Micah playing with his blocks. His new favorite toy!

You’ve surely heard of ‘zero waste’ by now, and if you haven’t, here it is. It is not the new trend of people walking around with designer water bottles. No, it’s the collective effort of ordinary people to face an issue we can no longer afford to ignore – growing landfills and growing economies. 

The idea is simple: Think before you buy and think before you throw.

Take the kitchen – the place that eats up most of your consuming and expenses.

A zero waste kitchen inevitably changes how you see your own eating and spending habits, pushing you to make healthier and more economical choices. Come to think of it – fresh, nutritious food usually comes without a package and it’s the sugary and fatty products that are all wrapped up in plastic. Buying single-portion products also happens to cost you a lot more annually than buying in bulk.

“Zero waste” is to not only be good to the environment, but to be good to yourself. And just like all good things, it’s tough and challenging at the start.

There are three layers to a zero waste kitchen and those are shopping, cooking and cleaning.

Zero Waste Shopping

Buy in bulk

A zero waste routine starts in the shop.

It’s fair to point out, however, that the zero waste kitchen is nearly impossible at a regular store. It’s a lot easier if you do your shopping at a place with an anti-packaging policy like bulk grocery shops.

While it’s true that should you decide to go zero waste ‘bulk’ will become your new best friend, we won’t pretend like it’s easy or convenient to always find a shop with that option.

Here are the shopping essentials for any store you go to:

Bring glass jars

These will come in handy when you need the clerk to weigh cheese, meat, fish, salads, olives, etc. Remember to weigh the jar before it’s full so that you can deduct it from the final price.

Bring reusable cotton bags

Use cotton bags (or pillow cases, for that matter) to carry fruit, bread and other dry items. Having trouble remembering to bring a bag? Keep them in convenient places like the front seat of your car, your purse or next to your front door. I keep mine in the trunk of my car.