Going Zero Waste During Lockdown

For anyone looking to start their zero waste journey during the current pandemic, I applaud you. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that many of the systems that we rely on daily can fail us, potentially leading us to feel less in control than we had previously thought. With borders closing, you may have noticed your favourite products going out of stock overnight, which upon reflection, may have forced you to become more aware of where your food comes from in the first place.

You may have even wondered what else would change as certain sectors shut down. For instance, what would happen if there wasn’t someone that collected your rubbish each week? I myself started to see rubbish start to pile up outside our house, waiting for the tip to reopen. The fact that it was now much more difficult to get rid of, made us really consider whether or not the items could be of use to anyone. We live in an age where sites like freecycle exist solely for this purpose, yet our initial plan was to simply throw our old furniture out. This highlighted another troubling fact that perhaps we are sometimes too quick to throw something aside once it has served our purpose. I believe this is something that most, if not all of us are guilty of.

Living Zero Waste

Living zero waste teaches us to look after our belongings, to truly respect the sacrifices that were made for the food that we eat. With Amazon delivering just about anything we want to our door and supermarkets offering anything we want throughout the year, it is easy to see why this lockdown has taken us by surprise. We have become disconnected from our environment and reliant on a system to provide for us.

Although it would be too easy to carry on as normal once lockdown is over, I often think of the pandemic as a warning from mother nature. If it wasn’t enough that the human race chooses to put its desires before the needs of the planet and all of the species that inhabit it, we are also seeing our own actions directly threatening our own lives as well. Reading articles about our mission to colonise mars reeks of a race that is once again, quick to throw something aside rather than rebuilding from the debris of our own mistakes.

Positive Environmental Change

This article isn’t supposed to be all doom and gloom, but sometimes it takes these moments of darkness to really reflect and discover who we truly are. I believe that we are capable of changing the world for the better, for all of earth’s inhabitants. If we are struggling to believe that this change will come from our governments or larger corporations, then we, ourselves must be the change that we wish to see.

Any positive environmental action that you take today does have an effect. Whether you have started to incorporate more vegan food into your diet or even if you have bought yourself a reusable water bottle, everyone can make a difference. There will always be resistance to substantial changes in the world, but as more people begin to make these changes, other like-minded people will take notice, and together we can focus on fixing things on planet earth before we search for home amongst the stars.

Our online zero waste course is packed full of tips to help you along the way, but don’t forget to talk to your friends and family and see if you can learn anything from those that are further along in their journey.