What it means…
Zero waste means sending no trash to landfills. And that any products used, once discarded, find a new purpose and use.
Why go zero waste?
Going zero waste is one of the best things we can do for the environment and ourselves because this is our home. There are a million reasons as to why we should go zero waste, but the short and simple answer is this…”there is no planet B”- Richard Branson.
We should go zero waste because we are intoxicating our oceans, polluting our air, and harming all life on this planet, including ourselves. When I say we are harming ourselves, I mean it! It is all one long chain of events, from how a product is produced, to how it is disposed. And as of right now we are living in a linear economy, as supposed to a circular one, and this linear economy is harming our environment.
A bit more on zero waste…
Now, I personally think going 100% zero waste is, if not extremely difficult, almost impossible in today’s world, which is why going zero waste really means trying to reduce your waste as much a s possible.
Now “zero waste” doesn’t just mean not dumping all your trash into the garbage, it also means not sending anything to the recycling bin either! The reason I say this is because “recycling” is almost the same as sending your trash to the dumps. When you recycle something, e.g. a plastic spoon, it is not just disappearing; that plastic, even once made into something new, is still plastic and is still left on this earth.
How much waste we actually produce…
Think about. Take a few minutes to think about how much waste you produce. I mean honestly how much waste do you produce?
Well…when you really start thinking about it, truly and deeply thinking about it, you’ll come to see that the amount of trash you produce is endless. I’m not just talking talking about what you toss into the garbage anymore. I’m talking about EVERYTHING. Yeap. Literally everything.
From your morning coffee cup to your ride to work. From your food waste to your water waste. When you really start to think about it you’ll come to realize that your waste goes far beyond what possibly imaginable. Just to list a few: toothpaste, food packaging, disposable utensils, napkins, soap & shampoo bottles, food waste, stationary supplies, etc.
Now the good thing about taking a step back and analyzing the amount of waste we produce, is that now we can work on how to reduce our waste. I’m not going to lie, at first it can be difficult and even frustrating, but at the end of the whole thing, you’ll come to learn how important and how significant your impact really has on this earth. And the best thing about it is that you’ll come out being more conscious of your decisions and their effects!
