zero waste choices
Sustainable Living

The Top 3 Zero-Waste Choices I Made This Year

We’ve talked about it a lot on our blog, but we truly believe that a sustainable and zero-waste lifestyle is a process. A process that needs to focus on the progress and not a goal of perfection–because nobody’s perfect especially us! Every year, I’m seeing different areas of my life where I can still be making changes and different zero-waste choices to improve my life and minimize my impact on the planet.

This Year’s Top Zero-Waste Choices

As the year comes to an end, I’m reflecting on some of my favourite zero-waste choices that I’ve made this year and thought I’d share them with you here. I’d love to hear what zero-waste choices you’ve been making this year and how they’ve made a difference for you too!

Waste cans emptier from zero-waste choices
Doing a waste audit can help guide your zero-waste choices.

Zero-Waste Choice #1:
Performing a Waste Audit

At the beginning of the year I did my first ever waste audit and, boy, was it eye-opening! A waste audit is basically looking at your garbage and identifying areas where you can do better and create less waste. I took a month time-frame where I didn’t take my garbage out to the city curbside pick up and then analyzed what I was throwing away.

As a single-person household, I don’t create a ton of waste as it is, but before the waste audit I didn’t have a clear idea of where my waste was being created. The waste audit allowed me to see very clearly what I was throwing away and led me to make some changes.

I still have room to grow, of course, and would benefit from doing further waste audits to check in with myself. I am so happy that I made the choice to do one this year, though, as it empowered me to make some good sustainable changes.

Read the full post of my waste audit experience here: Waste Audit: What, Why, and How to Complete One

Tissue box
Cutting out tissues can be an easy zero-waste swap.

Zero-Waste Choice #2:
Using Cloth Handkerchiefs

After completing my waste audit, I realized that a large part of my garbage was facial tissues. Noticing that my tissues were going into the landfill helped me change some habits.

First, I learned that facial tissues can go into our city’s green waste bins and be diverted from the landfills. I had no idea! Local municipalities have fantastic tools on their websites that help us figure out how to sort our waste and what bins to place items in.

Find out how to sort garbage and waste properly with these websites:

Vancouver Waste Wizard
Surrey Waste Wizard
Port Coquitlam Waste Wizard
Coquitlam Waste Wizard

While the idea that tissues can be diverted from the landfill was great news, I still wanted to reduce my dependency on this single use item. Packages of facial tissues still produce waste through production, shipping, packaging, etc. so I started using old fashioned handkerchiefs.

I started this at the beginning of the pandemic with a few face cloths-turned-handkerchiefs when shelves were bare at the stores. This year I upped my handkerchief game by cutting up old t-shirts and receiving my grandpa’s old handkerchiefs from my grandma.

How to source zero-waste tissues:

  • Cut up old flannel sheets, PJs, clothes, or receiving blankets to make handkerchiefs.
  • Check thrift stores for soft tea napkins to use as handkerchiefs.
  • Find second hand handkerchiefs from thrift stores (or grandparents like I did!).

Cutting out single use tissues is probably my favourite choice that I made this year. I love that I have cut out waste (almost) completely in this area. I still have some leftover boxes of tissues I am slowly using when I run out of my cloth ones. I store my handkerchiefs in mason jars in a few areas of my apartment, which make them just as convenient as a box of Kleenex.

Washing the handkerchiefs is really easy and straightforward too as I just toss them in with my regular laundry.

Zero-Waste Choice #3:
Joining a Local Buy-Nothing Group

I absolutely love Buy-Nothing groups! It was so exciting when one finally popped up in my area this year.

What are Buy-Nothing Groups? They are an online group of people within your local community who are focused on a gift economy where you can give, receive, lend or borrow items you need.

For more information on Buy Nothing Groups, check out their website and app or search Facebook for a group in your area.

Buy-nothing groups are a fantastic way to get and give second-hand items. When I was moving this year, I was able to declutter a lot of items and gift them to my group. I was also able to get some items for my new home second hand.

Since I was moving to an apartment with a full kitchen and I was excited to try baking again, I received a number of baking trays and pans from my group. I also received a toilet paper holder and a popcorn maker. I was so grateful! Not only was I able to avoid unnecessary spending, I was able to receive these items pre-loved and kept from creating more waste in the world.

Cork Yoga Mat

What changes have you made this year?

Have you been making some zero-waste choices this year too? What have been your favourite choices that you’ve made? We’d love to hear what you’ve been doing this year or what your goals for the new year are!

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15 Comments

  • Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader)

    I agree that it’s a journey and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up over small things. I’m proudest of three things this year: the Buy Nothing Challenge I did for Lent, fitting a month’s worth of personal garbage into a Mason jar during the October challenge, and filling only two garbage bags during a year of weekly decluttering.

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      You’ve done some big things this year! That mason jar challenge was really impressive! And I love that you’ve been able to save so much of your clutter from the waste bin. Can you believe the 52 weeks of decluttering is over?! It feels like that just started!

  • Jodie | That Happy Reader

    These are such great ideas! I love buy nothing groups as a source of recycling an item to a new home and have participated many times. One of the things I’ve changed in the last year is going to cloth washable make up remover pads. Such an easy thing to change that eliminates so much garbage! Thanks for sharing.

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      Thanks Jodie! 🙂
      Washable makeup remover pads is such a great (and easy!) swap. It really does cut down on so much waste.

  • CristinaR

    Michelle these are all amazing ideas! Must admit that I never thought about making a waste audit, but now that I read of it sounds like the logical way to begin and see what you waste more! Also, love the idea of buy nothing group and really want to use more cloths around the house too! Thanks for sharing x

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      Thanks Cristina! I found the waste audit super helpful and you’re definitely right that’s it’s a logical way to start so you know what areas to tackle 🙂

  • thethinkgoodfactor

    This is such a great post! I’ve learnt so much by reading it, waste audits and cloth handkerchiefs are definitely things we can all do. I always try to buy things not wrapped in plastic in my local supermarkets, like some bananas that for some reason are cheaper when they come in a plastic bag, it’s so annoying. I rather may more to waste less. Great tips! I’ll definitely take them on board for next year! 😄

    • A Sustainably Simple Life

      Thank you! 🙂

      Unnecessarily wrapped fruit is such a silly thing. And that it costs less is even sillier. That’s so great you intentionally are making choices to avoid waste.

  • katejones73

    I love this post – especially the handkerchiefs idea! I don’t buy tissues and have always used handkerchiefs at home, but have found it increasingly difficult to find them for sale locally. I never thought of making my own from old clothes! I love the mason-jar-as-tissue-dispenser idea also : )

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!