Do you want to create a more sustainable home or creative space? Here are 10 zero waste tips for creative lifestyles.
The average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash per day. That’s 1,606 pounds per year. In the creative lifestyle, this can grow due to supplies. Empty paint tubes, plastic packaging, fabric scraps, endless stacks of paper, and more can add up and increase your carbon footprint. Do you have to give up crucial tools for your creative expression to be an Eco-friendly artist? No, not necessarily. There are many ways to reduce your waste and negative impact on the environment without hurting your creativity.
Follow the 5 R's of Zero Waste Living
Environmental activist, author, and motivational speaker, Bea Johnson came up with the 5 r’s of zero waste living in her book, Zero Waste Home. These are easy zero waste tips to guide your choice and live a more sustainable lifestyle. Since her family began practicing these rules, their combined garbage for a year amounted to a single mason jar. If you want to embark on a zero waste creative lifestyle, remember these rules.
- Refuse what you do not need.
- Reduce what you do need; reconsider just how much stuff you actually need.
- Reuse by repurposing stuff or by using reusable objects like metal straws.
- Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce or reuse.
- Rot (compost) the rest.
TIps
- Practice mindfulness and consider how your actions compare with these rules.
- Learn what creative supplies can be recycled.
- Make your own eco-friendly supplies, like paint.
- Upcycle when possible. Turn broken art into new art with the philosophy of Kintsugi.
- Read labels and look for organic materials.
- Paint over old canvases for new projects.
- Buy supplies second-hand.
- Consider which areas of your creative process that produce waste can be digitalized.
Eliminate Single-Use Items
Single-use items are the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of waste. They may be convenient but temporary things designed for single-use, such as straws, paper towels, plastic bags, and bottles, comes at a vast environmental cost.
Items like plastic shopping bags take around 20 years to break down in the ocean, and many toxic particles (microplastics) and chemicals are left behind. Consider how long a plastic bag stays in your life compared to how long it takes to break down. Is the convenience worth it? The Plastic Pollution Coalition has stated that if we don’t reduce single-use plastics, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by the year 2050. With more than 30 million tons of plastic discarded every year in America, there’s hardly a single place on earth that you can’t find single-use plastic. This is why we must all do our part to bring change and inspire more sustainable habits.
The good news is there are plenty of ways to replace and avoid single-use items to reduce your impact on the environment. Many companies are slowly making changes, but it’s up to the consumer to make the most important changes and inspire greater change. If there’s one zero waste tip to remember and follow, it’s this one.
TIps
- Ditch paper towels for tea towels and rags.
- Carry reusable shopping bags and don’t use produce bags.
- Use a reusable water bottle.
- Carry your own metal or wooden straw with you.
- Switch to plastic-free chewing gum.
- Limit glue use.
- Buy jars, not tubes.
- Switch to recycled pens.
- Switch to paints without plastic in them like those found at Natural Earth Paint.
Use Reusable Water Bottles
As mentioned in the first zero waste tip, single-use items, especially plastics, are the first things to stop using. Plastic water bottles are one of the main culprits of waste. The easiest solution to fix this problem is to invest in a reusable water bottle. By using fewer resources to stay hydrated, we can emit less harmful gas into the air, protect water resources and creatures, and reduce waste in our natural environments.
Reduce your sing-use plastics drastically by switching to a reusable water bottle. Research suggests that you could stop over 1,000 plastic bottles from being littered in the ocean (over 3 years) by making this switch. Even when you inevitably have to throw away a reusable water bottle, it’s less likely to end up in a landfill or ocean, as many can also be recycled.
Statistics:
- Plastic waste, including bottles, kills an estimated 1.1 million marine animals per year.
- 38 billion water bottles end up in US landfills per year.
- Many plastics require approximately 450 years to dissolve. That is centuries of negative impacts.
TIps
- Buy smart reusable water bottles to improve hydration habits.
- Train mindfulness by remembering to take your reusable water bottle with you as well as drinking often.
- When buying a reusable water bottle make sure it’s also recyclable.
- Clean them regularly, and ideally daily if used every day to avoid any bacteria build-up.
- Express your creativity and customize your water bottles with a fun DIY project such as a glass etching or water bottle holder.
