Inspiring Person: Lauren Singer (Trash is for Tossers)

So, guys, yes there is one special section in my blog specialized to tell stories about those people that I think really are such inspirations for people around them and give positive impacts to society, especially regarding of sustainable living. For the first part of this section, I give the crown of honor to our lady, Lauren Singer, who managed to fit over FIVE YEARS worth of her trash into a single mason jar.

Singer took environmental studies major at NYU back in 2012 and began documenting her journey towards a “zero-waste” lifestyle on her blog, Trash is for Tossers. One of her master plans includes keeping track of every tiny bit of trash she accumulated in a single mason jar as way to keep track of her garbage footprint. Over five years later, Singer is still packing the same mason jar with clothing tags, stickers, plastic straws, and other non-recyclable, non-compostable items. This brilliant human being also founded the Package Free Shop in Brooklyn, New York, that provides sustainable alternatives to household items.

To plunge into the “zero-waste” lifestyle, she shared her best “zero-trash” tips, from wearing sustainable make up to having a waste-free period. Check them out!

On buying food:

Buying foods in bulk allows you to purchase food completely package and plastic-free, which reduces your waste. The other plus point, it is cheaper to do so for you’re not paying the price of individual packaging. Singer herself is not a vegan but she makes sure to eat local, sustainable foods, and she tries to acknowledge herself of where do the foods come from. This screams for one name – farmers’ market! You can buy food while also talking to the farmers to get better acquainted with their business practices.

This way also makes you eliminating the foods that really come inside of your body. We all know that packaged foods are often processed and have preservatives to ensure they have long shelf life. Not only you reduce the waste, you might as well reducing your body weight and gaining more energy!

On eating out:

Singer generally tries to avoid buying takeout. They’re expensive and involve so many wastes so she plans meals ahead of time and makes sure her fridge is properly stocked. Rather than ordering takeout, she better goes outside and really sits somewhere to eat. She also really makes sure that the restaurants she visits reflect her values and have a sustainable, ethical ethos.

Just like another zero-waste lifestyle adopter, make sure to always bring containers and reusable straws from home just in case you want to grab foods or drinks.

On toiletries:

When Singer was researching ways to transition away from plastic, one of the first pieces of information she found was how to replace store-bought toothpaste. This is interesting – she began testing recipes and eventually settles to one that takes 30 seconds to make and it’s a lot cheaper rather than purchasing toothpaste from the store. The recipe? Mix coconut oil, baking soda, and peppermint essential oil together. Make sure you bought all those ingredients in compostable packaging or bulk.

On beauty and make-up:

This is one of the biggest obstacles there is to zero-waste lifestyle because almost every beauty product is packaged in plastic, so Singer tries wearing as little make-up as possible, and when she does for going out or doing something in front of camera, she uses beauty products that come in recyclable packaging and are organic and not tested on animals.

On clothes shopping:

Now, here’s the best part, who doesn’t love vintage secondhand stores?? For good quality of clothes, they save you thousand of dollars. You should also figure out your budget before you shop. Vintage and thrift shopping can be very overwhelming because there is often a lot of people, loud music, and large amount of products to sift through, so it’s important to go in with a plan and an honest friend that can also help you making smart purchases. Other important thing is to keep in mind of traps in form of items that you buy but never end up wearing. Also, make sure that everything that you buy can be worn with multiple outfits and say no to plastic wrappers at the end of your shopping sessions.

On apartment decorating:

Singer practices minimalism for sustainability purposes as well as for keeping her home decluttered. Singer said that she doesn’t need to buy new furniture or household items because she found so much stuffs for her apartment on CraigsList. And if she does really wants to buy furniture, she tries to save up to purchase something that is sustainably handmade.

On cleaning supplies:

The cleaning product industry has very little regulation and it’s really toxic. Singer’s suggestion for eliminating toxins in your cleaning routine and reducing waste is to simply make all off the products yourself – and that’s not as daunting as it seems. You can use the mix of vinegar and essential oils to clean the glass, counters, and steel surfaces. You can use toothbrush and baking soda to clean tiles in your shower, the base of your skin, your faucet, and so on. Just be creative and don’t be lazy to search yourself of many simple ingredients that will be useful for your cleaning supplies.

On sex and periods:

For periods, Singer has her favorite silicone menstrual cup from Lunette, which becomes her favorite alternative to disposable tampons. The cups cost about $40 and they last up to 10 years. The cup itself, which is made of silicone, will biodegrade naturally when burned and it comes in completely compostable packaging. For those who don’t want to insert a cup, washable pads are also a really great option.

On technology:

So many technology purchases are made out of impulse – ask yourself whether you actually need those items or no. If you’re looking to replace something that’s broken, see if you can get it fixed instead. If you do need to make purchases, see if you can get it secondhand and recycle the item you’re replacing. You can often make money by selling parts from the item you’re recycling too. A lot of stores, including Apple, have take back programs for your old phones, tablets, and other tech items.

On spreading the message:

Admit it, it is a fact that nobody wants to be told that how they live their life is wrong or harmful. Lauren has found that through focusing on herself and her waste output, she’s enticed more people to participate in sustainability, as opposed to when she was just yelling at them. Plus, everything is just the matter of the way you think. You don’t go into zero-waste living thinking that it’s going to sucks hard – instead, try thinking that this way of life can avoid you from shitty products full of toxic chemicals and save your environment. Sure, it’s such a real deal having to do research before doing anything but then you fuel yourself through your successes and can enjoy the fact that you’re truly living by your values.

Remember that this is not an overnight process. This way of life takes times, patience, and your willingness to actually put a change in your life. By inspiring people around you and getting them involved, the bigger the sustainable lifestyle movement is getting and the more we’ll drive innovation in zero-waste alternatives and products.