Top Tips to Crush This Year’s Zero-Waste Week

zero waste week essentials

 

Are you ready for Zero-Waste Week?

 

✅ Refillable water bottle
✅ Reusable grocery Bags
✅ Recycled cotton T-shirt

 

Gear up for September 5th - September 9th 2022 – it’s an inspirational and memorable week that you can be a part of – for free. Each year, for Zero-Waste Week, people around the world come together to share sustainable habits and tips, educate others on zero-waste initiatives, and celebrate planet-friendly practices.

 

Zero-Waste Week began in the UK but now it’s a worldwide movement. And as a sustainable paper brand determined to put an end to deforestation, at Cloud Paper we’re honored to support Zero-Waste Week and share our best tips for going green. 

 

Zero-Waste Week is a week to spotlight the mountains of waste we create, and figure out how we can reduce our environmental footprint. 

Remember: You never truly throw something away. 

As the official Zero-Waste Week slogan tells us: “There’s no such place as ‘away.’” The fact is, all of our garbage has to go somewhere. And no matter where it goes, if it’s not biodegrading back into nature, then it is causing harm. 

 

So whether you’re eco-curious and ready to try some plastic-free alternatives, or you’re a seasoned eco-warrior on a mission to take your carbon footprint from miniscule to non-existent, we’re bringing you our best tips to green your routine and make your home a sustainable haven. 

 

Today we’ll take you on a tour of your own home to point out the places where you might not realize there are convenient, effective alternatives. Zero-waste week is meant to challenge you to reduce waste in your daily routine, and that’s just what we’ll do here. We’ll hit the kitchen, the laundry room and the bathroom. 

 

And don’t worry, we’ll also point you in the direction of some great resources to get a little eco-friendly inspiration. 

 

Are you ready? 

Zero-Waste Kitchen Essentials 

Quick question: where is the largest trash can in your house? 

 

I’m willing to bet — it’s in the kitchen. Often touted as “the heart of the home,” the kitchen sees a lot of (wasteful) action. You might not even do much cooking, but the waste from take-out or delivery meals is even worse than home cooked meals. 

 

Choose reusable produce bags to go zero-waste

So what can you do to create a zero-waste kitchen? 

1. Buy unprocessed/unpackaged foods. 

One of the best things you can do to create a zero-waste kitchen is buy unprocessed foods. Unprocessed foods are the simplest way to avoid wasteful packaging – plus they’re healthier too! 

 

When possible: 

    • Choose produce free from plastic bags or containers
    • Purchase your meat from the butcher to avoid styrofoam packaging
    • Buy your bread from a bakery and bring a reusable cloth or paper bag 
    • Find local places you can take refillable containers to buy bulk essentials like flour, rice, and oats

And of course, don’t forget your reusable grocery bags! 

2. Compost your leftovers.

It’s best to reduce food waste whenever possible because agriculture is one of “The Big Three” when it comes to carbon emissions. 

 

But when you can’t help it — it’s okay if you don’t want to eat your apple cores — don’t forget to compost your food waste. When you compost your food waste it decomposes naturally and becomes rich soil that feeds future plants. However, when food ends up in a landfill, it turns into methane, and methane is one of the worst greenhouse gasses. 

 

Not sure how to get started with composting? No worries — we’ve got you covered with our Guide to Composting.

3. Clean with eco-friendly care.

One of the worst culprits of waste in the kitchen is our cleaning products. From plastic soap bottles and synthetic sponges to ziplock bags and wads of paper towels… the list goes on. 

 

At Cloud Paper we’re on a mission to end deforestation by providing tree-free paper alternatives. That’s why we make it easy to replace those traditional paper towels with bamboo paper towels — designed to work just like you’re used to, but with a much lower environmental impact. 

 

If you’d like to try a paper towel alternative, or you’re looking to quit synthetic sponges, check out Cloud Paper Swish Cloths — a plastic-free, fully biodegradable alternative to sponges and paper towels. (Seriously though, if you haven’t tried these yet, you’ve got to get on this trend! Swish Cloths are the best).

 

Swish cloths are up to 20x more absorbent than paper towels and are reusable for up to 4-6 months. If that doesn’t get you on board I don’t know what will. 

 

Swedish dishcloths are a great paper towel alternative to cut back on kitchen waste

A few other zero-waste kitchen fixes: 

  • Skip the plastic bottle and buy your soap in bar form (psst — this doesn’t just mean your hand soap. Dish soap comes in bar form too!)
  • Invest in some reusable silicone storage bags to replace your ziplocks, or just use tupperware! 
  • Make your own cleaning products with all-natural ingredients and refillable bottles.

To be honest, the kitchen is such a massive driver of waste we wrote a whole blog about it. Give it a read if you’re looking for even more tips on reducing your kitchen’s carbon footprint! 

Zero-Waste Laundry Room Must-Haves

A lot of people don’t realize how easy it is to go zero-waste in the laundry room these days. Have you ever had to lug a jug of laundry detergent out to your car or up a flight of stairs and thought “there has got to be a better way!” 

Well guess what? There is! 

Our Favorite Zero-waste Laundry Products: 

Kind Laundry’s all-natural laundry detergent sheets are an eco-friendly alternative to the giant plastic jugs we’ve all been bamboozled into buying. Kind Laundry’s sheets come in plastic-free packaging that's biodegradable. And they are lightweight and liquid-free, so they take up less space and are easier to transport!

 

But that’s not all you can do to zero-waste your laundry room: 

 

  • Replace those synthetic dryer sheets with all-natural wool dryer balls (psst: they’re better for your clothes too!).
  • Ditch the toxic stain removers for a vegan stain remover bar with plastic-free packaging.
  • Pay attention to your water and energy consumption in the laundry room. Choose an HE washer whenever possible, and line-dry your clothes if you can. 
  • Want to jump all-in on your zero-waste laundry room? Check out Kind Laundry’s genius Laundry Makeover Bundle.

ENTER OUR ZERO-WASTE WEEK GIVEAWAY

Zero-Waste Week 2022 is September 5-9. Give your home a zero-waste upgrade with Cloud Paper and Kind Laundry! How to enter:

 

  1. Follow Cloud Paper's Instgram and Kind Laundry's Instagram profiles
  2. Tag a friend in the comments of our Zero-Waste Giveaway post. Each friend you tag is one additional giveaway entry!
  3. A winner will be contacted the following week via Instagram DM. Make sure to be checking yours!
Bamboo paper products by Cloud Paper

24 rolls of bamboo toilet paper
12 rolls of bamboo paper towels
4 bamboo tissue boxes
2 Swish Cloths

FOLLOW CLOUD PAPER

Zero Waste Laundry Products by Kind Laundry

2 boxes of Kind Laundry detergent sheets
1 set of 3 Wool Dryer Balls
1 bar of Vegan Stain Remover
1 Premium Mesh Laundry Bag

FOLLOW KIND LAUNDRY

Zero-Waste Bathroom Products

You may not realize how much waste you create in the bathroom because, well, a lot of it gets flushed down the toilet. Ahem, I’m not talking about that kind of waste, I’m talking about toilet paper.

 

If you’re still using big-name toilet paper brands, it may be time to switch to a more sustainable toilet paper. At Cloud Paper we take pride in our bamboo toilet paper that helps preserve old-growth forests and uses eco-friendly bamboo instead of trees.

 

Toilet paper aside, the bathroom is full of single-use plastics and products that will ultimately end up in landfills or the ocean. One of the best ways to reduce the plastic bottles in your bathroom is to switch to bar products. 

 One of the best ways to reduce the plastic bottles in your bathroom is to switch to bar products.

 

Many people don’t know that hand soap isn’t the only thing that comes as a solid bar. 

