How to Make Sustainability a Habit
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will receive a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Thanks for supporting your local blogger.
Have you ever acquired an item into your sustainability toolkit just to find you weren’t using it? Maybe you find yourself thinking, “Jeeze, I could really use that right now” in a situation when the item isn’t on hand.
I know I have! But don’t worry - integrating your new sustainability tools isn’t so hard once you’ve created a habit! To help you avoid these situations (and to help you create a “zero-waste starter kit”), I’ve put together a few lists - because who doesn’t love a good list?
So What is a Zero-Waste Starter Kit?
It’s essentially a collection of sustainability basics to get you started. These items are usually the most effective way to start reducing common waste in your daily life. If you don’t have the tools yet, there are some starter kit bundles available online. Or you can purchase the items at pretty much any store selling sustainable or zero-waste products.
If you’d like to take the more sustainable route and make your own kit with items around the house or in thrift shops, you’ll need a few key things.
A starter kit is usually comprised of:
A reusable cutlery set (I recommend a metal set)
Reusable shopping bag
Mesh/muslin produce bag
A cutlery set for purchase often includes a reusable straw and/or chopsticks. If you’re putting your kit together yourself, ask your parents or grandparents if they have some mismatched cutlery lying around their place that you could take off their hands.
Some larger kits also include:
Shampoo/Conditioner bar with reusable travel tin
Travel mug/tumbler
Stainless steel lunch box/food container
Dryer balls (to use instead of fabric softener or dryer sheets)
So How do I Make it a Habit?
Once I had my sustainability basics I found I never had the items when I needed them. I’d forget my essentials at home, in my car, at my mom’s. Worst of all, I’d use them and then they weren’t clean when I inevitably needed them the next day. Sometimes buying more is an option, but sometimes it’s just a matter of self-discipline and adding it into your routine.
So here are 5 easy tips to help create a habit of using those reusable items that you probably paid good money for:
1. Read reviews BEFORE you buy
Not all zero waste products are created equal. Ask friends for their recommendations and reviews (good and bad) to determine which products will work best for your lifestyle. It’s best to avoid buying or hoarding products you won’t use.
2. Make the items visible
Don't hide them away in a drawer or closet where you'll forget about them. Put them on display or keep them in a clear container where you can easily see them. For all the reusable grocery bags you constantly forget - keep them in the front seat of your car so you see them when you’re heading into the store.
3. Make it easy and accessible
Keep items such as to-go containers, reusable mugs, reusable straws, and reusable grocery bags with whatever you take out the door with you every day - your car keys, backpack, purse, or bike pouch. I wear a large over the shoulder satchel bag so even if I forget a bag I can still get a handful of items if I’m out shopping.
4. Find out which sizes work best
Some reusable containers just sit in your pantry because they don’t fit anything useful. Make sure you buy the right size. Don’t get a combo pack if you know you won’t use half of them. It’s not a good deal if you won’t use it.
5. Don't forget to use up what you already have
That's part of being sustainable! If you’re hoarding old plastic take-out straws in your drawer, use them up first and make sure you ask for no straw the next time you head through the drive-thru so you don’t keep stashing them.
If you’ve tried to use your sustainability kit but you just aren’t using all the items you’ve purchased, give those tools to a friend who will. Or put them up on a trading app, I recommend Bunz!
Bonus tips:
Keep a ceramic or to-go mug at work. If you can wash it at work, excellent! If not - switch it out as soon as you get home so it’s ready for the next morning.
If you’re a tea drinker like me, and your workplace has a kettle, keep a tea infuser and loose leaf tea at work.
If you pack a lunch, try keeping your utensils in the bag. Again it’s easiest if you can wash them at work but if you can’t, make it your routine to wash everything as soon as you get home and put clean items right back into the bag.
Keep a cloth napkin in your lunch kit - save some trees!
Changing habits and routines won’t happen overnight. So take it easy on yourself and don’t try to change everything all at once. Make it a priority to incorporate one item at a time - once you’ve been successful, add another.
Is there one item or aspect of your life that you just can't seem to find a sustainable solution for? Please share; it may just be the topic of my next article!
