The Start of My Journey to Zero Waste

For the world, the year 2020 was negative in many aspects — from the unexpected disease ‘COVID-19’ to ever-increasing threat of climate change. I am often left wondering if there is anything I could actually do that could have an impact on the world which is currently under threat? Will my reusable cup make a difference? Do I really need to live a minimalist lifestyle in order to save the world?

Much of last year, I was stuck in that same cycle, stuck between inaction and perpetual concern. More often, I would turn on the news and there would be another headline about the increasing global temperature, loss of habitat or humanitarian crisis. As I watched from the comfort of my sofa, there was a feeling of guilt that I felt as much of the consequences of our actions may not affect us at that moment in time but they are detrimental to poorer communities and other areas of the world now.

Why was it that we only stepped up when the effects would become ours?

I had grown up in a mostly financially comfortable household. All the food and bills were paid for. Despite this, I grew up with an emphasis on eco-friendly living. These were things including being mindful of electricity and water usage, growing my own plants and recycling correctly. I also had the influence of many environmental documentaries in the house such as several by David Attenborough.

As I grew older, I began to become more aware of the lack of care many people had for the environment as my rural local area started to be covered in litter. Cars would drive through country lanes and dump their rubbish on the side of the road or even worse still, fly-tip furniture in beautiful locations, disrupting the landscape. In 2019, Brecon Beacons National park was a severely hit area of mass flytipping. On closer inspection at this issue, a large component of these piles of rubbish was an overwhelming amount of plastic.

It made me wonder why all this plastic was being disregarded. Like any member of the general public, I wondered why people didn’t just recycle packaging and take it home. A bit naively I might add, only recently did I learn that only 9% of all plastic ever made has actually been recycled. That in itself may not have been the reason for this increase in dumping but all of these factors started really getting to me.

Nevertheless, I started to question, how am I any different to these people? they may directly litter in the country but when I throw plastic waste in the bin with disregard, not checking the label, that waste has a high likelihood of ending up in landfill — right back on the ground.

The issue is, from its first creation, plastic degrades, it does not biodegrade. The difference is that whereas a piece of cardboard would breakdown into things like soil, the only process plastic can take is becoming smaller and smaller particles until it becomes microplastics. these microplastics end up being absorbed or eaten by animals and then in turn entering our food chain. This is seriously detrimental to our health and to our wellbeing. In the Environment International Journal, six placentas were assessed and found that in all placental portions, microplastics were present. This finding astounded science and me personally. Not only could these particles cause long term damage (acting as endocrine receptors), but now babies were being born with a placenta that is no longer only human cells.

With each of these aspects in mind, I knew there had to be something I could do, something that could make an impact.

Each year, I thrive off new year’s resolutions — something to focus on and change the way I behave. In general, I just enjoy the sense of rejuvenation but it never usually lasts too long. Either I lack motivation for a workout or I want to go back and eat chocolate. For many, 2021 was going to be a lot better from the previous year but for me, this year had to be different. This resolution had to be something I could do from home and wouldn’t drastically affect my way of life due to the restrictions of my local lockdown. On top of that, I knew it had to be something that could tackle all of these problems, even just a little bit.

And that’s when I discovered going Zero Waste.