Plastic Free/Zero Waste

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. – Edward Everett Hale, American author

My husband Alan and I had no idea that failing miserably at something that we thought we were good at would lead to such a meaningful change in our household.

Last year, we undertook the Plastic Free July challenge. Well, sort of. The challenge is to choose to refuse single-use plastic during July. We instead chose to audit our consumption by documenting all of the plastic we used during the month. The results were eye-opening. We couldn’t get through a single day without recycling or disposing of at least half a dozen different plastic items.

Now Alan and I used to be quite pleased with ourselves for putting out far more recycling than trash. But the Plastic Free July challenge reminded us that large components of that recycling – plastics – do not biodegrade. What this means, in the simplest terms, is that every piece of plastic that has ever been created will stay on this earth. FOREVER. I’m not sure what was more depressing – the realization of this fact, or the acknowledgement that we were part of the problem.

And so we set about changing our ways.

We started in the kitchen with food packaging, which according to our audit, was our largest source of plastic on a daily basis. We cultivated new habits, perhaps the most impactful of which was buying produce in bulk (i.e. as in unpackaged, not Costco-sized), using reusable mesh produce bags or paper bags. We implemented several other changes and then turned our attention to other areas – household items, toiletries, and travel.

Progress on the plastic-free front naturally led us to broaden our focus to pursuing a zero-waste lifestyle. This means truly embracing the “5 Rs” of the Waste Reduction hierarchy: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle. It means being conscious and deliberate with all of your choices and actions, which isn’t a bad thing.

Is a plastic-free or zero-waste life impossible? Perhaps. But for us, it is about striving for that ideal. It’s about doing better, and truthfully, we can all do a little better.

On that note, and with Environment Week (and Plastic Free July) fast approaching, I challenge you to cultivate some new plastic-free or zero-waste habits. If you need inspiration, check out these resources: (1) Living Plastic Free, (2) Zero Waste Home: 100 Tips to Lower Your Waste at Home; (3) 101 Easy, Eco Friendly, Zero Waste Tips; and (4) Canada is just too good to waste: 150 Zero Waste Tips.