A zero-waste lifestyle means you opt for sustainable and reusable alternatives and strive to send as little as possible to landfills. This implies replacing as much as possible with reusable products, including clothing, food and drink packaging, and hygiene products, composting what you can, and then only sending a small part of waste to landfills. Zero-waste is impossible, but the visionary term is not about perfection. It's about making a conscious effort to make better choices.

Living a zero-waste lifestyle

Start by looking through your trash and recycling bins to see what you're throwing out the most. <ul><li>If your garbage is filled with food scraps, start composting.</li><li>Use eco-friendly versions of paper products like napkins, paper towels, and tissues.</li><li>If you have a lot of food packaging, start buying food from bulk sections where you can bring your own reusable container or packaging.</li></ul>

How to start a zero-waste lifestyle at home

The goal of zero waste is to move to a circular economy, which is where rubbish has no existence. Instead of discarding valuable resources, creating a circular economy proposes reusing items or sending them to be recycled so they can be used fully in the system. <ul><li>Designing and managing products and processes can reduce the volume and toxicity of waste and materials and conserve and recover all resources.</li><li>Many manufacturing companies are looking at designing long-lasting, easily maintainable and repairable products.</li></ul>

Circular economy

A landfill site or rubbish dump is a site for dumping waste materials. <ul><li>The decaying rubbish produces weak acidic chemicals, which combine with liquids in the waste to form leachate and landfill gas, which can be toxic. About 42% of all greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the production and use of goods, including food, products and packaging.</li><li>Landfills are changing and destroying animals' natural habitats. Landfill waste is often overloaded with chemicals that can disturb plant growth in nearby areas if it leaches into the ground. The chemicals contaminate plants and waters.</li></ul>

The problem with landfills

Paper produces about 60-80% of waste. Think before you print. Consider pull-printing as 30% of printing is never collected from the printer. Reduce plastic waste<ul><li>Remove plastic straws from your office</li><li>Ban disposable cutlery and plates</li><li>Cut down on single-use food packaging</li><li>Switch to reusable drinks bottles and coffee cups</li><li>Decrease product packaging</li><li>Then recycle what's left</li></ul> Set up an effective bin system with clear labelling to ensure your staff correctly recycle waste. Educate your staff. Recycling is complicated. Each waste management company uses its own system and has different recycling rules.

How to start a zero waste lifestyle at work

The success of any zero waste goal relies on the education and participation of communities and business organisations. <ul><li>Encouraging people to use waste-free practices and taking active participation in designing resource management systems to reduce waste would be invaluable.</li><li>Public education campaigns can inspire participation.</li></ul>

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How to Live Sustainably

Find out just what the term zero waste means here, and how you can make changes in your lifestyle or business with the goal of sending less waste to landfill