low waste resolutions

2020 was both good and bad for the environment. The pause on air travel, factories slowing down, and other things showed marketable improvements to the environment, but disposable masks and gloves were used at a record amount, bulk stores stopped selling (or at least in reusable containers) for a while, and it became harder to get things that were good for the environment in terms of excess packaging.

Now I have made quite a few improvements to my life in the past few years, but things sort of stagnated in 2020 because I wasn’t replacing as many products and wasn’t shopping as much. I want to make this a goal in my life again and while there are many things that I am quite good at, there are many things to improve.

Here are my low waste goals for 2021:

1. Make my own snacks – as much as I love snacks such as dates and fruit, I do find it simple and easy to have a fruit bar or granola bar in my lunch every day. I just hate that they are all wrapped individually and want to figure out more snacks that I can make and bring to work.
2. Switch more body products/skincare – I have been slowly working on switching the products I use to be package free or returnable and I would like to continue to do that this year. This year a few things I want to focus on is shampoo (I haven’t yet found a shampoo bar that works on my hair) and replacing my loofa with a sustainable one.
3. Buy as much food through Flash Food as possible – not only does it help to reduce food waste, but it also saves us money and much of the produce comes without plastic.
4. Low Waste Take Out – I try and always remember to ask for no cutlery and sauces when getting takeout and one day I would like to start getting it in my own containers, but until then I want to make sure I am only getting the bare minimum to throw away
5. Buy as local as possible. This is especially easy in the summer months, but I want to try and buy as much of my groceries from farms and businesses close by my home and support the local economy.

Do you have any zero waste goals for this year? Let me know what they are in the comments below!