Zero Waste Living

How to Make DIY Dryer Balls

The dryer. A source of heat in an already hot home. For me, the quicker I am done with laundry the better I feel about my day. It also goes without saying that in order for my laundry sessions to feel complete, they need to be as low-energy and zero-waste as possible too! I mean sometimes using energy star appliances and eco-friendly detergents just aren’t enough when it comes to the laundry at home. Sometimes you just need a quick DIY to get you further down the road. Which is why I wanted to share with you one of the ways I have found to save on my household laundry bill and that is with making DIY Dryer Balls!

It’s best to start by saying that at least half of my household laundry is air-dried, as this is my preferred method. However as I live in the deep south, and the farther the mercury rises in my thermometer, the longer air drying takes in my area due to humidity, this is always not an option. In comes, our electric dryer! I have found that I can save upwards of half my previous drying times by using dryer balls with each load of laundry at home!

How does this work, you ask? Well, by using dryer balls one can improve your dryer’s efficiency and life span by half, by reducing the time required for wet clothes to dry. As the dryer spins, these balls tumble between the clothes, maximizing the wet clothes’ contact with the warm air pockets they create. Effectively, dryer balls ‘fluff’ your clothes as they spin, speeding up the drying process and eliminating the need for fabric softening dryer sheets.

Also, as many of you may know, dryer balls are not a new concept. People have been making them for years as an eco-friendly alternative to dryer sheets and liquid fabric softener. But the greater picture tells us, that these DIY, eco-friendly marvels, can do so much more than just eliminate chemicals from your laundry, here’s how:

What are the benefits of using wool balls in your dryer?

They decrease drying time, saving you money on utility bills; by as much as 1/2 during the colder, winter months!
Dryer balls are chemical-free! Commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets are filled with harmful chemicals and perfumes that coat your clothing, including PABA, which inevitably will end up on your skin.
Commercial dryer sheets can be costly, costing as much as $$0.13 per sheet, which is like throwing money away! Wool dryer balls can be re-used for years, saving you hundreds of dollars.
Commercial fabric softeners shouldn’t be used on cloth diapers. Wool dryer balls are perfect for keeping your cloth diapers soft and are again, chemical-free.
Wool dryer balls won’t affect the absorbency of your towels, kitchen cloths, or cloth diapers – commercial softeners will.
Dryer balls increase fluffiness for home linens and towels and reduce static as dryer loads tumble, per load.
Dryer balls help to soften clothes naturally.
Dryer balls are made from a renewable resource.
Dryer balls cost under $1.00 each to make!

How do they work?

Dryer balls work, as they bounce around in the dryer separating clothes, allowing more hot air to circulate through all the garments. As they tumble, the wool balls fluff your laundry, reduce wrinkles, making for softer laundry. They also act as a moisture wick, and pull moisture out of clothes, and will save you up to 1/3 your drying time. Why should this matter? By saving 1/3 of your drying time you will save up to $0.50 per load on your electric bill! Here’s how to make your own!

Materials:

A skein of 100% wool yarn. Not superwash or machine washable varieties. (Here’s my favorite yarn to use)
Scissors
Pantyhose
Crochet hook
String or cotton/acrylic yarn
Essential oils.

How to make Dryer Balls:

Choosing Your Yarn: Choose skeins of yarn that are 100% wool; stay away from skeins labeled superwash or machine washable, as these skeins will not felt. You can even cut up wool sweaters, too. Also, you can choose any colors you wish, as felted wool does not bleed into washing or dryer loads.
Create balls: Ball up your yarn, just as you would for knitting, or for a cat ball. Balls should be the size of a tennis fall; aim for 4″ balls. Repeat this step until you have 4-6 balls.
Tucking: Use a blunt-tipped yarn needle or crochet hook to tuck the end of the thread under several layers of yarn. Pull it through and cut the end.
Prepping: Cut the leg off an old pair of pantyhose. Put balls into the toe of the pantyhose, tying tightly in between each ball with string, or cotton/acrylic yarn; make sure not to use wool yarn or it will felt around the pantyhose. Tie off the end when you have 4-6 segments. Your segments will look like a caterpillar.
Felting the Dryer Balls: Throw the entire yarn caterpillar into the wash with towels.
Wash: Wash in a hot wash cycle with a cold water rinse cycle, and then. dry your yarn caterpillar with your laundry using the hottest dryer setting; repeat for three settings. You will know your balls have felted when a finger run across the balls does not create pills.

