Top 10 Zero Waste Blogs to Follow in 2019--
If you already recycle, bring your reusable bags into the store, compost and you are looking to do more for the planet, then you may want to check out the zero-waste movement. The concept behind zero-waste is to live a lifestyle where you don’t us a trashcan or recycling bin. From this perspective the best way to reduce waste is to never make it in the first place! This focus can greatly reduce your carbon footprint and do your part to reduce the more than 262 million tons of trash generated in the U.S. in the year 2015 alone, according to this study by the EPA.
Striving for zero-waste is not an easy goal, and it can be confusing to know where to start. Fortunately, there are some great models of people online living a zero-waste lifestyle who offer lots of great perspectives, tips and inspiration. They info they share includes places to shop, how to deal with food waste, essential items to support the lifestyle, and more. Can’t figure out how to have body-care and makeup items without all the plastic packaging? These folks have been doing it for years and can act as guides. So without further ado, here are the top ten zero-waste blogs as ranked by feedspot.
Going Zero Waste
After a health scare made her examine the chemicals in her environment and radically change her lifestyle, Kathryn Kellogg is now inspiration for more than 126,000 followers on instagram. She blogs documents her journey to reduce waste, eat whole foods, find plastic alternatives and collect adventures instead of things. She explains the zero-waste lifestyle as a step-by-step process that is easy to follow. “Small actions done by hundreds of thousands of people will change the world. You don’t have to be perfect to make a difference, you just have to try.”
Zero Waste Home
Bea Johnson is one of the world’s foremost zero-waste lifestyle experts. She started in 2008 and Authored the Amazon #1 Best Selling Book Zero Waste Home, Grand Prize winner of The Green Awards, has appeared on numerous television networks and has been named “The Priestess of Waste-Free-Living” from The New York Times. Bea’s goal is to demonstrate that waste-free living can not only be stylish, but also lead to significant health benefits, and time and money savings. On her blog Zero Waste Home and social media presence, she teaches her philosophy of “5 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot, and only in that order.” It has obviously found resonance with her audience, because she has almost 150,000 Facebook followers and over 243,000 instagram followers. Her advice to getting your city to offer municipal composting options is to, “Let your voice be heard. It’s up to the consumer/citizen to propose alternatives, when they do, the alternatives actually have a chance of being implemented.I went to the city council meeting and talked about how important composting was for my family when they considered having one, and then it passed.
Zero-Waste Chef
Anne-Marie Bonneau gives Zero-Waste inspiration in the kitchen on her, her cooking guided by three rules– No packaging. Nothing processed. No trash. She has been plastic free since 2011. In addition to social media, she offers a started guide for waste free living and teaches classes. Her advice for newbie kitchen Zero-Wasters is simple: avoid food waste. “Because so many of us don’t know how to cook, when we do attempt it we rely on enticing looking recipes, go out and buy a bunch of ingredients we won’t use up, waste those and then often waste the leftovers. There is a better way: shop from the pantry and refrigerator, get creative and use up what’s on hand. This alone would drastically reduce food waste (and save a lot of money).”
Treading My Own Path
Treading My Own Path, is Lindsay Miles from Perth, Australia, and her blog offers recipes and tips for doing stuff not buying stuff. She is a writer, speaker and waste-free living advocate. Lindsay wrote the book Less Stuff. In 2012 she accepted a month-long challenge to avoid plastic and never looked back. She describes her shift into waste-free living as follows–
“Everything changed in 2012. I came across a flyer in my local library that June, with a challenge, Plastic Free July, and a question: could you give up plastic for the month of July? Give up plastic for a month, I thought. No problem – I’m pretty green already; I take my own bags to the shops! I cringe at my naivety now. As part of the campaign, there was a community screening of Bag It! I went along. That movie was my lightbulb moment. It literally changed my life. I came out of that screening with my eyes open for the first time. I finally understood the issues, the need for change… and what I could do about it. I could see plastic was everywhere… including my own home. I’d never noticed. It was as if I’d been walking round with my eyes shut for my entire life. I realized that this plastic-free challenge wasn’t going to be a month-long attempt. I wasn’t going to go back to my old ways when it was over. How could I, now I saw what I saw? There was no turning back.”
Litterless
Litterless is the blog of an environmental writer and organizer sharing resources and building community around the topic of zero waste. Topics on include travel, a bulk food directory, plastic free storage, health and beauty. This blogger (whose name we could not find on her website) is also frank about the somewhat unrealistic notion of being “Zero-Waste.” Her take is as follows–
“I don’t think making zero trash is really possible right now, and I’m skeptical of folks who claim they do. Instead, when I talk about zero waste, I’m really talking about low waste, or less waste. Fact is, we live in a culture that relies heavily on disposable products, and it’s hard to avoid them completely. I think the beauty of zero waste is that you can dip your toe in at any level. If all you can do right now is commit to bringing your reusable water bottle with you when you leave the house, start there. When you’ve mastered that habit, add another. For your household, going zero waste may look like generating one bag of trash per week instead of three. Or, it may look like taking out the trash once a month instead of every week. Going zero waste will look different for every person and every family, and that’s okay!”
