Ep 74: Zero Waste Ideas

Welcome to episode 74 of the Challenge to Change Podcast! In honour of Zero Waste Week 2024, this episode shares 20 zero waste ideas. #ZeroWasteWeek #ZeroWaste #Refill #Refuse #Reduce #Reuse #Upcycle #Repurpose

Episode Transcript

(00:10):
Hi there and welcome to theChallenge to Change podcast.
My name is Hazel and thispodcast is all about the
little changes we can all makethat will have a positive
effect upon planet Earth. Ifyou're new here, welcome. If
you've listened before,welcome back. The Challenge to

(00:33):
Change podcast has beenbrought to you on behalf of
ANSA Environmental Services.To find out more about ANSA,
please visit ANSA.co.uk. Let'sget into the podcast episode.
So welcome to this episode ofthe Challenge to Change

(00:54):
podcast. In this episode weare going to look 20 ways to
help us adopt more of a zerowaste lifestyle. So part of
the reason for me recordingthis episode today is because
we are currently in zero wasteweek. So it seemed like the

(01:16):
perfect time to share thisepisode with everybody
listening. So let's get intothe 20 different ways to help
us adopt a zero wastelifestyle. And the first one
is, refuse the unnecessary.So, consider refusing items

(01:38):
that are over-packaged. Now, Iknow that is sometimes easier
said than done, but many shopsdo sell loose fruit and
vegetables. What I mean bythat, of course, is fruit and
vegetables without packaging.So bananas are a great example
here and of course as we knowthey already come with their

(01:59):
own packaging, the skin, sothey don't really need an
additional layer. Plus alsofood waste is reduced by
choosing fruit and vegetableswithout packaging and you may
be thinking well how does thatreduce food waste? Well

(02:20):
basically because it allows usto purchase the amount of
fruit and vegetables that weactually want. It is also a
great way of reducing wasteoverall because the items that
you've purchased are packagingfree. So it really is a
win-win. Additionally, it maywell be that you also save

(02:42):
money by purchasing this inthis way. So by purchasing
four bananas, three bananas orwhatever it might be, it
should in theory be cheaperthan purchasing six and so on.
So that's one example usingbananas to indicate the point.
We can also choose things withreduced packaging. So very

(03:06):
often when you're lookingaround supermarkets and shops
you may see something thatactually indicates on the item
in question that the packaginghas been reduced. And you may
well know this on a personallevel because you may remember
what it looked like before. Soa good example here is if
you're thinking about aplastic bottle of say juice,

(03:29):
for example, it may be thatthe lid has been made narrower
than it was previously. And asI say, we very often say that
on the bottle in question.Now, of course, we know that
Plastic is a bit of adifficult item and of course
when we're thinking about zerowaste we are very often

(03:49):
talking about reducing ourplastic waste as well but of
course we can't always do thatso there are things that come
in a plastic container andthere are things that we may
choose or want to buy in thisway. So it can be helpful if
we opt for something that isclearly indicated that the

(04:11):
packaging has been reduced.Another example here is a
container of tea. Now I don'tusually purchase loose leaf
tea which is beneficial to theplanet because of course if
you buy loose leaf tea thenyou are reducing waste by
doing so. But I do buy teathat comes in a cardboard

(04:35):
container and as I'vementioned on the podcast
before, this particular brandof tea has no inner packaging.
However, I have found that itstill stays fresh for a really
lengthy amount of time.Although that being said, I am
someone that drinks quite alot of tea so there's really

(04:56):
no time In my household for itto become stale due to the
fact that air or moisture hasgot into the container.
However, if that's somethingthat you're worried about and
you've purchased tea thatcomes just in a cardboard box
and has no inner packaging andyou're concerned about it

(05:17):
staying fresh, then of courseyou could put it in a reusable
container, maybe made out ofmetal or plastic. So that's
another example there. Anotherthing that we can do when
we're thinking about refusingthe unnecessary If we feel
brave enough to try some verygentle activism, we can speak

