Plastic Free/Zero Waste Challenge - This Week is Going to be... Interesting

If you’ve been following along with my articles, you’ve seen the multitude of posts that explore the zero waste lifestyle. Zero waste is a way of life where an individual strives to produce no waste (ie. send nothing to a landfill). Many people call this living plastic free since single use plastic items are one of the biggest culprits! I’ve posted many Product Spotlights featuring sustainable product alternatives and also reviews of the Zero Waste information on Lauren Singer’s blog, Trash is for Tossers… and over the course of my research, I stumbled across a really cool idea.

This challenge forces an individual to live the ultimate plastic free lifestyle for a limited period of time.

Usually people who are interested in incorporating zero waste lifestyle choices/habits do so gradually. It’s near impossible to change your entire life and ingrained habits overnight! So people begin with making smarter purchases, using cloth bags, choosing a reusable water bottle over plastic, etc…

But this challenge goes from 0 to 100 real quick. For a limited period of time (a day, a week, a month), you are not allowed to use plastic or throw anything away. You can compost and you can still recycle (glass, aluminum, etc), but the goal is to eliminate the need for a trash can.

The point of this challenge is to raise awareness and open your eyes - you will be able to see how much plastic you use and how much waste you produce daily. Then, at the end of the challenge, you will have a greater understanding of areas in your life that you can/need/ or want to change.

This challenge will help me really kickstart my zero waste lifestyle and redefine my goals. I shouldn’t just sit and research more sustainable choices… I should take action!

So I’ve decided I’m going to give this challenge a try for the next week - starting Sunday September 10th and ending Sunday September 17th! At the end of each day I will post an update on my progress!