A life spent mostly at home can mean consuming products quicker than usual, along with all the plastic packaging that comes with it.
2020 has proved a big challenge than normal in practicing zero waste but there are plenty of really simple swaps anyone can make to reduce their waste at home and create the zero waste lifestyle that you dream of.
We’re sharing our favourite swaps and tips for Zero Waste Week that will make it easy for you to make at least one sustainable change TODAY (without even leaving your home!).
What is Zero Waste Week? Here’s Everything You Need To Know
11 Top Tips for Zero Waste Week
1. Swap to refillable cleaning products
Deep cleaning has certainly been on the rise lately. But you’ll want to steer clear of products filled with harsh chemicals that leave quite the carbon footprint.
With Clean Living products, you can have a healthier home during Zero Waste Week and onward!
Their products contain healthy bacteria that produce enzymes for a deep clean. This means, Clean Living products are 100% natural and are built for the long haul so you can reduce your consumption while keeping your home sparkling clean.
Plus if you’re practicing zero waste, here’s how they help.
- No single use plastic waste – the aluminum bottles can be refilled indefinitely and then recycled.
- No packaging waste – the cleaning product caddy fits snugly inside the packaging box so there is no need for bubble wrap.
- No cleaning wipes waste – the quality microfibre cloths in Clean Living’s caddy eliminate the need for disposable cloths
- The cleaning products are sent as a concentrate in sachets (you can return them to Clean Living for recycling) so they can be filled with water at home.
Need we say more? Clean Living provides an easy solution so that you can take steps toward a zero waste lifestyle.
Don’t Miss Your Free Essential Guide To Eco-Friendly Cleaning
2. Think about whether you really need to buy something – even if it’s a gift
It might sound counterintuitive of a homewares store to suggest you buy less but that is what we all need to be doing.
Overconsumption has a lot of impact on the plastic and other waste we get through globally.
Being more choosy about the brands you support financially, and taking into account their packaging and values really can make a difference and help reduce your waste at home & buying better means things last longer.
Moving to a more zero waste lifestyle means choosing better, more sustainable options that have less impact on our planet.
Appletree & Avalon focus on home and gift ideas that are made in the UK and of high quality so they last longer. They see their role as helping support people to live more consciously, moving them away from single use items.
Each purchase also gives back and they contribute to their charity of choice; World Land Trust where they buy land to protect it from agriculture and help to plant trees.
We love their wooden kids toys, wildflower seed bombs and zero waste gardening gift sets.
3. Swap to beeswax – or vegan wraps
When practicing zero waste, consider your food waste and storage, that’s where a lot of waste comes from. And it’s a lot of waste. The UK uses 1.2 billion metres of the stuff every year…none of which can be recycled, so getting rid of that is a great place to start on your zero waste journey.
Bee Bee & Leaf Wraps are beeswax (and now also a vegan friendly versions using rice bran wax and sumac wax) food wraps. They’re a solution for taking food on the go, having a zero waste picnic, or simply storing food at home.
Beeswax (or the vegan versions) wraps are one of the quickest ways to reduce your single use plastic in the kitchen.
BeeBee & Leaf Wraps have about a one year life span then they can return safely back to the earth. They’re made of cotton, resin, oil and then a wax. Any waste the brand has left over is made into firelighters (the resin soaked cotton works really well for this).
To reuse them you simply wash using a mixture of water, soap, and gentle care and the resin can be reset with a Rewax Refresher Drops set.
The only issue? Which beautiful print are you going to choose?
4. Ditch your plastic razor
Did you know that in the US alone 2 billion razors are thrown away and they can’t be recycled.
From a range of zero waste products including straws, cutlery and razors, Jungle Straws is making it easy to kick off or further your zero waste lifestyle.
We especially love their bamboo safety razors. Here’s why:
- Bamboo handles are paired with stainless steel, no plastic needed.
- There are three colour options and an easy to use design, plus these razors will last you years.
- Safety razors are unisex and can be used on both face and body
- There’s no plastic packaging, just a lovely hessian sack for you to store your forever razor in.
These reusable razors are a better self care solution to single use razors. At the end of its life span, it can also be recycled!
Plastic Free Skincare: Gorgeous Brands Who Nail It
5. Use plastic free shampoo and shower bars
This is such an easy swap in the bathroom and when you travel.
We don’t need all that plastic in our bathroom and we don’t recycle it so stop buying it.
Hard shampoo, shower and conditioner bars are widespread now and come either without any packaging or no plastic packaging.
We love award-winning KinKind‘s family packs that offer two choices of shampoo, bodywash and conditioner so everyone gets what they want.
- Each haircare bar replaces two plastic bottles worth of product – KinKind have saved over 45,000 plastic bottles so far in the first eight months of 2020.
- There are no SLS, parabens or chemical nasties in KinKind and they’re vegan friendly.
- You can even set up a subscription so you don’t ever run out again.
- Each purchase comes in recyclable cardboard packaging and fits through your letterbox.
