Start Your Green Living Journey With These 5 Zero-Waste Living Ideas

There is no doubt that we have a waste problem. The amount of things we throw away is staggering.

According to Waste Direct, we have produced 215 million tonnes of waste in 2024 in the UK alone, 15% of which has come from households. The average person in the UK has generated 1.3 million tonnes of waste that year.

And while 46% of waste was recycled, this is mostly down to materials like paper and cardboard, metal, glass, and garden waste. Only 10% of plastic waste was recycled.

Waste has an environmental impact, and not just when it’s littered in our environment. Waste in landfill is responsible for soil pollution, air pollution, underground water pollution, odour pollution, and marine pollution. (Siddiqua et al., 2022)

So clearly, reducing waste is vital, if we want to solve this issue. Of course, industries and businesses have to tackle the problem, given that their contirbution to waste is highest. But we as individuals also need to do our bit.

That’s why I’m sharing 5 zero-waste living ideas to help you get started and make a difference.

1. Tackle Food Waste

According to WRAP’s latest data, 10.2 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK per year. 58% of this waste comes from households.

A quarter of food that is bought by households to eat is thrown away. That’s a massive amount if you think about it. Not only does this waste money, but it’s also bad news for the environment.

Farmers use a lot of precious resources to produce our food. So when we throw food away uneaten, we waste these resources. Accroding to the UN’s Food And Agriculture Organization, food waste is respsonible for a thrid of all greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans.

These are things you can do to reduce food waste in your home…

Only Buy What You Need

How often do you buy things that aren’t on your list of things you need? We all do it. Supermarkets are designed to encourgage us to do so, after all. But when we buy things we don’t actually need, the chance of them getting thrown away uneaten are higher.

To avoid this it’s vital to make a list of the things you need beforehand, and then stick to it. This can be difficult, I know, but if you manage it, you can prevent food from being wasted and save money.

If you struggle with this, consider ordering online. We have changed to online grocery shopping for that reason, and because it saves time too. When you shop online, you only look for the things you need.

While there might be items coming up in the search results classed as “sponsored” (i.e. ads), it’s much easier to ignore them than if you are standing in front of a shelf in the supermarket.

Meal Planning Helps Reduce Food Waste

To make this work though, you also have to plan your meals. If you just buy ingredients and make up the meals during the week, the likelihood that some remain unused and go off is much higher.

We plan breakfasts, lunches, and evening meals every week, so we know exactely what we need. It might take a bit longer when you do the shopping, because you also have to come up with meals, but during the week, it saves time.

All we have to do is decide which meal we fancy that day. Curcially, it also allows us to see what ingredients we won’t use up that week.

Leftover Meals Save On Waste And Money

This allows us to come up with, what I call, leftover meals. They are my own creations from ingredients we have leftover.

Being a houseshold of two means that often the package sizes of many ingredients are too big for us. Let’s say we have half a tin of kidney beans, half a pack of spinach, and half a cucumber left.

Get some tomatoes, throw everything together with a simple dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper, and you have an easy and nutritious salad as a lunch for two.

I love to experiment in the kitchen, and these leftover meals are the perfect opportunity to do so. At the same time, I save waste and money.

Don’t Peel What Doesn’t Need Peeling

Many people peel vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, and potatoes. But did you know that not only can you eat the peels they actually contain many of the nutrients?

For example, potato peels contain a high amount of dietary fibre, minerals, and protein. (Vescovo et al., 2025) It’s a similar story with other vegetables too.

So not only do you produce waste by peeling them, you also miss out on vital nutrients. And if you have to peel them, use the peel to make crisps.

While I don’t tend to peel anything that doesn’t need it, there are instances where I do. For example, my husband insists that potaoes have to be peeld if you make roast potatoes. But rather than wasting the peel, we make potato crisps:

• Mix the peel with some oil, salt and pepper in a bowl until they are well coated
• Distribute them on a backing tray in a single layer
• Bake in the oven at 190°C/gas mark 5 for 15-30 minutes until golden brown and crispy
• Keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly

You can do the same with carrot or parsnip peel, or even with leftover veggies.

