In this guide we’ll go through practical steps to change our laundry habits. From eco-friendly detergents to energy efficient practices we’ll share tips that benefit the environment and our laundry experience. Let’s get started and create a sustainable routine that cares for our clothes and our planet.

What is Zero-Waste Laundry

Zero-waste laundry is about minimising waste throughout the laundry process. We can have a more sustainable routine by using eco-friendly products and practices.

What is Zero-Waste

Zero-waste means reducing waste to the smallest amount possible by reusing and recycling materials. In laundry this means using biodegradable detergents, avoiding single use items and opting for reusable alternatives. Every step from detergent to drying method contributes to a circular economy where products don’t end up in landfills.

Benefits of a Zero-Waste Laundry Routine

A zero-waste laundry routine has multiple environmental benefits. Firstly it reduces water pollution by using non-toxic, biodegradable detergents. Secondly it minimises energy consumption by air drying and washing in cold water which reduces our carbon footprint. Thirdly adopting reusable products like cloths or dryer balls reduces waste from single use items. Overall it protects our planet and creates a healthier home environment.

How to Create a Zero-Waste Laundry Routine

Creating a zero-waste laundry routine involves several practical steps that reduce our impact on the environment while keeping our clothes fresh and clean.

Choose Eco-Friendly Detergents

We opt for biodegradable detergents that break down naturally in the environment. These exclude harmful chemicals like phosphates and sulfates. We look for brands that use minimal packaging or have refill stations. Liquid detergent may be less wasteful than pods due to excessive plastic waste. We also consider making our own detergent using simple ingredients like baking soda and vinegar which reduces packaging and environmental impact.

Choose Sustainable Fabrics

We choose clothing made from organic, natural fibres like cotton, linen and hemp. These are biodegradable and require less resources to produce. We avoid synthetic materials like polyester which releases microplastics into waterways. When buying new we look for brands that are committed to sustainable practices so our choices contribute to a healthier planet.

Maximise Laundry Loads

We try to maximise every laundry load to use less energy and water. Washing full loads uses less resources than running multiple smaller loads. We can also sort clothes to combine colours and fabric types when possible. And we use cold water as it uses less energy to keep our clothes clean and eco-friendly.

Zero-Waste Laundry Tips

Photo by Leif Christoph Gottwald on Unsplash

Following zero-waste laundry tips makes a big impact on our environment. We can make conscious choices to use less resources and waste.

Air Drying vs Machine Drying

Air drying clothes is a great way to reduce energy consumption. We can use outdoor space or hang clothes indoors to harness natural airflow. When the weather permits, it’s good to use sunshine which also eliminates odours or you can use an odor eliminator for laundry. Machine drying uses a lot of energy so air drying whenever possible reduces our carbon footprint and extends garment life.

Reducing Water Usage

Reducing water usage during laundry helps conserve this precious resource. We can do this by washing only full loads, using high efficiency machines and shorter wash cycles. And using cold water saves energy and retains colours and reduces fabric wear. Incorporating these habits makes water conservation easy.

Recycling Laundry Products

Recycling laundry products means materials are repurposed not sent to landfills. We can choose brands that offer refillable options or take-back programs for used containers. Separating and recycling cardboard, plastic and metal from laundry supplies reduces waste. Doing this closes the loop in our laundry process and supports a more sustainable system.

More Zero-Waste Tips

Zero-waste living involves making mindful choices not just during laundry but throughout our daily routines. Here are more tips to help us be more sustainable.

Minimalism

Minimalism reduces clutter and waste. We can simplify our wardrobes by keeping only essentials and opting for versatile pieces that can be mixed and matched. Choose clothing made from durable materials that will last. Practice conscious buying habits and think before buying rather than impulsively. By prioritising quality over quantity we contribute to a sustainable cycle, reduce textile waste and live more eco-friendly.

