What is zero waste?

Zero waste is about making conscious, more sustainable choices while focusing on what works best for you. The intention of living (an almost) zero waste lifestyle is to:

  • refuse things that we don’t need
  • reduce what we need
  • reuse as much as possible
  • repair things
  • compost (rot) our food waste
  • and lastly, to recycle what’s left.

Why going *almost* zero waste?

For the planet, for the animals, for the people. Living almost zero waste has plenty of benefits, and the biggest one is that it will allow you to live in harmony with our planet. It can teach you how to be happy with less stuff, how to be less wasteful, how to be creative by re-purposing, repairing, and DIYing things. Along the way, you will save money and resources from our planet.

The goal of Almost Zero Waste

My purpose is to share my experience and research the best ways how to live a sustainable, healthy, and happy life. I want to emphasize that we all have different resources, lifestyles, and choices, and what works for me may not work for you. And that’s cool. My goal is to help you to find what works best for YOU. šŸ™‚

Here, you can find guides, DIYs, and frequently asked questions going through my head when I started to live more sustainably. From tips on how to reduce your waste and how to recycle things to DIY guides on natural cosmetics, how to save money, where to find plastic-free products, how to make tasty vegan food & more.

I want to show you that EVERY action counts and that together, we can make a difference. āš”ļø While we do need a system change rather than an individual change, we cannot have one without the other. Ā 

Who’s behind Almost Zero Waste?

Hi there. Iā€™m so happy to have you here! My name is Meri and Iā€™m the person behind Almost Zero Waste.

I am an imperfect zero waste advocate, passionate about sustainability, veganism, and living harmoniously with nature.

I got interested in sustainable living somewhere in 2018 when I heard about ā€˜zero wasteā€™ for the first time.

I got very inspired and motivated to become as sustainable as possible, but at the same time, I was kind of crushed every time I made ā€˜mistakesā€™ and created more trash than I wanted.Ā 

about almost zero waste

I had different phases, where I tried to create as little trash as possible, and other times when I did the bare minimum. My latest phase started after I felt very disconnected from the purpose of my blog and my sustainable journey, due to various reasons.

I had to re-establish this connection and saw that things needed to change to continue forward. Things that worked for me before, didnā€™t anymore. 

Now, Iā€™m much more focused on the bigger picture, and on creating truly sustainable habits for the long run. Some of my values and views on certain things changed, and im honestly glad about it. I read something about being disciplined vs rigid, and I could relate to it so much. 

Self-discipline is essential for setting and reaching goals. But too much of it can turn into rigidity, and Iā€™ve experienced it in different parts of my life. Being too rigid makes me too strict and inflexible. That rigidity crashes spontaneity, creativity, and adaptability, and it often brought me lots of anxiety and stress. 

Now, my focus has shifted to finding that sweet spot called balance. While it may mean I make more trash now than at the beginning of my journey, I donā€™t feel guilty (like I used to), and my focus is on what works best in my current situation & lifestyle. 

Lifeā€™s anyway a huge rollercoaster, and sometimes doing the bare minimum requires a lot of strength, too. 

I believe that each of us has our unique life situation, and what works for me, may not work for you. And thatā€™s perfectly fine. You do you, and Iā€™ll do me, however this may look. The point is to know you are trying to be better, towards yourself, those around you, and our precious planet. 

If some of the things I share relate with you, inspire you, or help you in any way, Iā€™m happy about it and itā€™s all that matters to me. 

If you want to connect, you can always do it over my email, or social media (Iā€™m mostly active on Instagram; you can also follow my other social media where I try to be active – YouTube, Pinterest & Facebook).

Again, thank you for being here, it truly means so much to me.