It’s 2019. We’re one year away from when we thought we’d have flying cars,  hovercrafts, time machines, and a bunch of other very cool gadgets. While some of that is coming into fruition, the more attainable thing most people are getting into is living a waste-free lifestyle. Our eyes are opening up to the cold hard truth that our precious earth is dwindling away, and it has a large part to do with how much waste we as humans are creating. Now, you and I both know that some things are just unavoidable., but that’s not the point. The point is that the act of making small, incremental changes every day will have a bigger difference than if we sit here and do nothing at all. So, without further adieu, here are five ways you can start living a waste-free lifestyle. 

  1. Bring your own reusable coffee cup to your local coffee shop (or Starbucks.. duh)
    Did you know that roughly 5 billion to go coffee cups are being used per year in Canada? That’s a lot of waste! By bringing your own mug, you could essentially decrease that number by 365 cups a year (or more, if you drink way more than one coffee a day.. we’ve all been there). Here are some of our favourite to go mugs:
    Klean Kanteen
    S’Well  
    KeepCup 

  2. Use soap bars instead of liquid soap in plastic bottles
    Before the world of plastic emerged, people used, wait for it.. BARS OF SOAP! I know, crazy. Using soap bars eliminates so much waste, and they smell incredible. Not to toot our own horn, but did you know we have a variety of soap bars including, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and facial soap? Click here for some of them! are some.

  3. Bring your own reusable bag to the grocery store
    Here’s another jaw-dropping fact: Canadians use nearly 3 billion plastic bags a year! That’s 3 billion bags a year that are not biodegradable and are very, very difficult to recycle (and sit in that one cupboard in your house forever). By bringing your own reusable produce bags and grocery bags when you do your shopping, you are helping decrease the number of plastic bags used per year. Here are a few reusable bags that are highly rated that you can use.
    BAGGU: these bags are so adorable and come in a ton of colours! They have cute options for you to live waste free, and even have some tote bags you can use for life.
    IKEA: good old IKEA always pulling through for us! These bags are great for your product and if you really wanted, could double as an accessory.
    Stasher: this is a bonus. These reusable bags promote living plastic free, and come in some cute colours, too! 

  4. Buy in bulk
    So many grocery stores are getting on board with the bulk lifestyle, so this makes your life super easy! There’s also an entire store dedicated to bulk (ever heard of Bulk Barn?). Just bring your own containers, fill them up, weigh them, and pay! Easy peasy. 
  5. Don’t beat yourself up
    Just like Rome wasn’t built in a day, you won't be waste-free in a day, or a month, or even a year! It takes time, some bumps in the road, and some lessons to be learned. Just know the nobody is perfect, and you put the effort in is already contributing to saving our lovely earth. Here’s a quote to remind you:

    “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly” -Anne Marie Bonneau.