In our quest to become zero waste, it is important to realize that the ultimate goal is not about quantifying the actual amount of refuse we place at the curb on collection day. The challenge of garbage can and should be explored from another perspective. It is time to be rethinking our waste, time to trash bad habits.

Understanding Our Needs.

Instead of just wanting to discard less, we should be facing our relationship with waste and see it as a commitment. A will to want to do a little better than we did yesterday, for the good of our planet. It is about seeking a more genuine lifestyle. Where we can actually function with less while also wasting less. And wanting less. But being all the same happy and productive for a balanced living.

Extending The Useful Life Of Things.

So why should we be rethinking our waste habits ? Week after week we see perfectly good or slightly flawed items placed at the curb for a direct trip to the dump. How about diverting those to further their useful life ? What about reinventing them and making them fit in our modern times ? How about beautifying them ? Reviving their glory so that they do not finish adding up to the global waste issue but rather solve challenges affecting the current supply chain…

Rejected solid wood furniture, for example, hold an incredible potential to fill the gap of manufacturing shortage affecting readily available inventories. Craftsman’s furniture have a meaning. They were made by someone. Genuinely. We need to reconnect with the value of things. Other than the dollar amount sticking to a soulless label.

Bags of spring cleaning closet items are prime products waiting to enter the wide variety of second hand marketplaces. Discarded metals are in high demand. Just waiting to be melted back to their raw form, and then be transformed into useful household items all over again. Other recyclables like papers and plastics should be sent through the proper route so that they can return to their primary state. So they can perpetuate the process without holding valuable space in our dumping grounds. Let’s be wise and rethink our waste.

We need to look further than the inconvenient item to get rid of. We have to investigate. Do the math. Discover who could benefit from something we no longer want or need. Truth is, our trash is likely someone else’s treasure. Or at the very least it could be. We have to donate, divert, reinvent and initiate the change.

Time To Let Go Of Disposable.

As for disposable, now is the perfect time to think forward and introduce reusable instead in our lives. No single use means not being constantly throwing away daily items. And buying new ones. So we can actually cut down on our waste. We can do our part to grow the green wave right here, in Nova Scotia, for a better future. For us and for the generations to come.

Paper napkins, towels and cups, disposable tissues, cutlery and bags all have their reusable counterparts. Green solutions that can be introduced, one at a time, to make a difference in the way we consume and generate waste all the same.

So let’s take advantage of the great variety of durable essentials now available on the market. Most of them will eventually go the extra mile and improve our everyday. Making it that much more special. A win-win for us and our planet ! So let’s get started, now is the perfect time to start rethinking our waste habits, one step at a time.