5 Ways to Reduce your Waste

As more and more people are seeking ways to reduce their impact, but can‘t quite figure out what habits they can change to reduce their waste and environmental footprint, check out these easy tricks and swaps that can help you begin your journey towards a more zero-waste lifestyle.

1. Reusable Water Bottle/Coffee Mugs

Opt out of using plastic water bottles, especially when traveling or moving around, and get a reusable water bottle. Not only is this a great alternative, but most plastic bottles are not even fully recyclable, especially the lids.

Now a days there are so many options, personally I love the Swell bottles, since they not only provide an alternative to the plastic bottles, but they keep your water cold, even if it sits in your car during a hot Florida day, and stays hot, even overnight in the middle of an uninsulated cabin in the mountains.

As for your coffee, bringing a travel mug not only reduces waste, but a lot shops give you a few cents off if you bring your own cup. So if you need more reason to switch to a reusable mug, those few cents adds up quickly, especially if you get coffee regularly. Friendly cup offers biodegradable mugs, so once you no longer need/want them they will naturally degrade back into the ground.

2. Refuse Straws or Use Metal Straws

When you go to a restaurant, refuse to use a straw, or carry a metal straw if you really need or want one. Besides seeing the images with straws up sea turtles noses, straws are not really needed most of the time and it’s a simple thing you can do to reduce waste.

3. Reusable Bags

Contrary to popular belief, plastic (especially bags) are one the hardest things to recycle, mainly because they clog up the recycling machines, so while the idea seems great, most of the time those bags end up in landfills or the ocean. When you go to the store, carrying your own bags is a great alternative to putting your groceries in a plastic bag. And if you forget to bring bags, or don’t want to purchase any, opt for paper bags over plastic. While this still create waste, paper is much more widely accepted at recycling centers.

4. Glass Containers

When looking to buy products, if there is a glass option, opt for buying it in glass as oppose to plastic. Most plastics are non-recyclable, due to the inability of the machines to process the different levels of plastic. On the other hand, glass is easily recyclable, and not only is it is something that can easily be broken down, recycled, and reused as a new glass bottle, it is something that can be used as an alternative to plastic storage containers.

5. Used Clothes or Clothes made of recycled materials

If you are trying to limit your impact changing how you buy your clothes is a great way to do it. With the clothing industry being one of the worst when it comes to waste, buying used clothes is a way to limit your environmental mark. Not only can you buy amazing, like-new clothes at charity/secondhand shops like Goodwill, but there are sites such as Thread Up and REI Used Gear that offer great quality used items for amazing prices (sometimes even half the price of the original item).

Another solution to this is purchasing items made out of recycled materials, such as the Girlfriend Collective, which offers clothing made out of plastic water bottles, or Patagonia, where they take old clothes and make unique down jackets out of the materials.

While there are so many more things you can do to become more green, these are 5 simple ones that you can start doing to lessen your impact on the world.