Megan Kioulafofski

The 21st century has marked a new era of economic evolution and abundance, but also a huge rise in consumerism. Now, as we’re reaping the benefits of this development by living in the most advanced times in human history, we are also faced with our over-consumption’s harmful side effects. 

The conclusion is clear and undebatable…

….we are in an urgent need of figuring out how to reduce the hazardous waste of our overconsumption, and declutter our lives. 

Just think about the sheer amount of information you are constantly processing. Even picking up the phone is no longer a simple process (considering the fact that our phones are also a computer now). We live more prosperous than ever before but we are also spending more money on so much more stuff than ever before. 

The average person has tons of stuff everywhere. We have an excess of things at home, at work, inside our cars and sometimes even in rental places where we keep all the staff that we cannot fit in our houses. 

The world has become stufftacular!

Why Overabundance Can Be A Bad Thing

Being abundant and owning lots of things is great if we completely ignore the fact that we don’t actually need all this stuff. 

In addition, where will all these items go when we will no longer need them?

Well, in some countries they get recycled (about 44% of everything, anyway). The rest ends up in a landfill somewhere. 

Because of all this abundance, we’re also producing more trash than ever before, and this is starting to show. 

The whole world is facing a serious waste management problem which seems to be getting more and more serious. That’s especially because some backwards regions are catching up in terms of industrialization, but not on recycling technologies.

How To Reduce Waste Starting Right Now

With all this in mind, we need to make a decision to look at the things we can do in order to reduce our waste footprints, and declutter our lives at the same time. Taking immediate action in the zero-waste movement will help reduce your waste collection expenses too because there will be fewer items to throw away eventually..

Keep following our post to find out some efficient measures we can all do, starting right now.

How To Declutter Your Life By Purchasing Recycled Goods

If you’re determined to learn more about how to reduce waste, an easy way to start would be by making sure to purchase recycled items whenever you can. This is one of the best ways to support the recycling industry.

If more of us would follow this simple guideline, perhaps soon we would all be a lot closer to the countries which have the highest rate of recycling. As an example, Sweden is closest to the zero-waste way of life as the country recycles 99% of its waste, with only about 1% ending up in landfills. 

How To Declutter Your Life By Buying Foods In Bulk

Aim to entirely avoid single-use plastic containers, straws or servings.

Having too many bottles, cans or excess packaging clutters your home and causes industrial quantities of litter which just adds up to the global plastic waste. Even when they get recycled, these recipients can still cause lots of waste so avoid them as much as possible. 

Choose to buy in bulk quantities instead. It’s healthier for our planet and also cheaper for you in the long run.

Think Before You Buy

Wondering how to maximize your efforts of reducing waste?

A great way would be to stop buying new things impulsively. Before making any new purchase just stop and think for a minute.

Do you really need this thing?

How long are you going to use it?

Can you borrow it? 

We often purchase items we don’t really need that either end up somewhere in the house, the garage, a storage, or even worse – are thrown away almost immediately. 

This is often a waste of money, it creates a mess and it is also bad for the environment. With all these in mind, think well before you make a purchase.

Have A Good Look Around Your Home

Your home, especially in the kitchen, is the first place to start with when wondering how to reduce waste and declutter your life.

Write a to-do list to organize your efforts better and ask all your family members to help you look through all the places in the house.

From kitchen cabinets to the laundry room, and from home office drawers to the wardrobes in the bedroom there will surely be lots of things you no longer need.

Don’t be the kind of person that gets too attached to things and keeps them around even if they have no more earthly business being in the house. 

If you can find something that can be of use to someone else why not donate it and make a person happy. If the item is in too bad condition to be sold or given away, just make sure it goes to recycling. 

A good practice you should follow is organizing  a yearly spring-cleaning for the cluttered areas around your house. As you do this, follow the “three basket rule” – place three baskets in the room, with labels “Keep”, “Throw away” and “Donate”. 

Go through all the items once a year and separate as many as you can in these three categories. If you can make this a regular practice, you will notice how your home clutter will just get smaller with each year. Here are some other tips from sustainability experts on how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Reduce Food And Paper Waste

A large portion of the overall waste we produce is actually paper and food. 

In order to combat the paper problem, you can do the following things: 

• First, try to cancel your junk mail 
• Second, you should cancel all your magazine and newspaper subscriptions and read them online on your phone, tablet, or computer. We know that this is not as convenient as having a paperback copy, but it’s better for the environment and helps reduce your waste footprint.

