My Favorite Zero-Waste Swaps

If you care even a little bit about climate change, animal abuse, world hunger, deforestation, human health, the oceans, you really really really need to take a long hard look at what you eat. As much as people don’t want to admit it, animal agriculture is killing the environment, animals, and humans, and the longer society refuses to admit it the more damage is going to be done.

🐝 save the bees

🌳 save the trees

🌊 save the seas

Journey to zero waste #22 🌱💚

-homegrown blueberries!! They tasted so good and we were so excited to pick them (hence my little sisters thumbs up). Our garden is coming along too with peppers, cabbage, beets, and just about every other vegetable we could plant. Growing our own produce makes me so happy it’s so gratifying

-low waste farmers market meal 🌻 made this meal as low waste as possible using pretty much everything from the farmers market except some vegan cheese which I will make myself once I finish up what we have!

We are, quite literally, gambling with the future of our planet - for the sake of hamburgers

Peter Singer, Animal Liberation

not to get all fake deep about the state of manufacturing rn but a piece of a plastic bottle is literally gonna outlive the memory of us by dozens of generations

Guide to Zero Waste as a college student.

I know. Just the thought of it made me scared. When I first started a year ago, I dived head first and told myself if I didn’t start now, I would never start. It didn’t matter if I would make a mistake, I had to start and then learn from my mistakes.

Boi did I make a lot of mistakes. But I learned. Here are some steps you can take to become zero waste.

1. Look at your trash. 

What is in there? Plastic bottles? Straws? Jars? Wrappers? Foam containers of that one take away? Take a look at your trash and determine why you are producing that amount of trash.

2. Plan. 

After figuring out what’s in your trash think about what you can do to stop making it. I like to guide myself with these three questions:

Do I really need this in my life? If not, then it is a good time to stop buying/ using said thing.

If I do need it, is there an eco-friendly alternative? Do they sell it or should I look for a DIY-option? The important thing is not to get stuck just because you can’t get it!

What habits can I adapt to make transitioning easier for me?

3. Set goals. 

At first, I dived right into it. Which was probably not the best option. After some months I realized it would be better if I took one step at a time. Goals are a good way to get you there but the only way goals can actually work is of they are smart. These are some of the goals I had when I started.

Every day I must fill my reusable water bottle and take it everywhere with me. I am not allowed to drink from any plastic cups, straws any other form of packaging that is recyclable but not necessarily reusable.

Every day I must go out with my reusable straw and my utensils. In order not to forget them, I have to always keep a pair on each of my bags.

4. Keep track. 

I will admit: I am not perfect. But keeping tracks of what I do with zero waste helps me see what I can do better. And that’s what this movement is. What can we do to get a bit closer to producing no waste? Some people get discouraged but this personally encourages me to work harder.

So are you planning on becoming zero waste? Are you already part of the movement? Let me know!

-Shirou

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. 

The three R’s rule includes small changes in daily lifestyle that are really important in saving our mother Earth. It’s worth taking into consideration to reduce your carbon footprint. ⋆

Firstly, a lot of people consider recycling to be problematic and even unnecessary. But recycling is an effect of high level waste which causes serious environment pollution. The most publicized of them are soil pollutions and plastic soup. So if you aren’t a fan of recycling try to produce less garbage, but still it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t recycle your waste. ⋆ There are also a lot of things that are especially difficult to recycle such as styrofoam, silica gel, plastic bottle caps, paper plates, napkins and coffee cups, plastic bags, bubble wrap, jiffy bags, shredded and richy colored paper, toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes,  clingfil, pill packets, disposable razors, fruit netting, tires, electronics… and a lot of more stuff. ⋆

In solution try using material bags for shopping, cloth napkins, material towel instead of paper ones, bamboo toothbrushes, soaps, safety razors with replaceable razors, you can also try to make your own cosmetics and cloth pads etc., reusable is the keyword! You can save the planet and your own money at the same time, isn’t it worth it? ⋆

While on the subject, ask yourself if you need all those things in your house. If so, keep it, use it and use it up, try making something new out of it instead of buying new items, borrow it to your friends or relatives if you can and if it’s broken try to fix it. But if there are things that you don’t use (I’m sure there are) try selling it. I’m selling a lot of things online in low prices so I have more space and money and the items aren’t wasting but also exchanging things with someone is a good idea ⋆ 

Okay it’s all for today, gree(n)tings  ⋆

FYI

to help make a difference in climate change and to not contribute to human and animal suffering as much as possible i:

- am vegan in all aspects - do not have a car - walk and bike as much as possible - use public transportation when i can not - use reusable bags - use reusable water bottles - use reusable utensils - use reusable containers - refuse plastic at all opportunities - buy recycled/fair trade clothing as i can - try my hardest to be zero waste - throw away NO food - recycle everything i can - switched to having all of my energy come from renewable sources - appreciate all water i use - pick up trash - buy local produce when i can - forgo produce that uses many resources - donate money to vegan and environmental causes - live a minimalistic life - get furniture and appliances second hand if possible - sell and donate things i no longer use

does that make me better than you? of course it doesn’t. but i probably am doing better than you. what the fuck are you doing for the planet? do more.