Now that you have created dryer balls, just toss 2-3 balls in the dryer with your freshly washed clothes, and let them do their work; I add 4-6 drops of essential oil on balls going to the dryer in lieu of fabric softener sheets! For larger loads of clothes, linens, or any load with denim, use at least 4-6 balls to notice a decrease in drying time. For large loads, or any HE super-size washers, 6-8 will be needed. The more balls you use, the more quickly your clothes will dry. I like to store your dryer balls in the dryer between uses or display them in a basket in your laundry room. Also consider making baskets of dryer balls for college graduates, for housewarming gifts, or for hostess gifts, too!

In the last three months of using my dryer balls, I have noticed that my clothes dry 1.3 faster, and my overall electric bill has decreased by $4.10, on average, per month; this is a projected saving of $36.00 a year!

So, folks, this is how I make my own dryer balls. Truly one of the most cost-effective and least time-consuming zero-waste swaps I’ve made in my home to date (you can check out other zero-waste swaps we’ve made here). So now I have to ask, are you using wool dryer balls or do you have other means for saving time on your drying bill at home each month? If so, please be sure to leave me a comment. I’d love to hear about your DIY experiences with them!

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11 Ways to Waste Less

Waste is a massive problem in today’s world. Over time, we’ve turned into something of a disposable society. We buy a bottle of water every time we’re out, and we throw the bottle away. We buy a new top every time we go out somewhere nice. We throw socks away and replace them at the first sign of damage. We throw half a meal away when we decide that we fancy something else, without ever thinking about all of the people out there that don’t have a meal in the first place.

We waste things every day. Sometimes, you waste a little of your own time, and nothing terrible happens. But, most of the time, our waste is hurting our planet. It’s leading to higher levels of pollution, overflowing landfills and its hurting animal life. Our seas are filled with plastic, our environment is filled with harmful gases, and our bins are overflowing with household waste. It’s a terrible thing, and for the most part, it’s entirely avoidable.

We don’t need to waste. But, we’ve got into the habit of doing it. We’ve become wasteful without thought. We just do it. Once you’ve taken that first step to realizing just how wasteful you are, and how it’s affecting the world around you, the process of wasting less doesn’t actually have to be that difficult. Here are 11 ways that you can start wasting less in your everyday life.

Buy Reusable Produce Bags

Zero waste stores are popping up all over. Shopping in these stores, or directly from farms and other suppliers is a great way to limit packaging waste. But, to make it easier, it can be worth investing in some good quality reusable produce bags to help you to get what you need, take it home safely and keep it tidy in your cupboards.

Collect Totes

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Plastic shopping bags are terribly wasteful. They don’t last, so it’s hard to reuse them even if you wanted to. Instead, collect a few canvas tote bags in different sizes and keep a few in your bag and car, so you never need to ask for a plastic bag.

Find a Good Water Bottle

Plastic water bottles are another massive waste. Buying drinks out is a waste of plastic, and money and they’re not usually good for you (even the ones that claim they are). Invest in a good water bottle that will last, and start carrying tap water around with you.

Meal Plan

Food waste is prevalent but entirely unnecessary. Start meal planning and writing shopping lists to make sure that you only buy what you need.

Use Your Freezer

If you have got leftovers, even after planning, freeze them. If food is close to its use by date, freeze it. Buy in bulk to save money and freeze what you don’t need. In your fight against waste, your freezer can be a valuable asset.

Learn to Sew

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As can a sewing needle and some thread. Being able to fix small holes in clothes and upholstery, and sew on a button can mean that your clothes last a lot longer, and need replacing more often.

Buy Less

Buying less in the first place means that there is less for you to waste. Buy only what you need. Spend a month trying to spend as little money as possible, just buying absolute essentials, to try to get into the right habits.

Eat a Packed Lunch

How much money do you spend each year on lunches? Work it out, and you’ll be horrified. Start taking a packed lunch to work, and you’ll be helping to waste less food, packaging, and money. Use a reusable lunch box, and it’s even less wasteful.