As for the food problem, here’s what we suggest:

• Next time you go to the grocery store make sure to bring a list with the foods that you need to buy so that you don’t end up with extra items bought out of impulse.
• Always bring your own reusable shopping bags and containers to make sure that you don’t use the plastic bags and recipients that shops usually provide.
• If you live a busy lifestyle the best practice would be to plan your meals beforehand and cook them in moderate amounts, to avoid producing extra food waste. One cooked meal should last you and your family members no more than two days. After that it starts to spoil. 
• Freezing cooked food is also a great practice if you’re very busy. This way you can achieve cooked meals a lot faster and it stays good for longer. 
• If you live in a house with a big backyard, you can use the food scraps to create your own compost bin in a remote part of the garden. Place the food you’re about to throw away in the bin along with all the green waste you gather, keep the pile moist, but not soaking wet, and in about 4-6 months you will have your own compost for all your plants!

Recycle Electronics Properly

If you want to learn how to reduce waste and live sustainably, throwing tech and batteries in the bin is definitely not the way to go!

These objects are not biodegradable, but they can and should be recycled. 

For instance, computers contain small amounts of metals like gold and aluminium, which can be re-used without a limit. Therefore, what you should do is bring them to a tech recycling centre. There are such centres in every big city. 

Another thing you could do is donate old computers to local charities, with the condition that they are still working, obviously. 

Sometimes these establishments work with technicians who can fix small bugs and make the tech usable. Some technicians also gather old tech to use viable parts for various projects, you can check that option as well.

In addition, when it comes to recycling your phone, some mobile operators offer a mobile phone recycling service or new phone discounts if you trade your old one in.

One last thing you could do is try to sell your phone, but this means that it needs to actually work and be in a good condition.

How To Create A Functional Spring Cleaning Routine

Every home tends to accumulate clutter around winter and if you want to make sure your home is guest-ready for the summer months, decluttering and spring cleaning once a year is mandatory.

Some of the things we recommend you should focus on when looking for how to declutter your house are:

• Wash, pack and store all winter coats and shoes. Re-arrange all the wardrobes, so that winter clothes can be covered and stored, and summer ones can be easily accessible. Donating old clothes that you no longer wear could free lots of space in your wardrobe and as the saying goes, can invite new garments in.
• Wash the bed linen and store it.
• Clear out paper clutter – old magazines, letters and documents.  
• Clear out the outdoor area – every backyard is stuffed with all kinds of items you store out during winter. When spring comes, you need to clear everything out, to prepare for the summer evenings in the garden.
• Spend some time each year decluttering the garage and the attic – we use these spaces for storage, so they are always cluttered. Try to get rid of a few unnecessary items from here each year. It will help you feel better.
• Deep clean the kitchen each spring – empty the cupboards, wash all the utensils, get rid of old bowls or dishes that you haven’t used for a long time and which just take space. Scrub the floors and all the furniture, as well as the space behind the fridge and other appliances. Deep clean the oven but also the barbecue especially if you host many outdoor parties during summer.

As you could see from the few steps listed above, decluttering our home doesn’t need to be such a painful and scary process. In fact, with time, many of you will realize that living with less things and in a more minimalistic manner, will actually make your life so much easier. 

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The Zero Waste Living Journey

All around the world, the COVID-19 health crisis has caused a huge shift in people’s lives. The fear of dying, unemployment and home isolation have been difficult to cope with and emotionally challenging for all of us.

Together with the loss of our routines, time structures and basically the loss of everyday life as we know it, came a lot of anxiety, uncertainty and confusion. But the loss of a well known way of living shouldn’t bring the loss of our environmental values, too. A zero waste living commitment is a journey not a destination, and the ways through which we can show our love and care for the planet are many and diverse.

Being confined at home shouldn’t change our preoccupation with environmental safety, and excessive worrying for our health cannot be an excuse to avoid our individual obligation we all have for our collective home.

Zero Waste Living Tips to Embrace

The negative consequences of COVID-19 are numerous and are impacting all areas of our lives. But deep below the apparent crisis there are also some valuable lessons we should be mindful about.

It took just a few weeks of standstill to see how, when given a pause to breath, nature quickly starts to regenerate. It also took just a short period of time for this calamity to put on a new light on our society’s excessive consumerism. As many of you have already noticed by now from staying home and buying just the essentials, there are so little things we actually need to live.

The zero waste living tips I am planning to share with you in this post are not only about a cleaner way of living but a cleaner way of thinking too. Although scary and unknown, why not use this time to clean our thoughts, become more mindful and learn to live more authentic and more in the present.

We’ve been given a much needed break to clean not only our homes but also our bodies and minds. We’ve also been offered the gift of understanding better the weight of humanity, the implication our actions have on the world and how we are all connected and responsible for everything that happens with our planet and ourselves.

