How to Achieve Zero Waste

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To come close to achieving zero waste, you need to train your self to think about trash as a potential resource rather than a useless byproduct. Achieve zero waste by maintaining a conscientious respect for nature and mankind.

Step 1: Lessen the impact
Reduce, reuse, and recycle your personal trash to achieve zero waste. Lessen your impact by looking for and using only biodegradable products, and not buying anything with excessive packaging.

Step 2: Eat organics
Buy organic foods, which have less impact on the earth and don't diminish topsoil or add toxins. Shop at a local farmer's market for produce. Eat less and compost in the yard, using grass cuttings, old plants, soil, and scraps from the table.

Step 3: Walk, don't drive
Walk everywhere you can, rather than drive -- building your strength and health while you're at it.

Step 4: Educate kids
Support school efforts to educate students about recycling materials, using plastic grocery bags and other recyclables to make sculptures, for instance.

Step 5: Incinerate and reform
Incinerate painted wood, sanitary and medical waste, tools, and latex gloves in a process called Thermal Depolymerization. The resulting oil, gases, and ash can be mixed with cement for construction purposes.

Step 6: Reduce at home and work
Reduce your personal energy use and promote eliminating solid and hazardous waste at work. Suggest initiatives to cut energy to improve efficiency and save money.

Step 7: Shop second-hand
Shop for clothes at second-hand shops and wear materials like organic cottons, that have the least impact on the environment. Buy fabrics that will degrade and can be composted.

Tip
Keep in mind that hemp uses less water than organic cotton to produce.

Step 8: Use pure cleaners
Select and use shampoos, laundry detergent, and cleaning products without phosphates or petrochemical toxins. Environmentally friendly cleaners break down and don't interfere with life on the planet. Less waste makes the world a better place.

Did You Know?
Every year in the United States, people throw away 63,000 garbage trucks worth of waste.