In the United States alone, we generate approximately 230 million tons of trash every single year—that is 4.6 pounds per person per day. Only a small portion of that waste is recycled and the rest of is either incinerated or thrown into landfills. Humans in general create a staggering amount of unnecessary waste and there are lots of ways to combat this issue.
Often in college, we are told to bring a lot of items with us and we acquire many more things as the years go by. For example, I had to purchase a plastic drawer for all the school supplies and art tools I purchased over winter break—and that is when I realized I needed to make a change. This year I told myself that I would begin being more cautious about my purchases and beginning to make simple swaps in my life to produce less waste and reduce my carbon footprint.
A zero-waste lifestyle is one that implements the slogan: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and rot.
- Refusing to purchase things in unsustainable packaging and say no freebies you know you won’t use.
- Reduce the amount of waste you produce by making simple swaps in your daily life and sell or donate items you no longer use or wear.
- Reuse items until they can no longer be used rather than purchasing something to replace the item because it doesn’t look new anymore—for example, if you buy peanut butter in a glass jar, reuse the jar for something else once you run out the peanut butter or buy peanut butter in bulk from a health store using that jar.
- Recycle everything. Always sort through your trash and recycle the plastic, paper, cardboard, and glass.
- And lastly Rot, which is about composting leftover scraps of food rather than throwing it away—in college, composting may be a little difficult, but it is certainly an option. There is no perfect way to be zero-waste and every small effort made towards sustainability matters.
On Her Campus SFA, I will be starting a series of articles about simple zero waste swaps that are easy to implement into your daily life. This first article will be solely about how to reduce your use of throwaway items. Things like plastic bags, plastic utensils, soap packaging and yes, feminine hygiene products. Here are ten easy swaps for reducing your plastic intake:
1. In a grocery store, everything comes in unnecessary plastic packaging. A simple way to combat this is to opt for items packaged in paper or cardboard for easy recycling. Don’t purchase plastic bottles of water, instead, buy a reusable bottle and filter your water—not only does this save the environment but it saves you money too.
2. In the produce section, you have multiple options—don’t put your produce in the plastic bags, either buy eco-friendly bags or just don’t use bags at all. I personally put my fruit and veggies in the basket with nothing covering them. Another great way to reduce plastic when buying produce is to purchase from your local farmer’s market. The food is often unpackaged, and you can bring your own reusable bags. Always bring reusable bags to the store instead of accepting plastic ones.
Photo by: Lexus Jacobs
These are my reusable bags that I bring with me to the grocery store.
5. Rather than using plastic Tupperware that doesn’t last long and aren’t good quality, purchase glassware food storage items with lids. It may be a bit of an investment however it is worth it in the long run because they are microwave safe, oven safe and easy to store leftovers in.
6. As for food utensils such as plates, cups, forks and knives, etc. the answer is simple: don’t buy plastic and paper utensils. You will not die if you wash your dishes more than once a week, I promise. And if you’re really serious about creating less waste, you can purchase bamboo travel utensils so you will always be able refuse plastic when you are out and about at restaurants on campus. The same thing goes for coffee lovers, purchase a reusable coffee cup so you can get your caffeine fix without harming the environment.
7. At home, replace your plastic toothbrush with a biodegradable bamboo tooth brush or an electric toothbrush. These are both of mine. I use the bamboo toothbrush for traveling purposes and my electric toothbrush for everyday use. As for mouthwash, coconut oil is a great way to rinse your mouth but if you can’t deal with the taste of raw coconut oil, Doctor Ginger’s Oil Pulling and Whitening Mouthwash taste delicious and gets the job done just the same.
Photo by: Lexus Jacobs
8. To avoid the issue of plastic in the restroom, purchase body cleansing items with minimal packaging. Replace body washes sold in plastic bottles with bar soaps and replace plastic loofahs with cloth or hemp soap bags—cloths can be washed and reused whereas you should replace your plastic loofah every 3 months. A great place to purchase unpackaged soap is from local farmer’s market, there are often people selling homemade soaps. Another option to purchase unpackaged soap is shopping at Lush Cosmetics. They use little to no packaging on their products and what is packaged uses recycled materials—plus who doesn’t love bath bombs? However, if you personally prefer body washes instead of soap, I suggest purchasing Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap. It is super concentrated and will last for months and it available at Walmart, Target and various health stores—and this brand is all natural, has multiple scents and smells really nice which is a bonus!
Photo by: Lexus Jacobs
I purchased this unpackaged soap from a local store called Urban Hippie. This soap is homemade, shaped like a geode crystal and smells like lavender essential oil.
9. Get rid of disposable plastic razors easily by opting for a steel safety razor. Your razors won’t be pretty and pink anymore, but it gets job done and saves you from having to constantly purchase plastic razors. If you generally enjoy the feel of a plastic razor, the brand Preserve makes disposable razors from recycled material—and they sell them in multiple colors. As for a zero-waste swap for shaving cream, the Dr. Bronner’s soap I mentioned earlier, also doubles as a shaving cream. But the easiest option in my opinion in coconut oil because of its multiple uses.
10. Lastly, feminine care products. I am talking tampons, pads and panty liners. The mainstream ones that advertised daily are packaged in plastic, use plastic applicators, use plastic materials and dye inside of them. Thankfully there are various options now being sold in stores and online to make it easy to be zero-waste whilst menstruating. The brand Seventh Generation sells pads and tampons—without applicators! —made with certified organic cotton. However, if you would like to completely stop using disposable pads and tampons, there are multiple options.
- Menstrual Cups: Though controversial because it must be cleaned twice a day, the menstrual cup is the most popular of all other feminine product alternatives. It is a cup that is made from medical grade silicone and it catches all the blood inside. Brands such has Diva Cup and Eva are being introduced to stores lately but they cost much less money online and there is more variety. I suggest researching what brand you want because some are made with softer silicone than others. The best thing about a menstrual cup is that if properly cleaned and stored, it can last up to 10 years. It is estimated that on average people spend $120 on tampons per year. That is saving some serious change.
- Cloth Pads: Cloth pads work exactly like normal cotton pads; however you wash them after each use. They come in difference sizes such as thong liners and regular pad sizes.
- Thinx Underwear: This brand makes underwear with absorbent material that allows women to go pad/tampon-less and bleed directly into the underwear. The underwear you purchase simply depends on how heavy or light your flow is.
That is all the zero waste swaps for plastic. Next week, I’ll be talking about making your own zero waste products, such as laundry detergent, toothpaste, and deodorant.