(05:41):
to our local shop orsupermarket or shops and
supermarkets and ask them ifthey're looking at reducing
their packaging on products orindeed selling things where
possible with no packaging atall. So really, although I've
described it as gentleactivism, it's literally just
a case of speaking to thestore manager or a member of

(06:04):
staff and asking thatquestion, if we feel brave
enough to do so. Because themore people that ask these
questions, the more that weare letting suppliers know
that that is what we want asconsumers. So it is a great
thing to do if that's anoption for you. So let's move
on to our second example.Reduce paper usage. So we can

(06:31):
opt out of junk mail bysigning up to the mail
preference service. So if yousearch online for mail
preference service, you'llfind out more about how you
can do that. We can switch todigital subscriptions so if
you subscribe to a magazine ora newspaper we can opt for a
digital version rather thanthe printed version and we can

(06:55):
try and reduce printing athome and indeed even in the
workplace where that ispossible to do that. Of
course, sometimes we do needpaper and we may even prefer
to read a physical newspapermagazine or for that matter, a
physical book rather than thedigital version. So it's

(07:16):
really just a case of doingwhat we can. It's not a case,
of course, of completelyremoving preference out the
equation. Sticking withreducing paper usage, we can
also support our locallibraries so we can get our
physical book reading fixwithout spending any money or

(07:38):
using too many trees. Movingon to our third example, we
can bring our own bags. Now,of course, this is something
that's been talked about manytimes before, not only on this
podcast, but just sort ofgenerally within the world
that we live. However, thatbeing said, it's something

(08:00):
that I often forget to do.Although I am making a
concerted effort to make surethat I do have reusable bags
with me. And I'm sure thatpeople listening are far more
prepared than I am. So what Imight start doing in the
future is just literallyputting a post-it note on the
front door to remind me totake a reusable bag with me

(08:25):
when I'm going shopping. Andactually the time that I
usually get caught out iswhere I've gone out to just
purchase one thing. So I havecloth bag, which I use as a
handbag. I have that with me,so more than enough to put one
item in, but I end uppurchasing more things than

(08:46):
I'd intended. And then I can'tfit them all into my cloth
bag. So that's the time when Itend to get caught out. So as
I say, I'm sure peoplelistening are far more
prepared than me. But it isperhaps useful to somehow or
other set yourself a reminderto take a reusable bag,
reusable bag rather, with you.In fact we have been talking

(09:12):
about reusable bags here atAnswer and in fact we've
recently shared some socialmedia posts about bags for
life and the reason we havedone that is because we have
noticed that we are findingreusable bags within
recycling. But the reusablebags in question are the type

(09:34):
of rigid plastic bags. Sowhere the plastic is kind of
weave together and the handleis made from a different
material than the bag base. Soit is a plastic type material,
but as I say, the handle isdifferent to the bag base. And
in fact, they cannot berecycled in your silver

(09:58):
recycling bin here in CheshireEast. We can recycle plastic
bags. So this is where thehandle and the bag base are
made from the same material.It's a soft but fairly sturdy
plastic bag. So you can kindof squash it and it will sort

(10:18):
of move very easily. But it isalso very often described as a
bag for life. So we haveeffectively Two examples if
you like of a bag for life. Sowe have the plastic bag
example on the one hand, nopun intended. And then we have

(10:40):
a more sturdy plastic bag forlife on the other hand. So the
sturdy plastic bag where thehandle is made from a
different material to the bagbase. And as I say, if you
look at the bag, it looks likeit's been weaved together and
the plastic is a little bitmore rigid. And then we have

(11:01):
the plastic bag where theplastic is much softer and the
handle and the base are madefrom the same material. So
that plastic bag can go inyour silver recycling bin but
it does need to be clean, itneeds to be empty and it
cannot be tied. So the reasonsfor that is it needs to be

