- Hi I'm Victoria.
- I'm Alexa.
- I'm Ellie.
- [All] And this week we are gonna try to be zero waste.
(techno music)
- Well, I decided to do this challenge
because I'm an Urban & Environmental Sustainability major
and I've always been, like, environmentally conscious,
but as that major in like taking other classes
I felt like I could be doing more for the environment.
And I really want to like push myself to do that
extra drive of being like super environmentally conscious.
- I'm just really scared of like what's going on
with the environment right now.
Every time I see things like in the media
about the environment and the state of it,
it really scares me.
So, I feel like if I can contribute in any way,
it'll make me feel at least a little bit better.
And like I'm doing my part.
- I was pretty curious especially in the city
how packaging works and what kind of food you can eat
on like a no waste diet, I guess.
'Cause most things come in packaging
and we know that plastic bags are everywhere
in New York City and there's trash all over the sidewalk.
And I just want to see like, how much one person can do
with no waste.
- Word.
- I became aware of the zero waste lifestyle
through like YouTube videos.
And I remember seeing this one woman
who literally just has a mason jar of her trash
for two years.
- This is going to be my little handy dandy trash jar.
- My goal is to keep the trash all in this one jar
for the whole week so I guess we'll see
if I'm able to meet that goal.
- It is the first morning.
Day one trash so far.
And I've got two little tags in here from articles
of clothing that I had to buy for work.
There are a lot of things that only take
an extra few seconds.
I really enjoyed composting actually,
I felt like the garbage was cleaner in your house.
Other than having that big trash bag.
- I just started my compost,
I'm actually really proud of it.
So here is what it looks like.
I filled it about a little less than half way with some soil
so I'm just going to put the lid on top.
I cut some holes in it, but yeah, this is where my little
DIY composter is going to live.
- I'm gonna do the compost and I have my soil,
and then I destroyed the tea bag and kind of mixed it around
and my plan is to freeze it so that it doesn't smell,
and it'll last longer I think.
I don't know.
I also have this paper towel that I need to put in it.
- I did a mock run of going grocery shopping
at Whole Foods just to see what they had
'cause it was the closest store that I knew sold in bulk.
And it was good, but it was really expensive
and a lot of the stuff that I needed
came in plastic packaging.
Especially like meats and stuff I know maybe I shouldn't
be eating meat if we're going like completely zero waste.
Maybe I'll actually try that.
The problem for me is that it's hard to find any protein
besides peanut butter or almond butter.
And I'm a big protein person.
Most of my food is protein.
I eat a lot of chicken.
- I think that the grocery part for me, at least,
was a little much because I had to drive 50 minutes,
because that is the closest bulk store to me.
I just got out of the bulk item grocery store,
and I maybe got like 10ish things, maybe a little bit more,
and it was literally 60 dollars.
I kind of feel like crying at the amount
I just spent in there and that's not even going to be
like enough for a week.
So, needless to say, this zero waste lifestyle
like grocery-wise is extremely expensive.
- I also feel like it's a bit easier in cities
rather than like the country or more suburban areas
'cause I feel like the cities are like the first place
where there's like more bulk stores that are accessible.
I have been Googling things like grocery stores
and stuff like that and basically they're just
not accessible to me.
I live in Brooklyn right now and I just don't think
I can do all that,
but I did find a delivery service for zero waste.
So I think I'm actually just gonna check that out instead.
I'm about to order.
The total is going to be about 60ish dollars,
that is another reason why it's not that accessible
to people is because of the price.
But hopefully that'll get better.
It'll get more accessible,
but I'm excited for it to be delivered.
- Good morning, it is Day two of the zero waste challenge.
I decided I'm going to make some oatmeal today.
I feel like it's impossible to go all in,
and create no waste at all, but I feel like,
if you can adapt some of the things of zero waste,
then you're at least contributing and trying
to make a difference and helping in some way.
This is kind of what I was feeling a little weird about
because I didn't know if I had to like kind of start
from scratch and buy everything over again
and get rid of all this plastic stuff.
But the more articles and the more things that I read,
said that you should use all of your existing products up
because just throwing everything away and not using them
kind of goes against the zero waste motto.
- And I think even trying is important
like just adapting certain things
like it's probably easy to buy a bamboo toothbrush.
