Zero Waste from a literal translation means zero waste. It is an idea that aims to reduce the production of waste. Utopian zero is a form of striving to actually bring the amount of garbage produced to a minimum. In light of the environmental crisis, the attitude presented, is one of the increasingly popular forms of fighting the overproduction of plastic and other artificial waste.
Zero Waste what is it?
Zero Waste is a response to consumerist lifestyles. Accustomed to convenience, quick purchases and plastic bags, we have led indirectly to the problems facing our planet. This doesn’t mean that we should stop buying – the idea is to train ourselves to buy consciously and pay attention to how a product is packaged. An important principle of the idea is recycling and the belief that everything can find a reuse.
5 principles of Zero Waste:
- Refuse
- Limit
- Reuse
- Recycle
- Compost
According to a CSO report: in 2020 alone, the statistical Pole generated 342 kg of waste, an increase of 10 kg from the previous year. Does it really take special sacrifices to be more eco-friendly? The most important thing is to change your habits.
How to be Zero Waste?
Zero Waste – is it possible? If we are used to shopping with plastic bags and do not believe in the sense of waste segregation, indeed the idea of total non-waste seems impossible. However, changing habits is the first step to a greener lifestyle. How to do it?
1. reusable bag instead of plastic.
It’s convenient to go to the store and simply buy one or more plastic bags to pack our purchases in. This, however, generates that unwanted plastic, which ultimately often does not make it, into the bins designated for artificial waste. The best alternative for packing our products are cloth bags. They can be purchased in many stores, including grocery stores and drugstores. Their price ranges from a few to a dozen zlotys, and they can serve us for a long time. In addition, a fabric bag is much more durable for heavier shopping than a classic plastic bag. It’s worth getting into the habit of throwing it in your purse or backpack when you go shopping.
2 – Bags for vegetables
We remain on the topic of shopping and plastic bags. Bread, vegetables, fruits we very often pack into many separate plastic bags. Here, too, we can be more Eco and buy or make a small cotton pouch ourselves, into which we will pack products by weight. In many markets at the vegetable stands we can also find Eco bags – although it must be remembered that these must already be purchased. It is also worth paying attention to how packaged products we put in the shopping cart. Try to take what is not over-packaged in plastic or simply doesn’t have it – because do you really need bananas lying on a Styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic? After all, you can buy the ones lying around in bulk.
3. own containers for water, coffee and food
Instead of lugging around liter bottles from the store, it’s worth investing in a pitcher and a bottle with a filter. With daily use, the filter is changed once a month, and the water is simply drawn from the tap. It’s a low-cost investment, and it will relieve us from carrying heavy bottles and, of course, producing plastic. The jug will work well in a home environment or at work. We can take the bottle wherever we want and fill it wherever there is access to water. The same is true for coffee mugs – it is worth buying a thermal one and it is with such to come to your favorite coffee shop to get a takeaway coffee. Disposable coffee mugs are not recycled, so the next step towards Zero Waste living, is to invest in your own mug. And the barista won’t be surprised, as such a trend has been around for some time. When it comes to food, it’s worth remembering your school days and sandwiches packed in breakfast containers instead of plastic wrap. This is exactly what Zero Waste is all about when it comes to food. We pack our second breakfast in a container or an eco-friendly sandwich wrap, which can already be purchased in many stores or made yourself. Of course, such a wrapper is also reusable.
4 Different ways to live Zero Waste
A huge problem of pollution of the environment and mainly the Oceans are plastic straws. By giving up on them, we don’t have to lose the fun if we like to drink drinks through a straw. The idea of Zero Waste is spreading more and more, and we can simply buy metal straws and go to establishments with them, and in many places we will also get paper straws. Zero Waste is also about not wasting food, that is, buying as much as we really need. This doesn’t necessarily apply to products with long expiration dates, but let’s pay attention to whether too much food ends up in our trash garbage can. In the case of surpluses, it is worth taking products with an expiration date approaching, for example, to an eatery. There are more and more places where you can share food for free. Also, don’t forget to segregate your trash and make a habit of putting your waste in the right containers. Also think about whether a sauce jar will be useful in the future for preserves, and a shoebox can be a good alternative for storing Christmas decorations and other trinkets. It’s really not much, and it changes a lot in the condition of the planet.
Living Zero Waste doesn’t require a huge effort, just a transformation of certain habits and conscious shopping. A few small changes can do a lot of good for our common good – that is, the good of the Earth, because, after all, we only have one planet.