Use the discount code PEBBLE10 to get 10% off your first order.
6. Get refillable home essentials to your door, helping you reduce waste
There has been a huge trend this year on refillable supplies that can be delivered to your home to reduce the amount you need to buy at the supermarket.
New service charrli has curated your favourite eco British brands (like Bio-D, Faith in Nature and Upcircle) in sleek refillable glass bottles and will deliver them right to your door!
From shampoos and cleaning products to hand sanitiser and skincare, they provide the reusable bottles and eco-friendly products and then pick up the bottles when you’re done for refilling and reuse; making your zero-waste lifestyle effortless. charrli also works with brands to make their product lines refillable and circular.
It’s never been easier to make your everyday routine refillable and waste-free, check them out here.
7. Stop using single use plastic tableware
Did you know, a disposable plastic plate needs more than 500 years to degrade?
That’s mad when most people only use them for minutes at parties and barbeques? If you’re entertaining at home this autumn, it’s time to step away from the plastic disposables.
However not all disposables are bad, this new range from Miriad uses wheat bran to produce plates, bowls and cutlery that will break down in 30 days.
Wheat bran is a by product of the cereal milling process – just one tonne of it can make 10,000 bowls or plates that are fully compostable.
So you’ve got tableware that’s eco-friendly, plant-based and will break down. Perfect for kids parties, or anything else where you don’t want to use the best china, and it’s still zero waste.
8. Enjoy regular shampoo but in a can
Still aren’t sure about the plastic free hard bar shampoo revolution?
Ksoni have taken another approach to reduce plastic waste and get you to a more low waste home.
Their shampoo, conditioner and shower range comes in aluminium cans which are much easier to recycle than glass or plastic (75% of aluminium ever produced is still in use today).
- A unique biodegradable cap means you can crack open a shampoo or shower can in the shower and then keep the can going with its little cap hat.
- The conditioner comes in a plastic free, aluminium tin.
- The range is vegan-friendly, all natural and paraben free.
- It comes in three scents: frankincense and fresh bergamot, floral ylang ylang and calming lavender or uplifting grapefruit and lemon.
9. Give resuable periodwear a go
Period pains are felt by the environment, too!
Did you know pads and panty liners make up 200,000 tonnes of plastic waste a year?
They are made up of about 90% plastic and just one pack of pads is equal to four plastic bags! What’s more they can take up to 800 years to biodegrade.
It’s time to step away from using plastic to soak up our flow.
New options for your flow range from menstrual cups, reusable pads, period wear and more. There is ample opportunity to switch up what you use.
Reusable periodwear is a perfect option to embrace during Zero Waste Week. With low to high absorbency and comfortable styles (including swimwear), Modi Bodi offers a variation to match your unique flow. The layered pants lock away liquid and can hold up to four tampons’ worth before being chucked in the wash and reworn, continously.
They also offer a guide so you can pick which style would be the best fit for your periods, plus there are ranges for teenagers, pregnant women and more.
10. Support zero waste and ethical brands
Want to make zero waste choices and shop from home? It’s just become easier to buy and sell ethical, eco-friendly, artisan and preloved products with Bazar – The Ethical Life Marketplace app. Find a range of ethical brands on the app, it’s a great short cut to making greener lifestyle choices, from plastic free to upcycled and preloved, and shopping your values.
With every purchase made 1% of the sales commission revenue preserves the planet through their Bees, Trees and Seas programme.
Take a positive step towards zero waste and #makingethicalstandard. Download the Bazar – The Ethical Life Marketplace app for Apple and Android.
11. Even candles can be zero waste
No matter how small or everyday the item, there are ways of making it less wasteful or zero waste.
Even candles for instance, have a footprint depending on what they’re made from and where they’re made, which you can reduce.
Brownlow Bouquet’s candles are vegan friendly, hand poured in the UK and contain no plastic. Each one comes in a beautiful blue glass jar with metal lid and there’s no plastic anywhere in the packaging either.
Choose from a range of scents, inspired by the English countryside, such as Orchard Berries or Amber and Lavender. Each one is made of soy wax and the medium size have a really long burn time of 42 hours.
Zero Waste Beginner’s Guide: 21 Easy Ways To Change At Home
12. Try out reusable nappies
Simple, reusable nappies, which are kind to little bottoms and the planet.
Every year millions of nappies find their way into landfill or strewn on our beaches, choking our sea life and harming our ecosystems.
With three million single-use nappies being thrown away each year in the UK, even using one reusable nappy a day saves 900 from going to landfill.
The simple to fit, reusable nappies from Baba+Boo come with a popper system on the font to ensure they grow with your baby, as well as two bamboo mix inserts for maximum absorbency. The reusable nappies are completely free of nasties, come in a variety of beautiful, funky prints and are designed to fit around parents lives, and not the other way round.
10% of all profits from the ‘Waves’ nappy goes to City To Sea to help them in their fight against plastic pollution.
