So here's the thing about zero waste that nobody really tells you upfront – it's basically impossible. I mean, not completely impossible, but way harder than those Instagram accounts with their perfectly organized mason jar pantries make it look. Trust me, I've been at this for about five years now, ever since my middle daughter came home from a school assembly about ocean plastic and asked me why our trash can was always overflowing if the planet was dying.
That question hit different, you know? I'm standing there looking at our kitchen trash can – this massive thing we'd fill up twice a week easy – and suddenly seeing it through her eyes. All that stuff was going… where exactly? I honestly hadn't thought about it much before that moment.
Started researching that night after the kids went to bed, falling down this rabbit hole of articles about landfills and microplastics and garbage patches in the ocean. My wife found me at like 2 AM reading about how long different materials take to decompose, completely horrified that the disposable diaper from our youngest was going to outlast our great-grandchildren. That's when I knew we had to try something different.
The first changes felt pretty manageable. Bought everyone reusable water bottles, started bringing cloth bags to the grocery store, switched out our regular light bulbs for LEDs. Basic stuff that didn't really disrupt our routine much. I was feeling pretty good about myself, honestly – like look at me, saving the planet one reusable bag at a time.
But then I got ambitious. Started trying to make our own everything. Toothpaste, cleaning supplies, deodorant, you name it. This is where things got… interesting. My first attempt at homemade toothpaste was this grainy, salty nightmare that made brushing teeth feel like a punishment. The kids revolted immediately. My wife lasted maybe three days before buying regular toothpaste and giving me this look that said "we are not doing this anymore."
The all-purpose cleaner wasn't much better. Mixed up this concoction of vinegar and baking soda and essential oils that I was convinced would replace every cleaning product in our house. Tried it on the bathroom mirror and it left these awful streaks. Used it on the kitchen counter and it basically did nothing to the sticky spots from breakfast. Back to the drawing board on that one.
Don't even get me started on the cloth diapers experiment. We tried it with our youngest when she was born, thinking we'd eliminate all that diaper waste. What we eliminated instead was any free time my wife had, because those things needed to be washed constantly. The smell, the stains, the extra loads of laundry every single day – we gave up after maybe six weeks. Some battles aren't worth fighting.
But here's what I learned from all those failures – you can't flip a switch and suddenly live like someone from the 1800s. We still need modern conveniences because we have modern lives. Three kids, two jobs, school activities, soccer practice, birthday parties every weekend. Sometimes convenience wins, and that's okay.
So we started picking our battles more strategically. Focused on the changes that actually worked for our family without making everyone miserable. The reusable bags stuck – we've got them in both cars now, plus a couple folding ones in my wife's purse. Everyone got used to their water bottles pretty quickly, especially once I found ones that don't make everything taste like metal.
Food waste was another area where we could make a real dent without too much drama. Started meal planning better, buying only what we'd actually eat that week instead of aspirational vegetables that would rot in the crisper drawer. Got the kids involved in <a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/zero-waste-kitchen-reducing-food-waste-and-plastic-use/"><a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/zero-waste-kitchen-reducing-food-waste-and-plastic-use/">using up leftovers</a></a> – turns out they're pretty creative when you frame it as a cooking challenge instead of "eat this old food."
The <a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/the-road-to-<a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/the-road-to-composting-turning-waste-into-resources/">composting</a>-turning-waste-into-resources/"><a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/the-road-to-composting-turning-waste-into-resources/">composting</a></a> has been one of our biggest successes, actually. Built a simple bin in the backyard from some lumber and chicken wire, started throwing all our fruit and vegetable scraps in there along with yard waste. The kids love checking on it, turning the pile, seeing banana peels transform into dirt. It's like magic to them, and honestly, it still feels pretty amazing to me too.
We've gotten better at buying less stuff overall, which has probably made the biggest impact. Started really questioning whether we actually need something before buying it. Do the kids really need another toy that'll be forgotten in a week? Do I really need that gadget that promises to solve a problem I didn't know I had? Usually the answer is no, so we don't buy it.
