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A couple of years ago, I went to my first eco exposition, and to my surprise I had no idea of how many eco-friendly products existed. I believed that learning how to live a zero-waste lifestyle was brand new and that we still needed to find a lot of new eco-friendly alternatives. 

However, people were selling kitchen supplies, makeup, skincare products, seed pencils, organic and second-hand clothes, and even green funerals. At first glance, it seemed that everything was working perfectly and that people had found the black thread.

Later I understood that a LOT of product swaps were missing, some products didn’t actually work and that the exposition made me believe that living a zero-waste lifestyle was expensive and utopian. 

So I knew I had to try it another way. Here are some of the common mistakes we make while adopting a low waste lifestyle and how we can avoid it. 

It is an overnight process

Although we can definitely be very excited about this, sometimes we think that we can completely change our lifestyle from one day to the other. It is not about throwing away all of your things and having a fresh start. It is about learning and having a slow transformation. 

First of all, it takes at least 21 days to make a habit out of something. Therefore, if you try to change EVERYTHING in one day, sooner or later you will abandon it. 

Having a sustainable lifestyle is about learning every single day, for example, reducing your consumption, making your food last longer, eating healthier, finding real eco-friendly products, and knowing the planet. 

If we do not learn about the environment, it can be very difficult to understand the importance of not buying products with palm oil, for example. 

No one has all the answers because every day activists and scientists discover new problems and solutions to the climate crisis. It is our responsibility to be aware of the changes so we can incorporate them as soon as possible into our lifestyle. 

For example, most of the food and beauty products we find in the supermarket have palm oil. It has been proven that consuming palm oil affects our health. Additionally, people are destroying the jungles and killing thousands of animals that live there. This is one of the most serious environmental issues we need to take care of.

Not knowing about eco-anxiety

Do you feel overwhelmed because of the climate crisis? Some people are already suffering everyday from climate-related disasters such as floods or wildfires. Others, like me, are suffering because we worry about the environment, animals and the future of new generations and ourselves. 

That is why sometimes when we are learning how to live a zero waste lifestyle we want to change it as quickly as we can and we feel anxious. Nevertheless, eco-anxiety is not a “mistake”; what is a mistake is people not knowing about it or do not addressing it. It is not a mental illness, it is just a strong emotional response to the climate crisis. 

Although the ultimate goal is to have a sustainable lifestyle, it is important to take care of our mental health. The most important thing is to enjoy every single step of the transformation and see it as an opportunity of having a better quality of life. 

Do not blame yourself if you still consume plastic-packaged food or have not bought eco-friendly products. This is a personal journey and everyone starts at a different pace. While you may be able to ride your bike to work everyday, others may have the opportunity to buy organic vegetables. 

Experts suggest that the best thing you can do in order to reduce or eliminate eco-anxiety is to take action. Also, it helps to connect with people that are going through the same journey as you. This can help you learn from others’ experiences and you can find solutions together. 

If you have any questions regarding eco-anxiety or any other topic, let me know in the comments below! The purpose is to learn from each other.

Getting caught in greenwashing

Greenwashing is one of the most dangerous tendencies of the sustainable movement. 

If you have not heard about greenwashing, it is the practice of selling products that are not really eco-friendly or are not very green. Companies use this in order to improve their reputation by saying they have enhanced their practices or use this to increase sales by targeting a new audience. So yes, not every product we see that is advertised as eco-friendly, is real and legitimate… 

How to avoid this? First of all, you need to learn about the brand, and you can start by checking their Sustainability or Social Responsibility website. Secondly, analyze the products’ reviews as well because it gives you a more honest approach to the product. 

Most importantly, forget about the brands that tend to do bad actions and suddenly they launch just one or two eco-friendly products. They are only interested in captivating new people and consequently have more revenue, instead of changing their policies from the core. 

For example New milk products.
If the brand continues to sell cow milk but launches a new brand with coconut, almond or oat milk, then maybe you should consider supporting brands that really care about the environment. 

There are a lot of companies or entrepreneurs trying to make a difference with real sustainable policies focusing on a circular economy. 

Once, I saw a milk brand that was selling 50% almond milk and 50% cow milk and was advertising it as an eco-friendly product, of course with a picture of a cow smiling on the package. This is so wrong in many aspects… please do not let greenwashing ruin your good intentions. 

Example 2: More ads than actions
Some companies invest more in advertising their new “eco-friendly product” or “how they ask for (consumer) volunteers to clean beaches” instead of investing in changing their actions and policies. They paint themselves green but all they are doing is taking advantage of what people are fighting for and trying to change. 

Here are 3 brands that we love and that are sustainable and ethical. You can check this out on their website. They follow strict sustainable policies and guidelines.