Food Shopping During Quarantine

Although staying inside is a must these days, the majority of us can still go out to buy food. Use this opportunity wisely and choose to shop at the farmer’s market whenever possible. It’s a hard time for everyone, and if you have the chance, try and offer your support to local producers. Raising immunity and protecting our health is essential so it’s the best time now to start eating more fruits and vegetables. Aim to buy mostly fresh foods and do your best to avoid plastic packaging.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen a massive increase in the consumption of single use plastics during the last few weeks due to people buying huge quantities of gloves, masks, toilet paper and sanitizers. So now, more than ever, you should remember to grab your organic cotton tote as you head out to the market to avoid contributing to plastic pollution. Each small action we take has an enormous impact on the world.

The past few weeks have been a perfect testament to this… you are isolating and staying home. It might not seem like much, but what happens when everyone in the world stays inside? The earth begins to recover. Individually, as a collective force, we can change what happens to the world.

Zero-Waste Living Tips For The Tea Drinker

With so much free time on our hands lately, there is nothing more pleasant than drinking a warming cup of tea while browsing through our favorite books or listening to our favorite podcast.

Quarantine should not derail us from our zero waste living path when choosing the right type of tea though. Stay away from traditional plastic tea-bags and try to always buy tea in bulk or choose brands that offer sustainable packaging. Although the current situation limits our tea buying choices, you will always find a good selection of bulk tea in most of the grocery stores. You can always do some research and buy from small businesses online – they need us more than ever.

In the bulk aisle, don’t forget reusable bulk food bags to solve not only the packaging problem, but also the storage. These perfectly sized bags are great for buying, transporting and storing your favorite bulk tea (among many other goodies). Easy to use, easy to clean, and made to last!

The Right Way to Store Your Ingredients

How many of you have been cleaning and reorganizing your homes like crazy during the last few weeks? I sure have! I’ve been planning for a long time now to properly organize my storage room and recheck that all my ingredients are stored in my reusable bags or glass jars.

Resorting to natural materials when storing food is not only healthier for the planet, but also safer for us. Materials like glass, silicone, and organic cotton are the preferred choice over plastic. These materials can be recycled, are resistant to being washed at high temperatures and are free from any nasty chemicals that could leak into food and intoxicate our bodies.

How To Reinvent Leftovers

There’s a lot of cooking going on in most homes these days, and even those of us that were rarely stepping in the kitchen before have now discovered some long forgotten cooking skills. But with so much meal prepping comes a lot of food wasting too. A zero waste living decision involves a deeper understanding of the importance of preserving all our resources, including the food we consume.

That’s why this zero waste living tip refers to saving food whenever possible by finding new uses for your leftovers. As a bit of inspiration, small meat pieces and bones are great to make a soothing bone broth that your gut will thank you for, while stale fruits and vegetables can easily turn to tasty soups and vegetable broths. And because most of us throw bananas away as soon as they become too ripe, why not make a yummy banana bread out of them instead. Just throw them in the freezer until you are ready to bake up a storm!

Reducing Cosmetic Use

Since the majority of us girls are not going out so much these days, we should try and give both our skin and the planet some time to breath. Using less make-up and cosmetics doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t still pamper ourselves though. Home natural recipes are affordable, safe and many times more efficient than the products that we buy in the shops.

If you haven’t tried them so far, these two are my favorites: coconut butter for bringing back moisture to hair, and fresh fruits with honey for making juicy, hydrating face masks that are a great antioxidant for the skin. Just try not to eat them all in the DIY process!

Giving Natural Home Cleaners a Chance

As most of you know by now, many of our regular home cleaning products are not in line with our zero-waste living standards. These substances are harming us and the planet not only because of their plastic packaging, but also through their health-harming, undisclosed ingredients.

If using natural cleaning solutions hasn’t been your thing yet, you can now give this eco-friendly alternative a try. All you need is some vinegar, baking soda, water and lemon to make your home sparkling clean and safe to live in.

Pro tip: add in some essential oils for a variety of natural scents!

Sort, Pack and Donate Your Clothes

Together with organizing our storage room we should think about organizing our wardrobes too. The clothing industry is a huge contributor to global pollution and compulsive shopping can be a big barrier to our zero-waste living plan. If you have too many garment items that you no longer wear and are just taking up space in your closet, why not donate them to someone who would be happy to wear them?

Donating clothes is not only great for cleaning your home space and saving the environment, but also a thoughtful way to support the people in need. This global crisis has already brought a lot of financial burden and unemployment to many of us, so helping each other is the right thing to do!

Remember though, try to donate clothing that is still in good shape. If it isn’t, consider repurposing and upcycling your clothing into something new.