And did you know that you can eat the stem of a broccoli head? It’s very nutritious and really tasty. Cut off the outer layer, slice the stem and cook with the broccoli. Alternatively, freeze and add to sauces for extra texture, taste, and nutrients.

Preserve What You Can’t Use

Preserving is an old tradition that many of us have forgotten. But it’s an important weapon in the fight against food waste. Here are some methods we use on a regular basis:

• Freezing – whether it’s raw meat or fish, cooked meals, herbs, or certain vegetables and fruits, freezing is a way of preserving food for a later date
• Pickling – pickled vegetables can be used in sandwiches, salads, as a side with meats and fish, burgers or hotdogs, and can be made from many bought veggies, such as carrots, beetroots, cucumbers, and many more
• Drying – vegetables, fruits, and herbs can be dried in the oven, or a dehydrator to be stored for later use; even meat can be dried, but this requires serious equipment
• Fermenting – my favourite way to preserve leftover vegetables is to make kimichi, a korean method of fermentation, that can be made with carrots, cabbage, pak choi, beetroot, and much more
• Jams & Chutneys – fruits and vegetables can be turned into delicious jams and chutneys that can be used on bread, in sandwiches, with cheese, meat, or curries

Using these ways of preserving foods has allowed us to minimise food waste in our home by a huge amount. Even if you’re a complete novice to preserving, give it a go, you won’t regret it.

Food Waste Bins & Composting

If your local council collects food waste, make sure you use it. Although if you have followed the previous steps, you shouldn’t have much food to put in these bins.

Another way to stop uncooked food from being wasted is to compost it. This works with plant material, such as peels, cores, ends of vegetables, etc. If you have a garden, especially a sustainable garden, a compost bin should be a no-brainer.

You prevent waste while creating nutrient-rich soil for your plants to thrive. If you don’t have a garden and your council doesn’t collect food waste, you can turn your kitchen scraps into homemade liquid fertiliser for your house plants.

It’s very simple:

• Put the kitchen scraps, such as peels, cores, ends, into a bucket – you want it half full
• Add water until the bucket is full
• Cover with a lid and leave for 7 to 10 days (it will start smelling, so somewhere out of the way is ideal)
• Strain into bottles and store in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight
• To use: dilute the fertiliser at a ratio of 1:10 and water you house plants with the solution

If you have too much, why not share it with friends, family, or neighbours. While you still have to throw away the used kitchen scraps, at least you have extracted vital nutrients and reduced the environmental impact.

2. Ditch Single-Use & Disposable Items

One large source of waste are single-use and disposable items, such as most packaging, balloons, wipes, cling-film, kitchen roll, tin foil, cotton buds, cotton pads, etc.

Single-use plastics are especially bad, because not only do they create a lot of waste, but are also made from fossil fuels, many aren’t recyclable, and they are harmful to our environment, because they leak toxic chemcials and microplastics as they break down.

And about two-thirds of plastic has a short life, which means it’s either single-use or is used less than a month. (Panda et al., 2009) So ditching those items will have a big impact in reducing waste.

Here are some zero-waste living ideas to cut down on these harmful waste producers…

Switch To Reusable Items

With convenience the top priority in our society, disposable and sintgle-use items have become staples in many homes. Wether it’s kitchen roll, cling film, cleaning sponges, and similar in the kitchen, or cleaning wipes, cotton buds, makeup tools, face maks, and similar in the bathroom.

So here are some swaps you can make to move away from disposable and single-use items:

• Cling film/tin foil – switch to reusable silicone lids to cover food and/or beeswax wraps
• Kitchen roll – get reusable cleaning cloths made from cotton, or bamboo, or knit your own using cotton yarn
• Cleaning sponges – switch to compostable sponges or cotton cloths that can be washed and reused
• Cleaning wipes – ditch these in favour of reusable cleaning cloths and eco-friendly cleaners
• Plastic freezer bags – swap for reusable cotton produce bags
• Cotton buds – get reusable ear buds you can clean and use again and again
• Cotton pads – stop buying them and instead buy a set of reusable cotton rounds that can be washed
• Disposable makeup – instead get makeup where you can buy refills to reduce waste
• Single-use face masks – switch to reusable mask or cream masks
• Cleaning wipes – swap for natural cleanser and reusable cotton rounds
• Toothbrush heads – switch to recycable toothbrush heads that can be sent back for recycling
• Plastic toothbrushes – ditch those in favour of bamboo toothbrushes which can be composted
• Santiary pads/tampons – buy resusable ones that can be washed, santiary pants, or a period cup
• Razor cartridges – invest in a safety razor with metal blades, that can be recycled
• Plastic bottles – get a reusable water bottle to reduce waste from plastic bottles
• Disposable coffee cups – get in the habit of carrying a reusable coffee cup with you on the go
• Disposable/single-use plastic bags – switch to a reusable shopping bag, ideally from natural materials
• Disposable Batteries – ditch those and opt for rechargeable batteries

