A New Year of Low Waste

A New Year is a great time for reflection and intention setting, for re-setting goals that might be stuck in neutral, or possibly reversed during the holidays.  Here at Impact Earth, we aim to Reduce single-use consumption and divert materials from the landfill. 

And we want to help you to reduce your waste.

By supporting a mindset focused on the first principle of zero waste, we provide resources to help you aim to lower the amount of stuff your household sends to the landfill.

Refuse and Reduce

This is not a new concept to anyone familiar with maintaining a low-waste lifestyle. Perhaps it’s already become your mantra because you realize it’s hard to be successful in accumulating less waste if you are still bringing a lot of products into your home.  In the beginning, you may have recoiled at the wagging finger telling you to  “Stop Buying Junk You Don’t Need!!” but eventually you learned to relax into the reality of dealing with less stuff…how Zen and stress-free!

Still, we are all tempted by an array of goodies both at the store and online, so ask yourself the following questions before making your purchases: 

• Do I really need this?

•          Can it be reused?

• Where will it end up when I can no longer use it?

Hopefully, you’ll find yourself putting more things back on the shelf than into your cart. 

But let’s face it a lot of the stuff we buy does end up going to the landfill. So how can you begin to reduce what your household accumulates?

Start by noticing what gathers in your trash and take a good look.

What’s in Your Trash?

Grab a notebook or a piece of paper or your phone to make a list (column one) and then answer the questions (columns two and three). Our examples in green can get you started

.One advantage of taking the time to make your trash list (and even including amounts) is that you have a baseline for determining your progress.  It can be motivating to see that rather than tossing out four large bags of landfill trash each week, your household is now down to two. And if you are doing this consistently over time, then your efforts are resulting in lasting change. 

When you combine the Refuse and Reduce mindset with what you learn from looking in your trash bin, you will no doubt encounter challenges to overcome.

We’d love to hear about how you’ve been able to lower your waste and what continues to be difficult. This will help us to identify and update resources to support your zero-waste journey.

Send your questions and comments to Nancy Steinkamp