2018 new years resolution.
At the start of every year some of us like to make a resolution like quitting smoking or losing weight. I like to try something different to the norm resolution. They don’t always last the whole year but this years resolution I’m determined to stick to it. This year’s resolution is to minimise waste to hopefully to a point of living a zero waste lifestyle. This would have to be one of my most challenging news year’s resolutions I ever attempted.
I heard about zero waste lifestyle a few years back when I came across a video on Youtube on Lauren Singer who at the time collected 3 years waste in a small marson jar. Now she has been living zero waste for 5 years now but what truly got me thinking about getting on the zero waste wagon was when I was watching a three part series “War On Waste” on ABC Australia. Throughout the program its showed how much food we waste per year at home and good portion of that is doesn’t even get to the consumer. How you ask well in the fruit industry there is a strict guideline on how certain food items like bananas for example have to be a certain size and shape otherwise they get throw out. How insane is that? Before watching the series I didn’t even know that coffee cups weren’t recyclable. So the ABC series got me inspired to minimise my waste consumption.
I’ve come up with three rules to stick by to for the year.
They are:
- I’m only allowed to use my current wasteful items (as there is no point throwing these items out if they’re still useful) such as toothpaste, razor, etc but once they are no longer useful I must use zero waste alternatives.
- No clothing or technology products are to be purchase brand new. They can only be purchased 2nd hand or made by myself. The only exceptions to this rule are underwear, hosiery, work uniform and work related products.
- No online shopping or buying items whilst travelling overseas unless the item is zero waste friendly
A few years back I did a year of not buying any new clothing except for undergarments and uniform. If I wanted a new item of clothing I had to either sew it myself or buy something 2nd hand and revamp it. I remember I got to half way through the year, doing a fair bit of window shopping wanting to buy some new clothes but I couldn’t. I didn’t splurge when the year was over but I was relieved that I could buy again. So I wonder how I will go doing it all over again.
Every month I’m going to record the amount of my rubbish to see how my progress is going hoping as the months go by I’ll be using next to none waste. I hoping interview some like minded people as well as give some of the tips and tricks to minimising waste. It’s going to be challenging for the first 3 days as I won’t be home in Melbourne, where I can somewhat control my waste content, but still on the other side of the world celebrating the start of 2018 in Vienna. I’m intrigued to find out how well I can minimise my waste whilst starting overseas.
Though for the whole month of January when I back in Oz it will be only me and my brother at home so there will be a bit of control on my behalf. I’ll have to see if I can make the whole household see how much plastic we are actually using. I will be happy if there are a few minor changes.
Tips:
To get started here are three things I’m going to switch to minimise my waste. I’m going to swap plastic bags at the checkout for a reusable bag, swapping a take away cup for a reusable coffee cup or simply enjoying my coffee at the café and using a drink bottle instead of buying plastic bottles of water.
Happy new year Evade readers and stay tuned to what the next year entails on my potential zero waste lifestyle.