Make and Grow Your Own

Grow your own vegetables and fruit and make meals from scratch and you’ll only ever pick what you need. You’ll also be less likely to waste things that you’ve put effort into creating. You can also make things like gift cards to cut your waste.

Stop Printing

In today’s world, where most things can be saved onto the cloud and accessed on iPads and smartphones, there’s rarely a need to print anything out. If you do need to print something, make sure you do it double-sided to use half the paper.

Use Cloth instead of Paper

We use paper towels to wipe up spills. We also use disposable nappies and wipes. Switch to cloth, and you’ll waste much less. It can seem strange to start with, but you’ll soon get used to washing and reusing. Try going back to an old fashioned cotton hanky while you are at it.

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Reduce Wastefulness To Save Your Back Pocket And The Planet

In today’s world, nearly everybody is talking about the future of the environment. You might feel relatively powerless as an individual, but that’s untrue. Change is always driven by collectives of individuals. And taking sustainable action benefits you as well as the environment. By reducing wastefulness, you can start to save money. Environmentalism is a fiscally responsible approach to life. Let’s talk about some ways in which you could start reducing your wastefulness to save your back pocket and the planet.

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Save money on household utilities.

Saving money on household utilities is a smart way to reduce your monthly bills and do something responsible for the planet. You could start by reducing your water usage. Simply turning off taps whilst brushing your teeth or washing your hands could make all the difference. 3-minute shower limits would help too. As for energy usage, you could insulate your walls and windows to trap heat. Your house would be just as warm but you wouldn’t have to wastefully generate so much energy to make that so. You might also want to get help from a solar company to set up your household with solar panels. That’s a great way to save your back pocket and the planet. The point is that you can still use your household utilities, but you should think of smarter ways to do so in a financial and environmental sense.

Think about the food you eat.

You can make a huge impact on your back pocket and the planet by thinking about the food you eat. You might want to start growing your own fruit and vegetables to not only save money at the grocery store but also avoid buying into plastic packaging (plastic is very damaging to the environment, as we’ll discuss later in the article). A plant-based diet is much better for your health and the environment than a meat-based diet, and it’s much cheaper. The meat and dairy industry depletes massive amounts of resources for its continuation. Try eating more organic whole foods as opposed to processed foods. You’ll save your back pocket, your health, and the planet.

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Reduce and reuse before you recycle.

In this society, most people focus on recycling rather than reducing and reusing. And it’s important to recycle wherever possible, of course. If the material can be used again rather than ending up on top of a landfill then that’s better for the environment. But the main problem lies in the initial generation of those goods. If you want to save money and the environment then you should focus on reducing consumption and reusing things before recycling. Take the earlier advice on board. You might buy plastic bottles because you tell yourself that it’s recyclable, but the truth is that a lot of this plastic ends up in landfills and the ocean. If you really want to save money and make a difference then ditch plastic. Control your spending. Stop consuming things excessively. In turn, you’ll save your back pocket and the planet.

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Why Households Should Adopt a Culture of Recycling

Why Households Should Adopt a Culture of Recycling

When we think about recycling, what usually comes to mind is that it’s an activity reserved for richer, more privileged folk. After all, they’re not as busy as most people, so they’d have more time segregating their garbage or crushing their soda cans before carting them off to the local recycling center. The truth of the matter is that everyone should adopt recycling as a culture. Not only does it help the environment, but it imparts certain habits and practices that can help you and your family in life, alongside other practical benefits.

To help you understand better, here are some of the biggest reasons why households should adopt a culture of recycling.

Recycling teaches a household to be mindful of the resources it expands and cut down on wastage.

When we adopt recycling into our daily habits, we’re immediately made aware of how much trash we generate. Trash, of course, is the byproduct of us using up the resources we’ve purchased for our day-to-day needs—such as food, office supplies, personal hygiene products, and so on. Depending on how big the household is, the amount of trash can easily be more than its members first thought, which could startle or alarm then.

This can be seen as a wake-up call for many households, helping them realize that they could have easily cut down on the amount of trash they generate by being mindful of what they use and how carefully they use it. As such, they will be more conscious of wastage.

