It’s appalling how much we waste in this country.   Americans throw away 262 tons of trash each year, and over half of all this goes to a landfill.   Some of the trash that doesn’t end up in a landfill finds its way into our beautiful blue oceans, playing a part in killing off aquatic species in record numbers.   Some people want to combat ecological devastation by attempting to get their waste output as close to zero as possible.   Some even set a lofty goal of fitting all the waste they produce in one year in a single mason jar.   Do you think you could do that?   If you fully commit to the principles in this article, you’ll be able to.   This will save you TONS of money.  

The Beginning of a Worldwide Movement

  The mother of the zero-waste movement is Bea Johnson, who started the Zero Waste Home blog in 2008.   It chronicles her family’s efforts over the years to reduce their waste stream so that today, it’s a mere trickle.   Johnson estimates she reduced her household costs by 40% by embracing a zero-waste lifestyle.   Before she captured the collective imagination of millions, only geeky policy wonks inside the government were using the term “zero waste.”   But thanks to her efforts over the years, everyone now knows what it means.   She went on to pen a best-selling book on the subject and is an in-demand speaker who’s inspired millions to take the plunge to zero-waste living.   But she can’t take all the credit for people around the globe rising up against the constant tide of waste that threatens to engulf us all.   Cataclysmic events like the 2008 financial crisis helped people to see that corporate greed is a rapacious evil that pushes people into lives of out-of-control consumption.   And, natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy have caused people to realize that we’re doomed if we don’t start taking drastic action to combat climate change.  

The Five “Rs”

  To become a devotee of the zero-waste philosophy, engrave its five simple commandments on every neuron in your brain: REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, and ROT.  

1. Refuse

  Refuse anything you’re offered that you don’t really need.   This way, you won’t contribute to the growing mountain of waste we humans are generating at a prodigious rate.   This includes things like refusing free pens at a bank, plastic straws at a takeout joint, or a bobblehead given out at a minor league park.   It might be incredibly difficult to pass up the seductive allure of all that free stuff, but in the end, you’ll pay for it.   That’s because free isn’t really free.   That shoddily made key chain a bank gave you to tempt you to open up an account with them was manufactured in a pollution-spewing factory.   Plus, the cost of promotional materials is passed along to all their customers.   That includes YOU if you fall for their gimmick and become one of their customers.   By refusing to accept these doodads, you’re striking a subversive blow for frugal warriors everywhere who also happen to deeply care about our planet.   With this one action, you’re telling companies you won’t sell your soul for a bunch of cheap crap.   Tell them to take the money they would have spent and donate it to environmental causes.  

2. Reduce

  There are several excellent ways to put this rule into effect.   First, reduce the number of things you buy to the bare minimum.   To help you accomplish, ruthlessly ask yourself this question every time you’re about to buy something: “DO I REALLY NEED THIS?”   You’ll be flabbergasted by the amount of money you can save if you get into this simple habit.   Second, take care of the things you already own so they last longer.   This way, you reduce the frequency with which you have to purchase replacement items.  

3. Reuse

  If you can’t refuse or reduce it, reuse it.   This is the time to summon forth insane amounts of creativity from deep within you and find ways to reuse everything.   Start out simple—like repairing a hole in your jeans.   If you don’t know how to do it, it’s easy to learn how.   Just go on YouTube and search for one of the many tutorials they have here.   This simple fix will add years to the life of your garment.   If your garment wears out to the point where it’s no longer worth fixing, cut it up into squares and use it to wipe up spills instead of using paper towels.   This one little hack will save you $182 a year and help save entire forests from the hungry blade.   That’s because half a million acres of trees are senselessly sacrificed each year to satisfy our insane desire for disposal products.   Besides, the plastic packaging the paper towels come in has to be tossed out, which is needless waste.   When the rags wear down to the point you can’t clean with them, compost them.   By doing this, they’ll be transformed into fertile soil for next year’s garden.   You can also use squares from old clothing to blow your nose instead of buying facial tissues.   The key to mastering this principle is every time you’re about to thoughtlessly toss something into the trash, come up with 101 ways to reuse it instead.  

4. Recycle

  There comes a point in the lifecycle of every object where it reaches the end of its useful life.   By this time, you won’t be able to use the previous four “Rs” to redeem it.   Because it’s time for the next stage in its cradle-to-cradle journey: the recycling bin.   If the object in question isn’t the kind that people typically recycle, check out the TerraCycle website.   Here, you’ll find a way to recycle virtually everything.   According to their website, TerraCycle “is a social enterprise on a mission to eliminate the idea of waste.”   Imagine that—a world where waste as a concept ceases to exist!   This is the kind of world I definitely want to live in.   They offer a range of national, easy-to-use platforms that makes recycling even items thought to be nonrecyclable a breeze.   They also have Loop, a sustainable shopping experience moving the world away from single-use packaging.   To locate the nearest recycling center to you, check out the Earth911 database.   And if it’s an old appliance you want to recycle, bring it to Habitat for Humanity’s Restore.  

