Is “Zero Waste” Even Real?
For me, living zero waste means trying to create as little waste (and that includes recycling) as possible. Refusing single-use items, avoiding plastic, reducing what I purchase, and choosing items that are well made and designed to last.
For bigger, one-off purchases I try to find what I want second-hand.
For the regular, consumable things that I purchase week-to-week (think groceries, personal care products, cleaning products), I try to buy unpackaged. This means unpackaged fruit and veg from the grocer, bringing my own containers to the deli and a reusable bag to the bakery, and my own jars or reusable produce bags to the bulk store.
This way I can buy what I need without bringing home any unnecessary packaging. It means I’m not sending anything from my weekly shop to landfill: everything I purchase, I consume.
Zero waste. At least at my end.
Or is it?
What Does Zero Waste Actually Mean?
Zero waste is both a lifestyle choice and an industrial design term. Whilst they both have the same philosophy – elimination of waste to landfill / incineration – what that looks like in practical terms is a little different.
Zero waste needs to be a whole systems approach, looking at production of goods in terms of systems and design. It looks at everything, from the materials selected, how they are sourced, how they are processed, how they are transported, how they are used, and how they are re-used.
For zero waste, products need to be created in a way that allows them to be reused, not disposed of. This is the idea of the circular economy.
The circular economy is the goal, but it is not the reality. Yet.
Zero waste as a lifestyle is all about what we can do as individuals. Typically, we aren’t designing our own products. We are the end users. Our power is in choosing the most ethical, sustainable options that we can when we need to make purchases.
Supporting the companies doing the right thing, and boycotting those that do not.
These options aren’t always perfect. But they are better.
So when I say that my weekly shop is zero waste, I mean that none of the products I purchased came in single-use packaging. There is nothing going to landfill. I didn’t create any packaging waste in the process.
That’s not to say that there was no waste anywhere in the process.
That’s not to say the farmers didn’t use plastic when growing, harvesting or packing their crops.
That’s not to say suppliers didn’t use plastic to transport their goods.
There will likely be waste somewhere (and possibly, in many places) in the production and distribution of these goods.
But reducing waste at the end point – the point where we, as concerned citizens and empowered communities, can vote with our dollars about the kind of world we wish to see – that’s a start.
It’s an important start.
The zero waste movement is about doing what we can. A step in the right direction is better than no steps.
How can we take the second step without taking the first?
Zero Waste Progress Comes Before Zero Waste Perfection
It makes me sad that people sometimes dismiss the zero waste movement because they want to see perfection. They cannot see the value in zero waste progress.
Why does it have to be all-or-nothing?
I purchase my groceries packaging free from The Source Bulk Foods, an Australian bulk store which encourages shoppers to bring their own containers and refuse packaging. I describe this way of shopping as zero waste.
More than once, some cheerful soul has popped up in a comment to inform me that it isn’t zero waste because there will be waste created upstream.
I don’t dispute this statement.
I just think it’s the wrong place to be focusing.
I know that, prior to my 2012 plastic “epiphany”, I would go to the supermarket and buy all my groceries packaged in plastic.
I would buy individual pots of yoghurt, and “fun size” chocolate bars, and single serve drinks, and pre-wrapped cereal bars.
Occasionally I would go to the bulk store for spices, and when I did I would take a fresh plastic bag off the shelf, and buy my two teaspoons of spice using that bag.
{Cringe.}
I don’t shop this way any more, and I haven’t since 2012. Bulk stores are what enabled me (and countless others) to change this. They provided a solution by making package-free groceries accessible. Without them, avoiding single-use packaging would be much harder.
I’d like to tell you that the bulk stores receive all their bulk goods in reusable, returnable containers. I’d like to tell you that they don’t generate any waste. But that’s not the case.
Yet.
I mentioned the circular economy earlier. As I said, we’re not there yet. Bulk stores are enabling us (the grocery shoppers) to purchase without waste. They create waste so we don’t have to (and create far less than if each of us purchased these same products in packaging week after week).
Less, but not zero.
Bulk stores now need to work with their suppliers to find ways of receiving goods without single-use packaging.
The good news is, that’s beginning to happen.
As more and more of us support bulk stores, and demand for this kind of shopping grows, there’s more incentive for (and more gentle pressure on) bulk stores to start the conversations and take that next step.
