life. With careful planning, you can do the same. Plastic takes oil to make and lasts forever in landfills, so buy things that either come without packaging or are in glass or at least metal. Glass or metal can last a lifetime should you wish to reuse either one and are better recycling material than plastic is.
Reuse Everything
Glass jars make great water bottles at home. Cardboard boxes can be used over and over again before needing to be recycled. Shredded paper can be put in compost piles. Many “broken” items can be recycled into craft projects to do with your children. Chances are, no matter what the material is, you could find another use or three for it.
Share
Everyone on your block doesn’t need their own snowblower, so why not share with a neighbor? This eliminates the need for a manufacturer to build additional machines and also keeps one out of the trash heap once it needs replacing. Sharing also saves money, too – and this is all about being Zero-Waste, right?
Learn Local Recycling Laws
Before you decided to trash something you aren’t sure can be recycled, take the time to learn your town’s recycling rules. Where I live, nearly anything can be recycled. Maybe your town is the same, so there is no sense throwing an item away that could have been turned into something else!
Don’t Waste Food
Cook only the amount you will eat, refrigerate any leftovers, and compost anything else. Buying food you throw away not only costs you money but also produces more waste, from the farmer all the way down to the car ride to the grocery store. Buy (or even better, grow) what you need and stop wasting food.
Keep Electronics Longer
The allure of a new iPhone can be too much for anyone; but what does it do that your current phone doesn’t already do? I am still rocking my 3GS from over 3 years ago! While it is definitely on its last legs and will be replaced later this year, nearly everyone I know has had 2 or 3 new phones in the time I have had this single one. By making electronics last longer, you help to keep toxic chemicals out of our environment both before manufacturing and after.
Bring Lunch From Home
If you make your lunch at home and bring it to work or school in a reusable container, you eliminate all packaging from your daily midday meal. Can’t say the same of a visit to a fast-food joint or a local cafeteria.
Bring A Reusable Bottle Everywhere
I have one for water and one for coffee, and they are almost always with me. You don’t need to contribute to that trash can outside Starbucks overflowing with single-use paper cups, do you?
Get Off Those Junk Mail Lists
I know, you keep meaning to do it but the mail keeps coming. Take a few minutes one day this month and stop it for good. Visit CatalogChoice and OptOutPrescreen and eliminate all that paper waste that keeps coming into your house day after day.
While stopping any and all waste from entering our lives would be an uphill battle, by paying close attention to what we buy we can certainly reduce the amount of trash we throw away each day. The average American generates 1,600 pounds of trash per year; we can do better.
So, have you tried to reduce the waste you generate? What kinds of things have you tried?
10 Ways To Make Your Home A Zero-Waste Facility — 19 Comments
I’ve done the OptOutPrescreen and CatalogChoice (they really work). Our community recently started a compost program–our food waste is now picked up weekly at the curb. Works great, and the volume of trash we send to a landfill has been more than halved.
Your “Share” advice is the one to me that seems so beneficial yet few seem to do it. We each tend to own expensive tools or equipment that might get used a couple of times a year. Wouldn’t it be great if every neighborhood had an equipment ‘lending library!”
Good for you guys. That is great to hear. We do all of those things too. I love eating leftovers for lunch. They are so much more tasty than what I can buy.
I went to the optoutprescreen.com website a few months ago. You can opt out of some junk mail via the website, and you have to snail mail them to complete the procedure. Before I did it, my mailbox was full of junk mail almost every day. Now, I get hardly any junk mail in my mailbox at all.
There are under-counter composters, should you be so inclined to check them out. Most people don’t want the hassle of dealing with them, though, and that’s why community compost programs are key. If your town doesn’t have one, maybe you can convince them to start one?
Aah, this is my favorite subject.I love minimalism. I love removing not only stuff but also metal clutter by being a minimalist. Every example in your article is important for anyone who wants to live happily with less.
Okay, I was thinking this was going to be really hard stuff to do. Some of it can be almost effortless. Thanks for sharing all these tips, I’ll probably try out a couple of them. I know I should probably already be doing several (ooops) but you gotta start somewhere. 🙂
I hate packaging waste. I wish there were more options to buy certain things with less packaging. I think those stores like costco actually have more packaging..it’s the same item, but packed together in additional packaging on top of the individual package it comes in.
I am happy though that consumer pressure has at least led companies to try to use less plastic in certain types of packaging like water bottles.
I am with you. Packaging is way overused and not necessary. It is interesting but I find that organic produce has some of the most packaging. I wonder if it is because they are trying for it not to get contaminated by the bulk bins of non-organic produce. Just a thought but it seems that since I started buying organic I get more plastic and boxes.
I hope this decreases otherwise we are defeating the purpose of trying to be green like growing organic produce.
