Alongside sustainable trends such as organic and natural, the zero-waste movement is also making waves. But what exactly is zero waste? Can we really be 100% zero waste? Let's take a look at a topic that's generating a lot of buzz.
What does zero waste mean?
Packaging, electrical appliances, old clothes - the planet is overflowing with waste of all kinds. This poses serious environmental problems.
Zero waste is an approach that involves reducing waste production as much as possible to help the planet breathe easier. This new lifestyle responds to societies that are increasingly aware of the environmental cause and over-consumption. They want to consume differently, and in a more sustainable way.
Zero waste is based on five rules known as the 5Rs:
- Refuse: Refuse all useless things that will end up in the garbage can.
- Reduce: Adopt a more minimalist lifestyle by buying only the bare essentials. Buy less but better.
- Reuse: Giving a second life to our objects by repairing them or giving them another function.
- Recycle: If you can't refuse, repair or reuse an item, then recycle it.
- Giving back to the earth: Compost our organic waste to make fertilizer and use it in our garden, for example.
The movement
"The best waste is the waste we don't produce. That's the motto of the zero-waste lifestyle, which has more and more followers.
And it was Bea Johnson, a Frenchwoman living in the USA with a passion for minimalism, who made this lifestyle famous to the general public in 2008. She even wrote a book about it, "Zero Waste", which was a runaway success. Since then, the movement has come a long way. More and more people are adopting it, refocusing on the essentials while fighting environmental pollution. Like taking a step back in time the ecological and minimalist reflexes of our parents and grandparents.
Producing zero waste is impossible, if only because of all the detritus generated in the production of an object before it reaches our homes. But it's a goal we can get closer to.
Every gesture counts and each of us can contribute to preserving the planet. So talk about zero waste around you (family, friends, colleagues) and share this article on social networks.