1.Package free: Is an American brand that wants to make the world less trashy. Their goal is to make natural and plastic-free products more accessible, affordable, and convenient for all. They offer everything from health and beauty products to kitchen products. Price range $10-150 dollars and they ship internationally. The good news is that they are offering 15% off your entire purchase with this code.

2.Wolven: If you are into activewear, this is for you. Each legging is made with 27 recycled post-consumer bottles. They also use carbon-neutral fibers that require no pesticides. They keep their packaging as minimal as they can. You can check out their latest collection made from plastic bottles here.

3.TenTree: They ethically manufacture sustainable clothing. You can find dresses, jackets, pants, hoodies and more. For every purchase, they plant 10 trees! You can track their progress and the planting projects they have supported around 10 countries on their website. For the US, they are offering free shipping on all orders with this code.

Ignoring your waste

As odd as this may sound, we should absolutely check our trash can so we can identify what type of waste we are generating. 

This is an opportunity of learning in which categories we can improve. Do you generate a lot of paper towel waste? Maybe you can change them to regular towels and wash them in the same cycle as other clothes. Or maybe you love to cook and you have a lot of organic waste, so you can consider starting your own compost. 

One exercise I recommend when starting to learn how to live a zero-waste lifestyle is learning which plastic waste you are disposing of. Check the number under each container so you can identify how easy or not it is to recycle it. However, remember that the first rule of sustainable living is to reuse and not recycle. Maybe you can give bottles a second life. 

Not trying each product individually

This is specifically for beauty or skincare products. Sometimes we get excited and buy the complete kit without even trying first if we are allergic or not to the brand. This is relevant to any makeup or skincare products regardless of whether they are natural or not.  

So how can it go wrong? Well, if you use every single product you have bought without checking first if you are allergic, it would be more difficult to identify which one is the one causing the problem. Also, you can be allergic to only one product, but imagine if you are allergic to a certain brand and you already bought a lot of products that you won’t be able to use. 

I recommend to first test with one product and then you can decide whether or not to buy more.

Ignoring expiration dates

I think we have gotten used to products that last for months or years. However, it is important to highlight that natural products tend to have a shorter life span because of the natural conservatives used. (However, I have found products with longer expiration dates)

Keep in mind that you have to check the expiration dates because even if the products are eco-friendly, they can still have negative consequences on your health. This is an important step in learning how to live a zero-waste lifestyle because they help us take greater care of the products we consume.

Additionally, I recommend learning how to read labels correctly because most of the time we ignore them and that has negative consequences. Learning this can help you understand where the product was elaborated, under which conditions, what are the expiration dates, if it is vegan or cruelty-free, and much more. Additionally, for clothes, you can learn how to take care of them and increase their lifespan. You can learn all of this here!

Recycling everything

Do you want to be eco-friendly? Then, you should recycle everything… right? Well, not really. This is a misconception of sustainable living. Recycling is only one step at the end of the process and it turns out it is one of the last options you should choose. 

The future of sustainability is a circular economy. If you have not learned about what is a circular economy, then do not worry. You can find a complete guide to it in the blog. 

However, according to the circular economy, every product consumed should have a process based on a restorative and regenerative design, having greater utility and value. In simpler words, products should have a longer life span, and then reuse, redistribute, and remanufacture. Finally, after many processes, you can recycle. 

How can you start? Well, instead of recycling your organic cotton clothes, try reusing them. Also, you can share, exchange, thrift, or modify them by creating a new design or even change their form and making a bag out of them. 

The principles of learning how to live a zero-waste lifestyle are based on the circular economy. For example, do you have a wine bottle? Use it as a vase before considering recycling it. There are thousands of options. 

What happens when you have done everything and now the product does not have any more use and it is not recyclable? After making sure you can not recycle it, then you can start your eco brick. Check out my latest post on how to make your eco brick and learn which materials you should not put inside your bottle. 

Scolding your friends and family

Yes, I totally get you… it is frustrating that you are trying your best and then you see someone throwing trash on the street or not caring about letting the water run. However, scolding someone is not the right answer on how to make them understand the importance of taking care of the environment. If you are interested in learning why some people don’t care about climate change, you can read more here.

Do not point out the list of things people are doing wrong, instead tell them how you have changed and how easy it has been. Inspire, do not criticize. 

Remember that change is an individual decision and journey and if people are not ready, they will only hate sustainability and they can even intensify their prejudices. 

Truth is, people do not like to be told what to do. It has been proven that the best solution to deliver change is to show people the benefits by understanding what their needs are. So if your friend is short on money, maybe you can help him by explaining how he can save a lot of money if he uses a thermos and stops buying plastic bottles, demonstrating how this can help him and the environment. A win-win situation! 

With these small steps, you can inspire someone and make them see how to live a zero-waste lifestyle that is realistic and unique. 

Have you identified more mistakes of going low waste? Please share them in the comments so more people can learn from all of us!