Somehow, every summer, #PlasticFreeJuly catches me by surprise. It’s smack in the middle of vacations, birthdays, and summer adventures, so it can be a hard time to make dramatic shifts. If I always feel caught off-guard by this— and I literally write about these topics all year-long— then I image you might feel the same way. Today I’m here just to offer some encouragement and the first week of a step-by-step guide to reducing waste (including, and especially, single-use plastic) in your life.
I’ve lived a ‘low-waste’ life now for several years, and have come to understand that the amount of trash in your life is dependent on a number of factors, including your living situation (particularly urban, suburban, or rural), and your family, work, and community commitments. It’s a luxury to have the time to bake your own bread, and rarely does it make sense to drive 45 minutes each way for milk in a returnable glass jar. As a mom of two little ones living in the suburbs, I’ve had seasons of my life (yes, even with a little one) where we produced only one small grocery bag of trash per week… and I’ve had others where we produced more.
It’s about progress, not perfection. And I believe that each and every one of us have some wiggle room to do better. But friends, here’s the truth. You don’t need bamboo cutlery to reduce waste. You don’t need organic mesh produce bags. You don’t even need a stainless steel straw.
Here’s the truth. You don’t need bamboo cutlery to reduce waste. You don’t need organic mesh produce bags. You don’t even need a stainless steel straw.
Everything you truly need, you already possess.
You need creativity. To find the workarounds that fit your family’s needs. To problem-solve and compromise to make sustainable changes while honoring you and your loved one’s individual values and preferences.
You need resilience. To try again when your first zero-waste sour cream recipe completely bombs. To stay strong in your convictions if strangers— or friends— judge your choices.
You need to embrace routine. Because life changes that seem difficult and overwhelming rarely stay that way. The same reusable bags that were so difficult to remember— or even ‘embarrassing’ to pull out of your pocket— the first time you go to the store will be second nature in just a few weeks.
You need a sense of humor. Because life is so much better when you feel free to laugh along the way. And because laughing makes it MUCH easier to explain hauling seven potatoes in your arms across the grocery store when you forgot your reusable bag.
You need to give yourself grace. That it’s not the end of the world if you choose disposable diapering or picked up a frozen pizza. That reducing your family’s footprint doesn’t require you to be perfect, only to be present.
But, practical tips— and yes, sometimes product recommendations— do make the transition to lower waste living much easier. I won’t be doing a fully #PlasticFreeJuly (I know my limitations without many bulk stores in the area), but I will be going all-in on low-waste and offering you some suggestions along the way. Here are just a handful of ideas to get you started:
1. Do a Trash Audit
Start keeping track of the waste you generate. If you're like the average American family, your waste might include plastic bags, a few Gatorade bottles, a juice jug, a pizza box, cereal boxes, salad containers, toothpaste tubes, a handful of granola bar wrappers... and cookie wrappers... and candy wrappers... (Is your head spinning? Mine sure is!).
The average American generates more than 1,700 pounds of trash per year-- or about 4.5 pounds per day. Having a sense of what your household generates is the first step to reducing waste based on your particular situation.
+ Create a pain point to reduce your waste. Drop the size of your trash can significantly to encourage you to find landfill alternatives. A few years ago, we switched from a giant threatening to overtake our kitchen to a 2.6 gallon, hide-in-your-cabinet style trash bin (here's the one that worked for us)-- and that worked wonders.
2. Set up your recycling stations
I’m not under the impression that we can recycle our way out of the plastics crisis— more than one million single-use plastic bottles are produced every minute (not to mention every other kind of single-use or generally throwaway plastic), and only roughly 9% of plastics are recycled. But, recycling is still better than land-filling, and there are a number of innovative ways to recycle everyday products.
Here are some good categories to keep in mind:
Municipal Recycling-- Chances are, this is the kind of recycling you're already doing. Most cities will accept aluminum, cardboard/ paper products, and glass, as well as type #1 plastic (such as water bottles), type #2 plastic (think milk jugs)-- though some municipalities accept more, and others far less. Go ahead and double check what your city will pick up-- "wishcycling" (the practice of throwing things in the blue bin in the hopes that it's recyclable) does more harm than good by clogging recycling machines and contaminating recycling loads.
