[INFORMATIVE] A Guide to Producing Less Waste

A Guide to Producing Less Waste

By: Ramisa Sharif

One of the major rules of the environmental movement is to produce less waste. However, this is easier said than done. In this article, we will go over the best ways to produce less waste that you can seamlessly incorporate into your lifestyle.

Reduce
We are all familiar with the 3 R’s– reduce, reuse, recycle– but what does it really mean to incorporate this into our lives? For one, reducing suggests living a more minimalistic lifestyle. This may look like buying less clothes, home decor, or products that you don’t find yourself using regularly. The best way to do this is to create a routine for yourself.

Experimenting with a routine may feel slightly wasteful at first, but over time you will find that you will produce less waste in the long run. For example, if you are someone who is into skincare, instead of buying tons and tons of products and using them until it works, you may find it helpful to buy smaller sizes of a few products and test out how well they work for you. Something to keep in mind is to, if possible, look for products that use sustainable packaging, which will help you a lot in the long run when it comes to producing less waste.

Reuse
Saying “buy less” may sound easy, but in the end, it is not the most practical or the most favored option amongst people who are new to environmentalism. Another important way that you can reduce your total waste is by reusing existing products. This can look like upcycling, repurposing, existing items, or buying second-hand.

One common way people upcycle is by reusing glass jars and cotton tote bags for when they go shopping. If you take a good look around your house, you may find that you have a lot of empty containers– tupperware, glass jars, takeout boxes– which can all be repurposed for something new. Sometimes, the most sustainable option is not the prettiest.

As for buying second-hand, many times you can visit a thrift store, yard sale, or even Facebook marketplace and Etsy to find vintage pieces or items that you need for considerably low prices. Not only does this broaden the scope of what items you can buy, but it also allows you to buy these items without producing more general waste. You mustn’t solely count your waste off of what you have individually, but rather on a local and global scale as well.

Recycle
Lastly, for those times when you need to produce some kind of waste– whether it be from grocery shopping or even a hobby– it is important that you take the proper steps to produce the least amount of waste. If you don’t have asking to bulk bins, areas where you can buy various items by weight and without the use of packaging, at your local store, then perhaps consider buying products with recyclable packaging, such as cardboard. Make sure you are up-to-date with your town or city’s local recycling policy, such as where to recycle or what items are recyclable in your area.

There will be times when you cannot recycle items for products that you need, and for this, you shouldn’t stress yourself out. In these moments I would remind you to focus on the things you can control and what you can’t.

Here are some more detailed specific things that you can do to produce less waste.

• Use reusables: bring reusable utensils and handkerchiefs around with you so you don’t have to use single-use items.
• Make homemade gifts instead of buying them.
• Bring food from home instead of eating out.
• Gift experiences rather than items. (ie: buying a gift card instead of something tangible)
• Go digital
• Produce less food waste by using up all your ingredients
• Compost any extra food scraps

Sources
https://dec.vermont.gov/waste-management/solid/materials-mgmt/how-can-i-waste-less