(11:21):
clean because all of therecycling that goes in your
silver recycling bin doescourse need to be clean. It
needs to be empty because wedo need to keep our recycling
loose here in Cheshire East sothat it's more easily sorted
so that we can see what wehave in recycling so it makes
it much easier for thatsorting process. And also it

(11:45):
ensures that incorrect itemshave not been placed in
recycling. So if a plastic bagis placed in your silver
recycling bin and thatcontains items and that bag is
then tied shut then thatcannot be recycled. But moving
back to that other type ofreusable bag for life that is

(12:09):
still made from a plastic typematerial but it appears to
have been woven, it's a lotstiffer, it's a lot thicker,
usually they're bigger as wellthan the soft plastic
alternative. Those types ofkind of more rigid plastic
bags cannot go in your silverrecycling bin, they cannot be
recycled in that way. But, andthis is a big but, and again,

(12:34):
no pun intended, all of thesebags are designed to be
reused. So when we purchasethem here in the UK, they are
generally described as a bagfor life. Now, whilst we might
not expect them to last For20, 30 years or so, because
they may well get ripped ordamaged in some way and then

(12:56):
they become unusable, we wouldexpect them to last for a
very, very long time andthat's what they're designed
to do. If you have a bag forlife of any kind do keep using
it and do remember to take itwith you when you go out
shopping and you may of courseneed to take more than one of

(13:18):
course. So it's a really greatthing to do so keep using
those bags for life take themwith you when you go out
shopping and keep on usingthem. When either of the types
of bags for life becomeunusable, in many shops and
supermarkets you can actuallytake them back to the original

(13:39):
retailer to be replaced. Soyour bag for life has become
ripped, you can no longer useit, so you take the bag for
life back to the originalretailer that you purchased
from, And then they willreplace it with a new one. And
the best thing to do there,course, is to check when you
purchased your bag, simply askthe question, when this bag

(14:03):
becomes unusable, when thisbag becomes ripped, will you
replace it for me for free? Soask that question of the shop
or the supermarket inquestion. And hopefully the
answer there will be yes, wewill replace for you. If
that's not an option, thenwhen your bag for life becomes
unusable, ripped, you simplycan't use it anymore. If it's

(14:25):
plastic and it's that softplastic that we've already
mentioned, it can go in yoursilver bin. Must be clean,
untied, must not have anythingin it. Or if it's the other
type of plastic bag, which ismore of a weaved material,
that type of plastic bag, onceit becomes unusable, it's
ripped, it's damaged, we can'tuse it anymore, that type of

(14:47):
plastic bag, you can't get itexchanged for a new one at a
shop or supermarket, it wouldunfortunately need to go in
your black household wastebin. We have been talking
about bags for quite some timebut just sticking with them
for a little bit longer. Youcan also get a bag for life
that's made out for, forexample, canvas, jute is

(15:10):
another material that's madeout of cotton, hemp is another
material that might be madeout of all of those bags for
life. Again, cannot go intoyour silver recycling bin
because it's not plastic. Soit cannot be recycled in that
way but again they aredesigned to be reused so keep
using them for as long as youcan. And with a cotton bag or

(15:35):
even a hemp bag actually forthat matter hemp is a bit more
of a thicker material thancotton anything that can
actually be easily washed inyour washing machine you can
just pop it in So I think wehave talked about bags for
life of different types forquite some time now. So let's
move on to our fourth example.Which is, perhaps

(15:58):
unsurprisingly, refillablewater bottles. It's an obvious
one, but it is a good one. Buya refillable water bottle and
keep on using it. I find thatit's helpful to get one that
is super easy to clean. Sosome refillable water bottles
have quite complicatedmechanisms that are difficult

(16:18):
to clean, especially if you'relooking to put it in a
dishwasher. From myexperience, those kind of
metal water bottles are reallygreat and I also think are
quite useful for keeping theliquid within them cold as
well. So the other thing tokind of keep in mind here as
well that lots of places nowwill refill your water bottle