Upcycle Old Clothes

Upcycle old clothes gives new life to old garments. We can turn old pieces into functional items like tote bags or cleaning rags and reduce waste in landfills. It may involve simple sewing or fabric painting and is fun. Donating or swapping clothes with friends extends garment life and creates community while reducing waste. By repurposing our clothes creatively we make a positive impact on the environment. For more sustainable tips check out Zero Waste Home

In the wake of the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, everyone seems to be talking about climate change and the environment, and the word of the day is Green.  Democrats have retaken the House of Representative in what some view as a landslide victory, or what some are calling the Blue Wave (referring to the common practice of attributing the color blue to Democrats, in contrast to Republican red). Many of these newly elected representatives are young, idealistic and vocal proponents of dramatic measures to counter the effects of climate change.

The Green New Deal, a decade-old initiative with a focus on the widespread implementation of green and sustainable technologies, is the rallying point for many of these new representatives and their supporters.  The Green New Deal is basically a job bill that is designed to put hundreds of thousands of mid-to-low skilled employees to work at redesigning the U.S.’s infrastructure. While its primary focus is labor, it is framed through the lens of environmentalism and as a response to the challenges presented by climate change.

History Matters

The name of the initiative is inspired by history. Amidst the early 20^th-century Great Depression, the worst economic crisis in the history of the United States, then-serving president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as “FDR,” implemented a massive series of public programs between the years of 1933 and 1941 to stabilize the economy and stimulate growth.

That series of programs, known as “The New Deal,” involved a variety of economic and social measures, such as the establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Social Security Administration. The New Deal is best-known for its public works programs, however, which resulted in the creation or improvement of nearly a million miles of highway, airports, bridges and public buildings.

Those measures and programs not only pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression, they also laid the groundwork for the modern infrastructure of the country, which helped to contribute to its success as a global superpower in the 20^th century.

Upgrade Needed

Most of the nation’s infrastructure and public systems continue to operate based on FDR’s models. Therein lies the problem, proponents of the Green New Deal assert. Globalization and planet-wide changes to the economy and environment have left the U.S. infrastructure and public programs as inadequate to meet contemporary needs and priorities.

Many of the problems that the Green New Deal seeks to remedy are specific to the U.S. alone, such a lack of jobs that provide a living wage for low-skilled workers and a growing inequality and social inequity as the class divide deepens in the nation. Along with addressing those matters, the Green New Deal is also structured to mitigate the critical planet-wide concerns associated with climate change and the global catastrophe that threatens if action is not taken to counter the negative impacts that modern society has produced for the environment.

This isn’t Hollywood

“Critical” and “catastrophe” certainly seem like strong words, but they are appropriate when describing the situation. The common consensus in the scientific community is that the effects of climate change are quite dire.  The most recent reports assert that the planet will cross the line of no return by 2030, and a failure to counter the effects of climate change- or at least to begin trying-before then will result in truly catastrophic results.Things like widespread drought, famine, flooding, super storms, the loss of critical food sources and the pushing of 100 million people into extreme poverty are some of the potential consequences of climate change inaction.

This represents a pretty scary scenario, doesn’t it? It sounds like the kind of thing that you’d read in adystopian novel.  It is the sort of story that Hollywood would turn into a summer blockbuster, allowing people to watch images of the world falling apart while they sit comfortably in a movie theater, munching on popcorn.

This is not a fictional scenario, however. This isn’t the fodder of a cheesy sensationalist tabloid rag; this is solid and credible material that is being revealed by the world’s leading scientific minds.  The credibility of the information makes it clear that the problem is real and represents a threat to everyone on the planet.

There’s Still Hope

That’s the bad news: that the threat is real.  But the good news is that the damage is not irreversible yet; we have not yet crossed the point of no return.  If people are willing to support and participate in sustainable methods, we can help to contribute to the countering of these frighteningly negative consequences of climate change.

On a wide scale, supporting initiatives like the Green New Deal make the most difference because they involve holding the government and large corporations accountable for doing their part. Since corporate impacts far exceed that of regular citizens, it is of the utmost importance to have their involvement and compliance in adopting green technologies and practices.

Lending your voice to the movement and letting your representatives know that you back the Green New Deal and other green initiatives is an easy way to make a meaningful difference. If enough people speak up, the politicians will have to listen.

