The “zero waste” lifestyle is making a mark for itself globally. Now that it’s popular in the mainstream media, you can easily browse the internet and watch YouTube videos on how to start learning to embrace this type of lifestyle. “Zero waste” basically means not making any trash at all. It practices not sending anything to the landfills, not throwing trashes into the trash bins and, frankly, creating, if not less than zero footprint in the environment.
Researchers say that it only takes 21 days to form a habit. If this is so, then this lifestyle might be the key to reducing plastic usage and possibly be the next big thing for the coming years if practiced. It takes a small amount of courage to have a huge impact for the environment. Nonetheless a ton of self-discipline and self-control. These days’ plastic bans have been predominant in many places and this is sign that we, as humans, are realizing that we are destroying the balance of nature.
Single-use plastics have been problematic and are causing detrimental effects not only to us humans but to marine and wildlife ecosystems. Plastics, when thrown in the ocean, get to be mistaken as food by the fishes and birds, which lead to entanglement, choking and poisoning. This results to a decrease in number of our marine biodiversity.
They say that an average American throws away 185 pounds of plastic per year, and when you multiply that to their population that is 327.4 million. I guess, mathematically speaking, you get the picture and that only sums up the United States’ alone. One way or another the next generation would be floating in the pile of trash left by their relatives if statistics don’t go down because plastic can live up to 450 years to biodegrade.
There are spectrums of ways that the zero waste lifestyle provides to lessen or avoid plastic usage. One common alternative is bringing your own reusable bag to the grocery or the market. This is to ensure that the plastic bags won’t be an option for the consumer with this action thus mitigating trash and giving back to the environment. Another way of the zero waste lifestyle is purchasing products that are used for a lifetime like for example buying metal straws. These straws are an investment which benefit not only you but also the environment you live in because simply they are not single-use and are not made from plastic. Another way to skip the trash when it comes to buying drinks such as coffee and shakes is basically bringing your own reusable plastic cups. Many of these products are now blowing the market and are making some switch to this lifestyle.
I think it’s timely that we, as citizens of this planet, act to prolong and preserve the quality of living. We ought to have a sustainable ethics and realize that because of our consumerist-attitude we buy more things that we don’t need and throw what we do not want any more thus destroying homeostasis. Tree-planting cannot support the balance of nature now that situation has become worse than ever. We must all act individually with the same philosophy for us to survive and create a greener and healthier planet.