Recycling teaches a household to be savvier with what it buys and consumes.

Recycling can help a household confront its wasteful spending habits. As the family is forced to sift through the daily trash they’ve generated, in order to see what can be recycled or not, they can see that even something expensive ends up in the trash alongside cheaper, more economical choices. This can then lead to the household becoming a lot more conscious when it comes to what it buys.

For example, when it comes to printer ink cartridges, instead of buying new branded ones, they can buy remanufactured cartridges, which made by third-party vendors who recycle old printer ink cartridges and reassemble them like new. They offer the same kind of quality without the premium, brand-new price tag.

Recycling teaches a household to see more value in their belongings.

The very act of recycling is defined as turning old or spent resources into something new, either to reuse in its original form or as something completely different. By getting into recycling, a household will look upon its old and broken belongings and see more value in them, rather than simply passing them off as trash and tossing them away. They will then either try to restore these belongings and have them repaired for further use, instead of buying brand new versions of them.

One example of this is with fragile but costly electronics like drones. Not only does a household stand to save money by fixing drones, but also learn to see these drones as valuable assets to be taken care of and cherished. The added effect of cutting down on landfill waste is a great bonus in this regard.

Recycling teaches a household to be more creative.

Recycling can also help a household become more creative, especially when it comes to finding the use for old belongings and resources that can be recycled but are also difficult to dispose of. For example, old tires can be cleaned and recycled into a tire swing. It can also be cut up into smaller parts that can be used for Halloween costumes or other arts and crafts projects. Broken toys can be disassembled and made into something new or to repair other toys. Old furniture can be taken apart and used as theater props or scrap metal. The possibilities are endless.

Recycling teaches a household to be more environmentally-conscious.

Finally, and most importantly, recycling can teach a household to be more aware of what damage it’s been doing to the environment and take steps to address them. The very act of recycling, after all, is quite necessary for this day and age, which means that we’ve already reached a point in our ailing environment that it needs all the help it can get. This will result in the household making more environmentally-conscious choices, such as buying a hybrid/electric car, or simply biking or walking whenever it needs to get somewhere. This may seem small in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps.

Conclusion

A household stands to benefit a lot from getting into recycling, not just in their waste management or the reduction in its carbon footprint. By adopting recycling as a culture, a household can learn habits and life lessons that can lead to the betterment of its members’ health and outlook in life.

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Making Your Home an Eco-Friendly Haven

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In the past, we were relatively unaware of how our behavior could negatively impact the planet around us. Sure, we may have recognized that throwing rubbish on the floor was bad for local wildlife, but being a litterbug tended to be the worst of the troubles that we were aware of.

However, over the years, scientific research into human activity and the planet has revealed that we truly are destroying the planet for ourselves and the other lifeforms that live on it. We are contributing towards oceanic pollution, deforestation, global warming, and various other unacceptable processes. If this is something that weighs on you and causes you to worry, it’s time to start making changes – and where better to start than from your very own home? Here are just a couple of steps you can take to make your home an eco-friendly haven!

Reduce Heat Loss

It takes a whole lot of energy to heat your home. If your home is poorly insulated, a whole lot of the heat that you generate will leave your property through the roof and the windows. This is problematic, as it means that you will have to constantly run a supply of fuel (which will generally involve constantly burning fossil fuels) to maintain a steady, warm temperature in your home. Instead, if your home is well insulated, you can use a small amount of energy to heat it up in the first place and then this energy will remain within your living space. Now, there are plenty of different ways that you can prevent heat loss.

“But the most effective tend to focus on the areas that are most prone to losing heat – your windows and roof. Make sure that your loft cavities are well insulated. You can hire a roofer to do this on your behalf. Opt for more environmentally friendly, natural insulators like wool. When it comes to windows, make sure that they are double glazed and have security film installation as an extra safety precaution.”

Recycle

We tend to make our way through an astounding amount of disposable products on a daily basis. Our food comes wrapped in packaging which is thrown away once we have consumed whatever may be within it. Our clothes come wrapped in packaging or we bring them home from the stores in bags, which are then thrown away.

