Low Waste Living Made Simple
What does low waste living mean?
Low Waste living simply means having a goal to reduce the amount of material that we throw away on a daily basis. The goal of this way of living is approachable and easy to pursue!
Think of low waste living as a spectrum that continues to fluctuate as we take on the practices that cut down on the amount of waste we produce. The more forgiving practice of low waste living is a lifelong journey that allows us time to adopt, practice, and integrate these beneficial and sustainable ways of protecting our planet.
Isn’t City Park Farmers Market trying to be a zero waste market? What's the difference?
City Park Farmers Market has a goal of becoming a *truly* zero waste market. The goal of zero waste is written in the name… producing no waste. We understand this goal is lofty, but with the help of our vendors and community, we believe that City Park Farmers Market can be a market that does not produce waste material that will end up in the landfill. This goal is possible with a once a week event, 6 months out of the year, and with the help of an entire community's efforts. When it comes to our daily lives…. My unpopular opinion is that zero waste on a daily basis isn’t practical for most people.
There is a reason that producers have filmed documentaries such as a No Impact Man - a film about a family who undertakes the challenge to live out zero waste - it's a very difficult and unsustainable way of life for most people. Low waste living can provide a much more sustainable alternative that endures year after year in your life.
Make it Matter to You!
When starting to live with low waste practices, we have to take an honest look at how we consume. My hope is that this blog post can serve as a bridge between the zero waste community and the average American who creates 4.5 pounds of waste per day. Everyone is different and our families' needs are all unique, but we can all take time to do a self audit and find areas of improvement for the sake of our planet's health.
What can I do (without drastically changing my life):
Below is a list of ways to help reduce the amount of waste we create. Choose one or two things that you think you (and your family) could stick with and make a habit. Once that action turns into a habit and that habit turns into routine, then choose another low waste practice to adopt. Although this list of sustainable low waste practices seems very easily doable and you may even be tempted to implement many at once, I encourage you to start with just a few changes to ensure that these new practices become a habit in your life.
What I love about low waste living is the idea that every small action we do cuts down on our waste. For example, when we moved to City Park, I decided that I simply wasn’t going to be buying paper towels again. Ever. I know that they aren’t sustainable, cause deforestation, and inevitably fill up our landfill. I used recycled clothes, put them in a stylish little basket (separating bathroom cleaning rags from dish towels) and had a hamper next to our laundry where we collected the used rags. Once a week, I do a load of cloth laundry. I took the idea of cutting back on our paper towel consumption, made it a habit in our life, and now it's a part of our routine that we simply don’t think twice about years later. Maybe for you it's using a block of soap instead of liquid dish soap or bringing your sandwich for lunch in reusable bins instead of a ziploc bag…whatever it is - start with one or two things, make them a habit, and then move on to the next low-waste choice when you’ve mastered the first few!
List of low-waste choices to make around the home:
Kitchen:
Cook using real ingredients! Psst… go to a farmers market :)
Bar soap instead of dish soap (and body wash, shampoo, conditioner, etc.)
Reusable cling wraps such as beeswax wraps
Jar huggers instead of plastic wraps
Reusable silicone sandwich bags or glass or metal Tupperware.
Utilize glass jars and glass Tupperware over single use take out boxes.
BYO coffee cup. Ceramic is so much tastier anyways.
Ditch plastic tea bags.
Compost food scraps
Chickens + compost bin + worm bin
Cloth produce bags
Biodegradable kitchen sponges
Plastic free coffee set up
Cleaning:
Cloth over paper towels
Line Dry cloths instead of using dryer
Make your own cleaners that are biodegradable
Make your own laundry soap
Garden:
Opt for native species
Use eggshells as seedling pots or soil block
Make your own fertilizer
Avoid plastic bags of top soil and compost
Compost food scraps
Save seeds for next year
Plant low water plants to save water
Use rain barrels
Bath:
Eco friendly toilet paper like who gives a crap brand
Shampoo and conditioner bars instead of plastic bottles
Menstrual cups instead of tampons
Try toothpaste power to avoid plastic toothpaste tubes
Kids:
Reusable water bottles
Try cloth diapering
Walk to the park instead of driving
Batch cook/meal plan
Avoid snacks in single use packaging
Shop secondhand
Teach your kids about low waste living and why we do it!
Shopping:
Reusable shopping bags
Bulk section
No produce wrapped in plastic
Support your local farmers
Plan your meals
Compost food scraps
CSA
Shop your local farmers markets
Bread from your local baker
Learn to preserve
Buy food with minimal packaging (aka avoid stores like trader joes - although pleasant to shop at, that place is full of packaging on everything)
Good luck and have fun! Remember the practices of low waste living are part of a lifelong journey to continue to improve our planet's health for future generations. Every little effort we put forth to cut back on waste matters!
Looking for a local Low Waste store/supplier to support new habits?
Want just a few basics to get you started? Colorado Compost will have items for sale at their market tent to help us get started in lowering our carbon footprint!
Looking for a brick and mortar shop close by? Check out our neighborhood refill station, Off The Bottle Refill Shop, located only 10 minutes from City Park Farmers Market. This store is your one stop shop for all things reusable, refillable, biodegradable, and compostable!
Sources:
Buzby, Jean. “Food Waste and Its Links to Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change.” Www.usda.gov, 24 Jan. 2022, www.usda.gov/media/blog/2022/01/24/food-waste-and-its-links-greenhouse-gases-and-climate-change#:~:text=Food%20loss%20and%20waste%20also.
Downs, Austin, and Richard Acevedo. “How Our Trash Impacts the Environment.” Earth Day, 28 Feb. 2019, www.earthday.org/how-our-trash-impacts-the-environment/.
Environment, U. N. “Solid Waste Management.” UNEP - UN Environment Programme, 26 Sept. 2017, www.unep.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/cities/solid-waste-management.
“Health and Environment Alliance | Turning the Plastic Tide: The Chemicals in Plastic That Put Our Health at Risk.” Health and Environment Alliance, 18 Jan. 2021, www.env-health.org/turning-the-plastic-tide-the-chemicals-in-plastic-that-put-our-health-at-risk/#:~:text=The%20chemicals%20in%20plastic%20put%20our%20health%20at%20risk&text=Many%20of%20the%20largest%20and.
NASA. “NASA Climate Kids: What Is the Greenhouse Effect?” Nasa.gov, NASA, 2018, climatekids.nasa.gov/greenhouse-effect/.