Water Is Precious. Let’s Save It!

Water is an incredibly precious resource which is unfortunately taken for granted by many of us. Saving water is easy and everyone should do it. All we need to do is be mindful of how and when we use water.

Don’t forget to turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and try to cut down on your shower time by a few minutes.

Whenever you are doing the laundry or dishes, just make sure to load the machine to its maximum capacity. Seems like little things, I know, but they do make a difference! You might notice that difference on your next utility bill, too.

Don’t Forget To Unplug

The constant stream of technology we consume daily causes a huge burden on the environment.

Some of the few measures we can all take in our homes is to try and always turn off the light when not in the room, unplug all appliances which are not in use and try to replace old ones with more energy efficient alternatives.

Why We Love Plants

If you’re wondering what plants have to do with my zero-waste living tips, let me explain.

Plants are beautiful, relaxing and most importantly, they act like natural air purifiers for your homes. More than that, studies have proven that house plants reduce stress levels and boost your mood. Watering and taking care of plants can be an extremely relaxing activity which will take your mind from all the surrounding negativity. Not only that, but plants can actually improve your sleep, and we all know that getting good sleep is essential for long-term health. Check out the 7 plants you can keep in your room to benefit your sleep.

One thing you should remember though is to remove the plastic containers most plants are sold in. Plants hate plastic as much as we do and placing them in an eco-friendly recipient, like ceramic or terracotta, will help them grow faster and more beautifully.

What are your zero waste living tips while being under quarantine? Share them in the comments below!

If you haven’t heard the news yet, zero waste is the future. In fact, as the climate crisis manifests itself in increasingly destructive ways, pushing our economy towards more circular alternatives is quickly becoming the defining issue of the Anthropocene. 

The zero waste concept is a crucial piece of the sustainability puzzle, relying heavily on the three R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) while taking manufacturers and multinationals to task to encourage more sustainable manufacturing and products, and practice more responsible business. In short, the zero waste movement is a two-way street, designing unnecessary waste out of existing systems (manufacturers) while ensuring that inevitable waste is recycled in the most efficient way possible (consumers/recycling industry).  

However, talking about the zero waste movement is one thing, achieving it quite another, and as we enter the third decade of the 21st century, our waste generation is still growing. Today, millions of tons of waste are sent to landfill each year, and for individuals and business alike, it can be difficult to know where to begin the zero waste journey. 

But taking action is now more important than ever, and if we cannot attain true zero waste immediately, we can at least make every effort to work towards it. So, for anyone looking into the zero waste movement, check out these five tips to help you strive for a more circular economy and reduce your waste generation at the same time. 

Get Into the Habit of Saying No

Do you need a bag with that? Want extra ketchup? Would you like these free company branded pens that will run out of ink after your first sentence? The simple answer to all of these questions is a firm but friendly NO. Whether you’re an individual grabbing something to eat from your local burger joint or a business sourcing new suppliers, getting into the habit of refusing unwanted items will help you cut down waste significantly. 

Sometimes however, you’ll also need to be a little more proactive, keeping an eye on what goes in your bag, what your Amazon package is delivered with, or specifically asking for no unwanted items included in your order. Hopefully, over time, this will push all manufacturers to ditch useless items that are difficult to recycle—or even use with purpose in the first place. 

Educate Yourself About Recycling

Despite the fact that the recycling industry has been operating for decades, our reliance on it as an answer to our growing waste generation is highly counterproductive. Recycling must always be a last resort (after reduce and reuse), and educating either yourself or your staff on how the recycling industry works, alongside what can be recycled and what cannot, is crucial to achieving zero waste. 

Aspirational recycling is a real issue, and particularly for businesses that need to maintain compliance with local waste regulations, hiring a company to provide detailed guidance can help you work towards the zero waste movement and avoid hefty fines at the same time. It can also clarify the grey areas that the recycling industry is notorious for and help inform buying choices in the future. 

Buy in Bulk with Reusable Bags or Containers

Reducing our reliance on single-use packaging across all industries is seen as both crucial to the zero waste movement and relatively easily achievable. In fact, anyone can start today by simply avoiding individually packaged products and buying in bulk wherever possible. Whether its grains, cereals, and pasta, or cleaning products for the office, buying in bulk and reusing containers or bags will allow you to rely less on individually packaged products while also keeping reusable shopping bags and containers in the loop for as long as possible. Additionally, buying in bulk can help you save money in the long run, giving you even more incentive to go big. 

