2017 is the year during which I took (small) but active steps towards producing less waste. It’s a way of thinking and acting I will continue this year.
I deliberately don’t call this journey Zero Waste even though that concept sounds catchier. The aim is to figure out how Less Waste will fit into my life. I believe that starting small, and figuring out what truly works will help make this attitude a long-term one.
The steps I’ve taken so far centre around food, beauty products and buying fewer and fewer plastic wrapped items. The latter is still a ‘mindbreaker’ though.
Inspiration
The first time I heard about Zero Waste was through a documentary by Belgian author and speaker Steven Vromman. the concept used in the documentary was called Low Impact. At the time (about 10 years ago) I wasn’t practising Zero Waste, but it did stay somewhere in the back of my mind.
Fast forward to a few years later and I notice youtube videos about this topic. Some of them I can draw inspiration from such as Sustainable Vegan’s channel. Others channels such as Trash is for tossers on the other hand are so evolved (3 years of plastic in a little jar!) that as a beginner it’s not easy to relate to. Even though I admire her (Trash is for tossers) efforts.
So I decided to figure out a tailor made approach, accompanied by trial and error, which you can read about below and in the articles to come.
No start from zero?
I believe it’s important to look at what attitudes you’ve already adopted before making shiny new plans. This also helps to not be too hard on yourself if the road is rocky in the beginning (in my case it is).
- I mostly use the bicycle when shopping for groceries. This is realistic because the 3 medium sized foodshops in my village are near my house (5 minute bicycle drive). So, no fuel needed there (which I consider a part of this journey).
- Maybe you’ve been using cotton shoppingbags or re-usable plastic shopping bags for months/years?It helps!
- No paper please: by placing a sticker on your mailbox that reads ‘no advertising please’ you’ll receive less paperwork. Easy peasy
Next time
Like I mentioned before buying fewer plastic wrapped goods is still quite a challenge so I tried making certain goods at home. Find out what mischief I’ve been up to in the kitchen in February’s post.Feel free to share your experiences with Zero Waste in the comments!
Safframé 