If you’re one of the millions of people looking for ways to live more eco-friendly, one of your biggest concerns may be to eliminate waste in your home. While it may seem like an overwhelming endeavor, you can reduce your household’s production of waste to zero by changing how you buy and use products in your home. The following tips can be used to help you start living a zero-waste lifestyle.
Grow Your Food
One of the biggest moves you can make in living a zero-waste lifestyle is to stop buying packaged foods. Processed and packaged foods represent the biggest sources of single-use packaging, so eliminating these products from your home is essential. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, growing your own fruits and vegetables is made simple when you discover why Ecohuman’s love Click and Grow at home smart garden. You can also go fishing to add variety to your meals. You can pick up red meat from a local butcher and supply your own container to avoid receiving plastic or paper wrapping with the meat you buy. If you do need to buy cooking spices or other products, be sure to recycle those single-use containers or save them for future use.
Invest in Reusable Containers
You should also look for reusable containers that you and your family can use in place of options that are more wasteful. For instance, make sure everyone has their own water bottle, which they can fill with water from the tap or a fountain. You can improve the quality of your tap water by adding an extra filter to the faucet or by buying a filtration pitcher. You should also buy cloth tote bags that you can regularly use instead of plastic shopping bags. The totes can be used when you buy groceries, visit the library, or shop for new clothes at the mall.
Start Composting
You can buy a composting container that can be used for fruit and vegetable leavings, eggshells, grass and hedge clippings, and similar waste. You can also invest in a composting toilet and replace your traditional toilets with these units. Composting generally requires a three to 12-month cycle, providing you with fertilizer for your gardens. Many new composting devices are designed to contain the odors you would expect from this process, so starting a composting routine won’t be as disruptive to your life as you might assume. The fertilizer you produce through this process will help you grow healthier foods in your gardens at a faster rate.
Stop Buying New Products
There are plenty of things you can get at secondhand stores that are in excellent condition, yet may otherwise end up in a landfill. Refurbished computers and phones are good examples of used items that need homes. You can also buy slightly used furniture, sports equipment, clothing, tools, and other items. You’ll save a considerable amount of money by buying used whenever possible in addition to helping reduce how much is sent to the dumps. Buying secondhand can also help the local economy since a lower demand for new items will force stores to lower their prices. In that way, buying used can help your pocketbook, your local community, and your environment.
Go Digital
You’ll also eliminate household waste by reducing your reliance on paper products. You can read the local and national news online or watch video broadcasts that cover the topics that interest you. By doing so, you’ll have no need to continue your newspaper subscription. If you read books and magazines, you can also find that content online, and using a reading app will make it more convenient for you to read your books or magazines on the go. When shopping, ask the cashier if you can have your receipt sent to your email account. This will also help you eliminate your need for paper products.
While these suggestions will help you make a bigger impact on reducing the waste your family produces, it is not an exhaustive list. You should continuously look for ways to eliminate waste in your home. When waste is produced, examine alternatives that will allow you to eliminate that type of waste in the future. In being diligent, you’ll eventually create an effective strategy for ensuring your home remains waste-free.
