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Simple Tips For a Zero Waste Home

4 minutes
With these tips, you'll play your part to make the world a better place by having a zero waste home. At the end of the day, it's the small actions that count.
Simple Tips For a Zero Waste Home
Last update: 18 July, 2020

Every day we’re becoming more aware of the importance of caring for our planet. This leads us to search for solutions that respect the environment as much as possible. If you’re determined to have a zero waste home but don’t know where to start, you’ll find this article very interesting.

The zero waste home – it’s time for a change

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The time has come to have a sustainable life and stop consuming plastics, harmful packaging, and disposable products, but it can be very hard to do so. At the end of the day, these are items that are everywhere in our daily lives, especially in the supermarket. Therefore, it’s normal to wonder how we can replace them.

It’s not easy because we’re used to depending on the convenience that disposable containers have offered for so many years. In reality, we’re only now starting our environmental education.

The first and most obvious change is bringing our own bags when we go grocery shopping. However, there are a lot of options that will help create a zero waste home without much effort.

The alternatives range from reusable fruit bags to ways of avoiding the EPS they use to package meat, fish, and cooked meats. There are even zero waste alternatives for fans of coffee capsules.

Tips for a zero waste home

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In addition to exchanging many of the products we buy for reusable versions, we can also explore the dozens of online stores that help us live without plastic. Try to learn about the market that exists for zero waste household items and accessories.

Online shopping for a zero waste home

  • Sinplastico Marion runs this online store from Bilbao, but they ship worldwide. They carry products that offer alternatives to plastics, especially single-use ones. You’ll find things for the kitchen, bathroom, personal hygiene, and many more categories.
  • Esturirafi – Rut and Nahir are sisters from Galicia, and they’re the founders of this plastic-free online store. We love their Esturirafi Eco Blog, where they share their sustainable, ecological, and healthy lifestyle. You can find all kinds of products in their store. What we like the most are the zero waste packs – they have one for every need.
  • Everuse – Mónica is the founder of this Barcelona online store that ships to all of Spain, France, Portugal, and Germany. It sells plastic-free, vegan, and local products. We’re delighted with its personal care section.
  • One Earth BCN this store is a true delight because they sell hundreds of plastic alternatives that are as beautiful as they are practical. The founder is Holly Patterson, and she even offers biodegradable glitter and sustainable pet toys. As if this wasn’t enough, there’s even a pickup point for people who live in Barcelona.

Goodbye to plastic and hello to glass

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The amount of waste we produce decreases drastically if we stop using plastic. On top of that, we’ll be saving money in the long run. We can also let our imagination run wild and reuse containers such as jam jars, mayonnaise, or olives to store food.

Bulk purchases for a zero waste home

Buying in bulk turns into savings when we learn how to do it mindfully. This also supports local consumption and gives a better-organized pantry when you store your purchases in glass containers. You can buy seeds, detergents, cleaning products, and pretty much everything in bulk.

Other storage alternatives

  • There are reusable silicone bags that are suitable for freezing or storing any food. They can be washed and stay in perfect condition for a long time.
  • Another option is using paper or a cloth coated with beeswax. The best part about this idea is that you can make it yourself because it’s a very simple process. This wax wrap is the perfect alternative for plastic kitchen film.
  • Elastic silicone lids also work well for covering fruit when you put it in the fridge or on a plate with leftovers.

There are lots of things for the bathroom

As far as personal hygiene goes, there are a lot of options; from compresses and cloth diapers to bamboo toothbrushes and bar shampoos. There’s a whole market that offers natural and unique products that are very effective in giving the bathroom a breath of fresh air.

These are small changes we can make little by little. It’s not about throwing away what we already have since this would only make the problem worse.