Zero Waste Management at Home

Every day, thousands of pounds of household waste are dumped in landfill. Adding to the endless piles of waste that has been in the environment for centuries. Polluting the surroundings, destroying wildlife habitats, and causing threats to human health. Buying and throwing is a norm which contributed so much to this global problem.  

Recycling is a good act to reduce solid waste problem. This is practiced in many households and supported by many agencies including governments. But recycling alone is not enough to solve the increasing amount of garbage in the environment. There is so much trash to process and we are consuming more than what we can recycle.

Not all solid waste can be recycled. There are lots of single-use products and packaging that will always end-up in dump as we have no method for making them useful again. In addition, some waste materials have limited number of times to be recycled due to degradation each time they go through the process. Moreover, recycling still has negative impact in the environment. Melting plastics and metals to turn them into new products uses huge amount of energy which increases carbon footprint in nature. Also, the process produces smoke that pollutes the air and toxic chemicals that may find their way into the water and land.

The best way to reduce solid waste is to reduce the items to be recycled. This is possible by preventing waste from coming into our household or zero waste management. How?

 

1. Eliminate single-use items. Note down what you throw after a single use. The most common culprits of these are paper towels, disposable water bottles, plastic utensils, and drinking straws. The trick here is replacing them with reusable items or avoiding to use them. For instance, using a cloth towel instead of relying on paper towels to clean up a mess in the kitchen. Bringing a reusable bottle for drinking instead of buying bottled drinks. Bringing your own utensils to avoid using plastic spoon and fork when eating outside. And not using straws for your drinks.
2. Bring reusable bags and containers when shopping. The amount of plastic trash from groceries is bothering. Almost each item is unnecessarily packed. Avoid buying prepacked items and use your own bag to carry them. How about the wet products such as meat and fish? Bring your own jars so they don’t spill in your grocery bag. The sales clerk may find this weird at first but they’ll be surely happy to assist you especially when they know your reason.
3. Buy in Bulk. You don’t only save the environment by doing this but your wallet too. Bulk products are usually cheaper than buying singly. Small or per piece items accumulate the amount of packaging used increasing the amount of trash.
4. Make your own cleaning products. It’s easier than you think. Most ingredients are in the kitchen. A mixture of vinegar, baking soda, lemon, and a few drops of essential oil for fragrance can be used for cleaning your beautiful home.
5. Go digital. Ask your bank and utility companies to stop sending you paper billing statements and instead send them via email. Going digital is more convenient as you don’t have to deal with losing a piece of paper billing statement. You can simply check your bills online. Plus going paperless will surely save lots of trees.

Zero waste management is challenging. Granted that it won’t happen overnight. It’s important to take small steps to begin and allow yourself to adjust slowly.