Zero waste living can look intimidating from the outside in. What do you mean you want me to give up all of my favorite items and hobbies? What do you mean I have to change how I dress and how I shop and how I clean and how I commute to work? I can’t change my whole life overnight!

Good news, you don’t have to!

Let’s quickly cover the definitions of zero waste and environmentalism:

Zero waste is…the goal to push economies toward minimizing what we send to the landfill as much as possible. Notice that this is broadly for governments and corporations but we have since adopted it! Even as individuals, it’s the goal to reduce as much as we can from the landfill. It’s not about perfection. Check out the full explanation of what this movement is here.

Environmentalism is…the caring for the planet. Yup, that’s it! No degree required, no perfection required. Check out the full definition here.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be zero waste now?

Zero waste is no linear process. You may “stumble” and make “mistakes” but that’s okay, keep going. The whole reason I started my platform was to prove you don’t need to change your whole life to live a more eco life. I used to be a bit “extreme” and waste very little. Don’t get me wrong, my goal is to still waste as little as possible, but I have more nuance now and better understand the bigger environmental picture. Therefore I know that my one little treat every now and then or the 3 times a year I dye my hair are not killing the planet. In fact, I started dyeing my hair and picked my hobbies back up after quitting them in order to keep living a zero waste life. If that seems confusing, I’ll explain it in a bit.

Of course, this is just about the zero waste MINDSET. What about the swaps? Well, my next post is all about zero waste swaps for beginners…part 3! So, you can go ahead and check out part 1 and part 2. I also highly recommend my Zero Waste on a Budget series all about starting your zero waste journey in your home without buying ANYTHING!

So, here are my tips for not only how to go zero waste in 2025, but how to STAY zero waste for good!

Know your “why”

What is encouraging you to be more eco-friendly? Why do you want to stop climate change? Knowing and remembering your “why” will keep you going even when it gets hard or stagnant or feels like you’re the only one trying.

Here are some examples of some “whys” but feel free to pick your own:

For your own future
For your kids
For generations to come
For the animals and plants
For clean drinking water
For clean air
To save money
To reduce clutter, and more!

We all have something that is driving us to live a more eco life. What’s yours? Here’s mine :)

Know that zero waste is simply a search term

No one truly produces ZERO waste. Not only this, but the definition of zero waste is just zero waste sent to the LANDFILL! Recycling, composting, upcycling, donating, none of that counts as waste when we’re talking about the definition of zero waste itself as we talked about earlier.

People often come at me for not being perfect and while I still fit the zero waste definition without being perfect, I also use it simply as a search term. It’s more common to use zero waste than it is other phrases like low waste, eco, sustainable, slow living, etc. It’s the most common so that’s what I use!

Remember: it does not LITERALLY mean ZERO waste!

You don’t have to go zero waste overnight

Don’t do it cold turkey! Instead, make one swap or habit change at a time to not overwhelm yourself. If you decide right now to instantly start composting and using a bidet and making all your own food from scratch, good for you, but that can be extremely hard and overwhelming. It can quickly lead to burnout and can be hard for the average person to manage it. So, start small with just one small habit or swap per day, per week, or even per month!

If you’d like some inspiration on where to get started, I just launched my Zero Waste in a Year Guide and Calendar. You can get the full low-down here, but here is the summary: Want to go zero waste but not sure where to start? The Zero Waste in a Year digital guide is for you! You get 1 tip or swap for zero waste living every single day of the year. Each chapter/month is complete with 30 unique tips for a total of 360 days of tips across 180 pages, swaps, and habits to build your zero waste life. Chock full of resources, videos, books, more people to follow, and more, it makes going zero waste feasible by doing it little by little.

You don’t have to go big right away

Start with free swaps or easy swaps. Many people think zero waste living is hard and expensive and it sure can be, but it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to buy solar panels, an rain barrel, or an EV to go zero waste right away (or ever). So, start small. If the only thing you can do right now is conserve energy and conserve water, start there! If the only thing you can do is to shop secondhand, start there!

Work your way up to the big swaps eventually. I highly encourage you to check out this YouTube Playlist: zero waste on a budget. These zero waste tips can be implemented right here, right now and cost you no money to do!

You don’t have to buy everything

You don’t have to buy a ton of swaps right away. This is going to take a toll on your budget and make you think zero waste living is super expensive and it doesn’t have to be. And, turns out, you don’t NEED any of these swaps to start now! Use a reused jar as a reusable water bottle. Use a spare set of utensils as your reusable take-out cutlery.

Even being zero waste myself for over 7 years, I still don’t use a lot of common zero waste and eco items like an EV, reusable toilet paper, solar panels, and so forth. You don’t need every single zero waste swap on the face of the earth. Swap what works for you!

keep joy in your life!

Don’t give up everything you love. This will easily make you want to quit. It needs to be sustainable for you, too. Find ways to make your hobbies more eco. Travel with less of an impact. See if your favorite foods are offered with less or recyclable packaging, but don’t give it all up. We need to keep joy in our lives. If we remove it all in the name of zero waste living, how sad we may become and how sad the movement becomes. Do it if you want to, but it’s not required to give up every single thing in your life.

