Why I wanted to start a zero-waste lifestyle

A zero-waste lifestyle, like the name implies, is a lifestyle that tries to reduce and possibly even eliminate trash being sent to landfills and incinerators by reusing, reducing, and recycling. As of right now, I don't plan on completely eliminating the trash I use but I want to greatly decrease it. For me, that mostly includes not using single-use plastics (plastics that are used once then thrown away) in any form, reducing the amount of chemical waste I use in everyday products, composting and thrifting.

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Hey friends!

If you guys already checked out my About Me page you probably know that I have an environmental philosophy/environmental ethics background, so, you can assume why I would be interested in living a zero-waste lifestyle. I've thought about the idea in the past but never fully committed because I figured that it would be too hard or that it would effect my current lifestyle too much. I completely changed my mind after I watched The True Cost documentary on Netflix. It showed me how little I really knew about where all of the things I use come from on a daily basis. Coming from an environmental and agricultural background I heard about issues regarding GMOs, plastic water bottles, pesticides, etc., but I never thought about where my clothes came from, whether or not the cotton was organic, the plastics used in the synthetic fibers, or even if the dyes for the clothes were safe for those wearing the clothes or those making the clothes. After I realized how little I knew about something as simple as clothes, I wondered what else I've been overlooking. I looked into the makeup I wore, the shampoo/conditioner I used, cleaning products, and the packaging all of these products came in. As environmentally conscious as I thought I was, at that moment I knew I had to change if I wanted to honestly and proudly call myself an environmentalist. I had to practice what I preached.

In this blog I hope to change the view on an environmentally conscious lifestyle by showing people that it isn't that hard and that you don't need to completely live off the grid and hunt for your own food to do so. So here's to breaking down hippy stereotypes and saving the planet one less plastic straw at a time! Cheers!