The Rogue Ginger
The Rogue Ginger is one of Australia’s most popular eco-lifestyle websites. It is written by Erin Rhoads, who has been been blogging since 2013 sharing her journey of how she reduced plastic and rubbish which led to a happier and healthier life. Erin is writer and speaker, and is on a mission to engage with individuals to redefine what is waste and how we can create less of it. She was a consultant on ABC’s War on Waste; has shared skills and practical help with thousands at workshops, talks and forums; helps organize and assist environmental action groups and co-founded Zero Waste Victoria, Plastic Bag Free Victoria and Cash For Containers. She has been featured on many television networks and is a regular contributor on ABC Radio. Her first book Waste Not: Make a big difference by throwing away less was released July 2018, followed up with Waste Not Everyday.
MY ZERO WASTE
My Zero waste! Is a blog about how to reduced waste and pollution to our environment by highlighting the pitfalls and sharing their mistakes and successes. They started in 2004 and have a solutions oriented perspective with practical, workable and realistic steps. The sites notable features include waste news and product reviews. Here is a quote from the family behind the blog, “Many people feel overwhelmed about climate change. Our vision is that everybody takes small steps towards a zero waste future and begins to see that everybody doing a little bit can collectively add up to significant change. If everyone in the UK recycled just ONE more tin can per week, that would be 60 million less tins ending up in landfill!”
Wild MinimalistThe idea for Wild Minimalist began when Max and Lily left their jobs to travel for three months. Newly engaged, they lived a minimalist lifestyle out of their backpacks as they travelled through the Pacific Northwest and French countryside and were inspired to eliminate unnecessary waste from their lives.
Upon their return to California, they began to investigate the idea of going zero-waste—essentially, reducing dependence on disposable consumer goods by investing in sustainable, reusable alternatives. Their steep learning curve was the catalyst for them to start Wild Minimalist, with the goal of making it easier for people to begin their journey towards a zero waste lifestyle. Their goal is to provide high quality products and ship them with sustainable packaging materials. “Ideally, as you embark on your journey, you will find many of your zero waste essentials at your local Goodwill or vintage store. When you can’t find what you’re looking for second-hand, we’d be proud to serve you.”
Trash is for Tossers
Lauren Singer is an expert at all things waste. She studied Environmental Studies in college a decided to turn her passion for the environment into a lifestyle. Lauren is the CEO of Package Free, a shop that sells products that help you reduce your waste. Lauren is also the founder and CEO of The Simply Co., an organic, vegan laundry detergent company. In the last five years, all of the trash that Lauren has produced can fit inside a 16oz mason jar.With more than 260,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 360,000 followers on Instagram, Singer is reaching an audience far beyond her home in New York City. Her advice to those embarking on a zero-waste journey, “When it comes to zero waste, if you do your research and are diligent, nothing is actually hard. I believe that I can do anything I set my mind to and so I just focus on what my values are and then living those values and being the best version of myself that I can be.”
Wasteland RebelShia is the creator of Wasteland Rebel, a zero-waste blog documenting the journey her and her partner of going zero waste, becoming vegan and a minimalist. Her blog features practical and simple recipes for home remedies, as well as tips and facts on general sustainability issues. She also wrote a book called Zero Waste. In her previous life, Shia worked at an advertising agency, which brought her face to face with consumerist propaganda. “After work, I was too exhausted and drained to do anything much. That definitely wasn’t what I thought my adult life would look like. Instead of finally being all grown up and independent, I felt small, insignificant, and trapped. Powerless against what we felt was wrong in this world. Living a sustainable life, a life on our own terms that aligned with our values, seemed so out of reach at that point, like a utopia.”
She decided to quit her job and had enough saved for her and her partner to live on for a year, which she described as “One year to reclaim control over our lives. One year to work towards aligning our actions with our values.” During that time, the moved to another city, went vegan, took up minimalism and reduced their electricity consumption consumes to one ninth of the average north American Household.
“I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution. We all come in different shapes and sizes, have access to a different infrastructure, have different needs, obligations, or situations to take care of. There is no one “right” way to do things. So I want to encourage you to start where ever you feel comfortable and only go as far as you feel comfortable at any given time. Keep things doable and don’t overwhelm yourself. There is no rush and it is not a competition. We are lucky to have access to an infrastructure that enables us cut down our trash to only one jar, to have met so many amazing people who also wanted to challenge the system, to push the boundaries. But you might find yourself facing more challenges, many of which might be beyond your control. So your trash does not fit into one jar, so what? I am sure you are still rocking it!
That’s it for our ten person tour of inspiring zero-waste blogs and influencers, but there’s lots more out there! What do you see as the hurdles to going zero-waste, or low-waste in your own life? Lack of bulk stores, difficulty shopping, or other considerations entirely? Let us know by leaving a comment below.