The average person in the United States generates approximately 4.9 pounds of municipal solid waste per day. Considering a typical lifespan of around 78 years, a single person can generate a whopping 139,503 pounds of garbage!

YIKES…. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been considering my personal environmental footprint a lot more lately. What have a I discovered? Being in a hurry and a lack of planning, is the enemy when it comes to making thoughtful Eco-conscious decisions. Often it seems like our family’s worst consumption comes from impulse purchases. That pattern, along with ingrained shopping habits from our weekly shopping trips to big box retailers, has made me realize it can feel almost impossible to get away from single use plastics and containers. Making the right choices from an environmental point of view, is made more difficult because larger retailers are overflowing with assorted plastic bottles of every shape and size, containing nearly every product known to mankind. Sometimes making the right choice for the environment is just figuring out if I can do less with more, like swapping my shaving cream out for a gentle handmade bar soap with minimal packaging. The product sometimes feels a bit inferior if I’m being honest, but the case for minimal packaging is clear. Do I think some laws need to be passed to change the types of packaging our products arrive in? While I do think that is part of the solution, another consideration is simply learning to buy less stuff. We all share some culpability here, but the recent reports on plastics makes it clear that we need to change our habits.

Recently, I took a small step which felt like a big win. I switched laundry detergents - and I get it… it’s not an earth shattering change at first glance. But just like investing in the stock market compounds over time, our daily consumption choices also compound over time. Because I’m a mom, I need a powerful detergent that actually gets the job done, and I don’t want to pay a premium just to make the right choice environmentally. It feels almost unfair that organic, healthy, and eco-friendly products have been positioned as niche and expensive… leaving the option out of reach for too many families. Even though this is only one tiny step for our family’s Eco-conscious transition, one simple change like switching from a giant plastic jug of detergent to a tiny cardboard box with laundry detergent sheets, can cause a significant reduction in household waste. It will save our own household an estimated 40 plastic bottles per year that we’d be tossing or “recycling” otherwise. Recycling plastic is notoriously difficult, and it also creates more pollution, so it makes sense to switch to another type of packaging at the point of purchase.

If I wanted to get really creative, I’d make my own homemade laundry detergent, but as a busy working professional, I really don’t have time to make homemade detergent. If you like the idea of doing a whole home inventory to analyze the waste of your household, check the link below you can create your own custom list or use the template I have created for our household.

The mission is to reduce consumption and make smarter purchases with household & consumer goods. Follow along as I try to implement these changes in our household and post updates. If you want to join the zero waste movement, tag your updates at #zerowasteliving & #aclypsa on your favorite social media sites and post in the comments below. I’d love to hear your creative ideas. If you are making a similar switch for your household, comment below and let me know what changes you have already made or will be making in the future.

You can read about the recent study on microplastics & other helpful tips here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00650-3

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling

https://mindfulofthehome.com/zero-waste-grocery-shopping-tips/