We drink from bottles that we then toss aside. This is terrible, as all of this waste has to go somewhere. Mostly, it will end up in landfills or may spill into other areas, impacting environments around the world. While you should do your best to minimize your consumption of disposable goods, you should make sure to recycle whatever items you do dispose of. You can find a comprehensive guide to recycling here.

Sure, these steps may seem relatively simple. But all the more reason to implement them into your lifestyle as soon as possible! They really will make all the difference!

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Keep It Green & Save Some Green: Home Hacks To Help You Save Money And The Environment

We live in an enlightened age. New advancements in scientific research, greater global connectivity, and more widespread knowledge thanks to documentaries like An Inconvenient Truth, A Plastic Ocean, and Cowspiracy are slowly bringing us to the realization that there is no Planet B.

As such, we can no longer plead ignorance anymore when it comes to the damage that our consumer choices are doing to the environment. We all want to do our little bit to make the world a better and more sustainable place for our children so that they can grow up surrounded by the beauty of the natural world, but not all of us have the cash spare to install solar panels or transform our plumbing infrastructure.

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The good news is that you can actually make your home greener while saving some green. All of these environmentally friendly hacks will save you money while working towards a better future by:

Rethinking your cleaning products

Most of us are unaware of the environmental nightmare that lurks under the kitchen sink. Not only are the cleaning products we store there harmful to our kids, those harsh chemicals are harmful to the planet, too. We’ve been duped into believing that we need one product for bathrooms, one for kitchens, one for floors and one for our cookers but the truth is that one multipurpose cleaner can do the job just as well. Check out this natural cleaning spray made from non-chemical ingredients. It’s the only cleaner you’ll need for virtually any surface. It’s even made with solar energy!

Let there be (sustainable) light

Most of us don’t know just how much energy we’re wasting by using incandescent bulbs. These work by superheating a filament, providing us with both heat and light. But what lots of people don’t realize is that 90% of the energy generated is in the form of heat and only 10% on the light. Essentially this means that they are wasting 90% of the energy you use on them. Switching to energy-saving Compact Fluorescent Lamps. Over its lifespan, a CFL bulb is thought to save the average household around $57.

Green on your plate, green for the planet

If the allure of takeout and fast food gets too much for your family at times and you really need some extra incentive to stock up on healthy foods, chow down on this nugget of knowledge. A plate that’s full of locally sourced fresh fruits and veggies is far less environmentally damaging than one that’s full of meat and processed foods. Meats and dairy products require an enormous amount of land, water, and resources to cultivate, not to mention costing far more than fresh produce. Switching to a diet that’s mostly or even entirely plant-based can give your whole family a balanced and nutritious diet while also voting with your wallet for a more sustainable future. Opt for farm fresh whole foods and you’ll also eschew environmentally damaging single-use plastic packaging, too!

Just a few little changes around the home are all it takes for a cheaper, greener future!

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What is zero waste living?

If you’ve read my blog for longer than a few weeks you will have heard me mention the phrase zero-waste living. But you may not be familiar with its purposed meaning.

In my home, we abide by the Zero Waste International Alliance definition of zero-waste living which states that:

Zero Waste living is a 21st-century movement that aims to shift our economic system from a linear economy (our current global system) to a circular economy. It “guide[s] people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use.

A lifestyle choice that came directly as a result of living a more simplified lifestyle at home. And with any newly adopted lifestyle choice, you want to share your success and enthusiasm with others. But often when I speak about living my own zero waste journey, the reaction I’ve come to expect is, “That’s impossible.”

And to a degree, I agree. As a human being with a family that consumes products, goods, and services in order to maintain our home and lifestyle, it is impossible for us to create absolutely no trash in the society we currently live in. As part of the economic waste stream, my purchases produce waste that I do not see, both upstream and downstream. I also live in a super small town without bulk shopping options, and aside from Amazon purchases, my local purchasing options are limited to mass retail and the seasonal access to farmer’s markets. So why do I bother trying?

At its core, zero waste challenges individuals to evaluate their lifestyle. To reflect on how our consumerist habits negatively impact the environment and communities. Examinations of how inconvenient our convenience lifestyle presents to our planet. How detrimental cheap plastics and disposable food products are to our planet’s health and our own.

