An Almost Zero Waste Life: Learning How to Embrace Less to Live More

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Author Megean Weldon, aka The Zero Waste Nerd, gently guides you on an attainable, inspirational, mindful, and completely realistic journey to a sustainable living lifestyle.

Find tips, strategies, recipes, and DIY projects for reducing waste in this approachable, beautifully designed and illustrated guide.

What is zero waste living? Although the practice has been around for generations out of necessity, it is making a comeback as concerns grow about the fate of our environment. To put it simply: it is attempting to send no waste to landfills. Although you may have read or heard about “zero waste,” “sustainable,” or “green” living, the concept can sometimes seem too complicated, the author’s tone a bit self-righteous, or riddled with advice geared for people with 5 acres of land in the country with dreams of raising livestock and homesteading. This is not that book.

Can a “regular” person do this? Absolutely! Zero waste isn’t necessarily about zero, but more about changing or altering the way we see the world around us, how we consume, and how we think about waste. It’s about making better choices when we can, and working to reduce our overall impact by reducing the amount of packaging and single-use plastics we bring into our life.

Focusing on the positive, An Almost Zero Waste Life presents simple ways to reduce waste in every aspect of your life:

Cleaning: Recipes for natural cleaners and how to ditch paper towels for good.Meal plans: Weekly menus and recipes for zero waste meals that use bulk pantry staples.Shopping: How to shop zero waste at big chain stores and ways to reduce food packaging.Bathroom: Sustainable beauty routine.Recycling: Ingenious ways to repurpose old clothing and how to recycle small metals, like razor blades.Compost: The basics of composting.And much more!
An Almost Zero Waste Life will change the way you see the world around you, how you consume, and how you think about waste for a healthier planet and happier you.

From the Publisher

Foundations of a Zero Waste Lifestyle

Zero waste living may seem impossible, overwhelming, and downright insane, and to some degree, it is (I’m not going to lie).

But zero waste living isn’t about creating absolutely ZERO trash— it’s about setting realistic expectations because in our world of convenience and instant gratification, living with no impact on our environment is impossible.

For me, it’s about creating as little waste as you can in a healthy way (think “low-waste” lifestyle). I still like the term “zero waste” because that’s our ultimate goal, and although you’ll never get there, it’s good to challenge yourself to see how close to zero you can get in a way that is sustainable to you and your family.

Each habit should be realistic and doable. Zero trash living will hopefully add a lot of value to your life and simplify an otherwise chaotic world. You will overhaul nearly every area of your life in ways you never knew needed attention and change your view on consumption.

There’s this assumption that once you commit to going zero waste you must purge all plastic items from your house and purchase sustainable, nonplastic counterparts. I’m here to tell you that’s NOT true. If you purged all the perfectly useful items from your life to buy new, that would negate the reasoning behind zero waste in the first place.

KITCHEN AND FOOD WASTE GROCERY SHOPPING, MEAL PLANNING, AND RECIPE IDEAS BATHROOM, TOILETRIES, AND BEAUTY CHILDREN AND PETS HOUSEKEEPING AND PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE HOLIDAYS, EVENTS, PARTIES, AND GIFTS HOME MAINTENANCE AND TRAVEL SHOPPING AND WARDROBE

TRAVEL

When you’re far from home, there are things you can do to reduce your impact on the environment.

Whether I’m exploring new places or traveling for work, I do my best to be as sustainable as possible. It’s easier to reduce waste when I’m at home, so being away adds another level of difficulty. But here are ways you can be more mindful about the environment, even when you travel.

Fly less often. Unfortunately, traveling is bad for the environment, and aircraft travel accounts for 12 percent of all U.S. transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 3 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions. Try to limit your air travel to only necessary flights. Or if you must travel often, reduce your yearly flights by one or two per year.

Fly with sustainable airlines. Some airlines use biofuels on some of their flights to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels are derived from living matter like crops. Corn is a popular crop that’s made into ethanol. Biofuels reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and reduce overall carbon emissions. However, it’s still not a perfect solution.

Buy carbon offsets. A carbon offset is a reduction of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gas emissions used to compensate for or offset emissions produced from travel. In theory, it means that you would offset the exact amount of carbon damage you create by investing in a carbon “repair” somewhere else, like planting trees or engaging in carbon-reducing initiatives through environmental organizations.

Pack light. This lessens the overall weight of your luggage, thus reducing the amount of fuel needed to transport it. The heavier the cargo, the more fuel is used to transport it, which is why carry-ons are free and checked baggage costs more.

Challenge #28 Fix Items When They Need Repair

In order to live more economically, repair and mend what you can. Learning to be resourceful and handy with keeping your items in tip-top shape saves a massive amount of waste and will also save you money. If you can’t fix something yourself, get a list of reputable repair people who can help.

Your homework:

Learn to sew and darn clothing that needs repairing (check out tutorials online). You may be able to send your clothes back to the manufacturer to be repaired.Take clothes you can’t repair to a tailor and shoes to the cobbler to give these items a second life.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rock Point
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 17, 2020
Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1631066587
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1631066580
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.75 x 7.88 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #1,842,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1,369 in Ecotourism Travel Guides #1,722 in Budget Travel Guides #2,898 in Sustainable Living
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