Ultimate List of Zero-Waste Kits for Plastic Free Living
When you think about zero-waste living, the very first question arises in our mind “How to start?”. So, the Zero-Waste kits are the solution to follow your dream of Zero-waste living. Zero-Waste kits are the collections of necessary zero-waste items to carry when you are either at home or outside. We don't even think of how much waste we create when we go to a picnic or a stay at some other place.
In this article, we discussed some ultimate zero-waste kits that will help you in this beautiful journey of going zero-waste.
What is the purpose of a zero-waste kit?
The immediate goal of a zero-waste lifestyle is to send zero trash to landfills instead of using which is reusable, biodegradable, or compostable. Certainly, zero-waste kits help you to achieve this goal. It makes you handy with those things that are helpful to go zero-waste in your life.
Taking tiny steps initially, make you run one day. So it’s a tiny step to take part in the long run of zero-waste and saving your planet.
Types of Zero-Waste Kits
Find the list of 10 different types of Zero-Waste kits for any situation which will make your journey to living plastic-free or zero waste effortless.
Zero-Waste Starter Kit
Reusable cup
A reusable cup is an essential part of a zero-waste everyday kits. Replacing disposable cups with reusable cups could be a great start for Zero-Waste living. It could be stainless steel or recyclable plastic that could last long.
Reusable cutlery and utensils
Always carry a set of stainless/bamboo cutlery and utensils with you so that you don’t need to buy disposable plates and cups. It’s true that disposables cannot be recycled with food sticks on them, they get into landfills. There are a lot of options in the market to get bamboo and stainless steel cutleries for easy travel. You can wrap them in a cloth to carry.
Reusable water bottle
Try not to buy plastic water bottles from outside. Carry your own reusable water bottle wherever you go. You can refill it wherever you want. In this way, you can save money and decrease your carbon footprint as well.
Glass containers
Reusable containers are a very good choice for storing bulk items that are more difficult to store in reusable produce bags. Items like:
- Wet ingredients like oil, honey, etc
- flour/powders/spice in bulk
- Bulk wet foods like sauces, creams, and milk
Bamboo toothbrush
Bamboo toothbrushes are a good choice for plastic-free travel. They grow easily and regenerate themselves when decomposed. Always try to keep the environment clean with a set of bamboo toothbrushes with you when you are out of your home. In this way, you can decrease your carbon footprint and make environment plastic-free
Menstrual cup
The menstrual cup is the easiest way to keep you light and safe when you are out. You don’t need to pack up a bunch of pads every time you leave the house. Every woman uses around 15 to 20 in each cycle. It accounts for a huge amount of waste we create. It’s the best way to decrease the waste at the very first level.
Cloth napkin
Reusable cloth napkins are always a good choice instead of disposable paper napkins. Almost 0.07 gallons of water is required to manufacture a 0.08-ounce paper napkin(excluding water to grow trees). In total, 31crore gallons of water to make the 450,000,000 paper napkins that used in one day
Reusable food wraps
Instead of using a paper towel, aluminum foil, or butter paper to wrap the food, use the reusable cloth wrap. It’s more convenient to carry and easily washable, which doesn’t create any waste. You can also use beeswax food wraps, it’s natural and easily biodegradable.
Reusable cloth bag
Switch to reusable bags, replacing those annoying and environmentally destructive plastic bags. It’s a basic change everyone should do in their daily life because we are facing a tremendous surge of plastic pollution. Even if, you are not going zero-waste, still use the reusable cloth bags
Zero-waste dish cleaning kit
Reusable dish scrubber
Give a try to bamboo and hemp dish scrubbers. They are natural and easy to decompose. A scrub made of copper could be an excellent choice for a reusable dish scrubber, as you can recycle it easily.