I've heard that it feels different in your mouth
than a normal toothbrush,
so we're gonna review it together.
(teeth brushing)
It just feels like a baby toothbrush.
- I'm scared to like ask the people at restaurants like,
hey can I put this in my own container?
Because I watched a lot of videos with people going
to like fast food places or to regular restaurants
and they're like, what?
- Today I work all day long and I'm going to attempt
to get lunch that is zero waste.
I had planned to get something to go,
and so I planned to go to Just Salad.
At that place you can buy a reusable bowl for just a dollar.
And I was like, "Sweet, I'm gonna use that",
and at the end, the girl who made it was like,
"You can't use that bowl this visit,
"you have to wash it out."
And I was like, "Makes sense, okay."
So I got it in this.
Now I have to carry this, and this,
and this around with me all day long.
- Good morning.
It is Day three of the zero waste challenge.
I just got back from a party.
I decided to stay the night.
I have my reusable plastic, reusable fork, reusable cup.
How do you feel?
- I feel really bad about myself,
and I wish I'd brought my own container.
- And I actually am really proud of myself
because I barely made any waste.
I pretty much got like all of my friends thinking about
zero waste which is really cool.
So they were all like, oh my gosh like you're using
reusable Tupperware and like your own silverware?
Like that's actually kind of cool.
- I love it, I wish everybody did that.
- Okay, I'm hiding in the corner making this video at work.
But here's my question for you,
'cause I don't really know the answer.
I have to give plastic straws to my customers.
I have to throw out napkins.
Does that count as my trash?
'Cause technically I'm obligated to do it.
I don't know, but now that I'm doing the challenge,
I feel really bad about doing it.
- I don't know what it is about this challenge,
but I also think this is like a health challenge in a way
because I have been feeling healthier.
'Cause I just feel like I'm not eating as much junk food
and take out and things like that.
I've been drinking a lot of water and let me be honest,
I don't drink water.
I don't like water.
Hello.
- [Guest] Hello.
- Just go ahead they'll probably edit it out.
I don't know I'm just feeling good about the stuff
that I'm eating this week and I hope that these trends stay.
- It's Monday, so it's Day, Thursday, Friday,
no Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it's Day four.
And I have the best boyfriend in the world.
And he bought me Edible Arrangements which is amazing,
but now I've got some trash on me.
- I have a confession to make.
My roommate and I got the munchies last night a little bit.
And so we like ran to the kitchen,
we were all excited and I look,
there was a whole bag of Snickerdoodle cookie mix.
I made so much waste making those cookies.
- So we've got a flier.
- The packaging was this weird plastic bag
so that's going in my jar.
- We've got, I think something to keep it cold.
- The butter is wrapped in a weird plastic thing.
That's going in my jar.
- Another flier.
- Cinnamon sugar, that was in it's own separate plastic bag.
So that was a third thing going in my jar.
- And then every piece of chocolate comes in this.
- I craved.
I just wanted them so bad.
It was, I don't wanna say it was worth it,
but they were good.
- I can't recycle this and I can't recycle the little pods
that each fruit comes in.
So that's going straight into my trash bottle.
- So now that I did that dirty deed,
I am being more conscious and being like listen,
everything's gonna be perfect.
Zero waste Victoria is happening right damn now.
- I wasn't supposed to create any trash,
but for starting and for not really knowing much,
this is not that much trash.
We'll see what the rest of the week takes me.
- I kind of went into this challenge with the hopes of
meal prepping and really being consistent
with my meals at home.
It's hard because sometimes like on a whim,
I'll wanna go out to eat or I'll wanna go out
with my friends so that's kinda gonna be difficult,
but I'm gonna try.
But I'm kind of realizing that with the lifestyle
I am currently living,
it's really difficult for me to do that.
You know, we socialize.
We go out to eat or we go to a coffee shop.
Okay, so me and Karina have been out shopping,
literally since like 11.
And now it is the nighttime and we are so hungry.
So we're about to go to Applebee's.
I can't with myself.
I literally have been eating out every meal,
and this is exactly what I didn't want to do.
You know, it is just kind of how I personally live my life.
So it's kind of hard for me to stay consistent
with meal prepping and to really fully kind of eat at home
for most of the time.
