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With lifestyles that are built on continuously consuming and tossing away items like water bottles and last season’s clothes, it begs to question, “How much trash does the average person make each day?” Well, according to the Environmental Protection Agency each of us tosses approximately 4.5 pounds of trash out each and every single day. And, we recycle less than 2 pounds of the items that we use daily. That means that even recyclable items like packaging, glass containers and clothing are consistently being added to landfills amounting to 254 million tons of trash yearly.
So, what can we do to reduce our trash? One of the answers lies in adopting a zero waste lifestyle. As the name implies, zero waste is a concept where compostable, biodegradable, reusuable or recyclable items are chosen instead of single-use items that end up in landfills. By using items that don’t contribute to waste we can minimize the trash we produce and have a kinder impact on the environment.
To learn more about living a zero waste lifestyle, we reached out to Elisa Hane, one of the co-founders of Without Waste, a shop that focused on refillable products for your house and home to help people live waste free before closing in the beginning of 2022. (Think dish detergent pods packaged in reusable glass containers instead of plastic.) As someone who has lead a zero waste lifestyle for some time now, Elisa offered her tips that all of us can adopt for simple ways to live a zero waste lifestyle or simply reduce our waste here and there to have a better environmental impact.
And, we’ve looked to other zero waste shops to highlight products that we can all use to reuse and refill to reduce waste.
Why did you decide to go zero waste?
After I finished college, I regularly participated in beach cleanups with the Surfrider Foundation. It wasn’t uncommon for the team of volunteers to collect over 500 pounds of trash in a four-hour timeframe. So much of this trash – the bottle caps, pens, straws, bottles, and plastic bags – were recognizable as objects from my own life.
At that time, I had just moved onto a sailboat. Being around the ocean was part of my daily life, and it forced me to pay attention to the gross amounts of human garbage that end up in the ocean. After a rain, the marina was literally swamped with garbage, and I’d see that same garbage five miles out at sea.
What were some of the big changes that you made to adopt a zero waste lifestyle?
It actually started with a lot of little changes. I made a lot of sustainable swaps, for example, I never left home without my titanium spork and reusable water bottle. I aim to only purchase products that are secondhand, made to last, or made from sustainable and recyclable materials. I also made an effort to cut plastic food packaging, by shopping in bulk at grocery stores and farmers’ markets.
The hardest part for me was finding plastic-free home and body products. My business partner Charlotte and I started Without Waste Shop out of a desire for an accessible refill station that sells products with only whole, non-toxic ingredients. Unfortunately, refill stations are not a commodity yet, and most people are hard-pressed to find such zero-waste solutions.
What are easy changes that you think everyone can do?
Honestly, going zero-waste is not easy. Our consumerist, oil-fueled society pushes plastic on us from all sides. We don’t have an infrastructure that enables sustainable living. But everyone can do something. Everyone can put pressure on businesses to reduce single-use plastic by saying “no” to single-use straws, cutlery, and plastic or styrofoam to-go containers. Anyone can support local sustainability initiatives by getting involved with green nonprofits, which also helps to foster a like-minded green community.
Do you think a zero waste lifestyle is really just about changing our mindset?
Zero waste is a mindset. It’s a shift to thinking about the entire lifecycle of a product. Every thing that we own had a life before it came to us, and it will continue to exist and impact the planet when we are done with it. When begin to consider how our shopping habits affect the environment and other people, it’s easier to consume mindfully.
What sustainable companies do you admire?
I’m inspired by all companies that use business as a form of activism. The list of such companies is growing all the time, but some great examples are Patagonia and Bureo. They’re not nonprofits, but they’re not operating just to make a profit. Businesses certainly need to make money, but they should also operate with a higher purpose.
Can you recommend ways to be a conscious consumer?
You shop consciously by adopting the intention to do the least amount of harm and the most amount of good when you make a purchase. In general, look for plastic-free packaging or items that support a social or environmental initiative.
Conscious consumption also involves learning to say ‘no’. Before making a purchase, ask yourself do I really need this? It turns out that we need a lot less than we think we do. A ‘green’ mindset can actually make our lives more simple and carefree by reducing clutter.
What are your sustainable goals for 2021?
It’s no secret that 2020 was hard on the zero-waste lifestyle. Bulk bins closed, we shut down our farmers’ market refill station, and single-use PPE still litters the streets. I’m doing my best to minimize plastic packaging in my life. But promoting a sustainable world also requires getting involved in local government to create local incentives to reduce single-use plastic. My goal for wi2021 is to get more involved in local sustainability initiatives, even if it’s just via Zoom!
Read more about living a zero waste lifestyle:
Zero Waste Stores You Can Shop At For All Your Needs
Cookbooks To Help You Have A Sustainable, Zero Waste Kitchen
10 Sustainable Products To Use Every Day For A Zero Waste Lifestyle