Natural dishwashing liquid
Dishwashing liquid contains a lot of chemicals to remove the stains from utensils, it gets mixed up with water and goes into water bodies. They also come in large bulky plastic containers which cause plastic pollution. The easiest way to deal with these problems is to ditch them and make your own at home by mixing vinegar, baking soda, and lemon or buy eco-friendly dishwashing powder
Bamboo bottle brush
Bamboo bottle brushes serve a lot of purposes like being environmentally friendly, easy to use, and natural. Go for a bamboo bottle brush to clean the bottles that have a narrow opening.
Zero-waste hair care kit
Bamboo hairbrush
Bamboo is the best and favorite among many brands, as it grows fast, safe, durable, and offers a ton of other benefits. The only thing to take care of is to keep it in a well-ventilated area, as mold can grow easily on its surface in steamier environments. you can also have a neem bamboo comb too
Zero-waste shampoo and conditioner bar
Shampoo and conditioner bars are the best way to go for a zero-waste lifestyle. They don’t come in the layering of plastic, like other hair care products, which means you won’t feel bad ordering them in bulk. They’re solidified, so they don’t require unnecessary plastic packaging
Zero-waste hair ties/headbands
Organic cotton hair ties are the most used and recommended by everyone who follows a zero-waste routine because they’re biodegradable, sustainable, and looks super cute too.
Zero-waste laundry kit
Natural laundry detergent
Try to buy laundry detergent in bulk to avoid excessive plastic packaging. If possible get your container refill. Some brands started recyclable dispensers for laundry detergents. You can also try to make your own DIY detergent with soap nuts. Soapnuts are natural to remove stains from clothes.
Bamboo clippers
Try to use bamboo clippers to line dry the clothes outside in the sun. These are eco-friendly and long-term use
Reusable zero-waste cord to line dry
Use an eco-friendly, jute rope for hanging clothes outside. You can also get an aluminum stand to dry your clothes, it is more sustainable and low in waste in comparison to plastic chords
Zero-waste grocery kit
Grocery shopping is like a weekly or daily activity for all of us, and due to the current structure of our linear economy that depends on take-make-dispose. The food is often sold in supermarkets to consumers in single-use plastics that will end up in the landfill and worsen the condition of oceans.
Reusable grocery bag
On average, we usually recycle only one plastic bag in every 200 we use. Every year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide. All of the above, doesn’t include paper bags that we generally consider an alternative for a plastic bag. But, even the manufacturing of paper consumes energy and resources and releases greenhouse gases.
The best way to avoid the hidden environmental costs of using paper or plastic bags is to use reusable cloth bags. Bring your bag from home to the grocery store. Most grocery stores nowadays are charging for grocery bags to forcefully make people bring their own bags.
Reusable produce bags
Reusable produce bags are the bags to keep fresh loose vegetables in them separately instead of mixing each other. Generally, shopkeepers have small poly bags to put vegetables in them and supermarkets have big rolls of plastics nearby produce. Sometimes we unnecessarily use them to put a single thing that we could keep with others.
Keep that harmful plastic from your home and try to store your loose vegetables, fruits, or even bulk items in reusable produce bags.
Reusable Containers
Zero-waste picnic kit
Biodegradable trash bags
When you are on a picnic spot, don't leave your trash behind. Either throw it in a trash bin or take it along with you. Always keep biodegradable trash bags along with you on a picnic trip
Reusable sheets
An old blanket, sheet, or tablecloth works well. If you don’t have any to spare, check your local thrift store or second-hand shop, or ask family and friends before buying new. Chances are there’s someone who would be more than happy to give away an old blanket or sheet.
Stainless steel tiffin for leftovers
When you are going to a picnic, try to have in-hand food like sandwiches, rolls, wraps, etc. this kind of food is easy to carry and eat without any plate. Try to empty your refrigerator, taking everything you already have at home in tiffins. And pack the leftovers for the picnic. Do not throw food because food decomposition in landfills releases a lot of GHGs in the environment. Food waste becomes a challenge for climate change.
Stainless steel straws
Do not carry disposable straws with you on a picnic. Plastic straws are the major contributors to plastic pollution nowadays. Try to ditch those plastic ones for the sake of convenience, use the stainless steel ones to protect the environment.
