Allow me to quickly jump in to introduce my sister Jenny before we dive into this post! I’ve been so incredibly inspired by her these past couple of years as she has made small adjustments to her habits to significantly reduce the waste she produces. She began with one small idea: to cut out her use of plastic bags, and from there has grown to reduce her consumption in so many other areas. Her journey has not been about perfection, but about an understanding that if we all make a few small changes we can have an incredible impact on the health of our planet. We’re so excited to begin this series, and see how we can all grow together in our journey to low waste. – Sara
“My 2018 New Year’s Resolution was to stop using plastic bags because I noticed I was throwing out a lot of them. From there, I started paying attention to what else I was tossing and what I thought I could change relatively easily. Here are the 5 things that kickstarted my low waste journey:” – Jenny Adams
Switch to reusable shopping bags
Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, many of which are eaten by birds, sea turtles and fish.
Habits I’ve formed:
- Put bags I’ve unloaded on a hook near our garage door and transfer them to our cars every few days.
- Store cloth and net produce bags (I got some from Package Free Shop or Ecobags) in my larger grocery bags.
- Use smaller bags for stores other than the grocery store (a lot of retailers are giving those out – I love the ones from @Athleta).
- Make sure I use every bag I have hundreds of times to truly reduce my environmental impact.
Use a refillable water bottle
1 million plastic bottles purchased per minute, only 23% of which are recycled.
Habits I’ve formed:
- Bring my insulated water bottle everywhere (the handle on mine makes it easy to carry on hikes and the sleekness makes me feel comfortable using it in business meetings).
- Ask in restaurants if they serve water in plastic cups (I’ve gotten a sense of which of my go-to restaurants do this) and if so, fill up my water bottle.
- Drink more – I’ve found I stay more hydrated when using my water bottle!
Refuse single-use straws
Americans are estimated to use half a million straws per day which either sit in landfills or harm wildlife.
Habits I’ve formed:
- Say “no straw please” at restaurants. Bonus: I find that once I ask for no straw at a restaurant, the rest of the table follows suit!
- Stash metal straws in my purse and travel bag for when I may want them.
- Don’t get discouraged when served a plastic straw because sometimes it happens!
- Ask local restaurants if they’ll stop serving plastic straws or first ask customers if they want them.
Bring a mug to coffee shops
Americans throw away 25 billion styrofoam coffee cups every year. Even paper cups are harmful to the environment – they are coated in plastic and waste resources such as trees and water to manufacture.
Habits I’ve formed:
- Get the coffee “for here” when I forget my mug (if the coffee shop has real mugs available).
- Use my coffee mug as a vessel for other drinks or bulk snacks (I use my @keepcup on airplanes to skip the single-use cups they offer).
Pick up litter when walking or running
All drains lead to the ocean. Litter can get blown into gutters and eventually ends up in the ocean.
Habits I’ve formed:
- Pick up and properly dispose of litter when on walks or runs. The Swedish popularized this as “plogging” – I personally think it’s a great excuse to stop running for a few seconds!
- Collect trash in parking lots as I walk into stores (this is super easy because there are typically trash cans at store entrances).
It’s a journey, so start small
“We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.”
Anne-Marie Bonneau (@zerowastechef)
As I began to form these new habits, I would get upset with myself if I forgot my shopping bags or if someone gave me a plastic straw. The day I saw Anne-Marie Bonneau’s quote was a turning point for me. I realized if we all do something simple like shop with reusable bags or eat one meatless meal a week, collectively we can make a big difference!
What change are you going to make first? What has your experience been with making any of these 5 changes? What have you done that I haven’t mentioned here? – Jenny