How to start your own zero waste kit

In the past few years, the term ‘Zero Waste’ has been popping up everywhere. From news headlines to blogs to entire organizations. The sentiment is an important, albeit bold, one and we should really be more aware of the waste we are making and the impact it has on the environment

For those few who may not be totally sure about it, Zero Waste is a movement to try to reduce the amount of waste you generate. The end goal is to reduce and recycle so that no waste are sent to landfills, incinerators or the ocean. This movement focuses on waste ‘prevention’ and not necessarily how to reuse or recycle all of the waste you generate.

This is also more of an ideal than a goal or target. As long as people start being more conscious of where waste could potentially come from, what can be recycled and how can they try to avoid contributing to landfills. Every day we face so many choices and can take  that as an opportunity to make better more conscious choices and really help our environment

One simple way to do this is to always be prepared by creating a ‘Zero Waste Kit’. By packing and bringing along certain items you can easily make better choices while you are out and about. These are some ideas of things to add. You can keep it all in a small bag or pouch to make it easier to transfer into different purses, backpacks or tote bags

	Reusable cutlery - These can easily be purchased in cute little pouches or pre-made kits, you can also just raid your own drawer to keep your costs down!
	Travel Coffee Mug - A bonus to this is that many places give discounts when you have your own mug. Some cool collapsible cups have also been popping up and are very useful and lighter than carrying a big carafe
	Compact Grocery bag and Produce bag - It always seems like you have so many reusable bags but they just sit in a closet and if you have to run into a store at the last minute you get a plastic bag anyway because you didn't think you'd be shopping! Keeping a small bag with you will help eliminate that guilt.
	Reusable straw - This is a debatable item. Most people agree that if you have lips you don't need a straw. You can just sip out of the side of your cup. However, sometimes when you have a drink with lots of ice it can be quite uncomfortable. So bringing an eco-friendly straw with you whether its metal or collapsible can be a good idea
	Handkerchief(s) - You can either make your own from old fabrics or many vintage stores have some beautiful old ones for cheap. These can be used in place of napkins at restaurants or as tissues. They do take a while to get used to as tissues but its worth a shot!

 
These are just a few ideas just to get you started and even to get you thinking about little things you can do to help reduce the amount of waste you produce.

We’re curious to know, what else would you add? Tell us in the comments below!