Get Creative and Ditch Ready-Made Products

Expensive marketing and flashy advertising have done a really good job of telling us what we need. However, in the time before mega multinationals and branded products lines, people simply used to make their own things. Cleaning products are a great example, and in most cases, a little water, vinegar, baking soda, and essential oil can do exactly the same job. There’s much less packaging and the products themselves are much kinder to the environment. 

Make the Most of Your Electronic Devices

E-waste is among the fastest growing waste streams on the planet, and as our addiction to everything digital grows and grows, ensuring we make the most of these highly complex devices is critical. The power that drives these devices is also a finite resource that should be used responsibly. Always try to cut down on your electricity rates to help preserve power. For both individuals and businesses alike, the key is to only upgrade equipment when it is necessary, repair devices that can still be used, recycle electronics responsibly, and even donate unused electronics that still work. Additionally, movements such as the Right to Repair are pushing manufactures to design products and policies that are more responsible and that champion closed-loop electronics. 

Have You Joined The Zero Waste Movement Yet?

There are millions of people around the world who are making simple changes in their daily lives to help protect our environment. These five tips are only the beginning… have you started your zero waste journey yet? Let us know where you are in the comments!

Folks always ask me how to reduce single use plastic at home, is this is one of the questions that we should all be asking ourselves considering the rapid deterioration of our planet. Toxic to the environment and incredibly harmful for our health, plastic is among the top villains we ought to be on the lookout for. The journey which turned plastic from one of humanity’s greatest discoveries to becoming the silent culprit of our imminent destruction is long, but the conclusion is short and simple: we are literally drowning in plastic and if we don’t take immediate action, our future on this planet doesn’t seem so bright.  

The same material that is clogging the environment is also suffocating our homes, but we are all so used to living in our plastic worlds that we find it almost impossible to imagine a future without it. If you take a quick glance around your house, you will soon realize just how much you are surrounded by plastic. But don’t be fooled! There is even more than the eye can see. 

And since it’s obvious by now that living in plastic is not at all fantastic unless you are Barbie and Ken, a new year resolution for all of us should be to find how to reduce single use plastic at home in the most efficient way. 

Toxins in Plastic

Did you know that the single use plastic products that we are using every day can make us sick? Unfortunately they can, and they do! Any type of plastic material, in constant contact with our bodies, ingested or inhaled, may lead to skin allergies, asthma attacks, reproductive issues and even cancer. More than that, each time we throw away the single use plastic products without properly sorting them towards recycling, the plastic waste will get released in nature, causing the destruction of the whole ecosystem and marine life. The conclusion is simple: let’s do ourselves and nature a favor and invest only in recyclable, reusable, compostable or biodegradable products! A great start is investing in reusable bags, coffee mugs, and water bottles.

If you haven’t heard by now, there’s a global war out there against single use plastic. Governments of many countries around the world are adopting laws which ban single use plastic bags, in an attempt to reduce the damage caused by one of the most common types of trash that fills our environment. The measures against plastic bags are diverse, and in some cases end up taking the form of huge fines or even jail time for those that are producing and selling them. 

By using an organic cotton shopping bag, you are not only helping the planet, but you are also giving a positive example to others, especially our children. These bags are also made with solar power energy and shipped plastic-free, so you can purchase with ease knowing you aren’t causing more harm to the planet.

Plastic bags are not the only products that we should remove from our kitchen, and ultimately, from our lives. Water bottles, straws, food storage containers and even coffee and tea-bags are all elements that contribute to the ʺplastic paradiseʺ that our kitchens have turned into nowadays. Eating and drinking from any form of plastic can play great havoc on our bodies, so be mindful about what you buy and use, and only stick to eco-friendly options that are also safe for your health. 

Reducing Plastic In The Bathroom

Our quest on how to reduce single use plastic at home cannot end without discussing skin-care products. As shocking as it may seem, you will be surprised to find out just how much plastic is hiding in all the products that we are using to pamper and embellish ourselves. From cosmetics to hair dyes, shampoos and even toothpaste, a great majority of them are filled with micro plastics, used either as emulsifier agents or cheap fillers. Not only are the artificial ingredients a cause of worry, but also the single use plastic bottles that are containing them. 

The good news is that many companies in the beauty industry are trying to find a solution to combating plastic from both their products and their packages by only using sustainable materials that are friendly to the environment. This is very reassuring for all of us that love to look fabulous but are on the lookout for a plastic-free beauty life.

As daunting and confusing as the steps towards a home free of plastic might seem, it is only up to us to change the frightening stats of our global deterioration. If this post got you worried and you are determined to make a change, I just have one last piece of  advice: don’t delay and start taking measures today! The whole planet is waiting for us to take a stand and bring our contribution to solving the single use plastic pollution crisis.