So you've decided to live a zero-waste lifestyle and that's great for everyone, you've imagined a waste-free house and everything in it is environment-friendly and clean the way you've seen it on Instagram, simple and sustainable, BUT the problem is that you're living with your parents and they keep wasting more and more unbeatable, preventing you from living that life you've imagined, and now you don't know what to do...
I've been there and I'm still living with my parents, in this articles I'm sharing with you what you can do to keep reducing your waste and live zero-waste when you're living with parents.
1. Create A Clean Space That's Just For You
If it's possible, even if that's just a little space in the corner that you can start by organizing it the way you like, with no waste, all eco-friendly, then do it, every little change you do in your house can be good for you to feel like you're achieving something, but you need to stop comparing what you've done to others on Instagram, white walls and wooden kitchen with no plastic bags everywhere, that looks perfect right? You might feel frustrated and that's normal because we do things so we can see the results, if we do not see anything then that's not going to last, we'll stop after a while, to prevent this from happening I recommend you to create a clean space for you, maybe in your room if you have one.
2. It's Your Chance To Reuse\Recycle\Repair
It's not the best thing ever to live with your parents but there is benefits of living with them, you can stop some of the waste from going to trash by reusing\recycling\repairing it, to explain what I'm talking about I'll tell you what I did to save some waste, my parents buy food in jars, plastic boxes and tin cans, they throw it away once they finish the food, I ask them to keep it for me because I need it, I use the jars for juices\smoothies, the plastic boxes to save my food in it when I want to go out, I plant in the tin cans, and I tried to make compost from their wasted food + my wasted food, if you're living with your parents then it's you chance to use the waste again and that will be helping you to save more waste, you'll not need to buy your own jars, you can reuse theirs.
Also, you're sharing the house with your parents, that means you'll use the same dishes, the same eating tools, the same bathroom and rooms, if you have your own place then you need to get everything again, so you need to remember that sharing tools is good for the environment, and of course it has economical benefits for you, so you're doing great!
3. Try To Explain What You're Doing, They Might Like It!
If it's a movie night or even if you don't have movie nights, you can ask them to watch a movie together and choose one that explains it all about the environment (A Plastic Ocean, The True Cost, Trashed, Plastic Paradise, Minimalism... and there is more!) and watch it, you might learn new things while watching and they might like the idea, also, if you have siblings then they we'll learn something new.
If they ask about anything related to the environment then try to answer them, let them know how important it is to be part of this movement to reduce waste, at least ask them to stop single-use products by explaining to them how much time it need to one plastic cup to decompose and how waste is impacting the planet.
4. You're Helping, Don't Give Up
Even if you can't see the results of what you're doing, you're still helping by reducing your waste, if you bought your vegetables in a reusable bag instead of plastic then you've did something today and you're appreciated, I want to tell you thank you for helping, for being part of this zero-waste living, you've spreading your love and care to the planet, you think before doing what's harmful for this planet, and that's enough for you to be happy and proud because you're special, a lot of people do not even care to read about the environment and they'll never act, you're acting, don't give up because you're doing the right thing, one day you'll be able to live alone and you'll be able to apply the zero-waste look all over your house, be patient and appreciate your progress.
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I've been there and I'm still living with my parents, in this articles I'm sharing with you what you can do to keep reducing your waste and live zero-waste when you're living with parents.
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| When you go grocery shopping vs when your parents go grocery shopping. |
1. Create A Clean Space That's Just For You
If it's possible, even if that's just a little space in the corner that you can start by organizing it the way you like, with no waste, all eco-friendly, then do it, every little change you do in your house can be good for you to feel like you're achieving something, but you need to stop comparing what you've done to others on Instagram, white walls and wooden kitchen with no plastic bags everywhere, that looks perfect right? You might feel frustrated and that's normal because we do things so we can see the results, if we do not see anything then that's not going to last, we'll stop after a while, to prevent this from happening I recommend you to create a clean space for you, maybe in your room if you have one.
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| Create your own space |
2. It's Your Chance To Reuse\Recycle\Repair
It's not the best thing ever to live with your parents but there is benefits of living with them, you can stop some of the waste from going to trash by reusing\recycling\repairing it, to explain what I'm talking about I'll tell you what I did to save some waste, my parents buy food in jars, plastic boxes and tin cans, they throw it away once they finish the food, I ask them to keep it for me because I need it, I use the jars for juices\smoothies, the plastic boxes to save my food in it when I want to go out, I plant in the tin cans, and I tried to make compost from their wasted food + my wasted food, if you're living with your parents then it's you chance to use the waste again and that will be helping you to save more waste, you'll not need to buy your own jars, you can reuse theirs.
Also, you're sharing the house with your parents, that means you'll use the same dishes, the same eating tools, the same bathroom and rooms, if you have your own place then you need to get everything again, so you need to remember that sharing tools is good for the environment, and of course it has economical benefits for you, so you're doing great!
 |
| What you can do to recycle your parent's waste |
3. Try To Explain What You're Doing, They Might Like It!
If it's a movie night or even if you don't have movie nights, you can ask them to watch a movie together and choose one that explains it all about the environment (A Plastic Ocean, The True Cost, Trashed, Plastic Paradise, Minimalism... and there is more!) and watch it, you might learn new things while watching and they might like the idea, also, if you have siblings then they we'll learn something new.
If they ask about anything related to the environment then try to answer them, let them know how important it is to be part of this movement to reduce waste, at least ask them to stop single-use products by explaining to them how much time it need to one plastic cup to decompose and how waste is impacting the planet.
 |
| Watch a movie about the environment with your parents |
4. You're Helping, Don't Give Up
Even if you can't see the results of what you're doing, you're still helping by reducing your waste, if you bought your vegetables in a reusable bag instead of plastic then you've did something today and you're appreciated, I want to tell you thank you for helping, for being part of this zero-waste living, you've spreading your love and care to the planet, you think before doing what's harmful for this planet, and that's enough for you to be happy and proud because you're special, a lot of people do not even care to read about the environment and they'll never act, you're acting, don't give up because you're doing the right thing, one day you'll be able to live alone and you'll be able to apply the zero-waste look all over your house, be patient and appreciate your progress.
 |
| Appreciate your progress |