 

Try checking out these common bar alternatives: 

 

  • Face wash
  • Shampoo
  • Conditioner
  • Deodorant
  • Perfume
  • Lotion
  • Lipstick

Products that come as a solid bar are often packaged mindfully in biodegradable or recyclable cardboard, meaning they can completely biodegrade, leaving zero-waste. One of our favorite brands for bar products is Ethique

While you’re participating in Zero-Waste Week, consider some of these other zero-waste bathroom products: 

  • Opt for a cotton washcloth or natural loofah instead of a plastic loofah
  • Try a bamboo toothbrush instead of plastic
  • Check out tablet toothpaste and never toss a plastic tube again
  • Switch to reusable menstrual products like a menstrual cup or disc

Try a bamboo toothbrush instead of plastic to go zero-waste

 

Don’t forget your bathroom cleaning products during Zero-Waste Week. Cloud Paper towels and Swish Cloths are great for cleaning with a lower carbon footprint.  

More Zero-Waste Inspiration

If you’re looking for even more zero-waste week inspiration — and to stay inspired all year long — we’ve collected some of our favorite sustainable lifestyle accounts for you. 

 

These ladies are leading the zero-waste charge with real life tips and encouraging advice on how to get a little closer to zero-waste this year. Check them out! 

On Instagram

🍏 You can find Kathryn Kellog @going.zero.waste where she brings you wonderful sustainability series such as: 

 

  • Food Waste Fighting — A series that teaches you how to use all those unexpected food scraps… like watermelon rind, carrot tops, and even leftover cake icing. 
  • Things I Don’t Buy Anymore — A series that shows you just how powerful reusable, sustainable options are. You get to see all the things you’re saving by choosing eco-friendly alternatives!
  • Good News Fridays — A lovely series reminding us of all the environmental wins in the world each week, because sustainability doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom!

🌳 Also check out Megean @zerowastenerd, author of “An (Almost) Zero Waste Life.”:

 

  • Megean’s profession and hobbies have made zero-waste difficult for her — which is part of the reason we love sharing her journey! 
  • Megean regularly offers advice on one of the fastest growing culprits of waste in our modern lives: e-waste. (E-waste is electronic-waste, such as our laptops, cell phones, charging cords, and airpods.)

On TikTok

Didn’t know TikTok was all about sustainability? Check out these ladies!

 

🌿 Krystalynn Gier @KrysGier comes to us with regular quick “Sustainable Hot Girl Tips,” because — let’s be honest — it can be a bit tough to feel like you're keeping up with hot trends and maintaining those sustainable habits.  

 

She’s got tips like: Unplug your appliances — seriously! — You’d be surprised how much some of your gadgets are sucking up “phantom energy” which is a bit of a misnomer because… it’s real energy. 

 

Plus Krys leads with transparency, calling out brands’ sustainable practices with her series “Is it sustainable, or is it greenwashing?” Go check her series for your favorite brands!

 

🌎 Shelbi @Shelbizlee is making climate change awareness fun. Her TikTok videos help eliminate the spread of misinformation and offer heaps of accurate information and lifestyle tips for zero-waste living. 

 

She’ll help you understand the plastic-crisis with her series from Plastic-Free July and a second series called “Things You Didn’t Know Contain Plastic” — some of which might catch you by surprise!

Ready to Go Zero-Waste?

Zero-Waste Week is exciting, but keep in mind that going zero-waste is a journey more than a destination. The reality is that without some major shifts in society, it’s incredibly difficult to go 100% zero-waste. 

 

But by spreading awareness about climate change, purchasing from eco-friendly brands, and supporting the zero-waste initiative, we can push our society in the right direction. 

 

So how about it? Are you ready to write your own sustainable story?

 

Learn even more about going zero-waste in our blog, and don’t forget to follow @Cloud.Paper on Instagram for more Zero-Waste Week fun September 5-9th.