As you can see, a zero-waste lifestyle doesn’t mean giving up things. For many items that produce waste, you can find reusable alternatives. This list isn’t complete, but a good start.

Reduce Unnecessary Plastic Packaging

According to Business Waste, 40% of palstic waste in the UK is from packaging, such as sweet wrappers, crsip packets, water bottles, fruit punnets, etc. They are technically single-use plastics, because once you open the packaging, it’s no longer useful.

And while some plastic packaging can be recycled, much can’t.

Even the ones that can be recycled, will sooner rather than later end up in landfill, because plastic can only be recycled 2-3 times, before its quality is too low, according to the BBC Science Focus Magazine.

So we can’t recycle our way out of this plastic waste crisis. The only option is to reduce the amount of plastic waste we have. And one way to do this is to reduce unnecessary plastic packaging.

Here are some ways you can do this…

• Switch from liquid prodcuts to solid ones – examples are shampoo bars and conditioner, soap bars, solid body and hand cream, face wash bars, shaving soaps, toothtablets, etc., which tend to come in plastic-free packaging
• Opt for prodcts in plastic-free packaging – glass jars, aluminium tins, cardboard boxes are all better options than plastic
• Buy concentrated products – you can buy many products in concentrated form, where you add water to use them, such as cleaning products, which reduces waste
• Buy loose fruits and vegetables where possible – rather than being pre-packaged, you can put them in reusable produce bags when you shop
• Bulk buy non-perishable items – bigger packs use less packaging than smaller ones; for exmaple, one 2l bottle has less material than four 500ml bottles

You’ll be surprised by how much you can reduce your waste with these tips.

Consider Ditching Certain Items Completely

There are many swaps you can make to achieve zero-waste. But there are some things that are best ditched alltogehter. That’s because there aren’t any zero-waste alternatives, or they aren’t really necessary.

Some of the things you might want to consider to stop buying are:

• Balloons – I get they are fun for kids, but they can only be used once, are made of plastic, and are often littered in the environment
• Glitter – it might be a nice decoration, but it gets everywhere, is made of plastic, and ends up in our environment
• Wrapping paper – while you can get sustaianble wrapping paper that can be recycled, it’s a waste of money and resources – so as not to spoil the surprise, especially for kids, you can wrap presents with filler paper you get with your delivers (you can decorate it), put them in reusable cloth bags, or a delivery box
• Fireworks – not only do they have a huge environmental impact due to pollution, but the noise also impacts on wildlife, pets, and older people living alone
• Wipes of all kinds – yes they are very useful, but they are also responsible for a huge amount of waste

3. Repair & Reuse

Our consumerist society is designed so that we replace items, rather than repair them. But this creates a lot of waste. Zero-waste living must include repairing whatever you can.

We have lost this skill, but it’s worth getting it back, because it doesn’t just reduce waste, but also saves money.

Mending clothes was once a staple skill all women and some men had. Now, most of us would struggle to sew on a button, leave alone darn a sock.

I’ve been mending my husband’s and my clothes for years, and while at first it didn’t look the best, I got better, and now you can’t tell. This saved many clothes from being thrown away and we saved money because we didn’t have to buy a new garment.

My husband has repaired many things around the house, often by looking it up on YouTube to find out how to do it. You’ll be amazed how much in your home you can repair.

The only thing that is more difficult are electrical items. However, there are places you can get your electrical gadgets repaired. A quick internet search will show you a gadget repair shop near you.

And if something can’t be repaired, can it be rused for something else, or made into something else?