(16:41):
for free. So simply ask thequestion when you go into a
cafe or a shop or so on andfind out they will refill your
water bottle for free. Theother thing that you can do
certainly here in the UK is todownload the refill app and
that will tell you The placesthat you can go to have your

(17:04):
water bottle filled for free.I have noticed as well that
some train stations have awater container where you can
refill your bottle for free aswell. So that's a really great
thing to do. So movingslightly away from water
bottles but staying withdrinks, refillable coffee
cups, which of course you canalso put tea in them or any

(17:26):
hot drink of your choice, evena cold drink actually for that
matter. These are also reallyreally great to have. I have a
couple of them. I do sometimesgo to coffee shops and
actually if you take yourrefillable cup with you a lot
of them will either give you adiscount or they will give you

(17:47):
extra points because you'veused a refillable coffee cup
so it's great to have themwith you wherever you go and
of course you can use them athome as well they're not just
for out and about and I havesort of found Maybe you're
like me that drinks cansometimes go cold rather
quickly because I getdistracted or focused on work

(18:09):
and then I find that thelovely hot cup of tea that
I've made is no longer hot soif it's in an insulated cup
then of course it will stayhotter for much longer so
that's beneficial as well. Sothat's refillable water
bottles and also a sidelongmove into refillable coffee

(18:30):
cups. So another thing that wecan do, so this is example
five, is to carry a reusablestraw and utensils with us
when we go out and about. Soif you're someone who just
really feels that they need tohave a drink with a straw then
it's certainly worthwhilecarrying a reusable one with
you. Reusable utensils ofcourse are useful as well.

(18:50):
Moving to example 6. 6. Shopat bulk stores or refill
stores. So you can purchasedry goods such as spices,
pasta, rice and so on frombulk stores or refill stores.
Now I don't have a bulk storeas such near to me and we
don't actually own a car sothat wouldn't really work very

(19:13):
well in our household but itmay well work in yours. And
then use your own containersto fill up with the product
that you're buying. If you'velistened to the Challenge to
Change podcast before, youwill know that I often talk
about zero waste shops orrefill stores, and I do use

(19:35):
one on a regular basis for ourhousehold items where it's
appropriate to refill in thatway. So it is a really great
thing to do for the planet andof course it does help us to
be more zero waste. So that isanother really useful example.
So moving on to example seven,we can compost at home. So if

(20:00):
you don't compost at homealready, you don't need to
have a large outdoor space todo so. And there are different
methods for composting. Youcan also look at wormeries as
well. So there are some reallyuseful videos on this on the
ANSA website. So if you go toANSA, so that's ANSA.co.uk and

(20:24):
click on ANSA in the communityand then community toolkit,
you will find lots and lots ofcomposting videos. And as I
say, your outside space doesnot need to be big in order
for you to do home composting.Sticking with composting just
for a few moments longer, youmay even be able to start

(20:47):
community composting if that'san option for you where you
live. So not just compostingat home, but maybe in some
kind of community garden orsomething like that. So if
that is an option for you, ifthat's something that you're
keen to get involved with,then it may well be worth
looking into. So somethingelse that may be a

(21:08):
possibility, moving on toexample eight, is to switch to
real nappies and washablewipes. This of course does
reduce waste. So if you livehere in Cheshire East, it may
well be worth visiting theCheshire East Council's
website and searching for realnappies because there is a

(21:29):
scheme that we offer here inCheshire East that enables you
to save some money on realnappies. So have a look into
that and see if that'ssomething that would be useful
to you. Moving on to examplenine, choose reusable food
storage. So instead of usingplastic wrap, plastic sandwich

(21:52):
bags, use reusable containersinstead. So for example, you
could also use beeswax wraps,glass jars, stainless steel
containers. It's worth notingas well that plastic isn't
necessarily a no-no here. Ofcourse as we know plastic is