Choose Wooden Tools
An important element of zero waste tips is choosing products that are recycled and biodegradable. Wood products are a perfect option for this purpose.
Switching out plastic tools for wooden ones is a great way to move towards zero waste living. Creative supplies like mechanical pens and plastic brushes may be cheap, but they’re not biodegradable. Why switch to wood tools and utensils? They last longer, they’re recyclable, and resources like bamboo are easier to grow and are also naturally antibacterial.
TIps
- Buy furniture built from certified sustainable wood.
- Look for products made from bamboo.
- Use your creativity and build your own tools from reclaimed wood.
- Buy eco-friendly notebooks.
Be Mindful With Technology
Technology has streamlined and simplified many aspects of daily life, but what is the environmental impact? The average desktop computer uses 175 kg of CO2 per year. There’s also the problem of E-waste. Many of the tech and gadgets we throw away contain recoverable materials like aluminum, copper, gold, silver, plastics, and ferrous metals.
To better conserve these resources, consider refurbishing, reusing, and proper recycling. There are many toxic and hazardous materials in E-waste like mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium, chromium, and chemical flame retardants. These materials have the potential to pollute soil and water when you throw them out. This is why it’s so important to properly recycle them.
Improve your sustainable living by following zero waste tips that educate. The more we learn, the better decision we can make and habits we can build. Learning and being open is an important element in creative living. The more open we are to learning, the more connections are made in the creative mind to inspire novel solutions.
TIps
- Turn off your computers and unplug batteries when you are no longer using them.
- Give away or donate your e-waste at dedicated recycling centers or social programs. Learn about your local recycling options.
- Re-evaluate your purchases. Is it something you really need?
- Buy environmentally friendly electronics.
- Look for products with the Energy Star label or certified by the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).
- Be mindful of your energy consumption.
- Use smart thermostats for temperature regulation.
- Use energy monitoring tools to task use and reduce phantom electricity waste.
- Install LED light bulbs.
- Buy sustainable accessories for your tech devices.
- Photographers, it can be tempting to purchase cheap, third-party batteries, but these and won’t last long, buy quality batteries.
Buy Locally Made Goods
Buy locally-made goods is a zero waste tip that supports your sustainable lifestyle as well as local communities including, creatives. Buying local foods and goods stimulates regional economies, reduces wasteful packaging like plastics, reduces the use of fossil fuels, helps create and retain valuable jobs, supports families, and strengthens community and culture.
Creativity generally involves crossing the boundaries of domains. By engaging with a diverse community, a creative can share ideas to be validated for the novelty as well as learn from others. A great example of this is the Italian renaissance when forgotten knowledge was found and shared across many different domains to inspire creativity throughout the entire community. By supporting local communities, creativity can enrich the culture and improve the quality of all our lives.
TIps
- Join a co-op or food-buying club.
- Personalize your shopping experience and support the local community.
- Follow your curiosity and learn about the process behind locally made goods.
- Cultivate a 100 mile or zero-mile diet.
- Join unique classes at farm markets like cooking and foraging.
- Collaborate with local farmers using your own creative work like art for their brand.
Avoid Palm Oil Products
Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil on the planet and is found in more than 50% of packaged products. It may be an efficient oil, but it threatens some of the planet’s most sensitive habitats, like tropical rain forests. Plantations that tear these irreplaceable and biodiverse-rich forests down to produce palm oil not only hurt species like orangutans, tigers, elephants, and rhinos but also reduces rainfall, drinking water, increase greenhouse gases, and can cause harmful and lasting climate change.
So what’s the solution? Give up palm oil entirely? No. Palm oil is one of the most efficient oils to grow as it takes less land to produce than other vegetable oils. The first solution is to encourage companies to use palm oil that is RSPO certified by only buying palm oil products that are certified. The Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO was formed in 2004. They have studied the effects and have created production standards and best practices for producing and sourcing palm oil.
TIps
- Know what products have palm oil in them.
- If you buy products with palm oil, be sure it is RSPO certified.
- Switch to products with sunflower oil, corn oil, olive oil, coconut oil, or canola oil.
Use Sustainable Materials
In the same realm of exchanging plastic tools for wooden ones, choosing sustainable materials helps you move towards a zero waste lifestyle and improves mindfulness of what you use. Although it may seem like you’re losing something when changing materials, you are also boosting creativity when adding constraints that require creative problem-solving.
