Written by Hannah Cox, founder of betternotstop
Since discovering Minimalism, I focus on spending my money on experiences, not things. I’ve been consuming less, but I still felt I could be doing more. There was part of the puzzle missing.
Not consuming or buying things is one thing, but I still create so much mess.
I did some digging and discovered that average Brit throws away their own body weight in rubbish every 7 weeks. How could I define myself as a conscious consumer when my waste was so high?
It wasn’t just that I wasn’t recycling enough but out of the waste I did create, most couldn’t be recycled.
Plastic. Plastic everywhere.
I know how much of my food comes wrapped in plastic, but the more I researched into it – the more ridiculous it seemed.
The Independent revealed that a “plastic soup” twice the size of the US was floating around in the Pacific Ocean. It’s by no means the only landfill in the world, but it’s certainly the largest and is over 100 million tonnes. I can’t even comprehend that. I’d encourage you to have a look at the Ocean Cleanup, a brilliant business created by a 21 year old looking to clean up the mess we’ve collectively made.
Here are just two facts I unearthed:
At least one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution.
Plastic pollution causes at least 13 billion U.S. dollars in damage every year to industries that include fishing, shipping, and tourism
So not only would cutting down my waste save money (for the world, as well as me!) but also the environment. All positive so far right?
One of the reasons I want to travel the world is to discover the beauty of the planet. A planet which I appear to be destroying at a much faster rate than I should be.
I really think it’s so important to live by your values. That’s why I’ve taken the step to form a plan and take massive action to move towards zero waste.
To quote Laura Silver, “Zero Waste means that I do not produce any garbage. No sending anything to landfill, no throwing anything in a trash can, nothing. However, I will recycle and I will compost.“
