NEW YORK, 28 Oct 2017:
Five years ago, Lauren Singer of New York City had enough with all the garbage. Shunning plastic items such as straws and disposable razors along with single-use items such as disposable coffee cups and plastic bags, Singer adopted a zero waste lifestyle.
And since becoming zero waste five years ago, Singer said all the trash she has produced since then can fit into one 16-ounce mason jar.
“To me it kind of represents all of the small trash problems that you can’t really eliminate through just simple recycling or reducing. It’s things that aren’t huge issues, but really I think need to be focused on,’ she said during an interview.
“So it ranges from things as every day as plastic straws which are probably one of my least favourite things in the entire world and desiccants (the little baggies used in packaging to induce dryness), which again, I really dislike, to Saran wrap. Again, another thing that I really don’t like.
“And what else?… Thin plastic food packaging for things that I bought kind of at impulse. I find that that’s where a lot of waste comes from is not being prepared. So if you plan a little bit, then you’re able to prevent most waste.”
Her blog called ‘Trash is for Tossers,’ documents the 26-year-old’s experiences living zero waste and offers ideas to help people produce less trash.
“For me living a zero waste lifestyle as an individual, it means not sending any trash to landfill.”
While Singer does compost, she tries to recycle as little as possible, opting to reuse items like a bamboo coffee cup and buy items without packaging.
“When I go into the grocery store I come prepared. So I’ll take something like a mesh bag… I’ll take a few of these reusable, washable, cotton bags and this I can use for produce instead of plastic bags. I’ll take some mason jars usually with me and then I’ll take a few of the stainless steel containers.”
Singer said retailers are becoming more accommodating to people who use their own bags and containers.
“I go into a store and I’m like, ‘This is the way that I’m living. I’m going to be consuming your products and giving you money that you need to survive as a business. And and I don’t want to use your single use disposables. So this is how it’s going to be or I’m not going to give you my business’.
“You know I really take pride in feeling so comfortable doing something weird. I think living a zero waste lifestyle is something that most people don’t do. And so anything that most people don’t do could be considered weird by someone who doesn’t know what it is.”
Six months ago, Singer opened her own store called ‘Package Free’ in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn where she sells products that she said could help lead people down the path of zero waste.
Consumers can buy items made of stainless steel, bamboo and organic cotton. Soap is sold package-free as are cleaning towels and hair brushes. Shoppers can also use their own jars and containers to scoop up health and beauty products and cleaning supplies also sold at the store.
“I think everyone, if they did just one little thing to have a positive environmental impact, it would make a huge, huge positive impact. So having a store has really helped me promote zero waste in a way that I just couldn’t before.”
Singer said business is good.
Through her retail store, blog and YouTube channel, Singer said she hopes to change the way retailers create trash, particularly the plastic used with price tags and the plastic washing instructions sewn into clothes.
“I think they’re really unnecessary. I feel like there has to be a creative solution to something like this because again every piece of clothing has at least one of these. Some have two or three or four.
“If you go to a fast fashion stores, sometimes you’ll see like eight tags like kind of clumped up inside and I’m like, ‘How much does my shirt have to say?’ But I really think that there’s a way to prevent these.
“And I really challenge creators and designers and people in the fashion industry to find creative solutions to the hang tag holders and these instruction lists.”
– Reuters