Just starting out on your zero waste journey? Feeling a bit bamboozled by the ENORMOUS amount of blogs, hints, tips, campaigns and advice out there to help you on your way? Me too. I wanted to try to condense this overwhelming abundance of information into a blog post but I couldn’t…so instead I’m just going to highlight some of the blogs and articles I have found most useful. I know, adding to the amount of stuff out there. But consider this a sign post to help you on your way.
Before I get into the detail of this post I need to talk about the ‘trash jar’. Anyone starting out on their zero waste journey has probably seen this video of Lauren Singer’s jar full of all the non-recyclable rubbish she generated over 4 years. And Lauren isn’t the only one putting rubbish in glass jars, there are lots of articles and videos people have made about how much of their non-recyclable rubbish they can fit into a jar. I find these ‘trash jars’ both inspiring and demoralising. In our household, composed of two relatively environmentally conscious adults, we generate around one carrier bag of non-recyclable waste every week (we are working on reducing this, particularly by opening our shop). This might squash down smaller if we tried but there is no way all our waste from a single year would fit in a jar, let alone four years. To me, this just doesn’t feel achievable. But my advice would be, don’t worry. If you can’t fit 10 years worth of plastic waste into a tiny jam jar that isn’t the end of the world. These ‘trash jars’ are meant to be high impact and inspiring but they are not the be all and end all of zero waste. Any changes to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated are good, and the more the better. If we all make small changes, eventually the big supermarkets and other shops will have to listen and make a change too.
Below are five of the blogs which I have found most helpful when trying to reduce our waste. There are different levels, some are easy steps you can take today, others are working on a lifestyle change. I find blogs the most inspiring and useful when trying out different zero waste ideas and they have a nice personal feel to them.
Zero Waste Home (Bea Johnson – California)
Generally recognised as one of the first people to coin the term ‘zero waste’, Bea has also written a book called ‘Zero Waste Home’. Perhaps because Bea has been around for a while, I don’t find her posts to be as inspiring or useful when changing my lifestyle. That said it is probably all in her book
Trash is for Tossers (Lauren Singer – New York City)
This blog provides really useful advice for those looking to change their lifestyle to become more zero waste. I sometimes find the posts a bit overwhelming but they are also motivational.
Treading my own path (Lindsay Miles – Perth)
Lindsay is very down to earth and makes zero waste seem achievable. The blog articles focus on lifestyle changes rather than quick and easy stuff but does highlight that small steps are key.
Going Zero Waste (Kathryn Kellogg – California)
There are some really great short articles on here with titles like ‘101 easy eco friendly zero waste tips you can implement today’ and ’15 simple swaps for a zero waste bathroom’.
My Zero Waste (The Green Family – UK)
This is a really nice blog on how to go zero waste with a family. And it is great to see a UK based zero waste blog
There are of course plenty of other blogs and posts out there but these are my favourites. They have all sorts of useful and encouraging hints and tips on how to reduce single use plastic packaging, as well as plenty of recipes for homemade alternatives to shop bought products.