How to live a zero-waste life in 7 ways

As part of Zero Waste Week, I thought I would use this opportunity to help you live an eco-friendly zero-waste life in 7 ways. There are many things you can do – most of which are pretty simple – to be more zero-waste. Most of the things that can be done actually save you money, keep your home more organised and you waste less!

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Waste less food

This is the first and foremost way you can move towards living an eco-friendly zero-waste life. Wasting less food is no doubt the easiest way to be more zero-waste (it’s literally in the title)! Everyone is guilty of this. I know I am. We end up wasting food because we go to the supermarket without a list of what we need to buy. We end up wasting food because we cook too much and don’t meal plan. You need to be buying exactly what you need and not overcooking and storing food in your fridge for days.

Try to plan your meals at the start of the week thinking about what you would like to eat that week. Check what ingredients you already have at home (in the fridge, pantry and cupboards). What can you make using just them? If you need to go to the store, first go through all of your foods making a list of what you need. You could also try making an inventory list and updating it once a week. This way you only buy what you need at the store. You could also try prepping and freezing meals or eating the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Spend less on fast fashion

When it comes to fashion you can make certain adjustments to your life to go zero-waste here too. One of the ways you can do so is by seeking sustainable fashion as opposed to fast fashion. Go through all of your clothes deciding which items are staple pieces that can be worn more often! This way you’re not only buying those items you need. The best way to achieve this is by planning out and creating a capsule wardrobe. You pick out a certain number of items of clothing that can be mixed and matched to create many outfits. This way you are not constantly shopping for clothes and worrying each night what to wear the next day.

Grow your own vegetables & herbs

This is one of my favourite ways to go zero-waste. I dream about the day I own my own home with a garden and grow a whole array of vegetables. There is nothing better than knowing you are eating something you managed to grow yourself. This is both organic and healthy. Plus there is so much choice as to what you can grow yourself. It’s a fun hobby to take up and the end-results are a great dinner!!

We currently live in an apartment so the most we can grow is our own herbs. This is still also cool as when it comes to making a spaghetti bolognese or a fancy salad. We just mosey over to our balcony and chop up some yummy herbs from our little patch and momentarily our salad or spag-bol tastes so fresh! Check out this book to help you plan your at-home-vegetables.

Make zero-waste swaps for your home

There are small but extremely effective things you can do to make zero-waste swaps right at home. This includes using reusable products such as baby wipes and nappies, face pads for makeup removal and food wrap! By reducing your single-use plastic usage you are helping the oceans and eco-system as the waters will no longer be over-polluted with plastic floating about and killing our sea life, coral and other amazing things we find in our oceans. I’ll be putting together a post with my top zero-waste swaps you can do yourself easily – so be sure to sign up to my blog updates to be notified once it goes live.

Use your car less

By using your car less (especially around city centres like London), you are allowing our extremely polluted air to clean itself out a little. Well ok, maybe not clean itself, but get polluted further. By driving less and perhaps cycling more you are saving the planet, reducing your carbon footprint and not polluting our air with harmful substances and CO2. Plus let’s be honest cycling is so much better for your health as you are exercising and being less lazy!! We are all guilty of this for sure. So why not save the planet, go zero-waste and tone up all at the same time.

Cut-back on non-essential spending

This has to be one of the hardest ways to go zero-waste and eco-friendly. The ethos behind this tip is that the less you buy the less stuff you have at home. The less stuff you have at home the less clutter you allow to build up. In addition, buy cutting back on non-essential spending you are only buying things that you actually need and are doing so more mindfully and with purpose. This is the best way to shop as you allow yourself time to think about whether in fact, you are buying it because it looks pretty and is nice to have, or whether you actually need it.

Eat more plant-based foods

If you’re a meat-eater, this may be easier said than done as we pretty much have meat with nearly every meal. If you’re looking to actively change things up and move over to more of a zero-waste life the best way to do so would be to eat more plant-based foods. This is more easily achievable by having plant-based meals sent to you – whether they’re prepped ready-made meals to help you stay on track or packaged ingredients allowing you to cook your meals at home yourself.

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