Of course, there is a balance with moderation. I don’t need to buy as much yarn as I want to because I love to crochet. Instead, I use yarn I already have and then when buying new, buy only what I need for example.

This is what I was getting at earlier. Early on in my zero waste journey, I gave up everything I loved: ice cream, pot lucks, crocheting, and more. It was all deemed “wasteful” and I didn’t want to produce waste! Of course, I still don’t want to produce waste but there was so little joy in my life that I wanted to quit zero waste altogether. And I think it’s better to be 75% zero waste than 0% zero waste. So, instead of quitting the entire movement/lifestyle, I became wasteful in some ways but I reduced waste in other ways.

But……there are ways you can make your hobbies a bit less wasteful. Learn more here!

The journey is a rollercoaster

Don’t get discouraged if you make “mistakes.” No one is perfect and you forgetting your reusable water bottle once or twice isn’t going to make or break anything. There will be setbacks, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t trying. Do what you can physically and mentally.

Not to mention, your journey will look different from day to day, year to year. Years ago, I used to make so many things from scratch. Now I shop at a bulk store to reduce waste. I used to compost but now I only have access to a countertop “composter” that is better than the landfill but isn’t great. And it’s all totally okay! Keep trying!

Join a community

Find a community to encourage one another and continue to inspire and learn from one another. This could be a zero waste Facebook group for your city, you could join my Facebook community, you can start an eco club at your school, or something else!

I also have the Eco Book Club that you can join on Patreon or YouTube Memberships AND a free Activism Channel on Instagram where I share action items.

This depends on what you want from a community: friendship, inspiration, action steps, etc.

Don’t forget to consume good news, too

We often get caught up in the negative news cycle from Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords to Biden passing more drilling and more. Yes, it’s important to consume all facts, good or bad, but it can be extremely taxing to our mental health if we ONLY consume bad news. This can also lead to climate anxiety. So, learn about eco-anxiety and how to cope with it. Climate change is heavy and learning about it is hard. Find ways to decompress and disconnect so not to get burnt out.

And, keep the good news around! Celebrate wins such as California banning PFAS or New Jersey banning books bans for example. Celebrate small businesses who are innovating for the planet and more. My favorite source of good eco news is Alaina, the Garbage Queen.

Influencers online are not perfect

Know that what influencers post online are highlight reels. I personally try my best to share my imperfections with zero waste, but I don’t do it often enough and neither do other creators. Even the best of the best are not perfect! So, if you feel discouraged that I or your favorite zero waster appears to be perfect, remember that we’re not. And remind me to share more about this more frequently ;)

Remember where you started

Document the process, even if you’re not an influencer. It makes a much bigger difference knowing where you started at the beginning. It’s hard to see progress in the moment, so keep a journal, start a photo album of eco wins, or you could even start doing social media!

Stay educated

Keep learning! Zero waste living is not linear and there is no finish line. We all have so much to learn. Keep reading books, listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, and learning from others online. Check out my Education page here to learn about the resources I recommend.

Climate change is not your fault

Please recognize that while our small actions matter, the weight of the world is NOT on our shoulders. We only have access to what we have access to. You should not beat yourself up for not shopping at a bulk store if you don’t have one near you. Please don’t beat yourself up for not driving an EV if you cannot afford you. You get the idea. If you only have access to packaged foods, make it as least wasteful as possible. The corporations and companies providing us with these wasteful options are to blame.

Now, that does not discount the fact that our actions matter and we should keep trying! The more of us that vote with our dollar and also verbally tell these companies to do better, the less waste that will be produced by the collective.

You can’t do it all

No one can make every change. I’ve tried many swaps/habit changes that I no longer do anymore. Sometimes I make homemade tortillas and peanut butter and other times I buy it in packaging. I personally can’t give up my car right now, but you might be able to. You may not be able to bulk shop, but I have access to that currently.

No two journies look the same

The most important part is that you are aware of your actions, your waste, and the waste we as a species create. It is also important to recognize nuance and privilege. Not everyone is on the same playing field whether it is due to children, mental health, disability, socio-economic status, or what have you. The point is, not everyone can do everything. The most important thing we can do is to be conscious of our actions, choose the least wasteful option available to us if we have the ability to do so, and tell brands that it’s their responsibility to provide us with the options.

Once again, stay tuned for next post all about zero waste swaps for beginners…part 3! And go ahead and check out part 1 and part 2 in the meantime. I also highly recommend my Zero Waste on a Budget series all about starting your zero waste journey in your home without buying ANYTHING!

I hope that this was helpful and encouraging. Let’s all make 2025 our least wasteful year yet and let’s do it together!

Thank you so much for being part of this community I’ve created. I am honored to be here and you guys continue to inspire me. I appreciate your time and support over the years.

As always, remember your small actions make a big impact in the long run :)

Emma

How to Go Zero Waste and STAY Zero Waste in the New Year