Long-term zero-waste practices
Many years ago, I stepped on a path of living more sustainably. Using cotton bags instead of plastic bags and a reusable water bottle instead of a single use plastic one were some of the first practices that I implemented. I also stopped flying and started doing research in sustainability (post-growth) but living sustainability in small ways, being a practitioner myself, taught me a lot.
In the very beginning, I focused much more on concrete practices than the principles behind them. As years went by, I began to see how important it is to be mindful of the constellation of values that I hold, the values that constellate into a worldview and give rise to practices (naturally, within given social structures). Implementing practices somewhat mechanistically in the very beginning meant that I made many mistakes. I invited into my life some objects that many fellow humans practising zero-waste were using, but that were not useful for me in my everyday life. I came to the realisation that a much better approach to practising sustainability was not simply replacing the items with more sustainable ones. Rather, it was having deep conversations with myself about my relationships with objects, contemplating what I genuinely needed and what was there for other reasons, such as having a perfect picture of zero-waste living in my mind. My feeling is that eco-consumerism exists and is manifested via, e.g., consumption of green products and consumption of various goods via alternative organisations (e.g., second-hand shops, byttestationer). And this ecological kind of consumption (or consumerism) I wanted to avoid as much as any other form of consumerism. This is not to say that qualities of products don't matter or that second-hand shopping is bad. Indeed, some products are better (e.g., natural, organic fibres, biodegradable ingredients), and second-hand shopping is a good practice when it's aimed at satisfying a need of some kind. I wanted to focus on sufficient consumption.
As I think more about my practices and values, sufficiency and simplicity are some of the most important values and principles that I live by. My practices are very simple. I live with less than 50 personal possessions, 10 items of clothing, a couple of personal care items. These days, I no longer look for zero-waste substitutes and very rarely look for ideas. Most often, ideas find me via conversations with fellow humans. But as zero-waste has become an industry (think cheap, zero-waste goods sold by large corporations) and not only a movement, as a consumer I want to disengage from the zero-waste industry as much as possible and keep using the very few items that I use every day or very regularly (e.g., reusable water bottle, cotton bag, bread bag, natural soap). Zero-waste items, like any other items, require materials and energy for their production, and I feel that now is the time to become a little bit more mindful of consumption of zero-waste products and apply the sufficiency principle to them too.
Some zero-waste items I no longer use:
- Metal straws. I got them in the very beginning of my journey but I had not even been using plastic straws before I got metal ones. I realised that they were not a need for me.
- Small net bags. These days, when I buy loose fruits and vegetables, I simply put them together in the same cotton bag. I don't feel the need to separate them.
- Reusable coffee cup. I received one as a gift but I used it only several times before I realised that I would not be using it in the long-term. In winter, when I want to bring a hot drink with me, I use an insulated water bottle.
- Zero-waste personal care items. I used to have, for example, a multi-purpose balm and a conditioner bar. These days I don't use anything for personal care apart from water, toothbrush and a toothpaste. My partner and I also share shampoo and soap.
- Metal and glass food containers. Even though they looked beautiful, I was not using them. To store food, I simply use bowls and cover them with plates. I have only one metal food container that I usually use to store cheese.
- Cloth handkerchiefs. I didn't use them enough. I need tissues so rarely that I just carry paper tissues that come from bakeries and local ice cream shops.
- Bamboo toothbrushes. They did not last as long as the ones made from recycled food plastic.
- Cutlery for travelling. I never bought a special set of cutlery for travelling, but at times I would bring stainless steel cutlery with me when I went somewhere. It was too heavy to carry, and I realised that it was much easier to eat something on the go that didn't require cutlery at all.
- Zero-waste lip balm. These days, I don't feel the need to have a dedicated product for my lips. Perhaps this will change in winter but then I would rather use a multi-purpose balm again that I can use elsewhere on my body and that my partner and his child can use as well.
- Essential oils. They require so much material to be produced, and I much prefer my home to have no scent.
- Safety razor. I don't use it for mental health reasons due to my history of self harm. I realised that it's much better for me when I don't have a safety razor in my home.
- Bamboo plasters. My partner invited some into our life, but they didn't stick as well to the skin as more conventional plasters do. We use plasters very rarely so we decided to invite conventional ones into our life when we need them.
- Shopping bags made from synthetic materials. Many years ago, I used to have a couple of reusable bags made from nylon. I try to avoid synthetic materials as much as possible, so I didn't replace those nylon bags when they wore out. I also didn't like the way they felt against my skin. Generally, I am ok with synthetic materials when it's a jacket, backpack and soles of my shoes.
- Hair ties from the streets. I used to pick up hair ties in the streets, wash and reuse them. Then I found a set of hair ties made from tree rubber and cotton. They feel very nice when I wear them on my wrist. But generally I try to use hair ties as rarely as possible and let my hair be free.
The items I use (almost) every day:
- Cotton bags
- Reusable water bottle
- Glass jars that come with food (such as jam, honey, olives). I use them as glasses, instead of mugs, as vases, for storage, for my partner's child's snacks and to give snacks to my friends.
- Laundry sheets
- Baking soda. I use it for cleaning and washing some of my dishes.
- Refillable dish washing liquid and soap
We will be travelling to another part of Denmark later in July, and it feels good to know that I can travel light, that I don't need to bring as many objects with me as I used to in the beginning of my journey.