Preparing for the Zero Waste Journey

With this post, I'd like to deliver on my promise to tell you more about my preparations for going zero waste. As I told you before, I didn't try to stop producing waste from one day to another. It was a rather slow process that started when I stopped using paper cups. This first step made me think about other areas in my life where I could try to reduce plastic and single-use items. Actually it wasn't hard at all to come up with occasions when I used those kind of items instead of long lasting and/or eco-friendly ones. And since the whole process of changing my lifestyle and behavior feels a lot like a journey (First, one plans to do it, then one starts with preparations and finally makes the journey...), I'd like to tell you more about my first en-route stops.

First Stop: Bathroom 

I actually felt like a rather responsible consumer looking at the stuff, you could find in my bathroom during the last 3 to 5 years. I was buying mainly natural cosmetics and sometimes trying to support social causes when buying another box of body butter. Even so, I had to admit that a lot of plastic was surrounding me while taking a shower, brushing my teeth or putting make up on. I could tell you now, that it was such a revelation when I first bought a solid shampoo bar at that well-known British cosmetics store but genuinely, I didn't become aware of the amount of plastic waste I was causing until some years later. Back then, I was just curious about the unconventional form of the shampoo...

I'd say, I started my conscious preparations for becoming waste free in the bathroom when I made my own deodorant for the first time. Thanks to my former flat mate Susanne who knows a lot about plants and their effects on the human body, I started to search for plant-based solutions when getting a cold and similar problems... like body odor ;). Like that, I discovered smarticular.net, a German platform discussing topics from making your own cosmetics to planting tomatoes in toilet paper rolls. When I found this super easy recipe to make natural deodorant there, I had officially run out of excuses (Sorry, it's in German. You can find an English recipe here.):

Some more changes followed shortly after. For example, I bought a toothbrush made from bamboo, started to use toothy tabs (a solid version of tooth paste) and eventually started to wash my hair with rye flour. That's right, I use flour as shampoo. That's how crazy I've become... And I'll tell you more about my crazy bathroom routine and the items that are part of it in a separate post.

Next Stop: Conscious Grocery Shopping

Stepping out of my bathroom into the kitchen and the rest of the world, I found lots of opportunities to adjust my habits in order to produce less waste. One of the biggest opportunities for me lies within grocery shopping. I have become a quite conscious grocery shopper, ever since I committed to the zero waste journey.

Remember how I told you about my struggle with the veggie delivery that came neatly packed up in plastic bags during my first days in Leipzig? By now, I have found a really nice solution to it: going to the farmer's market. (I can literally hear you say "duh" while writing this. I know, this was rather obvious but sometimes one misses the wood for the trees.) I was checking for another vegetables delivery service, we could subscribe for and found Hundert Morgen Land. A friend had told me that their food is delivered in paper bags, they reuse which would have fitted our plans perfectly.

However, the main advantage for us of vegetables being delivered by car to our doorstep would have been the subscription. We wouldn't have to care about buying veggies anymore but would have used what we got. Since Hunder Morgen Land does not offer such a description, we had to think about something else and finally remembered the farmer's market.
So, long story short: I'm taking my cotton bags, jars and backpack to the market on Tuesday and/or Friday. My favorite stand "Frau Müller" sells regional produce and there are at least two cheese stalls that gladly put the unwrapped cheese into my box.

 This is the result of last week's visit:

Future Stops: Soy Products, Snacks and Sweets, Repairing Clothes...

Even if I make it sound rather easy to change one's habits and live the zero waste life, there are always struggles.
One issue, for example, are soy products like tofu or soy milk which I can't even buy at the zero-packaging store Einfach Unverpackt here in Leipzig. All the wholefood stores, I've visited so far only offered plastic-wrapped tofu and grain milk. Probably due to the fact that lightweight packaging might have a lower impact on the environment than heavy glass bottles and containers. Nonetheless, I'm quite sure that I will find a solution for this as well.
Also, I have kind of a hard time when trying to find the sweets and snacks, I like without packaging. The zero-packaging store does offer some treats but I haven't been convinced so far. As a matter of fact, I would be not too hard to make my own sweets since I enjoy baking, too. Maybe I'll share some of my zero waste baking adventures in another blog post in the future.
I may know how to bake and cook somehow but I never really learned to sow or darn. But I'm convinced that I could save a lot of my clothes from the garbage can if I could simply repair them when they get holes or get ripped. I try to be patient concerning this issue because there are a lot of possibilities to solve it in Leipzig like repair cafés. I just didn't have the time to visit one yet.

All in all, it might have become clear that going zero waste also includes making a lot of stuff yourself instead of buying the processed product. Personally, I enjoy these kind of things but I can relate to those who just can't find the time to do it.

Thanks a lot for sticking with us, here at the Sustainery! I hope you enjoyed the read...

Looking forward to your comments, questions and feedback,

Hanna