Green-Up Your Life

There are also direct measures that you can take on an everyday level to help. Embracing more sustainable habits and a greener lifestyle contributes to the effort to reduce emissions and avoid injecting more harmful waste into the environment.

As a great deal of harmful environmental damage comes from the consumption of fossil fuels, reducing your use of them has an immediate and positive impact. If you can walk, ride a bicycle or take public transportation instead of driving your gasoline-burning vehicle, you should consider doing so. If you have the means to do, trading in your old gas guzzler for a hybrid or electric vehicle represents a tremendous contribution to cleaning up the planet.

Avoiding single-use plastics (like water and soda bottles) also makes a huge difference, as these require a significant amount of fuel and energy to manufacture and transport. Those items then end up tossed away, clogging up landfills- and even our oceans- with non-biodegradable plastic pollution. Materials that are non-biodegradable never break down or disintegrate; the water bottle at your elbow will still be on this planet when your great-great-great-great grandchildren are considered people of the ancient past. If you cannot give up single-use plastics, then you should at least be recycling them.

In fact, you should recycle as much household waste as possible, even food. When some of us were kids, we were told not to waste food: “think of the starving children in X,” our parents said, with the X being whichever country was receiving the most news coverage for famine conditions at the time. Of course, your food waste doesn’t truly have an impact on famine conditions in other parts of the world, but it does have an energy impact, as well as an economic one, in your life. When you waste food, you then need to make more trips to the grocery store, which burns gasoline. Those stores need to be restocked more often as a result, and grocery items are typically delivered in huge trucks.  If you think that your car burns a lot of gas, imagine how much fuel an 18-wheeler requires!

There are a ton of resources out there with helpful hints for embracing a greener lifestyle, such as this list by the Center for Biological Diversity. It’s worth looking into them to see where you can make a positive difference by modifying a few of your habits.

It Doesn’t Stop At Home

Exploring ways to adopt more energy-efficient practices beyond your home is also a useful measure. One area that is often overlooked when thinking- and acting- green is the workplace. This is a surprising fact because many company environments produce a great deal of waste, particularly in terms of paper and plastics.

There are some great resources availablewith ideas for greening-up your workplace, such as this “Five Ways HR Can Support Environmental Sustainability” list.  It’s a particularly useful resource because it reminds that ignoring the power of the group dynamic represents a wasted opportunity for making a wide contribution. Embracing changes in habits is often easier when you’re not going at it alone (think of how it’s easier to stick to a fitness program is you have a workout buddy) and getting your workplace team onboard with a company-wide sustainability initiative exponentially increases the positive effects of your actions.

Whether we like it or not, we are facing a real and tangible threat to civilization as we know it as the consequence of unchecked climate change. By supporting initiatives like the Green New Deal and adopting new habits at home in the workplace, you can make a difference in preventing that catastrophe.

Food packaging waste is a serious environmental issue. Much of the plastic produced in the world comes from disposable food packaging taking the form of coffee mugs, lunch boxes, bags, wraps, containers, and disposable plastic cutlery. Sadly, an increasing number of people are using plastic packaging for the sake of convenience. If present trends continue, by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in the world. Much of this plastic will end up in landfills and oceans just like it does today. Even today, a whopping 91% of plastic isn’t recycled.

One may think why a Chinese fisherman dumping a plastic lunch box in the sea should bother a guy living on the east coast. However, the throwaway culture that began in the west has resulted in a worldwide food packaging waste problem. The fish and other sea animals consume this plastic which is highly likely to end up on your plate through the food chain. That’s why everyone needs to reduce food packaging waste, especially plastics, to keep our planet and ourselves healthy.

The following 5 tips may come handy in this regard.

1. Saying No to Plastic Bags

It may sound obvious, but the excessive use of disposable plastic bags has become a real threat to the environment. We often see people accepting plastic bags that are used only once. According to the Surfrider Foundation, Europeans go through round 87 billion single-use plastic bags every year. 20 minutes is the average usage time for a plastic bag. However, it takes 400 years to decompose in nature. Often, littering of polyethylene bags clog drains in the rainy season, pollutes the soil, and causes animals to eat those and get choked to death.

