Low-waste living is often associated with people who are financially better off. However, there are many ways that everyday people can afford low-waste living.
In the rest of the article, we are going to look at a few ways to maintain a low-waste lifestyle that are affordable and a few more that will save you money.
But, before we dive into the how-tos, let’s define low-waste living. In a few words, it is trying to greatly reduce the amount of trash each individual or household sends to the landfill.
What Are Some Affordable Ways To Engage in Low-Waste Living?
If you want to engage in low-waste living but cannot spend too much, consider some of these ways to do so.
Recycle
Recycling is less about introducing new costs and more about new labor. This can seem like a hassle, but it is actually a good way to adapt to a low-waste lifestyle without worrying about it being more expensive than you can handle.
Remember that low-waste living is, as far as hard materials go, about sending less waste to the landfill. Cardboard, paper, or plastic that is sent off to recycle lowers your total trash output in a significant way.
Rethink Your Regular Purchases
When you are doing your grocery shop next time, pay attention to how the regular items you buy are packaged.
If you have seen those chocolates that are wrapped in individual plastic wrappers inside another plastic bag, maybe look for a greener brand. Choosing items that produce less waste in the form of unnecessary or less biodegradable packaging is a relatively affordable way to handle a low-waste lifestyle. Depending on the individual products, you may even find yourself saving money in the process.
Drive Less
It is true that driving is very convenient. This convenience is often stark enough that it balances out the rising gas prices but limiting the amount of time you spend driving can be a way to both engage in low-waste living and tackle your monthly expenditures a bit.
The cost of public transport in your area can vary, but walking is always free. If a trip you usually make with the car is within walking distance and you do not have to carry anything, why not walk it instead? Not only are you creating less waste in the form of air pollution, but you are also getting healthier in the process.
Average annual spending on public transport (pre-pandemic): $780.55
What Are Some Ways that Low-Waste Living Can Save You Money?
If money has been the biggest barrier for you to adopting a low-waste lifestyle, you may be surprised to learn that this can actually be a way to save money.
Composting
If you have a garden, you know how much money you spend on supplies for it. The bigger your garden is, the more expensive it is to maintain. But what if you could make your own all-organic gardening supplies at home?
Composting is a way that you can turn all of your green and brown waste into high quality fertilizer for your garden. And outside of the set-up, which can be free if you build your own compost pit out of recycled wood, the composting process is completely free.
Average annual spending on gardening supplies: $155.07
Cutting Unnecessary Luxury
A lot of the trash you produce is down to unnecessary luxuries. It can be argued that luxuries are unnecessary, but here we are talking about the kinds of things that may not even add that much value to your life.
The average American spends around $80 and $50 per month on takeout for food and drink respectively and a whopping $500 a month on entertainment outside of the home.
Takeout involves substantial unnecessary packaging, and entertainment outside of the home involves not only fuel-burning travel but also often minimum reusability of things like plastic shot glasses at the bar.
Not only will reducing these unnecessary luxuries bring you many steps closer to a reduced trash lifestyle, but it will also save you considerable amounts of money in the long term.
Final Thoughts
We have learned how contrary to the common believe that low-waste living is only accessible to wealthy people not only can everyday people afford it, but it can even be financially beneficial to them.