I thought Living a zero-waste lifestyle for a week would be difficult, but in the end it felt like zero effort. As someone who prefers comfort and routine, it felt like a daunting task at first, primarily due to the fact I assumed my entire lifestyle would need an overhaul.
Before thoroughly researching what zero-waste living actually entailed, I thought every facet of my day had to be switched to the most environmentally conscious approach imaginable.
The viral tweet of a woman reusing her pasta water for a brew sat at the forefront of my mind the entire time. On Monday, the first day of the trial period, I thought to myself, "This is what you've signed up for. Get ready for stomach-churning pasta coffee." Much to my delight, zero-waste living isn't just much more tolerable than expected, it's actually an enjoyable experience where the bare minimum feels pretty nice.
The lifestyle is more about reducing your waste than torturing yourself in unrealistic ways, the LiverpoolEcho reports. As a self-declared foodie who eats out more times than necessary every week, this was initially one of my biggest obstacles.
The mantra is reduce and reuse and simply means declining unnecessary items when possible. Etsu, an authentic sushi restaurant in Liverpool, offers all of its customers chopsticks while they dine. The wooden items may be recyclable but they're branded as a single-use item, meaning they'll be ditched once you leave.
In order to tackle this, all I had to do was bring my own which I already had at home. Things like paper napkins and after-meal paper-wrapped mints also fall under the single-use category and while they're instantly consumable or recyclable, they're still classified as a hurdle in zero-waste living.
Other items such as leaflets, samples using a cocktail stick, or pens from a bank can all be ditched by simply refusing or using your own materials when possible. A leading example of this is bringing a metal straw to drink from to venues and special occasions. It was originally sourced to tackle the paper/plastic variants but it acts as a massive tool in a zero-waste lifestyle.
After realizing this, it was simple enough to understand what I needed to do. Anything that would leave a trail that I was there - a napkin, straw, empty packet, unnecessary purchases - even if they were 100% recyclable, needed to be ditched. Once I saw "zero waste" as "zero signs that I exist" the task was much easier to navigate, despite how morbid it sounds.
Things like taking my own water bottle to work, refusing to purchase items for lunch that were wrapped in plastic and instead opting for fruit, declining tea or coffee to save on teabags and sugar packets.. These were all simple sacrifices that made a difference and ultimately made me feel a lot better.
Today, World Environmental Day, the very reason for this challenge, I'm lucky enough to be on holiday. Looking at my wardrobe I decided I needed a fresh start but that goes against the mantra of reusing what's already accessible. There was no valuable reason for an aesthetic overhaul so instead of ordering upwards of £100 on ASOS or BooHooMan, I didn't. A small, effortless decision not only saved me serious cash but also massively affected the zero-waste living challenge.
Looking in my cupboard at home I saw stacks of food that don't spoil easily. Rice, pasta, and tins purchased well before the challenge that have sat there dormant in favour of whatever was easiest that night - this had to be addressed. Cooking from scratch is nothing new but it was nice to finally tackle the mountain of dry food while also saving a few pounds.
Supermarkets wrap their meat heavily in plastic so it was a trip to the butchers, my first time ever actually, in the hope of a paper variant. Yes, I could've brought my own container or packaging but I thought I'd relax just a little bit, sue me.
Clothing, meals, day-to-day items and money were all addressed in the zero-waste lifestyle and none of it was necessarily difficult to face. Knowing small efforts would ultimately make a difference in my own life financially, mentally and help positively impact the environment, I came out of the week thinking of it as less of a challenge and more of a lifestyle, as is its name.
My advice to anyone interested in at least testing the waters, is don't think of it as daunting and overwhelming. It will be very easy to trip up here and there but you'll more than likely want to keep it as a staple of your daily living.
