Our lives are essentially the sum of our habits. It is important to remember that lasting change is a product of daily habits, not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.

Some of our habits are good and some could be called bad.

Creating waste can be the result of bad habits.

Good news that it is possible to change habits. You can kick the wasting habits. Creating a Zero Waste lifestyle does require forming some new habits that support creating less waste.

Identify those tiny daily habits that add up. Do you throw recycling in your waste bin in the bathroom? Do you regularly leave food on your plate?

Backtrack from the garbage bin.   The contents of your garbage can tell about habits you need to change.  Are the late night snacks of potato chips creating waste packaging in your bin?

Start with one habit you want to change or form.  Here’s your action step: Decide what you want your new habit to be. Now ask yourself, “How can I make this new behaviour so easy to do that I can’t say no?”

Say you want to take your own bags for shopping is the habit you want to form, ask yourself what routines  do you already do that could be a reminder to bring your shopping bags. Placing shopping bags with car keys at the door may help to remind you to take shopping bags.  Attaching a shopping list to the bags may be the reminder if you have a routine of taking shopping lists to stores.

Use shopping bags that you like and make you feel good using. We want to continue things that make us feel good. And because an action needs to be repeated for it to become a habit, it’s especially important that you reward yourself each time you practice your new habit.  Acknowledge each time you perform your new habit by congratulating yourself.

Make habits you want to perform more visible and the ones you want to change less visible. If you want to make it easier to break a bad habit, then you need to increase the number steps required to perform that habit.

Move the garbage can from the prime spot and replace it with a recycling bin and compost bin. Design your environment to make the reminders of your Zero Waste habits more visible and the reminders of your wasteful habits less visible.   This simple strategy makes change easier and is quick way to tailor your environment to support your goals.

A Zero Waste lifestyle can be achieved by creating good habits that are practiced on a daily basis.