If demand is there, it will begin to happen more and more.
We take the first step, and they take the next step.
Moving towards a more sustainable future with a circular economy and true zero waste.
That’s the future. Maybe the near future, but maybe not. In the meantime, I’ll continue to play my part and support these businesses choosing the better option. Yes, I’ll buy my groceries packaging-free, and I’ll say my shopping is zero waste.
Even though I know that bulk stores do create waste. Suppliers create waste. Farmers create waste.
Am I saying that zero waste isn’t real? If we’re talking about it on a technical level on an economic scale, in terms of definitions and what-not, then it would be fair to say that zero waste isn’t real.
But I don’t want to talk about it like that, because I don’t think about it like that. For me, the meaning of zero waste isn’t how it’s characterized in dictionaries or interpreted by textbooks.
For me, zero waste is about values, ideals and beliefs. It’s a guiding principle for the choices I make. Choices that help create a better, fairer, more sustainable future for people and the planet.
Whether or not it technically exists, zero waste is very real.
Let’s not get bogged down in the minutiae. Technical details don’t matter. What matters is that we do our imperfect best, support those companies taking the next step where we can, and champion better solutions where we see them.
Small steps, in the right direction, together.
Whether we believe in zero waste or not, we all have a part to play. Waste is something we all have control over, and can do something about. So let’s do something about it.
Now I’d love to hear from you! What does zero waste mean to you? Do you use the term yourself, or steer well clear, and why? Has your understanding and perception of zero waste changed over time? In a good way, or a not so good way? Anything else to add? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Lindsay, you’re a champ. Thank you for all your hard work.
Ah thanks Rebekah! :)
I’m a bit iffy on the whole ‘should the whole zero waste label exist?’ conversation going on. Like you said, it’s important to understand both your consumption and how that manifests itself further up the supply chain – but whether you consider it ZW or not, you’re part of affecting real change, which is the important part!
I hear you Polly, it’s sad to think we even need to spend energy having this debate! People doing good stuff and reducing their footprint, what’s even to question?! :)
Genius!!! I love your attitude and outlook SO much, you speak my soul regarding the big picture/systemic circular approach and that some progress is better than no progress. Extraordinary job representing what is, in my opinion, the most effective way to share the movement with humanity.
Thank you!!!
Jen Webster
Lowerimpactlifestyle@gmail.com
Thanks Jen for your lovely comment :) Exactly, some progress is better than no progress!
So true. I work in e-learning at FAO and I just worked on a course about food loss and waste. Our course was specifically looking at losses through the food supply chain up to but not including the consumer. So it makes sense to me to see food loss the same way – you can intervene to make changes at different points. These issues are too complex to simply assume that if you can’t affect the entire supply chain in one action then the change is worthless. We have to have multiple entry points and changes to redesign the whole system!
Oh agreed Cleona, these issues are very complex! And we need change at multiple points – and yes, to redesign the systems. But that is totally overwhelming for most people, and encouraging the change of personal choices is a great simplified way of helping individuals do what they can. It’s not to say the issues aren’t complex. But we all have a part to play!
Great post Lindsay! You are right. We cannot change the world in one go. It has to start within us. You are so inspiring!
This is an inspiring blog and what Surya mentions here now is of course the crux of the matter. How can we be zero waste if our thinking is “polluted”. What we see in the outer world,e.g pollution,is happening on the conscious level of humanity(each of us) internally. If we become “cleaner” inside zero waste is more in reach,step by step!This blog is excellent it inspires me and reminds me ,lifts my spirit to believe,to trust even that change in the right direction is possible: from the inside out .on all levels. Also the material waste.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Ellen :) From the inside, out – agreed!
