My favourite zero waste swaps
Are we conscious about the environment, is it just too difficult or is it a whole other issue plaguing our population? I have strived in recent months to begin incorporating zero-waste swaps into my life to make sure I am being the best version of myself waste and environment wise.
I would like to preface this that while we are in lockdown, it may be harder to do a lot of these and please do not go out of your way to get things as it is not on the high list of priorities but I want to make sure that once this is all over and things are as back to normal as they can be we are being as environmentally conscious as we can be. So with that, here is a list of my favourite ways to be more waste conscious.
A couple of months ago, we found ourselves with too much rubbish being thrown away, whether this was compostable material, product containers or just random bits and bobs which had no other home than the black bin. I know, tragic. So we started simple:
if you can, request another blue (recycling bin) if needed
get a small compost bin for inside the house. doesn’t have to be fancy, any small swing bin will be good to start you off.
actually figure out what in fact is recyclable in your area…. as it seems all areas are different.
items I already had around the house included:
metal/ bamboo straws
recycled toilet and kitchen roll - though most kitchen roll, if it doesn’t have a load of grease on it, is in fact recyclable!
beeswax wraps - available from amazon or inexpensive to make yourself.
reusable coffee filters, or the reusable coffee pods where you add your own coffee to it - this means your coffee machine won’t go to waste as you can still use it as if it was a filter machine.
instead of marinating foods inside plastic bags, we marinate inside food containers (small set at IKEA for £4)
produce bags - not everything needs to be in plastic. your lemons, oranges, leafy greens can all be placed in the net bags easily.
so this has been a new one for me but using everything you can from a meal, so you have leftovers, we too often would’ve thrown it away if we didn’t eat it, spouting “we’ll eat that tomorrow” or lunch etc. We never did. So if you have the time. it can take around 15 minutes, please plan your meals. it’s fun to think of food in a positive, structured way and can help you meal prep.
I will be releasing some pantry staple recipes soon!