Type #4 plastics-- Although we opt for reusable grocery bags to limit this packaging, some still inevitably makes its way in. These plastics are store drop-off recyclable (at places like Walmart and Home Depot).
Terracycle Stations-- Terracycle is a global leader in innovative recycling, and they've partnered with a number of corporations for free recycling programs-- some of the most used programs are Kids' Clothing (any brand), Brita Filters, and Oral Care Products.
Check out my comprehensive guide to re-homing "difficult to recycle" things here-- these are great resources when you're decluttering!
For years, my "recycling stations" were really just cardboard boxes and second-hand envelopes that lived under my kitchen sink. I recently transitioned to these color-coded waste bins to make the system make sense for my family.
3. Cut your paper clutter
Junk mail is a surprisingly significant-- and unfortunate-- contributor to deforestation (more than 100 million trees are cut down annually to advertise products we likely don't need or want!) and greenhouse gases (more than 50 million metric tons annually-- the equivalent of around 9 million cars of the road). And to add insult to injury, most junk mail isn't even recycled-- just sent, unopened, into landfill.
Opt out of unwanted paper mail in a few simple steps:
Make sure to set your bills and bank statements to "paperless."
Start the process of opting out of junk mail with OptOutPrescreen, which lets you unsubscribe your household members from credit card and insurance offers
Use DMA Choice to cut the catalog junk. (Regrettably, this one charges you to opt out of junk! But the $4 fee for 10 years is well worth the effort).
Painstakingly email every company that still sends you junk mail, begging them to remove you from their mailing list-- or try using an app like Paper Karma to do the hard work for you.
Won't I miss my coupons?! Rumor has it, we spend up to 8 months of our lives sorting out junk mail-- getting that time back is significantly more valuable than the $2 you might have saved on your favorite granola bars. If there's a retailer you use frequently, try opting in for their emails or app coupons instead.
+ a Pro tip: Make a scratch paper bin. As a kid, my parents (who were computer programmers) both routinely brought home stacks of one-sided print paper from work for me to color on the other side. I still use the "other side" of any paper that does make it through the door for everything from doodles to teaching notes.
4. Take the first zero waste plunge!
Chances are, you’ve already done at least some of these, but just in case you haven’t…
Opt for re-usable grocery bags. These super-sturdy, foldable bags have been going strong for 7+ years-- I keep four for grocery trips, with a few spares in the car just in case! Even my husband is a fan, since they fold small enough to fit in his pocket, AND he gets to use them as miniature dodgeballs. It's a win-win.
Switch to a glass or stainless steel water bottle. My family uses Yetis (we received one as a gift a few years ago, and our obsession with insulated tumblers may have spun a little out of control) but Klean Kanteen and HydroFlask are two other popular options. If you require caffeine to function, ditto for your coffee cup.
Also…Work-around your water hang-ups:
People often opt for bottled water under the mistaken impression that it's somehow more "healthy" than tap water. In reality, bottled water is often nothing more than tap water in a plastic bottle (water with a side of BPA? No thank you!). If you live somewhere where the water quality is truly awful, use the money you would have spent on bottled water to invest in a water filtration system-- carbon filters (such as Brita filters) are inexpensive, or you can opt for a reverse osmosis system under your kitchen sink to remove contaminants.
If you’ve been drinking flavored water and can’t bare to give it up, switch to fruit-infused, sparkling water in aluminum cans, or opt for powdered drink mixes. Ultima Replenisher is a tasty, all-natural option that comes in recyclable packaging that I’ve liked-- one jar is the equivalent of 90 bottles-- but it’s certainly not the only choice out there.
