5 R's of Zero Waste Living

Do you want to know about 5 R’s of Zero Waste Living? It is effortless to follow and you can start right from your home.

In this post, I have written about the importance of the 5 R’s of Zero Waste Living.

WHAT IS ZERO WASTE?

In this modern era, basic human need depends upon processed to packaged food items, plastic is the most convenient option in the history of all humankind leading to the large dump of chemical to plastic-oriented waste generation that requires hundreds of years to get back to the soil.

This current emerging issue has brought the idea of ZERO WASTE, which can help fight this problem from the root level. The measures for this issue are curved under the 5Rs of zero waste living i.e., refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.

According to the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA), Zero Waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse, and, recovery of all products, packaging, and materials, without burning them and without discharges to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.

WHAT ARE THE 5Rs OF ZERO WASTE LIVING?

Let me get you to the start of this Zero Waste movement;

Bae Johnson, a US-based environmental activist authored a book Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste. and which has become the bible for zero waste livers. She is also well known for her waste-free living, reducing her family’s annual trash to the pint.

It’s an inspirational story that tells how Bea transformed the life of herself and her family for the better by reducing their waste to an astounding one liter a year (one single mason jar).

In this book, all aspects of life are covered, from food and recipes to gift giving, holidays, maintenance, housing, traveling, outings, and much more. It also introduces the 5 R’s of Living Zero Waste.

Let’s discuss the magical 5 R’s of Zero Waste Living

1. REFUSE: Be Determined To Say NO To Unnecessary Items

Half of the waste can be reduced just by avoiding the items that are not necessary and instead switching to sustainable alternatives.

This is the primary rule that we should try to follow to put our actions responsible for the waste that can be created.

Avoid unnecessary products: In my personal journey of Zero Waste Living, I refuse single-use plastic and avoid other unnecessary products like plastic straws, bags, tissue papers, napkins, plastic-curved sanitary pads, aluminum foil, paper for wrapping food, freebies, non-recyclable products, chemical cleaners or air fresheners, etc.

Sustainable Alternatives: I switch my needs to the direction of Zero Waste Living by carrying my own carry bags, water bottles, handkerchiefs, reusable menstrual cups or pads, cotton cloths or containers for food, taking pictures for business cards or leaflets, returning junk mail, using reusable or recyclable products, homemade natural cleaners, etc.

The main challenge today for us is to avoid single-use plastic, as it has become an inseparable part of our modern world.

We can simply start accepting this challenge by a few simple steps carrying our own carry bags to the market to avoid unnecessary plastics, using a refill system to limit plastic tetra packs or bottles, avoiding overly plastic packaged items, plastic straws, plastic water bottles, chemical cleaners, air fresheners, detergents, etc

If we can individually refuse our unnecessary daily use from our life, then it will be an awaited revolution in human history that is most desperately needed right now.

2. REDUCE: Believe In Quality Not In Quantity

In today’s online shopping generation, you should be very conscious and mindful to stop buying stuff impulsively avoiding overconsumption.

Simple Steps To Reduce:

To decrease our daily consumption habits we can switch to various alternatives by our simple thoughtful actions like buying in bulk to avoid maximum waste, plastic-made stuff as much as possible, food wrappers, overshopping of clothes to usable items, using refill systems for groceries, shampoos, edible to non-edible oil, etc. like back in times.

I myself prefer buying vegetables and edibles from the Local Farmer’s Market which avoids plastic packaging and supports sustainability.

You can look for second-hand markets for some good clothes, electronics, items of furniture, fridges, etc. This small mindful act can contribute more than you think to the environment. I donate my excess household products to clothes to the needy. I consider selling too which can help me a little financially.

Lastly, I repair my valuable electronics and items rather than accommodate new products immediately and give away items that can be recycled.

To reduce my kitchen waste, I practice composting at home by which I transform waste into nutritional soil for my garden naturally.

3. REUSE: Make Every Penny Count

The habit of throwing away items once used should be replaced with repair, recycling, and diligent use.

