TeenVogue: "How I Fit Three Years' Worth of Trash into One Mason Jar"

It's all about the plastic.

By Lauren Singer, May, 2015

Lauren Singer was selected to give a talk at TEDxTeen, a conference where young men and women spoke about their simple ideas that made a big impact. After her talk, Teen Vogue caught up with Lauren on how she maintains her zero-waste lifestyle, fitting years' of trash into just one Mason jar. Click to watch her talk above, then read her tips for getting started below! As told to Phillip Picardi.

Everything for me started when I was a senior at NYU as an environmental studies major. There was a class I took where there was a girl using a ton of plastic—she'd bring dinner every night with a plastic bag, a plastic drink, plastic fork and knife, and a bag of chips. At the end, she would throw everything out. That was frustrating to me, because NYU has a comprehensive recycling system, so it pissed me off she was throwing all of that away. I would leave class feeling frustrated.

But then I went home to make dinner, and I slowly realized everything I used was in plastic. I would put my head of lettuce in a plastic bag, or vegetables in plastic containers, or buy pre-made rice dishes in plastic packaging or top things with plastic condiments. I was even using coffee that came in plastic packaging. I realized if I was so upset at this girl, I couldn't justify myself doing the same thing, I'd be a total hypocrite. So I decided to stop using plastic.

But that didn't stop in the kitchen. Eventually, my rule stretched to my home, my bathroom, my cleaning products, and in the clothes I was wearing. I had to totally detox. I realized I had to make a lot of products myself, since they weren't available. A lot of people think it must be frustrating or annoying, but I care about sustainability—it was totally empowering knowing I didn't have to make trash and that I had the option to challenge the norm.

But why give up plastic? There are a lot of reasons (most of which I won't get into here), but here's just a scratch at the surface. Plastic is an issue because nothing eats it or breaks it down. It doesn't biodegrade or turn into earth, it just stays plastic forever—it's a single-use thing. Not to mention, it's super energy intensive since it's a man-made material. Its very extraction comes from oil. All of the millions of miles it has to travel to get from the extraction to process to refining, which also consists of a lot of chemical and water usage, then the gasoline that comes from trucking it. Plastic also makes up the tiny microbeads that come in toothpastes and face washes—they go right down your drain and into the water supply, damaging life for sea creatures and killing them. If you think about plastic that goes to landfill, it takes up a lot of space and it takes hundreds of thousands of years to break down. Landfills take up a lot of space, resources, and energy that can be allocated for other things.

My challenge was (and still is) to look for materials that were multi-use, and to focus on things that weren't bad for me. For me, it's a personal health issue and an environmental issue. I have been living zero-waste for three years. My trash for this past three years can fit into one Mason jar. Everything in the jar is plastic that's not recyclable by New York City's recycling infrastructure, like pieces of clothing that have price tags, or clothing stickers. I hold onto it for two reasons: One day I hope to recycle it, for starters, but also because it shines a light on trash issues that might not be top of mind, like straws or pricetags—think of how many there are in the world, and they all go to landfill! That's trash that exists as a problem.

All of this aside, I most certainly do not go off and tell people how I live unless they ask, because I don't want to inundate people with what they don't want. I try to never sound preachy or judgmental about how someone lives, rather I provide tips if they're curious about it. My style is totally the same and I feel healthier, I eat better, and I'm more of a minimalist now, but if anything, it's been a positive for me. It led to me starting a business off Kickstarter (called The Simply Co, which I never thought I'd do.

If you do want to try to reduce your waste, there are easy ways to make a major impact. Here are seven simple tips to making your environmental impact a lot smaller! If you have any questions about the below, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter!

1. Learn how to compost to reduce food waste. Composting varies a lot city to city, because certain places offer things others don't. If you live in San Francisco, for example, the city picks up your compost and you put it out like you would your regular garbage. If you live in Brooklyn like me, the city doesn't pick up compost, so I collect all my food scraps in a bowl in my freezer so it doesn't rot or smell. Once per week, I bring the bowl to a farmer's market where they have compost drop-off locations.If you have your own home, you can compost in your own backyard. I'm going to get some worms and do it on my balcony this summer—it sounds gross, but it really helps me monitor my impact!

2. Make your own beauty products! Toothpaste was the first thing I made myself, which you can check out in the video below. I didn't think natural products worked before I started this whole thing! But after I tried, I realized that you know exactly what's going in them and can therefore monitor exactly what's going in and on your body. All toothpaste requires is a little baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils like spearmint or anise. My favorite part about making my own products is catering them to exactly what I like. After toothpaste, I started going crazy—my body lotion, face oils, toners, scrubs, all of my cleaning products, I made candles the other week with my friend.

3. Shop package-free. This is done in so many ways. I buy my fruit and vegetables from the farmer's market all year round—it's organic, cheaper, and there are no produce stickers. Whole Foods also has a great bulk section where you can buy grains, cereals, and pastas without boxes or bags. There's also a locator app where you can find out where to buy in bulk. I bring Mason jars for wet things like sauces and oils, and a cotton bag for things like rice or vegetables.

4. Buy vintage clothes! Beacon's Closet is my favorite shop in New York for second-hand clothing, but if you're online, there's Etsy and eBay, too. There are already so many cool things on those websites that you don't have to buy new. I used to throw old clothes away because they weren't perfect anymore, but then I learned how to take care of my stuff and repair it. I repair and mend all my things—the soles of my shoes, I get them repaired! Why buy something new if I love what I already have?

5. I don't use a purse. I just carry a reusable bag around with me, it's an organic cotton tote bag! If you want to still use your handbag, tuck a reusable tote inside when you go to to the store instead of doing plastic bags. It's nice to keep one in your purse because they're so lightweight and they prevent you from using plastic or paper.

6. I use a Mason Jar for water, but you can also use a stainless steel model instead of plastic. When I was at work, people would use plastic, but I just kept a natural filter at work and filtered my own water. There's a brand called Soma that I love, and they started on Kickstarter. They make a totally sustainable water filter made from glass with a compostable plastic top, and it filters using coconut charcoal instead of plastic beads.

7. If you go out to a restaurant or, depending on your age, a bar, just ask for your drink without a straw. There are straws in everything! And they put four straws in one drink but you only have one mouth? I don't understand. Straws go right in the landfill. Sometimes places have glass and plastic cups, so I request glass.

These are just the very basic ways to reduce your impact, of course. I'm always blogging about my experience on my blog, Trash Is for Tossers, so you can keep up with more tips and tricks there!

Read full article HERE:
www.teenvogue.com/my-life/2015-05/lauren-singer-zero-waste-lifestyle