A city that diverts all its waste from landfills into either reuse or recycling.

Here are a few recommendations for Zero waste life

1. Keep less stuff at home

To keep up with the times and modern minimalist design that features spaciousness and easy maintenance, try to keep only the things you really need at home. You keep a lot of waste at home unnecessarily.

Not only will you find it much easier and quicker to clean your home, but having less stuff also means throwing less of it away.

2. Don’t use plastic bags and plastic bags

Just take a walk in the city, along the edge of the forest or along the roads and you see them everywhere – flying in the air, caught on bushes, on the ground, in the water.

Plastic bags and sacks are just another piece of rubbish that we pollute our environment with. In today’s hectic times, the environmentally-conscious person always carries a reusable bag made of natural materials in which to carry any purchases.

Fruit and vegetable nets made of textile material are also becoming a trend, and we can make them at home. Or buy biodegradable bags. Two young Czech women have implemented one such idea. Basically, you produce zero waste.

3. Limit the purchase of new clothes

Commercial fashion trends are changing rapidly, and especially the fairer half of the population regularly spends a lot of money on the latest gadgets.

However, let’s face it – all of us have a pile of clothes at home that we don’t wear at all and take up unnecessary space in our wardrobes. The ideal solution is to buy quality, timeless and well-matched pieces, which we can often find in second-hand stores.

We don’t even need to talk about the advantage of investing in quality shoes that we don’t have to throw away in a few months.

4. Give up takeaways and fast food

Learn to cook at home and bring your own food inboxes. There are countless benefits – you’ll please yourself and your family, you know what you’re eating and last but not least, you’re not filling your bins with lots of packaging that can’t be recycled due to grease contamination.

Many people complain that cooking takes up a lot of their time. You can also work towards zero waste by using many recipes for quick, healthy, and tasty meals that take no more than half an hour to prepare.

If you don’t finish your food in restaurants, you can also pack it in your own container.

5. Learn to buy food without packaging

It’s no secret that the freshest and best quality food is found in markets and small shops. If this is the case, simply ask the vendor to weigh your food without a plastic bag or in your own packaging.

Recently, you can also use the services of packaging-free shops. You can find a so-called zero-waste map with all the shops where you can buy food and drugs without packaging here.

Many of them also offer the convenience of online shopping, with the option to choose the packaging in which the goods are packed – either the store’s eco-friendly packaging or your own packaging, which can be sent by post.

6. Don’t buy paper napkins

Our mothers and grandmothers didn’t need them, you can do without them too. You can use a cloth cut from worn textiles to wipe up kitchen grime, which you can wash and reuse.

To remove excess grease from fried food, you can use, for example, an ordinary sieve set on any pot. Dining with cloth napkins is very elegant.

For sanitary napkins, it is possible to go back to the classic ones, but they do not suit everyone. In the case of toilet paper, you can use the more expensive bamboo or cheap recycled paper in a paper wrapper.

7. Learn to empty the fridge completely

In many households, there is an incredible waste of food. People often buy large quantities of food from supermarkets that they don’t have time to use or forget about it in a crowded fridge and it goes bad.

The sensible thing to do is to plan your shopping, eating, and cooking so that you use up everything you buy. Remember: if you reduce your waste, you will also reduce the waste that would be generated by chain stores, as they will adjust to your lower consumption.

8. Enjoy your favorite drink without a straw

Plastic straws are another uselessness of the last decades. Yet unless you’re coming off a heavy dental treatment, for example, you don’t need them at all. Ask the staff at the establishment to bring you a drink without a straw.

If you’re really into them, use natural straws. There are also elegant metal ones on the market that can be washed and reused.

9. Make the most of your food

Many people in developed countries are now used to throwing away large quantities of food. However, this doesn’t have to be the stuff that goes bad in the fridge. It also applies to food production and catering.

When we throw away food, we also throw away the resources that are necessary for its production. Just think about it – if you buy a whole chicken breast from the butcher instead of a packaged chicken breast from the supermarket, you can use it for things like chicken breasts for stewing, thighs for roasting, wings for grilling, bones for stock, etc. Leftovers can be eaten by domestic or wild animals.

If you don’t consume everything right away, individual parts can be frozen and used later. Or, use one pumpkin to make a number of dishes and you don’t even have to throw away the seeds – they’re great for roasting or baking.

10. Never throw bio-waste in the garbage

At least half of the waste we produce is a biodegradable material, even 70-80% in the case of a vegetarian household. Bio-waste containers are becoming more and more common, but not everyone has access to them.

People living in houses with gardens, where there is enough space to place compost, have the easiest access. However, nowadays composting is also possible indoors and composters are turning into designer pieces. Read more about vermicomposting and making your own composter here.

11. Don’t throw it away, fix it

Has your fridge, washing machine, or other appliance broken down? You don’t have to buy a new one right away. Try calling a local repairman instead. Many things can be repaired at home. Whether it’s patching your shoes, replacing a zipper, or hiding a hole in your clothes with a patch that can have a neat pattern.

Prevent waste by extending its life. Zero waste often pays off financially. In Sweden, they have come up with a bill that would cut VAT on the repair of consumer goods by half, which would also create a number of jobs and motivate the population to produce less waste. The government also planned to encourage the trade in second-hand goods.

9. Be creative

Not only making your daily necessities and drugstore items. Learn to be creative creatures. For example, wrap gifts in newsprint, set aside ribbons and reuse them, or swap them for linen string.

There are many ideas. Be inspired by people who can make beautiful and practical things out of materials that others would throw in the garbage.

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