Making something new from an item that is no longer usable is a really rewarding experience. I have taken apart broken furniture to create a new piece, which saved it from going to the tip and saved us money, because we didn’t need to buy the new item.

If you’re really good at this type of upcycling, you can even sell the new pieces if you don’t have a use for your new creation. That’s good for the environment and your bank account.

But my favourite thing to do is giving old clothes a new lease of life. Whether this is by turning them into a new garment or something else, like a bag.

You can make such a great variety of bags with an old pair of jeans. Combining different fabrics will create something unique and stylish. Who needs expensive fashion items, eh?

When it comes to reusuing items, it’s time to get creative and just give it a go.

4. Embrace Second-Hand

Many people don’t like the idea of second-hand, because it reminds them of hand-me-downs when they were a kid. But buying preloved items has so many advantages.

First and foremost, you’ll save waste, because you’re saving something from being thrown away. You save money, because buying something that is pre-owned is cheaper than new.

Buying second-hand also saves resources, beause you reduce the need for new things to be made.

You might also find something that is as unique as you. When you buy new things in a shop, many others will have bought the same things. With second-hand this is less likely.

In my opinion, most things can be bought second-hand: electrical apliances and gadgets, furniture, toys, books, ornaments, bikes, clothes, workout equipment, jewellery, and so much more.

There are different places you can get your hands on preowned items, such as charity shops, second-hand shops, antique shops, online market places like Facebook Marketplace, online community groups, etc.

A zero-waste lifestyle has to include buying second-hand, because it’s such an easy and effective way to reduce waste, and it saves money. In our local area, poeple often give away unloved things that are still usable.

Those freebies are often advertised on local Facbook groups, so it’s worth joining them if you haven’t already.

These are some of the things we got second-hand more recently:

• Dumbells and kettlebells
• Phone
• Outdoor furniture
• Bike
• Clothes
• Books
• Knitting needles

Of course, embracing second-hand also means selling or giving away your untwanted items. It’s very rewarding to see something you no longer need or want to go to a new home rather than landfill.

Keeping used items in ciruclation doesn’t just reduce waste, but it also reduces the demand for new ones, which in turn can reduce the pressure on resources, if enough people take part.

So join the second-hand community and buy and sell unloved things, giving them a new lease of life. And spread the word to friends and family so that the community grows.

5. Recycle As Much As Possible

While recycling isn’t THE answer, especially when it comes to plastic, it plays an important role in reducing waste. Therefore, a zero-waste lifestyle has to include recycling as much as possible.

Before you throw anything into your general waste bin, check if it can’t be recycled. And if it can, but only if clean, make the effort to clean it.

You probably know the situations I’m talking about. That glass jar or plastic bottle of tomato sauce that needs rinsing before it can be recycled.

Did you know that glass can take up to a million years to break down in landfill? But it can also be recycled indefinitely and producing recycled glass uses 40% less energy than new glass.

So next time you are about to throw a glass jar or bottle into the general waste bin, STOP! Wash it out and recycle it, or if you can reuse it for something else.

It’s not just glass packaging from food either, did you know that the glass bottle your foundation comes in can be recycled? As long as you rinse it out, it can become a new jar or bottle.

According to the British Beauty Council, 95% of cosmetics packaging is thrown in the general waste bin, rather than recycled. So clearly, there is a knowledge gab there.

Becoming zero-waste means you are very reluctant to throw anything in your general waste bin. Every time you are about to do that, stop and make sure that the item can’t be recycled, reused, or used for a different purpose.

Once you get into this mindset, you quickly learn to spot what to keep out of landfill. And combined with all the other ideas we discussed above, you will be able to reduce the amount of waste you produce by a lot, But…

… Perfect Isn’t What You’re Looking For

While all of the measures we talked about will reduce waste, they can’t help you achieve a completely zero-waste lifestyle. Because let’s face it, 100% zero-waste is extremely hard to achieve in our culture, if at all possible.

The vast majority of things you buy come packaged up, including food, toiletries, cleaning products, etc. So becoming completely zero-waste is neigh impossible.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, but don’t put pressure on yourself. You’re not looking for perfect, but for the best you can do.

With our zero-waste living ideas you will be able to reduce your waste by a considerable amount. So embrace a zero-waste lifestyle and get started today.