After all, we all reside in the same disposable society. We are disconnected from our personal collective waste steam and have been convinced by the same susceptible marketing that suggests that buying copious amounts of stuff will make us feel worthy as human beings.

For the average person, trash and recycling are picked up from the curb weekly, never seen again. The compartmentalized deluge of our past that keep our landfills overflowing, our oceans littered, and our soil and watersheds teeming with pollutants. Leaving humanity, particularly those in the developing world, left to live amongst the billions of tons of waste that we create daily.

And this isn’t just a planetary dilemma as our consumerist reach has extended into our solar system. As our galaxy is also becoming peppered with inactive, Cold War era satellites. Archaic examples of our need to disavow fellow humans and undermine international global practices different from our own masked as human innovation.

So, what does all this mean? As a race, we have reached a point where the zero waste movement is necessary to safeguard the future of our ecosystems and our own survival as a species.

As a society, it isn’t too late to change course. But don’t fool yourself, expect to confront hostility, naysayers, and resistance from others. Every step of the way.

While the zero waste movement isn’t a new lifestyle, it is still considered a fad. Especially in our plastic veneered society. With the 20th century not only ushering in the age of plastics and with it the birth of global warming, widescale wildlife extinction, and massive soil contamination worldwide.

The zero waste movement seeks to combat this disposable mindset by offering the alternative of frugal, sustainable living. With zero wasting living being a long-term journey.

But make no mistake, this is not a perfect journey. As many living a zero-waste lifestyle can attest that the idea of the movement is to strive to be as waste-free as they are able to afford to maintain at home. Whether this means a 1% reduction or a 99% reduction in your personal trash output at home, little bit counts.

While our society may never reach zero, this shouldn’t stop any of us from trying in our own affordably-sourced way to lessen our carbon footprint each day!

Afterall, the zero waste lifestyle begins with a willingness to change. Everything from our daily consumption habits to investing in community awareness programs, sustainability projects, community gardening projects, demanding consistent environmental policies from politicians, and expecting environmental transparency from the media and their sponsored partners.

With all that said, if you want to be a part of this movement, here are a few easy ways to get started:

Realize you are needed in the zero-waste movement:

Zero-wasting is simple. Its all about aiming to send nothing to a landfill. Reducing what we need, reuse what we can, send few items to be recycled, donate when able, and compost what we cannot otherwise utilize.

To redefine our personal consumerism. By not waiting for marketing agencies and corporations to redefine the waste system. To not be complacent with being the link between a disposable economy where resources sourced from the earth are extracted, used, and redeposited in the ground.

Demanding that economy mimic nature. Instead of discarding resources, we choose sustainability instead. Which starts when you realize you are needed in the zero-waste movement!

Research:

Get the facts on landfill use. Did you know that the average North American sends 4.4lbs of trash to the landfill every day? Which makes total sense as we live in a disposable society where we don’t value the longevity of our belongings due to mass markets. Leaving not only the earth depleted but ourselves.

Landfills are also toxic basins responsible for 20% of the methane emissions in the US. Nor are they properly aerated for decomposition of natural materials. With everyday toxins from cleaners small electronics, and outdated tech components steadily leaching caustic chemicals into the soil, groundwater, and eventual ocean contamination.

Not to mention the trash that doesn’t even make it to the landfill. The deluge that litters roadsides, waterways, and watersheds worldwide. Particularly that of disposable food industry plastics.

Plastics, a petroleum byproduct, is especially dangerous to the ocean and marine life. As plastics aren’t biodegraded. They simply photodegrade into tiny molecules which are filtered through micro-plankton in the ocean. It is estimated that there is a ratio of 36:1 micro-plastic pieces to each plankton organism. A phenomenon that is so pervasive that its chemical compounds have been found in upwards of 90% of drinking water. Both from bottled and tap sources worldwide.

And for no other reason that the need for maintaining safe drinking water at home, you should join the zero waste movement!

Reevaluate your ideas on recycling:

For decades Americans were lead to believe that recycling was a cure-all to environmental blight. Unfortunately, we cannot recycle our way out of this pollution.

There’s simply too much to process and we’re just consuming way too much to meet the demands of various commercial downcycling programs in North America.

