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How to practice a zero waste lifestyle

LIVE greener | 2 MIN READ | 2017-11-27

Did you know the average Canadian produces more than 700kg of waste per year? The crazy thing is waste production can be oh-so easily avoided. In fact, with just a little bit of practice, it’s something you can start to incorporate into your own day-to-day life.

The concept of zero waste isn’t new, but it seems to have gained some momentum over the last few years. Many look to Bea Johnson as the mother of the movement who has been living waste-free with her family since 2008, and even wrote a book on the subject.

Johnson has inspired many others to adopt a zero waste lifestyle, including Ottawa’s own Valerie Leloup. “The lifestyle Bea was advocating for and her many useful tips made a lot of sense to me. I was inspired to embark on my own zero waste journey,” says Leloup on her website.

This past summer, Leloup opened Ottawa’s first and only zero waste grocery store – Nu Grocery – at which you can get everything you would normally see in a regular grocery store, but without the packaging. Neat! Get a closer look here.

Feeling inspired to live trash-free? Here are a few ideas we love from Going Zero Waste:

1. When you go out to a restaurant, ask for no straw with your drink.
2. Never leave your house without a full reusable water bottle.
3. Swap your plastic toothbrush for a bamboo toothbrush.
4. Go paperless for all your bills.
5. Commit to using reusable shopping bags.

Check out the full list - 101 Easy Eco Friendly, Zero Waste Tips.