How to live in Zero Waste mode: tips from experts. (Thematic Report)by Shirin Shukhratova | 08-09-2021 17:54 |
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 _%20Last%20week%20I%20started%E2%80%A6%E2%80%9D.jpg) Every year the world produces 2.3 billion tonnes of waste, much of it polluting the ocean and the soil. After researching a huge number of articles and books, I have collected exactly the right tips from experts in the field of ecology for everyone to follow. The tips combine a variety of eco habits - from avoiding plastic to conscious consumption. Tip 1: Walk whenever possible. One of the zero waste experts and author of the 5 R Principles, Bea Johnson, recommends in her book that if distance allows, avoid using transport. She advises walking frequently, because in this way one can contribute to the elimination of toxic gases in the ozone layer, not to mention that it will benefit one's health. Also, to make the most of it, one can take public transport, cycle or hitch a ride, for that matter. Tip 2. Eat what spoils first. Jessie Stokes, author of 'Everything for a vegan zero-waste home' writes that this is a good way to reduce food waste because you avoid throwing away food that has expired. This is to reduce the amount of food thrown away as every year 1.3 billion tons of food are discarded all over the world. Tip 3. Find multifunctional things. Jhánneu, the author of the YouTube channel about Zero Waste, says that the only way not to produce rubbish is to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere and grow your own food. So she advises against going to extremes and simply trying to reduce your waste production. To do this, she recommends buying multifunctional items for reuse. For example, according to Jhánneu, she herself has blushes in a bamboo container, as they can be used as blush as well as eye shadow or highlighter. Tip 4. Try keeping a 30-day shopping ban. Catherine Kellogg, National Geographic's spokesperson on living plastic-free and author of 101 Ways To Go Zero Waste, says that many people will find it helpful to adopt a 30-day shopping ban. It will help you consume less and figure out what you really need. She herself likes to do this whenever she sees something she really really wants. She tells herself to wait 30 days, and if she still thinks about it and really wants it 30 days later, she allows herself this liberty. Finally, I would like to quote the well-known phrase of one of the above experts "It is impossible to completely eliminate waste from existence because much more can be done with rubbish than with throwing it away. Zero Waste is not about disposing of more waste, it is about disposing of less waste. The most common phrase most of us know is 'reduce, reuse, recycle', but we often skip the first two steps and go straight to recycling." |