(22:14):
taken from the earth so thereis an impact upon the earth in
that process of actuallycreating the plastic in the
first place particularly ofcourse when we're thinking
about virgin plastic so thatof course is plastic that is
new as we've talked aboutbefore on the Challenge to
Change podcast. But if like wedo in our household, you do

(22:37):
occasionally succumb to atakeaway, very often the items
that you purchase will arrivein plastic tubs and no doubt
this is something that peoplealready do. But these can be
washed out and they can bereused over and over again and
they can go in your dishwasheras well. Again, this is just
based on personal experience.I personally would recommend

(23:00):
giving them a bit of a rinsefirst and of course if you
have any food scraps left inthem hopefully you don't but
if you do and they're nolonger edible then of course
obviously you know don't rinsethose down the sink but
hopefully you've You've eatenall of the contents or perhaps
saved it to another day andyou're eating it on the

(23:21):
following day. But basicallywhen those plastic containers
are empty and rinsed clean,you can put them in your
dishwasher. So again, it'sworth noting that with that
type of plastic, it's notvirgin plastic per se. So
you're reusing it. So there iskind of an environmental win

(23:44):
there. Of course from ageneral perspective if you're
looking plastic then it'salways worthwhile looking at
recycled plastic. Butbasically choosing to reuse
containers, you know, ratherthan using single use plastic

(24:04):
wrap or single use plasticbags is a really great thing
to do to work towards beingmore zero waste. Moving on to
example 10. So take yourrubbish home with you. Of
course, this is a Somethingthat we should all do if we're
unable to place it in a bin,then take it home and put it
in the bin at home. Butanother really great thing to

(24:28):
do, so if you have somethingthat can be recycled, take
that home, rinse it out andthen recycle it. And if you
live here in Cheshire East,then you will know that you
recycle things into yoursilver recycling bin. But as
we know, it does need to berinsed clean first, so we
can't Have things in therecycle bin that are food

(24:51):
contaminated or evencontaminated with a drink of
some kind. Moving on toexample 11 and of course we
have talked about this examplemany times before on the
Challenge to Change podcast.But it bears repeating.
Secondhand clothing or to giveit another name pre-loved
clothing. So of course, youcan look at charity shops,

(25:13):
secondhand shops, you can lookat various different apps. So
for example, we can look ateBay, Etsy, Vinted, groups on
Facebook, maybe even Gumtree.So there are various different
options to look for pre-lovedclothing or actually

(25:33):
Pre-loved, anything withinreason. It's a really great
thing to do and it's also areally great thing to sell
items that way or donate tocharity as well if we have
clothing that we don't want.So moving on to example 12.
12. Borrow, don't buy. Sowhere this is an option, it's

(25:55):
worthwhile looking atborrowing tools, books, of
course, which we've alreadymentioned. So we can borrow
them from maybe communitygroups. We can borrow them
from friends and family ratherthan purchasing something that
you will rarely use. Ofcourse, this might not be an
option for everyone, but whereit is, it's a really useful

(26:15):
thing to do. Example 13. Ditchdisposable razors. Again, if
this is an option for you, itmay well be worthwhile
switching to a safety razorwith replaceable blades.
Example 14. 14. Use clothtowels and napkins. Again,

(26:36):
where this is an option,replace paper towels and
napkins with washable clothalternatives. This is also a
really great thing to do forremoving makeup or or carrying
out like a cleansing skincareroutine rather than using
cotton pads that are designedto be used once and then
thrown away use washablecloths instead but also within

(27:01):
the kitchen or in thehousehold in general to use
washable cloths. And in fact,you can go one step further
here. So for householdcleaning cloths, you can also
use textiles that are nolonger able to be used as
clothes. So let's say, I don'tknow, you have If you have a