You can always swap your habits to more sustainable ones by reusing household products for the cloth you wear. For reuse, switching to second-hand markets is a smart choice

Instead of wasting your valuable money, you can switch your needs to some reusable sustainable smart options.

Few examples for Zero Waste Living

Tissue papers – washable handkerchiefs
Disposable plastic razors– electric shaver or metal-based shaver
Paper towels – cotton cloths or bio-napkins
Dish sponge – cotton cloth or jute
Aluminum foil or tin foil– use a metal food container or glass jar with a beaker.
Paper bags/ plastic bags – bring your own cloth bag
Bottled water – a glass or stainless steel water bottle and tap water
Plastic toothbrush –Bamboo toothbrush
Shampoo bottles – shampoo bars
Menstrual pads/tampons – Menstrual cups or reusable pads
Plastic straws – Stainless steel or bamboo straw
Food wraps – Home-cooked food in reusable containers

4. RECYCLE: Only Last Option When You Can’t Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Rot

This is the least favorite R’s among 5, it costs high energy and is most likely done in less than 20% percentage globally.

However, if we can just be able to follow other R’s of Zero Waste, then there will be very less or not at all that end up in the recycle bin.

Germany leads the world in the highest recycling rate, it appears that this country recycles up to 55% – 60% of its waste generated.

Astonishingly, Sweden recycles 99% of its locally produced household waste. The citizens of this country are aware of sustainable living and how important is that especially in today’s modern world.

5. ROT: Follow The Natural Process Of Decomposition

My favorite R’s of Zero Waste is to let all the unwanted, overused, and discarded kitchen waste that is biodegradable to the adventure of composting by various methods like very-composting, Bokashi composting, etc.

In return, we are gifted with nutritionally rich soil for our garden, I find this magical as it takes waste and converts it to the rich soil potential of giving life.

Nature is the greatest of all magicians.

Nevertheless, I started composting in my apartment with only a few simple tools like a bucket, dry leaves, a small amount of dry coconut shells n if possible little soil and pebbles would do a great job.

And for the cycle creator, I used warm worms. Some might use diluted microorganisms or enzymes to speed up the process.

From my small mindful action, I reduce methane gas emissions in the landfill from my side, contributing greatly to the Greenhouse Effect.

HOW DOES ZERO-WASTE LIVING MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD?

Zero Waste Living helps the environment and the resources from exhaustion, thereby conserving energy. It benefits our nature and environment in every single issue that is burning today.

Here are the ways zero-waste living makes a difference in the world:

1. Zero Waste Living helps fight climate change:

The 5Rs of Zero waste living, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot is the most powerful weapon to fight against climate change.

Roughly around 40% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the production and use of products and their packaging.

2. Zero waste helps in low carbon footprint

The 5Rs support the environment and its resources from exhaustion and low carbon footprint impact on the earth. Zero Waste Living encourages the conservation of resources;

You know that resources are the precious gift of the environment, to protect it from over-exploitation, the constant extraction of raw materials from nature must be put to a limit.

3. Zero Waste Living helps create more Green jobs

As people become more mindful about their choices and decisions for the products they are buying from the market.

Going Zero Waste will help them seize the opportunity to switch to the ideas of sustainable living, thereby creating more green jobs. Local products will be given first priority and help the local market bloom with a good economy. Small sustainable businesses start to develop and entrepreneurship from the ground level creates more green jobs for the community.

4. Zero Waste Living saves Money and Energy

Following the path of Zero Waste Living with 5Rs ( Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot) creates little space for new products that helps save money and energy

. And Zero Waste Living also helps less raw materials recycle thereby saving money and energy, thereby giving time for resources to recover and less waste to end up in landfills.

Final Thoughts on the 5 R’s of Zero Waste Living

Therefore, the 5Rs of Zero Waste Living (Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot) support immensely the recycled raw materials to be used for production and lower traffic in products population in the market as less demand will be there.

This cycle keeps waste from generation to the landfills.