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The zero-waste movement is about reducing how much you dispose and consume in your day-to-day life. Essentially, you want to reach a point where you are sending nothing to landfill. It’s a steady and slow process but a rewarding journey and you can take it at your own pace.  

The three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle, have never mattered more, and these are the daily reminders you need to think about when applying the zero-waste movement to your life. Most people only rely on the last R, recycling, but sadly we need to do more. Recycling is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how we can dispose of waste correctly. We need to begin to change our mind sets on how we can reduce and what we consume to limit waste in your homes.

So, how do you begin your zero-waste journey?

Take a look in your bins and for the next few weeks start to take note of what you throw away in both your normal bins and recycling bins. You will begin see patterns of what you throw away the most and now it is time to think of ways to prevent this waste from happening.

For example:

- Throwing away lots of paper napkins and towels? Why not invest in cloth napkins.

- Seeing a lot of clingfilm? Try an alternative such as silicon wrap bags, or Tupperware.

- Lots of vegetable waste? Why not start to compost?

By starting with the small stuff, you will already see a massive difference in how much waste you are preventing.  From there you will be able to tackle bigger challenges and look at the products you throw away monthly such as shampoo bottles and deodorant canisters.  

Healthy impact

Both mentally and physically, starting a zero-waste lifestyle will have a positive impact on your live. It’s essentially that fresh feeling when you have cleaned a room, your mind feels lighter and clearer. Having less waste in your home will make that clean feeling last so much longer and you will find a change in your shopping and lifestyle habits. Instead of looking at your usual plastic wrapped ready-meal you will start to consider purchasing your own unwrapped fruit and veg so you can make your meals yourself, both saving you money and the environment.

And finally… Do your research

There are far too many ways you can change your habits for us to name, so make sure you do your own research. Look into the products you have laying around your house and explore more sustainable solutions to see how you can achieve those 3 R’s. Find reusable containers and new ways you can reuse empty ones. The possibilities will truly be endless and you will feel so much better in yourself and the earth will feel your impact too.

Let us know if you are trying to make a zero-waste change by tagging us in your images using @erpinghamhouse and @erpinghamhousebtn.

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