When we do need stuff, we try to buy it used first. Facebook Marketplace has been great for this – kids' clothes, toys, furniture, electronics. Half the time the stuff looks brand new anyway, and we're saving money while keeping things out of landfills. Win-win.
The solar panels have been huge for reducing our overall environmental impact, even though they weren't specifically a zero-waste thing. But knowing our electricity comes from the sun instead of coal makes me feel like we're actually making a difference. Our electric bills dropped to almost nothing, and some months we even get credit for generating more than we use.
I've also gotten more involved in trying to create systemic change, because individual actions only go so far. Started attending city council meetings about recycling programs, joined the PTA committee that's trying to reduce waste at the kids' schools. Those institutional changes can have way more impact than anything one family does on their own.
The schools thing is particularly frustrating, by the way. The amount of single-use stuff that comes home every day is insane. Plastic folders, disposable art supplies, individual packaging for everything. We're trying to work with teachers on reusable alternatives, but change is slow when you're dealing with budgets and bureaucracy.
Not everything we've tried has worked out. The bulk food store is forty minutes away, which means the gas to get there probably negates any environmental benefit. Making our own yogurt was a disaster that resulted in food poisoning for half the family. Trying to go completely paperless lasted about a week before we realized some things just need to be printed.
But after five years of this, our household waste has dropped dramatically. We went from filling that big trash can twice a week to maybe once every two weeks, sometimes longer. The recycling bin is usually fuller than the trash can now. Our compost bin handles probably 30% of what used to go in the garbage.
The kids have gotten really good at thinking about waste without me constantly reminding them. They'll ask for the reusable water bottles instead of buying drinks when we're out. They've started critiquing excessive packaging on products, which is both adorable and slightly embarrassing in checkout lines. My oldest has become the family's official cardboard-box-breakdown expert.
Looking back, I think the biggest shift has been mental rather than practical. We all think more consciously about consumption and waste now. Before buying something, before throwing something away, there's this little pause where we consider alternatives. Could we fix this instead of replacing it? Could we find this used? Could this be composted or recycled instead of trashed?
It's not perfect – we're nowhere near actual zero waste, and probably never will be. We still generate trash, still buy new things sometimes, still make compromises between convenience and sustainability. But we're doing substantially better than we were five years ago, and the habits have become pretty automatic now.
The other thing that's changed is talking about this stuff with other parents. Started writing about our experiments online, partly to document what worked and what didn't, partly because other families were asking questions. Turns out a lot of people want to reduce their environmental impact but don't know where to start or think it's going to be expensive and complicated.
That's why I keep sharing the failures along with the successes. Because the perfect zero-waste lifestyle you see on social media isn't realistic for most families, and people need to know that's okay. You can make meaningful changes without becoming a sustainability perfectionist. Progress over perfection, right?
Currently working on reducing the waste from school supplies and trying to convince my neighbors to do more bulk buying so we can all make the trip to the good bulk store worth it. Also researching whether replacing our old washing machine with a more efficient one makes sense financially – the current one works fine, but uses way more water and energy than newer models.
The <a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/adopting-a-zero-waste-lifestyle-practical-tips-and-everyday-choices/"><a href="https://zeroemissionjourney.com/adopting-a-zero-waste-lifestyle-practical-tips-and-everyday-choices/">zero-waste journey</a></a> isn't really about reaching some mythical destination where you never throw anything away. It's about being more thoughtful about consumption, finding alternatives that work for your actual life, and making changes that you can stick with long-term. Some days we do better than others, and that's fine. The important thing is that we're trying, and our kids are learning to think differently about waste than we did growing up.
Louis writes from a busy home where eco-friendly means practical. Between school runs and mowing the lawn, he’s learning how to cut waste without cutting comfort. Expect family-tested tips, funny missteps, and small, meaningful changes that fit real suburban life.
