The Zero-Waste Lifestyle is a swindle

The Zero-Waste Lifestyle is a swindle


In the time of VSCO girls and eco-influencers, the ‘zero waste lifestyle’ has become a rising trend on social media. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for movements that promote sustainability, however, I believe there is a limit to which it should be encouraged. The zero-waste lifestyle is impossible to achieve. All these eco-influencers and VSCO girls are not actually as ecological as they show they are.



The image of the rubbish stored in a glass jar is a symbol of the zero-waste movement. It’s almost as if, if you do not possess a trash jar, you’re not a follower of the zero waste lifestyle. Activist and CEO of “Package Free” Lauren Singer claims in an interview with CNN that she stores trash worth four years in a  16oz mason jar. This is extremely unrealistic and absolutely not representative of the actual waste she produces. Of course, there is some plastic waste that is created that just needs to be flung off. The supermarket clerk putting groceries in a plastic bag, the waiter putting straws in her drink, using condoms: the likelihood that she may experience an ecological no-no is simply too great to disregard. The trash jar sets unrealistic goals for people who want to be more sustainable, and thus are often discouraged from actually making changes in their lifestyle. We don't need a few people doing low waste perfectly, we need many people doing it imperfectly. I use the word “low” instead of “zero” here to emphasize that it is unrealistic to produce zero waste, and “low” is actually the standard we must aim for. Influencer Kathryn Kellogs mentions in her blog, “3 Reasons the Trash Jar is B*llshit”, that using the trash jar has put her into a bad habit of choosing the more wasteful option, just because she does not want to be stuck with another trash she needs to put in the jar. She uses the example of recycling jars instead of reusing them, just because she does not want to put the labels in her trash jar, and we all know that nothing is 100% recyclable, and therefore reusing is more sustainable than recycling.




Another problem of this zero-waste movement is that it has given significant rise to greenwashing or green marketing. The act of giving the impression that a company's products are ecologically friendly is known as greenwashing. In 2019, the infamous fast-food chain McDonald’s started to use paper straws instead of plastic ones. Its new paper straws, however, are not recyclable, and their production and sourcing have prompted several sustainability concerns. Coming back to Lauren Singer and her questionable trash jar,  her company “Package free” itself produces wasteful products, whether it comes wrapped in plastic or not. Her pack of sustainable condoms with tin is advertised as “biodegradable” because they are made of 100% natural rubber latex. However, that is also green-washing because many drugstore condoms are also made of 100% natural rubber latex and hence can also be called “biodegradable” and still are a lot cheaper than the “Package-free” condoms, which come in an unrequired metal tin. Contrary to what her trash jar may suggest, as the proprietor of an online store, she actually generates tens or even thousands of times more waste than the typical consumer.


So ditch the trash jar, aim for ‘low waste’ and research about a company before purchasing their products to not become another victim of greenwashing.











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