8 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Waste Footprint in 2018

January is a time for resolutions but this year, rather than just personal betterment, why not consider a resolution with a slightly wider scope – the whole planet, say?

As we go about our daily lives it's easy to forget that everything we do has an impact on the planet. Furthermore, while our daily lives are more convenient than ever nowadays – food to your door at the touch of a button, the pantheon of products available on Taobao – they are also far more wasteful. With this in mind, start your year off on the right foot by committing to reducing your waste footprint in 2018.

To begin with, familiarize yourself with the six R’s of zero waste living – refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot. Then, follow the tips below and once you’ve gotten used to them, see how you can adapt them to other areas of your daily life. Some of the tips might even seem inconsequential but if we all applied just one or two of them in our daily lives, the benefit to the planet would be considerable.

Always carry a refillable water bottle
An easy first step. Considering most people need to drink around 2 liters of water a day, all those plastic bottles soon add up. It might seem like a pain at first, and you might forget on occasion, but persevere and it’s easy to get into the habit. Fill up your water bottle before leaving the house and again before leaving the office and you'll always have enough water with you. Luckily for us Beijing residents, tea/hot water flasks are already the norm in China and you can pick one up for as little as RMB 10 at Miniso.

Order less food delivery
Think about it, every time you reach for ele.me or Baidu Waimai you’re using at least one plastic bag, a plastic take-out container, and a set of plastic cutlery. Try to cook at home or dine out with friends and if you’re taking home leftovers bring your own container or try to choose a restaurant with a commitment to recyclable packaging (more info about which restaurants do that here). If you find yourself hungry, take a walk and get out of the house/office – the walk will do you goo too.

Say no to plastic straws
You might not be able to eat your food without a fork but you can definitely drink your drink without a straw. Plastic straws are a major source of plastic pollution – for example, the US uses (and throws out) 500 million plastic straws a day, many of which end up in the ocean, polluting the water and harming marine life. Find out more at thelastplasticstraw.org (a project of the Plastic Pollution Coalition). The Bulk House sells reusable stainless steel straws or you can buy them very cheaply on Taobao (search for “不锈钢吸管”).

Buy reusable shopping and produce containers, and use them to bulk buy and store pantry items
Keep a small canvas bag folded up in your bag or pocket so you don’t get caught out at the store and have to ask for a plastic bag. You can buy canvas/mesh bags (The Bulk House stocks them) for when you’re buying fruits and vegetables, which also handily double up as storage containers.

Once you've got your containers sorted out, rather than shopping several times a week, try to plan ahead and buy groceries and other household items in bulk. For example, several stalls at Sanyuanli sell loose rice, pulses, and grains. Even if you still end up buying online, the amount of packaging generated by one large order will still be less than several smaller orders.

Organise a clothes swap
There’s an understandable temptation to refresh your wardrobe come spring but rather than heading straight to the shops, why not get a few friends together and organize a clothes swap. You’ll get to clear out your cupboards and go home with a few new things to wear. Any leftover clothes can be donated to a charity such as Roundabout or if any items are totally unwearable, rip them up to use as cleaning rags around the house. People frequently swap clothes through The Bulk House's "Reduce to Relive" WeChat group (WeChat ID: thebulkhouse) and architecture firm Crossboundaries (WeChat ID: Crossboundaries) also organize offline swap meets for clothes and other household items through their Live With Less initiative.

Shop in person rather than online
We'll be the first to admit that we have a serious Taobao habit but recently we can't help but notice that everything we buy (and we buy A LOT) arrives wrapped in so much needless packaging. Challenge yourself to not buy anything for a month; you'll be forced to think about what you actually want to buy (remember that the first of the five R's is 'refuse'). 50 29564 50 14985 0 0 1317 0 0:00:22 0:00:11 0:00:11 3405 Not to mention, heading to the mall is much less convenient than browsing on your phone, so you probably won’t be tempted to do it!

Consider homemade cleaning solutions
Making your own cleaning products for use at home not only cuts down on plastic waste, it may also be beneficial for anyone in your family who suffers from chronic allergies or asthma. Common household items such as vinegar, baking soda, and lemons can be used to remove limescale and stains, deodorize, and clean windows, among other things. More information on functions and formulas can be found here: eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_solutions.htm (remember to always test whatever product you're using on a small area first).

Think about how you recycle
Instead of putting your weekly recycling into the recycling bin (or worse, the regular bin), leave it next to the bin and often a local recycler will come and take it away. Even better, take a short walk around your neighborhood and find where the local recyclers have their depot or base of operations.

Note: Carrie Yu, founder of The Bulk House, Beijing's first zero-waste social enterprise, contributed to this article by offering advice on the above information and tips.

Photos: Pixabay

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