reduce, reuse, recycle 

We’ve all heard those three words at some point. First, reduce your consumption. Then reuse what you can. And finally, recycle the rest.

Social media has been flooded lately with zero waste content. YouTube, Instagram and magazine have been crazy by the zero waste moment. And I’m not complaining. I think it’s amazing that there is such a huge collective consciousness to save the earth. But if we’re being totally honest with ourselves, it’s not the most practical thing. Not to mention it can sometimes be time consuming. But I am a firm believer in doing what you can. If you really can’t reduce your waste then reuse of certain items or even recycling waste is such a great step in the right direction.

In a perfect world we’d be all completely zero waste. We probably wouldn’t even be here if that was the case. But this isn’t an article on how to do that. This is how to be waste-less. Not waste free. But some practical and easy steps in helping the environment. And your wallet.

If you are completely waste free, I commend you. But if it’s not something you can achieve right now, here are some ideas to help you reduce your carbon footprint.

the rubbish epidemic 

Unless you’ve been living unless a pile of garbage, you’ve probably heard about the huge problem that is Plastic. I suppose though, that if you’ve been living under mounds of it, you’d also know this. Plastic doesn’t break down. It simply breaks up. These micro plastics enters water ways and sea animals consume it. Animals also get entangled in it and it kills at least 100 million marine animals each year. This isn’t even counting other animals. And if you eat seafood, it can pass on to you too.

Every single piece of plastic that was ever made still exists. This is why it’s so important to reduce the amount of plastic you use as much as you can. Thankfully, this is really easy. Even if you can completely eradicate it from you life, you can still make a huge impact simply by reducing how much you use in the first place.

plastic shopping bags

About a year ago, I replaced single use shopping bags with reusable ones. I now use natural fibre totes which are all very durable and when they finally do run their course, are also all biodegradable. It’s one of those things that make you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. There are so many pros that that I find it ridiculous people still using single use plastic bags when grocery shopping. Australia recently passed legislation on banning single use plastic bags but you can still them if you want and it blows my mind that people want to spend money on what is literally rubbish when they could just switch over.

Here are some of the pros I’ve found since switching:

– Cute bags. There are endless designs when it comes to reusable bags. I have already amassed myself quite a collection. Unique designs means there is very little chance you will mistake someone else bags for you own. Ecoright has a whole bunch of cool designs. Many with zips so you can close them up too.

– No more groceries on the floor. I can’t tell you how many times my groceries spilled onto the floor due to thin plastic bags. Double bagging wouldn’t even save them. Not to mention it’s more added unnecessary plastic. Cotton, jute, hemp, etc… bags ensure this doesn’t happen.

– More room in your drawers, storage cupboard, pantry, ect… My utilities cupboard is no longer overflowing with plastic bags. I still have a few I haven’t gotten around to reusing (from over a year ago) but it’s so nice to have some extra space for things I actually need and use.

– Less trips to the bin. There’s no getting around it. If you feed a family and are using plastic shopping bags then if you’re not reusing plastic bags, your bin is likely full from one grocery shop after you’ve put everything away. Think of the huge impact you can make by simply switching over.

Plastic is so last season tote

Natural flowers cotton  tote

Houston, we have a problem tote

Life’s a beach tote

Colour block tote

In this photo:

Ecoright Hasta La Vista, Plastic! tote

In this photo:

Ever Eco reusable produce bags

Another type of plastic bag people often overlook is produce bags. I always felt guilty after every time I put the groceries away and I had a large handful of scrunched up produce bags I had to throw in the bin. I found these in a local health store but you can find them online for super cheap now. Just make sure they are durable or you could potentially be picking up a bunch of apples off of the supermarket floor. Even if you did buy some that aren’y such great quality, you could always double stitch them if you’re handy with a sewing machine or needle and thread. The ones I have come in a hand little carry bag with a clip which I usually hang off of my handbag so they’re easy to get to.

TIP! Keep your reusable shopping and produce bags in the car or near your keys so you never forget to take them with you! I also always keep one cotton tote folded in my handbag for those days I think I won’t be buying anything but end up needing a bag!

to go

This one is such a no brainer that I feel pretty stupid for not implementing these practices sooner and it feeds two birds with one scone.

It helps the environment and your wallet.

What is it? Bring your own water bottle/coffee mug/lunches!

I use to spend so much money on water bottles every year. I drink a lot of water and I would buy at least one water bottle every time I went somewhere. Multiply that by at least 3 days a week and about $3.50AUD a bottle and I think I’ve saved at least a thousand dollars. Not to mention all of that waste I contributed to. It blows my mind what an impact one person can have on a bigger scale.

These days I take my reusable water bottles everywhere and my wallet is much happier for it.

Just like reusable bags, there are so many different designs an options for bottles. Right now I rotate between a metal one and a smaller glass one by Think Cup from Opus Design Studio, depending on how long I’m going to be out for.

Another easy thing to do to reduce waste when on the go is buy bringing your own food. There are so different lunch boxes available to suit different occasions or you can get small containers. But you don’t even need to go out and buy anything new. If you’ve got take out containers in your cupboards, use those. I use them both for packing lunches and for freezing food. They don’t need to go to waste!

And if you’re taking lunch on the go, don’t forget the reusable cutlery. I just use a fork and knife I got in a delivery meal plan from a couple of years ago and some straws I bought on eBay for about $1AUD each. Reducing waste definitely does not need to be expensive or costly.

Sip top metal drink bottle

1 L metal drink bottle

Refresher drink bottle

Give a sip coffee cup

Take me away cup