Today’s Zero Waste Week theme is #TrashlessTuesday. This is a challenge for people to have a ZERO WASTE day of your own. Anything you cannot think how to recycle then carry around in a clear plastic bag (well that’s optional). But think about what the trash is that you are producing? Is there no way it could be recycled, upcycled, mended? If you are stuck you may find that someone on the #ZeroWasteWeek hashtag has a solution for you!
Zero Waste Solutions
In February 2009 we took part in a Zero Waste Week. This was a week’s worth of rubbish for a family of 5. I was heavily pregnant with our fourth child and our other children were 16 months, 5 years old and twelve. It was – mainly food waste from the toddler – which now could have been put in our food waste caddy that is collected by the local council.
The key was to really think Zero Waste when we shopped. For instance it may be cheaper to buy bananas in a plastic bag than lose – but at what cost to the planet. We had fruit for breakfast (any skins etc going in our compost bin) and pancakes (of which all packaging could be recycled or also composted) – as we did not know what we could do with some of the cereal packaging. We used the compost made from our unwanted paper, peelings, egg shells, tea bags, hair cuttings and cardboard to grow more food. It was so wonderful to see the cycle of life. I am sure it is why we also get so much nature in our garden too – like our “pet” hedgehog!
We invested in some reusable cake cases to make snacks – which also made good lunch box fillers. Ideally we would have made our own bread too – but still have not got around to trying this. I now buy big pots of yogurt (the tubs are recyclable) and split it into small reusable tubs – so that I am using less products that require recycling too (as this also comes at a cost to the planet).
Finally the things we couldn’t recycle were mainly plastic and we made a model out of them. I too am going to really take stock of what goes into our bin and rethink whether I need to buy them in the first place, if there are any alternatives – or what I could do with them instead. For example in the image below I know that there are many other options than the plastic straws.
I would love to know if you are taking part in #TrashlessTuesday and how you are getting on. Remember there’s plenty of people to help on the #ZeroWasteweek all week. Do you have any tips or advice for making the challenge easier? What do you think you will struggle with – or what have you been unable to do something with. Pop it in the comments and maybe someone else can find an answer for you.