Living Zero Waste: Easy Tips for an Eco-friendly Home

Today we have a guest article to share from our friends at ZeroWaste: “a platform with a mission to promote the zero waste movement by educating and inspiring people and businesses to care more about the environment by wasting less. 

We noticed that almost everybody wants to take better care of their environment and become more sustainable, but setting some real-world goals and knowing where to start can be a bit daunting. That’s where we come in. We know waste and we know how challenging it can be to proactively waste less” - Olivia Wilson, Outreach Manager of ZeroWaste. 

Here is ZeroWaste’s article written by Shannon Bergstrom:

Easy Tips for an Eco-Friendly Home:

Saving money, preserving the planet, and reducing clutter are just a few of the perks that can come with creating an eco-friendly home. However, while all of those benefits sound delightful, ditching our wasteful habits to go green isn’t always easy. Thankfully, embracing zero waste can help.

What is zero waste? Zero waste is a goal that aims to reduce, and ultimately eliminate waste, from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Instead, all discarded material is to be reused in one way or another to save natural resources and create a circular economy. If it sounds complicated, we promise it isn’t. Just check out the easy zero waste tips for your home.

Get Organized

When we don’t know what we already own, we tend to re-buy or overbuy, so it’s time to get organized. This is one of the easiest things you can do to start going zero waste. Plus, it also presents the perfect opportunity to organize and declutter.

To get started, pick a category of item—for example, cleaning supplies. If you have multiple cabinets that hold cleaning supplies, go through all of them the same day and consolidate them into one place, as you organize. Bringing similar items together as you organize makes it much easier to see what you have on hand and keeping them all together will stop you from buying excess in the future. Another area that deserves attention is your wardrobe. You may want to try adding effective storage solutions to your closet to keep it organized. That way, it will be easier to get a feel for what you already own, helping you avoid an unneeded shopping trip. To keep your closet storage zero waste, consider shopping secondhand or repurposing boxes you already own for containment.

Up Your Recycling

Recycle items that are no longer useable, like burnt lightbulbs, dried-out markers, and empty ink cartridges. While you won’t be able to throw them into your home recycling bin, there are drop-off points and centers that accept these items. Home hardware stores commonly accept lightbulbs, while office supply stores often have bins for old markers and ink cartridges. For electronics, donate those that are still usable, but if they are broken or heavily outdated, find electronic recycling near you.

Don’t Toss What You Have

You may find that you have a variety of everyday items that are far from eco-friendly. This can be anything from plastic razors to rolls of plastic wrap. While many people beginning to go zero waste often feel the urge to purge these items and replace them with zero waste alternatives right away, these products should be used in their entirety before going in the garbage. While it’s true they are going to the landfill eventually, by using them, you are prolonging their life.

Donate

Anything that you no longer want or need but is still usable can be donated, sold, or given away. Did you know that this includes full kitchens? If you are remodeling and replacing the kitchen cabinets and countertops, select Habitat for Humanity locations will not only accept them for resale but also disassemble them at your residence. As a bonus, you can often get a donation receipt to use when tax time rolls around.

Ditch Plastic Water Bottles

According to Forbes, humans buy a million plastic water bottles per minute globally—and 91% of those never get recycled. Luckily, if you contribute to the water bottle frenzy, the habit may be easier to kick than you think. A few reusable water bottles and a good water filter will usually do the trick. While most water filters will produce far less waste than single-use water bottles, try filtering water with charcoal sticks for a zero waste option.

Shop the Farmers Market

The farmers market is the perfect place to find all sorts of zero waste goodies for your home, from fresh produce with no excess wrapping to plants that can elevate your decor. If you need a gift, this is also the place to find unique ideas. Many artisans sell their wares at these markets—many of which offer minimal packaging. This often includes homemade soaps, beauty products, candles, jewelry, knitted goods, and pickled treats. No matter what you are buying, be sure to bring your own bag to make the experience as waste-free as possible.

Green Your Coffee Routine

If you need a caffeine boost to get your day rolling, you certainly aren’t alone, but chances are your java routine could benefit from a zero waste revamp. Making zero waste coffee may include buying a reusable stainless steel or fabric filter for your coffee maker. Or, if you have a machine that uses coffee pods, try filling reusable pods instead of using disposable ones. Buying coffee in bulk with your own containers is a great option. To take it one step further, after you brew your cup you may want to reuse those coffee grounds to fertilize plants, deodorize the fridge, make ice less slippery, exfoliate, etc.

Reduce Power Consumption

Waste isn’t always about the garbage piling up in your bin; it is also how many natural resources you consume, including hydro. To lower your hydro use—and bill—you can change your lightbulbs to LEDs. LEDs consume 80% less energy than CFL bulbs and last up to 25 times longer. For electronics, unplug them when they aren’t in use to avoid them drawing energy on standby, also known as “vampire power”. The easiest way to do this for multiple electronics is to use a power bar that can be flicked off. For those that are forgetful, you may want to try a smart power bar that can be set to turn on and off at a specific time or instantly toggled through an app.

Rethink Cleaning Supplies

Despite what the store shelves overflowing with cleaning supplies would leave you to believe, you do not need a different cleaner for every part of your home—all you need is one good all-purpose cleaner. And vinegar is a zero waste go-to. It is non-toxic and strong enough to clean up most grime. For areas that could use some extra cleaning power, try sprinkling on some baking soda after spraying with vinegar to make a mild abrasive.

Don’t like the smell of vinegar? You can cover that pungent vinegar scent by mixing orange peels or lemon rinds into the cleaning bottle. The longer they sit, the more citrusy it will smell. Or, you can also add a few drops of essential oil to the mix for a quick fix. Lemon and lavender are popular oils for this purpose.

Lastly, remember that you don’t have to change everything in your home at once to make it eco-friendly. Creating an eco-friendly home that works with your timeline and lifestyle is possible, and zero waste can help get you there.

Author Bio

Shannon Bergstrom is a LEED Green Associate, TRUE waste advisor. She currently works at RTS, a tech-driven waste and recycling management company, as a sustainability operations manager. Shannon consults with clients across industries on sustainable waste practices and writes for Zero Waste.

Thank you to ZeroWaste for these awesome tips. We think the end of the year is a great time to pick up these practices so that you are able to have a sustainable holiday season and create sustainable holiday traditions in the home for years to come!