If you’ve been paying attention to the latest trends, you may have heard of a concept called “zero waste”. So what is zero waste exactly? Living a zero waste lifestyle means not sending any trash to landfills or incinerators. Instead, it focuses on reusing products. When I first heard about the zero waste lifestyle, I was inspired. Considering how much unnecessary trash humans produce, it made sense to try and reduce my personal waste. After reading some articles and watching a few videos, I decided to try it. Here is what happened when I attempted to live zero waste for five days.
Day 1:
I decided to start off easy and use the first day just to determine what kind of trash I am producing. Below is a list of all the trash I made that day.
- A piece of Ziploc press n’ seal
- A Q-tip
- A cotton pad
- A Starbucks cup and sleeve
- A Lara Bar wrapper
- A piece of parchment paper
- 3 sheets of printer paper
- A gum wrapper
- A tissue
- An indiscernible amount of toilet paper
- 7 paper towels (4 for wiping off gym equipment, 1 for drying my hands in the bathroom, and 2 for wiping food off my hands)
Day 2:
Now that I know where my trash is coming from, I am ready to being my first day of zero waste living. Here’s a breakdown of my day.
7:45 a.m.: I wake up feeling a cold coming on. The need for Dayquil is real, but unfortunately every dose comes individually wrapped. I settle for Advil instead. Technically it comes in plastic, but the bottle is Costco size so I won’t have to throw it away for at least two years.
8:30 a.m.: Breakfast time. I make my usual morning meal of avocado toast, strawberries and a banana. Instead of wrapping the leftover half of my avocado in plastic, I put it in a sealed Pyrex container.
9:15 a.m.: Time to go to campus. I decide to use a mason jar as my water bottle because I’m a pretentious asshole and head out the door.
1:50 p.m.: My last class of the day finishes and I start walking to the gym. I go to pull out my usual pre-workout snack, a Lara bar, from my bag when I realize it has a plastic wrapper. S—. I make a mental note to bring a piece of fruit next time.
3:00 p.m.: My workout is complete. I came prepared with a towel to clean the equipment in place of a wipe. After a few minutes of searching, I find a bottle of cleaner and scrub away.
4:00 p.m.: I get home feeling ravenous. I turn on the oven and start cutting up a potato. I use one of my new silicone baking mats I got off Amazon in place of parchment paper, and my potato wedges come out even crispier than usual. Thanks, Silchef.
10:30 p.m.: Bedtime. I go to sleep feeling satisfied that I managed to go a whole day without making any trash.
Day 3:
I am a Starbucks regular. I go there at least two to three times a week. Its proximity to campus and free WiFi make it the perfect place to do homework between classes. Unfortunately, that means I have to buy something every time I go. Usually I get tea, but if I’m feeling like treating myself, I get a latte. No matter what I get, it always comes in the classic ivory cup. I can’t even imagine how many Starbucks cups I’ve gone through the past few years. Knowing that getting a normal cup would create trash, I grab one of their reusable plastic cups and ask them to put my drink in that cup instead. It baffles me that I’ve never thought of doing this before. It costs $1, it’s lightweight and, best of all, it saves me 10 cents every time I use it.
Day 4:
My weekly craving for Thai food has officially set in. I bring a huge mason jar to campus with me so I can get my favorite tofu curry to go. Surprisingly, the restaurant complies with my request. I also ask for no plastic silverware, no napkin and no plastic bag. I think about how much trash I saved just from bringing my own container. Sure, it’s a bit strange, but it’s worth it when you’re helping out the Earth.
Day 5:
The final test is here: grocery shopping. I come prepared with reusable grocery and produce bags. Even with the bags, not buying anything in a package is extremely difficult. I am able to get most of my produce using my own bags, but I can’t avoid the plastic container holding the strawberries. I can’t find any unwrapped bread either, so I settle on my usual Ezekiel bread. Regardless of the bread and strawberries, I am able to get avocados, spinach, peppers, onions, potatoes, carrots, ginger and cilantro, all unpackaged and organic. I also found a bunch of recycled/compostable home products like garbage bags, napkins and paper towels. Considering the limitations of living in the Midwest during the middle of winter, I think I did pretty well.
Throughout the five days, I collected what trash I made and kept it in a jar (not including toilet paper). At the end of the week, I had one receipt, three tissues, a makeup wipe and a Q-tip.
Going zero waste was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be. I never realized how much trash I actually produced until I could no longer throw things away. Although I did not 100% succeed, I learned a lot along the way. I now have some awesome reusable products, and I know where and how to shop in order to avoid waste. I don’t think I’ll be going completely zero waste any time soon, but I will keep trying and reduce the amount of trash I create. I think the Earth will thank me for it.
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