What I've Learned Four Days Into This Zero-Waste Train

I’ve made it through days three and four of avoiding plastic and waste in general and here are my three current takeaways:

This is hard! Trying to not to create trash - at least trash that takes somewhere around 400 years to decompose (and in some cases many more) - is increasingly difficult . Everything comes in packaging, everything is single-use and everything is “convenient.”
What do people eat? I wonder what those who go zero-waste eat! I mean, it’s probably very healthy - you can’t eat cheese, store-bought bread, tortillas, yogurt, frozen vegetables or fruit, candy - it all comes wrapped in plastic. What do you do? Respect.
Oh, the anxiety! When I start having these realizations, I start asking myself, “how am I going to keep this up?” or “What if I can’t do it?” or “It’s so much work!”

I can’t just be negative - that’s not my nature! So here are the three ways I’m combating these thoughts.

I don’t have to be perfect. I’m trying my best. I’m avoiding what I can and trying to recycle that which I can. Limiting my plastic intake in any way is a step in the right direction.
Sometimes you just have to take that additional step to get the same affect. Instead of using a mountain of paper towels at lunch, I brought my own cloth napkin to work - and it even works better!
It’s all about the little steps and building habits. If I look at the end game it can be frustrating. But if I stay in the present moment and just think about changing one habit now - it’s much more bearable.

So that’s where I’m at. Still on this zero-waste train. Still finding creating ways of not throwing things “away.”

My Weekly Trash Count:

Monday, April 22: Paper plate and plastic fork.
Tuesday, April 23: Packaging from Trader Joe’s pizza
Wednesday, April 24: 4-5 paper towels from washing my hands.
Thursday, April 25: RX bar wrapper. Bought this who-knows-how-long-ago, and didn’t have time to eat breakfast. Also, probably 4 paper towels from washing my hands.