For the month of February I set a goal for myself to grocery shop waste free. When heading out to do my Sunday grocery shopping, I brought cloth bags for dried goods, mesh bags for produce, and jars for things like liquid sweeteners and spices. I also adjusted what I was purchasing so that items were package free, or sold in metal or glass containers (as a last resort). I pretty much felt like I was changing the world. You can read more about my experience grocery shopping waste free in my blog post My month of waste free grocery shopping. This twenty-eight day experiment empowered me to do more, but what?
Over the next year, I will be dedicating one month to exploring a different zero waste theme. I chose the following themes because I believe they represent the areas where I am currently generating waste and can adjust my behavior to make a positive impact on the environment. By moving through these themes slowly and thoughtfully, I believe that my family of three can transition to a zero waste lifestyle comfortably and seamlessly over the next year.
Themes:
Grocery shopping
- Zero Waste Grocery shopping one-month challenge
- Making your zero waste starter kit
- Come with me zero waste grocery shopping!
The Zero Waste Kitchen
- The transitioning zero waste kitchen (YouTube video)
- The zero waste kitchen (blog post)
- Zero waste soup stock
- Zero waste hummus
- Zero waste almond milk
- How to combat food waste using your freezer
- Apple cinnamon breakfast porridge
- Zero waste yogurt
- Zero waste naan
- Zero waste breakfast bites
Zero Wasting your Closet
- How to host a clothing swap
- How and why to create a capsule wardobe
- Creating a capsule wardrobe – 2 tips for success
Zero Wasting your Bathroom
- Transitioning to a zero waste bathroom with easy swaps (YouTube video)
- Three easy swaps for a zero waste bathroom (blog post)
Composting (August 2017)
Toby, the zero waste super dog
Travel
- Travel tips for overnight zero waste travel
- Zero waste local travel tips
- How to take a zero waste road trip
- Zero Waste Travel Essentials
Gift giving and holidays
The following themes are still to come!
- Hosting sustainable social events
- Supporting zero waste businesses, education, and community involvement
- Wonderful reusable cotton rounds and cloth bags from Natural Linens
Throughout each month I will be testing out zero waste alternatives to single use items, blogging about my experience, and sharing stories and tips. Do you have a theme you would like to see included? Please submit a “comment”. I welcome your ideas and thoughts throughout this journey and hope you will follow along.
Super inspirational! We are striving to reduce medical waste in our home. We’ve found a way to donate excess medical supplies to a local organization that brings them to third world countries. They take almost anything, even medications! Now we just have to figure out what to do with the giant coolers that come stocked with melds once a month….
Keep the posts coming, great info!
That’s great to hear! Good job finding other people who can use your excess medical supplies. Two thumbs up!