What is Zero Waste?

"Zero waste" it's a hot, new buzz word. The new kid on the eco-friendly block hanging out with "Green," "Eco," and "Sustainable." 

While zero waste might be a new trendy word, it's by no means a new idea. Rather, it's a very, very old one.

Everyone lived a zero waste lifestyle up until the 50's. The zero waste lifestyle is depression era living at it's finest. It simply means to waste nothing. 

From an industrial point of view it means sending nothing to the landfill.

From an economics point of view it's about completely redefining the system and moving to a circular economy.

From a creator point of view it's about designing products that can be fully resumed back into the system - what's also known as closing the loop. 

We are a closed loop company, which means you can send your Pela Case back to us and we can regrind it and turn it into new phone cases. It's a complete closed loop where we're taking responsibility for the full life cycle of the product. 

Zero waste in the home, relies on systems designed to prevent trash from happening in the first place or what's known as precycling. It also focuses on purchasing habits. 

When you make new purchases, you should ask yourself, "Where did this come from?" and, "Where is it going when I'm through with it?" 

Instead of focusing on fads and mindless consumerism, it's about truly examining your needs. If you don't need something, then you shouldn't buy it. 

I find one of the best ways of examining my needs is waiting 30 days before making a purchase. The more stuff we have the more it controls us the more it weighs us down. 

Most of Americans tend to focus on recycling, and recycling is great! But, it's not the solution to our problems. We tend to forget about the first two "commandments" so to speak. 

REDUCE & REUSE! 

We must first reduce how much we're buying. Do we really need more clothes? Do we need a new phone? TV? Do we need all of this food? Can we eat it all before it goes bad? 

First focus on reducing your needs and then focus on reusing what you have.

Get creative! Instead of immediately running out and buying something new, spend sometime trying to figure out if something you already have can serve the purpose.

Zero waste isn't about recycling more, it's about recycling less. 

For 10 tips to get you started in cutting back on your trash check out this blog post.