Studio Bruin

Industrial Design Studio & Photographer

Going Zero Waste? This is how you can do it!

I have been writing about sustainability and reducing waste streams a lot. However, I am always curious to see people only creating a jar of waste in a year or even longer. This always fascinates me and I wonder how they do it. Everywhere around me I see a lot of packaging, waste, etc. and it, therefore, seems impossible for me to go zero waste completely. Going Zero waste may be a good direction for 2022. But I need a little bit of help. I bought the book ‘Doe het zero’. A Dutch book where I can find multiple recipes and ways to reduce my waste pile. And I wanted to share this with you as well!

Do I think that going zero waste is possible, more sustainable, and better? Let’s find it out!

Going zero waste doe het zero boek review
Going zero waste doe het zero boek review

Going Zero Waste

Jessie and Nicky Kroon are going zero waste! And they decided to write about it. For €26,99 you can purchase this book at Bol.com.

Not only the content of the book has an eye for sustainability, but Doe Het Zero is also produced as sustainably as possible. For example, a format with little cutting loss (paper waste) has been chosen, it is printed from FSC-certified paper that has also been bleached 100% chlorine and sulfur-free. The ladies had it printed locally in Amersfoort (The Netherlands) so that no imports are necessary and a lot of CO2 emissions are saved.

My vision on going zero waste

I think, inherently, going zero waste is good. We need to produce less waste. It is such a pity that we have beautiful materials, from which one is also plastic, that we abuse by throwing them on the streets and in the oceans. Next to that, this has great effects on the environment and the health of humanity as well.

I admire people who are able to create zero or as least as possible waste. Personally, I find it quite difficult to be cooking and doing what I am used to, but in a more zero waste manner. Namely, I do have a student budget and needs, which does not make it easier.

When looking at my waste production this lies mainly in plastics (mostly packaging). My green waste is already shrunken quite a lot the last year. I think this holds for my plastic usage as well. However, I still find that I have quite a lot of plastic waste that is not needed. The main reason for my plastic waste is that there is a lot of useless plastic usage in my opinion. Why is my cucumber wrapped in plastic? And when I purchase a game it is wrapped in thin plastics as well? Can this please stop?

The book

The book is a great source of inspiration to reduce my ‘pile’ of waste. I already have great inspiration for festive decorations, creating a spa at home in a natural manner, and making my own cleaning supplies.

My favorite is banana ice cream. I love banana ice cream and now I learned a healthy and almost waste-free way to make it myself! I always have bananas at home, and sometimes they are getting a bit older than I like them to be. When there is a chance that I am not able to eat it in time, I put it in the freezer. When I want some ice cream I puree it and there is my homemade healthy banana ice cream!

The book also tells a lot about vegetables of the season for example. Cooking with those is much friendlier for the environment. Next to that it will be a great surprise when eating delicious things that you are not familiar with yet.

Going zero waste doe het zero boek review
doe het zero boek review bananenijs maken

Do I think going zero waste is more sustainable?

This is a question I can wonder a lot about myself. While reading the book I discovered a lot of recipes (especially skin-care products) that contain ingredients that originally are not from The Netherlands. Think about Jojoba oil for example. You have to go overseas to find that ingredient. Some ingredients are only sourced in one country somewhere in South America. I wonder whether the transportation of this product holds up against locally sourced packaging for example. I do not know a lot about this, so if someone knows the answer I would love to learn more about this.

Going zero waste is definitely more sustainable than doing nothing. However, I feel like combining some of the zero waste elements with other sustainability efforts can cause a greater change than zero waste on its own. Next to that, it is super inspirational to start thinking out of the box and I see it as a challenge myself! Maybe I will be able to reduce my pile of waste in the upcoming year! If so, I will definitely let you know!

doe het zero boek review

Doe Het Zero

A great source of inspiration. And by using it as a guide instead of criteria, I think you can get a lot out of this book! I would therefore recommend it if you have an interest in living more sustainably. And remember, it is okay to make small steps in the right direction instead of drastically changing your life (which is fine as well of course).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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