5. Find your local Buy Nothing group
While certainly not a requirement for going zero waste, having a community of individuals willing to take your discarded items (someone out there wants your groovy throwback Halloween costume…) and offer up items no longer adding value to their life is a great way for you to avoid packaging and cut down on landfill waste. The advantage to a "buy nothing" group over a standard "free stuff" group is that it includes a focus on building community and encourages you to put out "asks" for what you might need or want. You can check Facebook for a local Buy Nothing chapter (there is also a recently released Buy Nothing App, but it’s still pretty glitchy). I've also hand luck with second-hand purchases and sales everywhere from Facebook Marketplace to Poshmark, Ebay, and Mercari.
Pro tip: I’ve also been loving this Madewell-Thred Up collaboration that lets you mail in clothes from any brand to Thred Up… they give you a Madewell gift card for anything they can sell and they take care of recycling the rest.
6. Compost
I know, I know! You had the hang of this week, and I had to go and suggest something gross.... and smelly... and difficult... right?! But composting is way easier than it seems, and is one of the most effective steps you can take to combat landfill waste and climate change. In fact, the EPA reports that in 2018, 35.3 million tons of wasted food was sent to landfills. Food breaking down in landfills (absent of oxygen) accounts for 24.1% of all landfill waste and 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Compost will become your key to reducing landfill waste by turning your food scraps, bamboo toothbrushes, egg cartons, and other "natural" waste into nutrient-rich soil. Some cities offer free composting services, and others have paid services that will pick up your compost. If you (like me), didn't luck out to have a food-scrap-loving farmer down the road, you can start your own compost bin. I use a stainless steel bin to hold my food scraps in the kitchen, then transfer them to this tumbling composter (it has two sides-- so one side can "rot" while you fill the other).
You may hear people talk about the "green to brown" ratio, which is really the carbon to nitrogen ratio. You can do lots of research and get all science-y on this-- but what it will really give you is compost that breaks down more quickly. My recommendation? Start your compost bin with what you have (food scraps and bits of cardboard or newspaper are the easy starting options)-- and you can follow up with more research if your compost doesn't end up doing what you had hoped.
If you don't want to go through the extra work of composting outdoors, I've also used the Lomi composter for the last year with FANTASTIC results. The press of a button every few days turns the entire family's food scraps into dirt in just a few hours.
Don't know what to do with your compost? Offer it up to a friend who gardens-- they'll go bananas. ;)
7. Hosting crowds without single-use
In light of this weekend being one of the busiest times of the year for firing up the grill and having everyone over, I just wanted to throw in some suggestions for hosting a mean party without single-use plastic.
Personally, we keep 16 plates on hand-- 8 in our daily use, with another 8 "out of the way" on a top shelf. And while my inner minimalist cringed at sharing that out loud, the simple fact is that we use them all. We have crowds of 10-12 at least once a month, with affairs like birthday parties that combine the family + friends crowds drawing more people into our space.
Host a lot outside? Feel free to push the boundaries of "interior" kitchenware by using your fine China outside, or opt for outdoor-friendly plates (acacia wood plates are beautiful, or you could choose dishwasher-friendly metal camping plates). We also use Yeti tumblers in our house (we might be a little overboard... but it also avoids the disastrous "cascade of falling glassware" we witnessed firsthand in our living room)-- which work well for home, outdoors, and travel.
You also don't have to commit to holding on to dozens of plates and cups for the once-in-a-blue-moon you throw a party. You can always host a BYOC event (bring your own cup!), or friends, neighbors, and your local Buy-Nothing group may be more than happy to lend you some spare. In a pinch, you can also buy plates from a resale store (likely just a few dollars for the whole lot), then donate them again when your celebration is over.
What about "compostable" party supplies? These are great in theory, but the fine print on most of them suggest industrial composting-- and unless you happen to be BFFs with the compost company-- or have municipal composting-- chances are they won't work with your individual household. And I don't know about you, but my compost bin isn't big enough to wait around for 50 sets of tableware to decompose. If you’re going disposable regardless, this is still the best of your options.
Are you doing #PlasticFreeJuly? If so, I’d love to hear about it! Next week, we’ll have some strategies for reducing food and kitchen waste… and maybe some reflections on paying the “true” price of a product after all the junky advertising I’ve seen on vacation this week.
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