It’s kinda crazy when how much trash piles up every week when I go to take it out. Then I think about my amount multiplied by billions. We need to do more with less!
If you take time to notice, you are often surprised. Problem is people don’t take time to notice how much they are throwing away. We have made a substantial effort this last year to reduce our trash. Most weeks we only have one bag.
We do a lot of recycling. Or should I say I do. I am always reminding our family which trash can items go into. There is still a LOT we can do. But in our town each house has a recycling bin provided and the cost of recycling is in the cost of trash pick-up. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who don’t recycle. I am constantly seeing boxes poking out of the regular trash that could easily have been recycled!
We all need to do more to save this world for our futures.
I agree. I see a lot of things trashed that could be recycled. I don’t know if it is laziness or just ignorance. Either way it is really frustrating. Thanks for doing your part.
Most of us by now have heard the phrase “zero-waste,” especially when referring to manufacturing facilities or even restaurants. Zero-waste is a concept that the very idea of waste should be eliminated; instead, any and all products, resources, materials, and leftovers should be returned for further use in the same or in a different capacity. Nothing should be thrown away, ever: there would be no such thing as waste. And while there are many individuals and groups working to make that a reality, it’s a rather difficult achievement because of the way we have set our society up to be one of convenience and disposability rather than reuse.
I’ve done the OptOutPrescreen and CatalogChoice (they really work). Our community recently started a compost program–our food waste is now picked up weekly at the curb. Works great, and the volume of trash we send to a landfill has been more than halved.
Your “Share” advice is the one to me that seems so beneficial yet few seem to do it. We each tend to own expensive tools or equipment that might get used a couple of times a year. Wouldn’t it be great if every neighborhood had an equipment ‘lending library!”
I could only dream of every community starting a compost program. How great is that!
These are great ideas, some of which I already implement.
We recycle. A lot. I’ve even told my husband “Wait, don’t throw that away! It can be recycled!”. 🙂
We buy certain foods in bulk; it’s actually cheaper, especially if you use it a lot. We eat leftovers and my husband brings his lunch to work.
Good for you guys. That is great to hear. We do all of those things too. I love eating leftovers for lunch. They are so much more tasty than what I can buy.
I went to the optoutprescreen.com website a few months ago. You can opt out of some junk mail via the website, and you have to snail mail them to complete the procedure. Before I did it, my mailbox was full of junk mail almost every day. Now, I get hardly any junk mail in my mailbox at all.
I highly recommend that to everybody.
Right on! Can’t recommend those services enough.
I reuse my water bottle. And I still have an mp3 player even though most people have the ipod nano—they are so cute and little!
I also use a reusable water bottle. I really like the stainless steel ones. They are so durable.
There are under-counter composters, should you be so inclined to check them out. Most people don’t want the hassle of dealing with them, though, and that’s why community compost programs are key. If your town doesn’t have one, maybe you can convince them to start one?
Aah, this is my favorite subject.I love minimalism. I love removing not only stuff but also metal clutter by being a minimalist. Every example in your article is important for anyone who wants to live happily with less.
I agree. You don’t need much to live happy.
Okay, I was thinking this was going to be really hard stuff to do. Some of it can be almost effortless. Thanks for sharing all these tips, I’ll probably try out a couple of them. I know I should probably already be doing several (ooops) but you gotta start somewhere. 🙂
Better late than never right. And yes, these things are all really easy to do. Let me know how the changes go.
I hate packaging waste. I wish there were more options to buy certain things with less packaging. I think those stores like costco actually have more packaging..it’s the same item, but packed together in additional packaging on top of the individual package it comes in.
I am happy though that consumer pressure has at least led companies to try to use less plastic in certain types of packaging like water bottles.
I am with you. Packaging is way overused and not necessary. It is interesting but I find that organic produce has some of the most packaging. I wonder if it is because they are trying for it not to get contaminated by the bulk bins of non-organic produce. Just a thought but it seems that since I started buying organic I get more plastic and boxes.
I hope this decreases otherwise we are defeating the purpose of trying to be green like growing organic produce.
It’s kinda crazy when how much trash piles up every week when I go to take it out. Then I think about my amount multiplied by billions. We need to do more with less!
If you take time to notice, you are often surprised. Problem is people don’t take time to notice how much they are throwing away. We have made a substantial effort this last year to reduce our trash. Most weeks we only have one bag.
We do a lot of recycling. Or should I say I do. I am always reminding our family which trash can items go into. There is still a LOT we can do. But in our town each house has a recycling bin provided and the cost of recycling is in the cost of trash pick-up. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who don’t recycle. I am constantly seeing boxes poking out of the regular trash that could easily have been recycled!
We all need to do more to save this world for our futures.
I agree. I see a lot of things trashed that could be recycled. I don’t know if it is laziness or just ignorance. Either way it is really frustrating. Thanks for doing your part.