(27:23):
cotton t-shirt that has becomeripped, you can actually turn
that into a cloth, a householdcloth, particularly actually
if it's made of cloth ofcotton rather because it's a
really great thing to docleaning with. So moving on to
example 15. 15. Invest inquality. So buying things that

(27:44):
are durable, things that willlast the distance and won't
need to be frequently replacedwill reduce waste over time.
Now of course in the firstinstance this can be difficult
because by and large we wouldexpect to spend more money on
investing in quality. So thatcan be challenging but where
it is an option It is a reallygreat thing to do. Example 16,

(28:09):
we can upcycle old items. Sowe can get creative with old
and worn out items byrepurposing them into
something new. So as we'vealready mentioned, we can turn
old clothes into cleaningrags, which is not upcycling,
it's more repurposing. But wecan turn household Furniture

(28:34):
into household furniture thatwe want to keep. So I'll give
you an example here. We havean ottoman in our house and
I've had it for quite a longtime. It's very strong. It's
very sturdy. did I think as Irecall cost me a reasonable
amount of money at the timethat I bought it but it does

(28:54):
have some marks on it now. Sofor quite some time I've been
meaning to use fabric paintsto give it a new lease of life
and it's not something that Ihave yet gotten around to. But
maybe through this podcastepisode, it will prompt me to
get that done. But it's areally great way of holding on

(29:15):
to that more expensive itemand just keeping on using it
and also making it look morebeautiful than it currently
does. So that is a greatexample of upcycling, but we
can repurpose as well. Movingon to example 17, we can try

(29:35):
growing our own food. So thatcould just be a simple small
herb garden, could even be ona window ledge or it could be
growing vegetables and fruitand so on and I believe that
potatoes is a really usefulexample here because they are
quite easy to grow. So thatmight be something that you
want to have a go doing and asalready mentioned herb gardens

(29:59):
are also I believe quitestraightforward and a really
great way of reducing wasteand actually as well saving
ourselves some money. Example18 and we've already touched
on this and in fact actuallywe've talked about it lots of
times before in the challengeto change podcast we can
support zero waste stores soif you have one close to you

(30:20):
or fairly close to you it'sreally worthwhile giving them
a try. It's a great way ofreducing waste, so if you're
keen and you've thought aboutit but you're a little bit
nervous and you're not sure ifyou want to go in, remember
that the reason that you wantto support this type of
shopping experience is becauseyou want to protect planet

(30:41):
Earth and of course the peopleworking in that shop feel
exactly the same way that youdo, so it will be a positive
experience and significantlyyou will be helping the planet
by doing this. Moving on toexample 19. You can perhaps
consider using reusablesanitary items such as cloth

(31:03):
pads or moon cups. It'sworthwhile looking into if
it's something that you'veconsidered but you haven't
quite gotten around to. You dosave money over time. And of
course you do significantlyreduce waste. The final
example is to educate andadvocate. So share your zero

(31:26):
waste practices with othersand that doesn't have to be in
kind of preachy way whereyou're kind of almost forcing
people to do somethingdifferent. It might just
simply be talking about it ina more conversational way or I
went to my local refill storetoday or I've just purchased
myself a reusable waterbottle. It literally could

(31:48):
just be conversational in thatway but through doing that you
are kind of gently lettingpeople know what you're doing
and it may well influence themto do something similar. So,
lots of different optionsthere. Even if you do just one
or two of these, you will helpto reduce your waste and live

(32:12):
a more zero waste existence.And in Zero Waste Week, it's
the perfect time To make astart, if you haven't already,
but if you're already a zerowaste expert, please do share
your experiences and sharesome tips with me here on the
Challenge to Change podcast.You just need to comment

(32:32):
underneath the podcastepisode. I'd be really
interested in hearing those.So thank you so much for
listening to this podcastepisode. I hope you've managed
to bear with me till the endbecause it is a little bit
longer than the normal podcastepisodes that we share. I will
of course return with anotherepisode really soon and thank
you so much for listening. Byefor now.