“Start before you plan to start.”
I can’t remember where I initially read this bit of advice, but it’s something that has stuck with me ever since.
Take New Year’s resolutions for example. There are often bumps along the road to creating new routines, and it’s so easy to fall back on established negative habits by the end of January. However, if you take six or even eight weeks before the end of the year to begin making gradual changes, you can figure out where you’ll run into problems and find solutions to them. Then, once you ring in the new year and start “for real”, you’re all ready to go with the tools you need to be successful.
And this is why I’m highlighting Plastic Free July in May! It’s been hard for a lot of us to cut back on waste during lockdown, but as we begin to emerge from quarantine, I hope we’ll be able to start reducing our wasteline again.
Last year I published a series of blog posts that (virtually) welcomed everyone into my home to see what changes have been made to cut back on waste and where I was still struggling to find substitutions. I’m planning to update these posts this year with new discoveries and old nemeses (toothpaste, I’m looking at you).
If you’ve checked out Jen Gale’s Sustainable-ish community, you’ll have seen that she is fond of the phrase “imperfect action is better than perfect inaction”, and I couldn’t agree more. Making steps, however small, towards a smaller waste footprint is something that everyone can do – you just have to be willing to start.
So if you’re keen to start cutting back on waste, try having a waste audit to figure out what you buy and why. And if you want to check out last year’s Plastic Free July posts, they’re all right here:
- Reduce Your Wasteline: The Bathroom
- Reduce Your Wasteline: The Wardrobe
- Reduce Your Wasteline: Out and About
- Reduce Your Wasteline: The Kitchen
- Reduce Your Wasteline: Everything Else
- Reduce Your Wasteline: Get Social
- Reduce Your Wasteline: Gift Giving
- Greenwashing and Unintended Consequences
- Festival Fundamentals
- Reflecting on my Wasteline
- Tip of the Iceberg
If you’re using Plastic Free July as a springboard to reduce your waste year round, consider reading related posts:
