Five Simple Ways to Create A Zero Waste Home

My New Year’s resolution is simple: go zero waste as much as possible. This means reducing the amount of trash your family produces to zero.

With two kids, I realize that it will be difficult to eliminate all waste, but I am going to try to create as little waste as possible!

5 Ways To Go Zero Waste

When starting anything new the key to success is a solid plan. Little steps make change easier. Here are five ways to make your house a zero waste home.

1. Buy in Bulk

Buying in bulk is easier now since so many stores carry bulk options. Many stores allow you to bring your own container and simply charge by weight. We love to do this with oats, flour, sugar, and other dried goods. Bigger quantities mean less packaging, which gets us closer to our zero-waste goal.

Another option is to buy large quantities of personal care items like soap, shampoo, or body wash. Bonus if your soap will also work as shampoo! This unscented liquid soap is great. It is formulated so we can add our own essential oils or just leave it plain. It can also be thickened by adding table salt! In our family, one gallon lasts several months.

2. Buy Less

Probably the most obvious way to go zero waste is to buy less in general.

Buying less means using more of what you already have. We love multipurpose items that can be used in a variety of ways. Mason jars are one of our favorite multipurpose items because they can be drinking glasses, kitchen utensil holders, or even used as storage for food, crafts, homemade lotions, or even containers for gifts!

I also buy very little seasonal decor. We have very limited storage space in our home, so I tend to do minimal decorating. Plus, the seasonal decor is often made of plastics and other cheap materials that just end up in landfills.

3. DIY More

This shouldn’t surprise any of you! I absolutely love DIY projects and I save a lot of money (and waste!) by doing them.

I could definitely make more homemade cleaners. They are such a great solution to overly fragranced store-bought cleaners that come in plastic bottles.

Another zero waste idea I want to try is these handy reusable beeswax food wraps. They are such a great solution to plastic wrap!

4. Compost in Your Zero Waste Home

We try to compost most of our vegetable waste. I say try because I often put things aside to take out to the compost bin and they end up in the garbage can instead.

Plus, I’ve never been a super successful composter. This year I plan to follow some of these great tips on how to make compost really fast, plus we might try vermicomposting. I’m not ambitious enough to try a composting toilet, but I know lots of people who love them!

5. Reuse and Recycle

Reusing and recycling items is probably what most of our zero waste strategy will consist of.

I love to recycle glass jars for DIY projects and keep a bin of clean glass jars in my basement for this reason. It also saves me money because I have jars of all sizes for various projects. I used a mini jam jar to hold this DIY Whipped Vanilla Latte Body Butter.

We love re-using lots of items in our house. Paper bags from the store can double as wrapping paper; shoe boxes work as storage for craft supplies; plastic containers are perfect for holding beads and buttons, or can also be used in craft projects. Additionally, these can all be recycled to be used again.

I do recycle, but not as much as I should. Our town recycles glass and aluminum, but not plastic or cardboard. However, I know that I can save my recycling and drive it to the recycling center one town over. It’s a little extra effort, but totally worth it.

What are your zero waste tips?

If you are also trying to eliminate waste I would love your tips! Share with us in the comments below.

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Five Simple Ways to Create A Zero Waste Home was written by Katie Vance.

* This article was originally published here