Recycling also isn’t a perfect solution. While it plays into the solution, it should never be your first resource in becoming more zero waste at home. As the best way to become more zero waste at home is to lessen our dependence on post-consumer goods from store to home.

Did you know, only 9% of plastic is actually recycled? And that in many areas of North America glass cannot be recycled at all?

Which is why there is a reason recycling is LAST resort in the zero-waste mantra: “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Rot, then Recycle”

Recycle shouldn’t be your first line of defense, it should your last. Because when you send items to recycled you lose control over their final usage. As most recycling isn’t processed in North America. Recycling is often shipped abroad and in the process utilizes more fossil fuels to transport than it saves in utility. Where it is largely shipped to China where deregulation of environmental policies allows for the futher degredation of the downcycling systems we value domestically.

Currently, China has put a ban on paper and plastic bales over 1% contamination. Compared to recycling facilities in the United States that are currently operating at 4% contamination level. Meaning that upwards of 60% of what you place in your recycling bins will end up as landfill or marine trash.

That doesn’t mean you should refrain from recycling. Simply that you should recycle better. Focusing instead on your reusing practices at home.

Rethink what reducing means to you:

One of the best ways to enter the zero waste movement is to reconsider how you can reduce your dependence on products at home. Including many one-use products, packaged foods, and fast fashion. Consider opting for multi-use products, cleaners, small appliances, and investing in multi-seasonal clothing staples instead. By reducing what we think we need you’ll reduce what will be eventually thrown away.

Another great tip is to wait for one week before making a luxury purchase. Taking time to think about whether or not you truly need it. Then when you do buy something, opt to buy second-hand first. Reusables can not only save the planet but your wallet too!

Recognize your value:

You may be thinking, will one person really make a difference? Yes! Every day you have the decision to positively impact the planet. From how you commute to work to how you buy your groceries, each action can leave a valuable imprint on your overall personal carbon footprint. Remember, every purchase you make is a vote for the kind of world you want to live in.

Because you don’t vote only at the ballot box. You cast a ballot with each purchase you make, with each company you support, and with each marketing campaign, you engage in.

Going zero waste will also improve your quality of life. Simplified living can help you live a better, safer, healthier, more frugal, debt-free life at home. And what’s better than eating better, feeling better, saving money, having your voice heard, and not having to take out the trash at the same time?

And for those who have already taken the plant-based plunge, you’re not done! Simply cutting out meat and dairy from your diet isn’t enough. To truly want to lower your carbon footprint cutting your plastic consumption from your home is necessary too! Afterall, you may reduce your methane emissions by going plant-based but if the veggies you bring home are plastic-clad, you’re still contributing to global warming and wise-scale marine worldwide!

Rely on others:

Going zero waste has been such a liberating process for me, I want to share everything I’ve learned with you.

Because with just one step in the right direction, you can change the world. Feel free to check out the blog for sustainability topics on zero waste living, capsule wardrobes, greener living, composting, and minimalism. And if you have specific questions, feel free to drop me a line to nicole@theladyprefers2save.com or theladypreferstosave@gmail.com; I’d love to help you along your path to sustained living at home!

But if I could offer you one last piece of advice, its to please be realistic. We live in a society obsessed with instant gratification. And going zero waste is not conducive to that mindset.

Being zero waste takes time and patience. Don’t go around beating yourself up for faltering along the way. Instead, give yourself, and others, the grace to grow in your own unique zero waste journey. But no matter what, don’t be a zealot. Give others the same zero waste patience and knowledge that was given to you!

Zero waste living is centered around collective effort. The hope of change. The drive to see change happen. It’s in setting realistic goals that will help you change today and maintain that change at home in the future.

And, seriously – from the bottom of my heart thank you for trying! Together we can make a difference.

I hope that in our lifetime, we can see not only the amount of waste going into landfills be reduced but more people could choose to become healthier, more fulfilled people in the movement. People who learn to love the zero waste process. We can do this together.

In the words of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Now, friends, I want to ask, are you considering going zero waste at home? Or have you been a zero waste veteran for some time and can offer other readers advice on making the transition at home? Share your story below. Inspire others!