Another benefit of choosing sustainable materials for the creative lifestyle is by using your creative works to send a message, either by its theme or the materials used to create the piece. Sustainability inspires social consciousness. Japan is a perfect example of sustainability spreading across different lifestyles through art such as Furoshiki (the art of fabric folding, instead of using paper for wrapping gifts), Kintsugi (the art of repairing something broken with gold and embracing imperfection), and more artistic principles for sustainability.
TIps
- Go digital.
- Buy recycled pens and reusable fountain pens.
- Use recycled paper and notebooks.
- Buy biodegradable organic materials.
- Make your own supplies like paints, dyes, charcoal, and more.
- Upcycle, use recycled, unwanted, broken, and found objects to create art instead of buying new materials.
- Zero Waste Box – Art Supplies
- Create and buy closed-looped fashion.
- This is clothing that can be transformed, reused, or recycled at the end of its lifecycle.
- Create ecological art with a message to inspire change.
- Create land art.
- Land art uses materials derived from nature to create artwork. It’s also a great way to inspires appreciation for nature and sustainable living.
Green Your Commute
Transportation accounts for more than 28% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (2018). Passenger cars alone are responsible for more than 35% of that. Greenhouse gases have far-ranging environmental and health effects, from air pollution, respiratory diseases; to increasing wildfires and other effects of climate change. Making your commute more green can improve your personal health and the health of the planet for future creatives.
Practices of being a green commuter also create opportunities to inspire creativity. By mixing up your travel routines, you train mindfulness, change your perspectives, and improve openness to experience. When we’re more open and changing up our routines, divergent thinking comes more naturally.
In many ways making your commute more green is a win-win for the environment, your health, and creativity.
TIps
- Explore new eco-friendly ways to get to work.
- New Perspectives = Creative Inspiration
- Commute by bike for health benefits that also boost creativity.
- Many cities are also adding bike-share programs to encourage green commutes.
- Start a carpool.
- Besides helping the environment, this can also be used for unique brainstorming and collaboration opportunities.
- Ride the bus, subway system, or shuttle.
- This gives you more time to read, think creatively, meditate, and meet people that can inspire new perspectives.
- Work flexible hours to avoid peak traffic times.
- Work remotely when possible.
- Upgrade your car to a greener ride.
- Electric and hybrid cars improve fuel economy and are also becoming cheaper.
Gardening and Composting
Supporting nature isn’t only good for the environment. Nature boosts healthy living and can inspire creativity. A great way of doing both of these and a zero waste lifestyle is by starting your own garden and composting.
Compost is the single most important supplement you can give your garden, and it’s easy to make and reduces your waste. Food scraps and yard waste make up more than 30% of what we throw away. There are also many items in the creative lifestyle that can be composted. All these materials help make the soil healthier for nutritious food and healthy plants. Another benefit of composting is the carbon sink or reservoir you create, which can help the atmosphere.
When you use compost for your garden, you are creating healthier soil to grow nutritious foods and healthy plants, but you’re also creating a carbon sink or reservoir which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On a large scale, a study in the EU suggests that “an increase of just 0.15% in organic carbon in arable soils in a country like Italy would effectively imply the sequestration of the same amount of carbon within the soil that is currently released into the atmosphere in a period of one year through the use of fossil fuels.” A carbon sink can also improve the workability of soils, better water retention, less production and use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides, and reduces the release of nitrous oxide.
TIps
- Start a garden with your composting to get benefits from nature that fuel creativity.
- Learn what can be composted, including art waste like shredded newspaper, cardboard, and paper.
- Harvest your own water using water barrels.
- Return plastic pots to be reused and choose biodegradable pots for a healthier, more eco-friendly garden.
- No space for your own garden? Join a community garden.
- Best Plants to Improve Well-Being and Inspire Creativity
- Best Foods to Boost Creativity and Healthy Living
- Best Cookbooks to Stay Healthy and Creative
Zach is an international writer, photographer, filmmaker, martial artist, and creator of Creative Enso, the Zen art of creative living. His goal is to empower and inspire creatives to live healthier, happier, and more creative lifestyles.