The most convenient alternative to this problem is BYOB which means “Bring Your Own Bag.” You can carry a cloth or jute bag before stepping out for shopping. They are easy to use, last longer, and are eco-friendly. Alternatively, you can also use an eco-friendly paper bags found in most grocery shops, departmental stores, and shopping malls. Saying no to plastic bags also involves saying no to produce-bags. For example, do you honestly need to have a plastic bag to carry a loaf of bread that is already wrapped in a plastic bag?

2. Use Glass Containers and Jars Instead of Plastic

While shopping, choose glass or paper packaging over plastic or Styrofoam packaging. Avoid buying foods packed in multiple layers of plastic. For example, instead of buying apples wrapped in a plastic sheet, you can purchase lose apples. You can also purchase items such as grains, lentils, veggies, dry foods, fish, poultry, and even meat in loose quantity to avoid plastic food packaging waste. Many local meat suppliers and butchers wrap freshly cut meat and fish in wax paper which is eco-friendly. Always make sure to buy eggs in molded pulp cartons which are prepared from recycled paper using egg carton machine. They are also biodegradable.

If you are looking for long-term eco-friendly storage options, you can use air-tight glass jars and metal containers. If you have a garden or have the space to start one, you can start canning your own fresh produce to avoid the use of plastic food packaging. You can also use washable and reusable bags to store food and vegetables. Another good and practical idea is to carry your own container when buying a takeaway. For example, you can get your morning cup of Joe in a stainless steel travel mug and avoid using Styrofoam cups completely. Liquids such as milk, juices, and water can be filled in glass bottles.

3. Eat Plastic Free Lunch

If you carry home-cooked lunch to the office every day, make sure to pack it in reusable containers. If you order a takeaway every day, you are probably using a lot of plastic cutlery. For an average lunch, you are likely to use at least a couple of plates, two sets of fork, knives, and spoons. Every year 6 million tons of disposable plastics such as spoons, forks, plates, and cups are discarded most of which ends up in our oceans.

But if you were to switch to metal cutlery or silverware, you will be helping to bring down this Use and Throw culture. Start keeping a set of reusable cutlery in your desk drawer. You can also use paper plates or some other form of eco-friendly cutlery. There are even reusable pocket cutlery sets that you can carry around in a purse or a bag. When ordering food online, choose non-plastic food packaging if the option is available.

4. Avoiding Certain Kind of Food Products

Although you avoid plastic food packaging, you can’t avoid it completely. Non-recyclable plastic packaging is often used to pack meat and meat-based products which ultimately leads to pollution. One way to address this issue is to shift your diet from meat-based products to vegetables. It will not only help avoid the usage of non-biodegradable food packaging but also make you healthy. It will help reduce greenhouse gas emission as well.

According to a recent study published in 2017, lower consumption of not only beef but also orange juice, pork, whole milk, and chicken has led to a 9% reduction in average American’s diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, dropping it from 1,932 kilograms in 2005 to 1,762 in 2014. The study also states that the biggest contributor to the reduction was a decline in beef consumption of about 19% over the course of the decade, adding up to a cumulative reduction of 185 million tons of climate change pollution.

5. Composting and Recycling

However, focusing on non-biodegradable waste shouldn’t mean that you can ignore biodegradable food packaging waste. Using glass jars and paper packaging is as important as its proper disposal. If possible, you should compost and recycle paper products, cardboard boxes, and discarded food in your backyard instead of dumping them in the regular garbage. If not, you can check for local recycling programs and not down the drop off and pick up locations.

Parting Words

It is not possible to eliminate the use of non-biodegradable packaging completely. However, we can certainly reduce the amount of food packaging waste we throw out in the trash every day. Hopefully, these 5 tips will prove helpful for you in living an environmentally conscious lifestyle henceforth. As you can see, none of these tips are out of the ordinary. So, incorporating them into your present lifestyle shouldn’t be a problem. It is true, old habits die hard. But, you have to start somewhere. Take the first step to stop planet earth’s downfall and let us know how you did it.