Why Recycling Isn’t the Answer for Everything

  Some people question why recycling isn’t higher up on the “Four R” hierarchy.   After all, recycling is supposed to be a good thing.   Just make sure the right recyclable goes into the right bin, and we can make sure old waste gets turned into new products, right?   Unfortunately, it’s not that easy because almost 25% of the items a person puts out to be recycled still find their way into landfills.   Consumers often aren’t clear what can be recycled and what cannot.   They frequently throw things into a bin believing it should be repurposed, without really knowing whether it can be.   This is known as aspirational recycling, and it’s a HUGE problem.   Many items can contaminate an entire batch of recyclables, causing the whole load to be disposed of.   One way to contaminate a load is by throwing food receptacles into a bin without washing them out first.   Filthy food containers cannot be recycled, so they’ll either contaminate the entire load, or they’ll be snatched out of the waste stream.   Then, they’ll end up in a landfill, sad and forlorn that they couldn’t reach the end of their recycling journey.   Another reason recycling isn’t a cure-all for our trash woes is we used to send our trash to China.   However, in January 2018, China banned the import of many types of plastic and paper.   So, recyclers and waste management companies ended up with tons of recyclable material on their hands with no place to send it.   With China no longer in the picture, it’s often more cost-effective to send this trash to a landfill than to recycle it.  

5. Rot

  To put the fifth commandment into action, you’ll have to learn how to become a master at composting.   Composting is when you put dead plant material into a pile.   And then, through the fantastic aerobic action of fungi, bacteria, and other cool organisms, the material is magically transformed into fertile loam.   Composting creates high-quality dirt that’s way better than anything you can buy at a garden supply store.   Composting plays an integral part in the zero-waste picture because things don’t really decompose in landfills.   This is because they have nonporous linings that prevent material from leaching into the groundwater.   This keeps everything far from soil and air, which can’t team up with microorganisms to carry out the natural alchemy of transforming disgusting waste into fertile soil.   If you want to recycle your food scraps, try kitchen vermicomposting.   Or, find a local nursery that’ll accept your food scraps.   You could also offer them to a community garden.  

Follow the Order

  These commandments must be applied in a linear order.   First, adamantly REFUSE to buy something, no matter how other people might tempt you to do so.   If this is an abject impossibility, then REDUCE what you’re about to purchase.   If there’s no way for you to buy less of something, make sure you REUSE it when you’re done using it.   If you’ve racked your brain and can’t figure out how to reuse it, then RECYCLE it.   If there’s no way to do that, let it ROT.   See how that works?  

What Products to Buy

  One of the very best ways to live a zero-waste lifestyle is to buy in bulk.   Bring your own cotton drawstring bags, so you don’t have to use theirs.   You save money, and you only buy what you need.   Oils, vinegar, and pet food are just a few of the products that can be bought in bulk.   And when you’re buying items you can’t buy in bulk, look for options that have as little packaging as possible.   With less packaging, you’re bound to save money, because packaging typically cost between one and 10 percent of the total product cost.   For example, if you’re buying soap, buy locally made products with compostable labels or no packaging at all.  

Buy Local Produce

  Big-box grocery stores ship in their veggies from all over the world, resulting in a HUGE carbon footprint.   Lots of produce you buy at chain grocery stores travel 1500 or more miles to get to your plate.   But when you buy locally, your food doesn’t have to travel that far, and you drastically reduce your food miles.   This is the distance your food travels from where it’s grown to where it’s ultimately purchased.   Buy locally, and your food doesn’t have to take a circuitous trip over the ocean or mountains just to get to your plate.   This reduces the carbon footprint of what you eat, and therefore, its negative environmental impact because it cuts down on fuel consumption and with it, air pollution.   Another reason to buy locally is that large retailers have a significant waste problem that farm-to-table producers don’t have.   When you buy from chain supermarkets, you end up paying for all this waste in higher food prices.   Many local producers pride themselves on having produce that is pesticide and hormone-free as well as organic.   So, not only will it be infinitely more delicious than what you can find at big retailers, it’ll be healthier for you as well.   The benefits don’t stop there, because not using pesticides improves air quality and crop quality.   And by supporting local farmers, you help keep them in business.   Plus, big developers won’t get their grubby hands on the land, turning it into condos and such.