How This 23-Year-Old Woman Lives a 'Zero Trash' Life
(Photo: Tria Giovan)
When 23-year-old Lauren Singer was an environmental studies major at NYU, she felt like a hypocrite learning how to better serve the planet while living the typical, wasteful consumer lifestyle. It was then that she stopped using plastic as a first step toward reducing her waste. “It was a byproduct of my studies, but also my anti-fracking stance. Plastic pollution is a massive problem—the material can’t be broken down,” she says.
In two years, Singer has gone completely waste-free, filling only a 16-oz mason jar with trash. She avoids packaging and shops in bulk, using mason jars and cloth bags to transport her goods. She makes her own shampoo, and toothpaste, and recently launched The Simply Co., through which she sells her three-ingredient laundry soap.
Singer insists her zero-waste lifestyle doesn’t take much time. “When you self-initiate, it’s not as frustrating, and I’ve saved so much money, too, by transitioning to this lifestyle,” she says.
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(Photo: Tria Giovan)
For those who want to follow in Singer’s carbon-free footprints, she suggests examining your trash as a first step. “You can’t solve a problem until you know what it is, so see what’s in your trash,” she says.
Next, make small, everyday changes, like avoiding bottled water, saying ‘No,’ to straws, and buying in bulk to reduce packaging. “And if you must use plastic, look for #’s 1 and 2, which are easier to recycle. Black plastic can’t be recycled, because it often goes unseen on conveyer belts,” she says.
Finally, Singer suggests making your own products, and posts recipes for everything she’s made (and tested) on her blog, trashisfortossers.com.
(Photo: Tria Giovan)
“Making your own cleaning products is simple,” says ‘light-green’ lifestyle expert and Ideal Byte co-founder Jen Boulden. “All you need is baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar and some spray bottles,” she says. “But when it comes to a zero-waste lifestyle, you’ve got to be realistic.”
Boulden is a working mother and pet owner, so time is a factor. “Most people can’t spend time making soap and shampoo. That is why it’s important to do what you can when it comes to being environmentally friendly, and create systems that work within your individual household.”
(Photo: Bumpkins.com)
Boulden created JenBTV.com, which features videos and tips on sustainable living, with practices viewers can pick and choose from. For example, Boulden and her husband decided to have a ‘zero-waste’ baby, and documented what it was like to use only cloth diapers. “Diapers alone make up close to 3% of landfills, and each American child goes through 3000-5000 diapers, so they stack up fast,” she says. “Cloth diapers are healthier for the planet and baby. They’re much easier on the skin, and more cost effective, too.”
Like Singer, Boulden also buys in bulk and avoids useless plastic and packaging. She even has a reusable garment bag which she brings to the dry cleaner. “The plastic they use is thin, which means it’s the most toxic kind,” she says. Boulden also returns the wire hangers once she picks up her clothing.
“But I don’t make my own shampoo,” she says. “I buy it, and I like my shampoo. There are bars you can buy though, that don’t have packaging, and they could be a good choice if you have short, healthy hair. It’s really about doing what’s right for you.”
(Photo: eoearth.org)
Recycling and composting educator Stan Slaughter agrees. “Sometimes there’s packaging you’re not in control of, or certain items that are more difficult to compost,” he says. “Beans can create odors because of the protein, for example, and bones can take a while to break down. Some municipalities also don’t help with composting, and not everyone has a yard.”
“Technically speaking, ‘zero waste’ means anything less than 10% of input (or consumption),” Slaughter says. And as Singer insists, it’s doable. “The only skeptics I’ve had are people not understanding how I live the way I do,” she says. “The headlines make it seem extremist, but when you look at my blog it breaks the process down, and it becomes much more palatable. When people meet me and see how I live, they realize I really do live waste free. I don’t even realize I’m living the lifestyle I am living anymore, because it is just what I do.”
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