The Family's Guide to a Less Waste Lifestyle

Ever felt weighed down by the thought of going zero waste with a house full of kids? I'm Sheila, your eco-ally and guide through the maze of sustainable living, and I promise that integrating eco-friendly habits into your hectic family life is not only possible—it can be a fun adventure for everyone involved! On today's episode, I'm drawing from my own trials and triumphs as a mom and entrepreneur to offer you simple, impactful strategies for reducing waste that won't leave you in a panic. 

Join me as we explore the art of starting small with changes like swapping to stainless steel straws and cloth napkins, and gradually building up to bigger shifts like meal planning and batch cooking to cut down on waste. I'm sharing insider tips from my own journey, like bringing your own containers for restaurant leftovers and choosing glass over plastic at the supermarket. This heart-to-heart is brimming with encouragement and practical advice, perfect for anyone looking to tread more lightly on the planet while embracing the beautiful imperfections of family life. Let's create a ripple effect of positive change together, one stainless steel water bottle at a time!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello everybody and welcome to Zero Waste Imperfectly, the show that talks about all things zero waste with kids. I'm your host, sheila. I'm the owner of Life Essentials Refillery and the mother of three girls, and so I had someone ask me how do you fit a less waste lifestyle into what is already a very full life? And it's a question a lot of people have, and they often wonder like it must be impossible to do this. But the reality is is that it shouldn't be much more work? It is what you put into it.

Speaker 1: 0:30

So the biggest thing is don't plunge feed first in and say I am going to switch everything in my life over to be plastic-free. I'm going to cook everything, I'm going to grow my vegetables. I'm never going to have anything plastic in my life again. It's too much. You will feel overwhelmed, you will burn out and it's way too much. So start small. Do little things Like say you know what, instead of buying plastic straws, we're getting stainless steel straws for the family. Or instead of using paper napkins, we're going to buy cloth napkins. Sure, you have to wash them, but you're already doing laundry, so you just toss them in with it. Start small. Maybe buy a bidet and reduce your paper consumption. There's so many little things that you can do that are not going to make you feel overwhelmed. And then, little by little, as family has adapted the changes, you add on more and you involve your family, have them give their input, because it goes so much more smoothly when you have buy-in from everyone that's involved, if you have. For us, laundry detergent was a big thing. Our family did not want to do laundry as much if it was going to be a liquid or a powder, so we used drops, because that is what works for our family. And, yes, we are still using the film on the tabs, but it encourages people to do laundry, because if they had to do the liquid, they would not. So it's baby steps and you can't be hard on yourself. If you make a change or it's not perfect, it's okay. It's about taking a step forward and if you're listening to this podcast, you're already taking steps forward. So kudos to you and just keep moving forward.

Speaker 1: 1:59

So another thing you can do aside from doing small things one at a time ahead. So less waste does require some planning if you want to have a bigger impact. So meal planning is a big thing batch cooking, reusable essentials. So instead of getting a water bottle and throwing it away every time, a plastic one you do have to wash the water bottle and make sure there's no funk growing in it, and chase after kids to clean their water bottle on a regular basis. So things like that. They may take some effort, but they're going to become so habitual to you that after doing it for a few weeks you won't even realize it anymore. And buying plastic water bottles takes effort too. You have to go to the store, you have to lug them around so it's not always perfect either and your water gets warm in the car. With a stainless steel bottle, you don't have that problem. So plan ahead.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Meal planning that's a big one. So if you have the time, you have the patience, try that. And if you're not a meal planner and you're eating out person all the time, instead of taking the plastic throwaway containers from the store for your leftovers, bring your container with you. You can keep a stash of them in the trunk and then, whenever you go out to dinner, just bring it inside and put your leftovers in there. So that's another small thing you can do. And just in general, just look for eco-conscious, eco-friendly options that you can substitute for what you already have in your house.

Speaker 1: 3:12

So let's say you're going to the grocery store and you see one item that you want. They have a glass container or a plastic container. Let's say you're buying spices. Just opt for the glass container. It's so much better. And even if you don't have a refillery in your area, you can probably find another purpose for the glass container and you didn't buy plastic. So easy things.

Speaker 1: 3:29

So just try small, small steps. Just reduce your waste and be mindful about what you're doing and involve the family. If it's fun, you're going to get so much more buy-in. If it's a chore, no one's going to do it. So start small. Find people that are like-minded. It makes it a lot easier. It makes it more fun. But yes, I know our lives are full, but this is a small thing that we can implement. That will eventually seamlessly integrate into everything that you are doing and you won't even realize you're doing it anymore. So when customers come in and say, what are you doing? That zero waste, I mean it takes me a minute to think about it because we've been doing it so long though we are definitely not perfect but the small things that we have done we don't even recognize anymore because we've been doing them so long. So I would love to hear from you what have you done in your family to embrace a less waste lifestyle? Was it hard? Was it easy? Did you get buy-in? Is it half-half? I'd love to hear from