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10 Benefits of Living Zero Waste



This week marks 3 months of living the zero waste lifestyle. So how has it been? It has been and still is a journey. Each week I learn something new, new recipes (cooking and cleaning), I read/watch more about environmental initiatives, impacts of certain manufacturing processes or toxic chemicals in our home. Ultimately I am more aware and feel like I am contributing to a better world.


Here are 10 benefits of living zero waste

  1. Not needing a bin service

  2. Wasting less food, cleaning products, beauty products (use what you have before getting more)

  3. Spending less

  4. Eating healthier

  5. More built in exercise (walking to the shops/carrying bags)

  6. Losing weight

  7. Cleaning healthier

  8. Making a contribution to society

  9. Learning new skills (I want to pick up sewing and simple furniture making)

  10. Educating myself in my spare time (instead of watching as much mindless TV)

And 1 downside

  • More upfront organisation


The details:


Upfront organisation

Saturday's used to be my lazy day and Sunday's were the days' I would get things done, however the market is closed on Sunday's so I have had to get out of this habit. My Saturday morning routine now is to plan the meals for the week, researching new dinners if we want a change, put together a list, pack the containers we need for those items and head into town. It took some time for us to figure out where to get things and which places have the best prices but unless we are trying new recipes (like this week) we've gotten it down to an art and can be done the main shopping in 30-40 minutes excluding walking time which we choose for exercise and carbon footprint purposes. C. (I will refer to Colm as C. from now on) still goes for a top up at Dunnes on Sunday's but that's a quick in and out.


All that said - although this organisation takes more time upfront I do think it saves time later in the week - like when we get home from work, open the fridge and have no clue what to make for dinner - now we have a list we can look at and make whatever we feel like out of that list. No more arguments over what we want to eat!


Quicker adjustment

The one thing that helped me the most and would have helped with a more seamless adjustment was to go a little easier on ourselves. Being a perfectionist it was hard for me to accept any plastic or unnecessary waste trickling in but it is unsustainable to live with those standards or you will constantly be disappointed. Now I even cheat myself from time to time, if I want a certain chocolate bar or certain items we used to have - this week was sweet potato fries and a McDonalds breakfast - I don't let myself feel guilty. Even though I know I can make some of those easily myself, it's not the same and not as easy when you're feeling lazy.


Bin service

We are still generating trash but far less than we used to and once we have space to compost I truly think we will not need a bin service and will be able to drop off our recycling and garbage once every 2 months. We won't have to worry about bringing out the trash on certain days, we can go when suits us (with the exception that it has to be a Saturday morning).

Spending/Wasting less

We are also spending and wasting less than we did before - I'll calculate the savings some other time but our fridge and presses are always nearly empty as we only buy the food we need for the week. This is less to clean but also makes it easier to see what you have to use up. We throw out FAR less food than we did before.


Eating and cleaning healthier

I'm enjoying knowing exactly what goes into my food and cleaning products - not that it really bothered me before but now that I have woken up to it it's scary how I didn't question it. It's also a lot easier and cheaper to make your own food and cleaning products that I would have thought. I never would have considered making dish soap or laundry soap before but it's so simple with basic ingredients, and they last so long you only need to do it once every couple of months.


Losing weight/building in exercise

I mentioned before that I lost some weight after going zero waste - likely a combination of far less sweets and getting more exercise by walking to the shops.


Learning new skills

In addition to learning how to make my own cleaning products, gluten free bread etc I am also hoping to pick up sewing and simple furniture making for when we get into the house (I want to make some of my furniture including upholstery elements). The sewing is also to repair some of my clothes - rather than donate or pay to have them repaired.


Educating myself and contributing to society

All of the above is because I'm spending so much time researching and watching things on youtube, TedTalks, reviewing items shared in my my zero waste facebook group - videos, resources, local and international initiatives, looking up new recipes and more ways to be sustainable, reading zero waste and minimalism books etc. This is a far better use of my time than mindlessly plunking down in front of the TV though I still need that from time to time! In educating myself further and increasing my awareness, I don't feel so helpless/hopeless in the sustainability issues facing our earth.


Hopefully in sharing and summarising my findings it saves you time in implementing some of your own changes!


Check back later this week for this week's shopping, recipes for probiotic fermented lemonade and citrus enzyme all purpose cleaner. I'm also giving a capsule wardrobe a go (where you pick 33 items to wear for 3 months - including shoes and accessories) - I cleared out my closet today and got it down to 44 but still need to dwindle down 11 items. Will post more on that later.



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