Thank you Surya! :)
Worth thinking about as always, Lindsay! Yes, people make perfection a reason not to start but I often tell myself “progress over perfection” is what really makes a difference. Any progress that happened in different issues was never perfect but we look back at them as milestones that led to real change. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Daisy :) Love your insights. We can’t make progress if we don’t do anything, and better to do something imperfect than nothing at all :)
to quote a well known (though not necessarily much loved!) supermarket – Every Little Helps
Indeed Christine – steps in the right direction :)
Hi Lindsay,
I have often thought of this scenario, buying zero waste out the front of the shop, while the back of the shop deals with/or doesn’t deal with, the non recyclable rubbish. But something is better than nothing, right? If we all just keep doing what we can and educate other people where we can, surely it’s better than doing nothing. I try really hard to keep single use plastic down to a minimum, recycle like an Olympian, buy zero waste where I can but always need to think of my budget. Let’s just be kind to ourselves and say, do the very best you can in the moment. Fi
Love this article Lindsay. There is a lot of pressure to have all the answers when you disagree with a current cultural behaviour, but I’m a firm believer that questioning the status quo is the best way to create and sustain change movements.It gets people to think critically! It’s easy to dismiss the zero waste movement because it’s goal is lofty, but bringing awareness to the masses is the only way to get government and corporate response, which is just as important as all of our little everyday efforts!
Hi Lindsay,
Great article and agree with your thinking and philosophy.
I agree also we need to move away from the “zero waste” nomenclature (what, you ate exactly 100% of the goods you bought and pooped out none of it??) and enter the circular economy realm.
Circular economy is the natural progression of this logical argument. Many “wastes” are actually inputs to the next stage of a cycle. A healthy virtuous and permanently repeatable cycle is what we are after.
Ideally the cycle approaches net zero energy waste also – but for now I can live with it being powered by true renewable energy.
Even more ideally the cycle increases its waste consumption to improve what was given – eg. Replenishing soil to a higher quality after being used than before.
These are all things explored in The Sixth Wave book by Moody and Nogrady, which is a great read.
Death to waste, long live the circular economy!
Cheers,
York
This is an excellent article! We take every step we can toward Zero Waste, but I am fully aware that waste is made somewhere along the line, if not in my home, then in the manufacturing. When I buy second hand clothing, I have no guarantee there was no waste in the original process. And, if someone doesn’t buy first-hand, then I can’t buy second hand! This article puts into words all I have thought since I began my Zero Waste journey in 2015. Thank you!
Hi Lindsay,
I have taken up the challenge to be plastic free this July, your articles about your journey to living plastic free is an inspiration.i would like to thank you for all the information that you are sharing, it will make mine and others transition so much easier. You have done all the hard research and your journey would have been difficult as we are creatures of habit.
I am sixty four years and during the past year have changed to WFPB which has helped me greatly. It has also made me think about a lot of that’s that I could have done different in the past. I would like to be part of, even if it’s in a small way towards leaving our Planet in a healthier condition, especially for my grandson and future generations. Lindsay you have made my transition so so much easier. I probably will never get to Zero Waste but I am happy to do my bit. Regards Eva
I like the term “zero waste” as aspirational! It’s a lovely ideal that we all share and it’s our hope for the future. We are technically low waste and package free and all that good jazz, but I agree that the word zero waste tells the bulk stores and manufacturers and producers what we are aiming for. We want to send them a clear message of what we as consumers are hoping for and where we would like to spend our dollars. Less waste = more of our money!
Thank you so much for your blog. I am writing for a 3 bottom line cosmetics company and we want to say “Zero Waste” but we know that is not honest. The best I can come up with is “Constantly striving for Zero Waste and achieving as minimal waste as possible” Can you help me with any term you feel are honest in advertising a company? Thank you – Maria
Good job
I really like this post. It isn’t about perfection! We as consumers need to be purchasing products so that we can create zero/less waste. Eventually, more and more people will and maybe the producers will find ways to contribute to the less waste movement too.
Hi Lindsay, Zero Waste is a way for me to take action and reduce the voice of overwhelm that tells me ‘I’m one person, what can I do?’ It started small with reducing plastic packaging and now I consider waste in almost all my purchasing decisions. Yesterday, I bought a rangehood for our kitchen off Gumtree – the old me wouldn’t have thought twice about buying it new. And likely ordering online and having it delivered (cringe!). I used to do a lot of online shopping. Now purchasing local and second hand is a big focus. And this change in my purchasing decisions has led to so much more. I’m now engaged with our local Shire and climate change network. And volunteer for Zero Waste Victoria. So, while I cannot be zero waste yet – I still buy have plastic packaged foods in my kitchen. Zero Waste has helped me see our world, manufacturing, individual consumption needs to change and I can do my part to help drive that. And people like you help me to keep going. xc