M11.5: Zero Waste Life
It’s inspiring to see that there’re people out there who are
actually making a big impact to protect the environment even if their efforts
are at the individual level. Majority of us would think that living a zero
waste life is practically impossible because we have never lived in such a way
before but knowing that someone is living and producing no waste at all means
that it’s possible to at least try or make small changes in order to somewhat
reduce the amount of waste we make. I think there’s definitely changes that I can
make in order to reduce waste at home and also at work. The majority of the
people at my work place use disposable plastic eating utensils such as spoon
and forks to each lunch because the flatware that we have available in the
kitchen tend to disappear one by one over time. So we came to the conclusion
that it’s best to just use disposable spoons and forks. However, we’ll be
moving to a different office soon so I think it’s a good time to make the
switch back to using flatware instead of disposable eating utensils for lunch. Another
change we can make at the workplace is having a designated trash can for
recycled waste and another one for food waste in the kitchen because we
currently have 2 big trash cans in the kitchen but none of them is labeled
whatsoever. Meanwhile, changes I can make at home especially during the holiday
season can include limiting what I want to buy and maybe I can try making
homemade or DIY gifts for my family and friends that are environmental friendly
instead of buying new things at the store. I can also try to prep and cook my
lunches and bring them to work instead of eating out all the time. This can
help reduce food package waste, increase the quality of my food intake and help
me save some money. Overall, I think there are many ways that each of us can do
to help reduce the amount of waste we produce on the daily basis. And even
though they might seem like individual tiny little efforts, if everyone is
doing it, together we all can make a big impact.
Hi Nha,
ReplyDeleteI think using flatware instead of disposable eating utensils is a good change to reduce waste. I also like the idea of labeling the trash cans in your workplace. In addition to the labels, I think it's also a good idea if there's a sign with pictures of what kind of trash goes to each bag. You should definitely try to make DIY gifts for your family and friends. I started making DIY gifts for my friends like two years ago. DIY gifts or products are not really fun to make but also saves you a lot of money. These small steps can really make a big impact in the environment if more people are doing it.
- Krissy
Hi Nha,
ReplyDeleteI like that you consider your work environment as a whole by having everyone switch back to flatware to reduce the dependence on plastic utensils. I'm just as guilty as reaching for plastic utensils out of convenience/laziness. Like you mentioned, cooking more instead of getting take out will definitely safe money and reduce your reliance on packaged foods.