8 Things I Wish I Knew Before Going

Zero Waste

I started living a more eco-friendly lifestyle a little over 5 years ago, and there are a few things that I wish I knew before going zero waste. Anytime you’re creating a lifestyle change it can be a little scary! I hope this encourages you to give it a try.

1. You don't need to fit all your trash in a jar

Using a mason jar as a trash can is unrealistic for most people. All it does is make you feel inadequate when you can’t fit ALL of your trash in that teeny-tiny jar. When you can't achieve this goal you're more likely to give up on the zero waste dream. Do what you can to forget the jar. It is unrealistic for your trash to fit in there.

2. You won't go zero waste overnight

It takes months to learn and build systems to reduce your trash. Some of these systems include finding where to shop, remembering to bring my own bags to the grocery store and remembering to use my reusable water bottle. These habits take time to build!

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Aesthetic items are more likely to help you do zero waste for longer but there's no need to throw out your perfectly good items for an aesthetic. Please use what you have, and then once your item has reached the end of it’s useful life, then switch to something more eco-friendly.

3. You don't need to throw out all your stuff

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Once you've become zero waste, friends and family will apologize and justify for being wasteful. It’s important to not judge people based on what you’ve decided to do for yourself. That’s the quickest way to turn people away from becoming zero waste.

4. People will apologize for everything

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5. Not everything will go your way 100% of the time

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If you live with someone else or have a family, you’re going to wind up with trash in your life that’s totally out of your control. Things aren’t going to go your way 100% of the time, and you’ve got to just take a deep breath and remember that you’re doing the best that you can and that’s good enough!

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