Reusable bags
Zero-waste cutlery and utensils
Reusable water bottles
Cloth napkin
Zero-Waste Travel Kit
Bamboo Comb
Plastic combs contribute to plastic pollution on a large scale. Replace your plastic comb with a bamboo comb while traveling. Bamboo products are always good for the environment
Natural tooth powder
Another step towards a more sustainable and zero-waste lifestyle is to keep your mouth routine zero-waste. You can make your own tooth powder at home.
Ingredients:
- Add 2 tablespoons baking soda - mild abrasive that knocks over the plaque on teeth removes stain-causing molecules and neutralizes pH.
- 2 tablespoons bentonite clay - removes toxins and contains calcium
- 2 tablespoons xylitol - Dislodges bacteria from sticking to the teeth and neutralizes the pH to prevent tooth decay.
- Small jar, wooden utensil
Directions:
- Stir all the ingredients together in a small jar with a spoon
- Wet the bamboo toothbrush, take some powder, and brush
Zero-waste cutlery and utensils
Bamboo toothbrush
Reusable mug
Cloth napkin
Zero-Waste Makeup Kit
In the world of beauty, zero-waste means looking for high-quality, plant-based beauty/makeup products. Farming of ingredients should be ethical and sustainable. The biggest focus should be on product packaging and should remove the shrink wrap packaging.
Homemade Face Lotion
Making your own beauty products at home is an easy and efficient way to reduce or eliminate waste. There are a lot of recipes for homemade face lotion depending on your skin texture. One of them is with Shea butter, apricot seed oil, vitamin E, aloe Vera, and essential oils. It is all-natural and you can get everything in the store.
Cloth Makeup Remover Rounds
With your DIY reusable cotton/cloth rounds, you can have soft and clear skin after removing makeup. You can use coconut oil, olive oil to remove your makeup. It is the must-have in your Zero-waste makeup kits. Without any alcohol or chemicals, the product will be gentle on your skin
Makeup Brushes
Try to get high-quality brushes made of sustainable and compostable bamboo and recyclable aluminum. Indeed, they are a bit pricey but absolutely worth the amount as they last-long. In the end, the bamboo and bristles can be composted, and the metal can be recycled.
DIY Bronzer and Kajal
You can make your own bronzer/contour palette using ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. It sounds wacky but it's true. You can use cocoa powder, cinnamon, and arrowroot powder to make your eyeshadows and Bronzer.
You can also make your own kohl Kajal at home by burning almonds and collecting the smoke and then adding some mustards oil or olive oil to it.
Natural Lipsticks
Basically, natural lipsticks mean having the natural ingredients, way far from harmful chemicals. they are made up of plant-based ingredients with ethical farming. you can buy natural lipsticks from Disguise cosmetics, they are natural with no side-effects.
Zero-Waste emergency Kit
Solar cell torchlight
Solar cell torchlight is the first thing to pack in your zero-waste emergency kit. You don't need to charge it more often. Certainly, It doesn't have any batteries that go into electronic waste. You can charge it once on sunlight and use it for long time
First-aid kit
Zero-waste emergency kit must include first-aid needs like medicine, biodegradable bandages, some home remedies for ex. honey, turmeric, etc.
Batteries
Do not forget to pack some extra batteries in case of need. Batteries need proper handling and recycling. In addition, after full discharge of batteries, throw them in electronic waste bins.
Whistle for help
Keep a whistle for help in case you get lost or need help in an unwanted circumstance. So, you can call people nearby.
Create your own Zero-Waste kit
Creating your own zero-waste kit means including what you already have at home, instead of buying items for your zero-waste kits. To start with this, you need to keep some important things in your mind given below:
- Try to pack tour leftover food from home reusable containers, so that you can consume it before it stale
- Carry your own reusable water bottle and utensils
- Use old bed sheets, blankets, and hand towels for travel replacing disposable sheets
- Keep a set of bamboo/stainless steel cutlery with you
- Always carry soap and shampoo bars to decrease waste
GO for Zero-Waste to make planet healthier !!!