We're almost halfway through the challenge
which is crazy to me,
but yeah, I am pretty proud of myself today.
Today was the best day I've done so far
with not creating any waste.
And I also feel like I'm being more cognizant
of what I'm buying and how much I'm shopping and stuff,
and not just buying a bunch of unnecessary things.
So that's pretty awesome considering I do have a little bit
of a shopping problem.
- All right y'all so listen up.
I just got off work, I'm going to the movies right now.
And the game plan is I'm gonna get my drink,
my tiny AF water bottle.
Because I need to get something when I see this movie
or else it just won't feel like
my traditional movie theater experience.
And hopefully all goes well.
- [Interviewer] Did you feel any like, negative feedback
or any like, eye rolling?
- Yeah, I did.
When I went out to eat the one time.
Me and my friend wanted to make sure that the straws
got their way back to the kitchen so when she brought them,
we looked at her and we said, "Hey, could you take
"these back, we don't need them."
And I literally was like looking at the guys behind us
sitting at the table and they literally went like, "What?"
And just looked so confused.
Like literally like we had murdered someone.
I'm not even kidding.
I'm not even being dramatic.
They were just laughing and sort of like making fun of it.
I don't care that people are making fun of me
or people think I'm stupid or whatever.
But it's like, what's so weird about that?
I don't think that that's that weird.
- No - Yeah
- Just to think that people feel that way is like,
I don't know, made me kind of upset.
- My movie mission was a success.
I just went up and I used my water bottle,
and yeah, I got my slushie.
Great experience, zero waste.
Love it.
- A quick update on the sponge situation.
I wanna show you something.
I will never go back to a sponge again
after using this biodegradable cloth.
That actually was so much better than a sponge.
Have you guys ever used them?
- Yeah. - I like,
you can wipe peanut butter off and then it wipes right off
the sponge as soon as you put it under water.
It's amazing.
Watch this, ready?
One, take off the peanut butter.
But then, it comes right off the cloth like magic.
I love it, it's my new baby and I can do dishes
without worrying about the sponge getting disgusting
every single time.
- Today is the second to last day of the challenge.
- I actually just got back from a thrift store.
I love thrifting and it's obviously really good
and sustainable for the environment
since you are buying second hand clothes.
- I am on my way to a sushi place downstairs.
But I brought a container and I am going to ask
for my sushi to be put in here.
- Today my goal is to have
a completely zero waste day.
Brought my Just Salad bowl for lunch
so I can finally use this.
And then I have this ceramic thermos
or whatever that my roommate gave me,
and I'm gonna see if Starbucks will let me use this instead.
I have no idea what their policies are
but hopefully it'll work out.
- So I actually did get a pair of jeans,
but this tag came on.
So this is gonna have to go into the trash jar.
- But they did it.
They put my tuna rolls in my little container.
This is the only problem with it because it's soy sauce.
But I reuse these for salad dressing
so it's not going to waste which is awesome.
When I asked for the sushi in my container, they did it.
But then with the ginger and the wasabi,
they put the little green grass thing you know,
the decoration.
And there's things like you can't help
even when you ask for absolutely no waste.
They're just doing their job, it's not their fault,
but like a little frustrating.
- Yeah. - Right.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] So basically, I guess in short
just tell me how the challenge went.
- It was good.
(all laughing)
It was definitely easier in some ways
than I thought it would be,
but it was also more difficult in ways
that I didn't think it would be.
It definitely was the little things.
I think I mentioned that at the beginning of the week.
Like I was nervous about all the little tiny
like tags and stuff.
And I have quite a few of those.
- It's the final day of the challenge.
I used a little more trash yesterday.
I used a cotton ball to take off my makeup.
It was the first time I wore makeup all week.
I really never wear makeup.
And I tried scrubbing as much of it off
as I could in the shower and it just wasn't working.
So I had to use a cotton ball 'cause it's just gross
and bacteria and it's just not good.
I didn't know if dental floss went in there,
I don't know if it's biodegradable or not.
So I have dental floss in here.
Yeah and I feel like there's a lot of things that like
you have to do that are out of your control.
Like the tags, like you don't put them on the clothes.
But like they're there and if need to buy
or you have to buy it, that's just part
of the trash that you're creating.
- Okay so I'm at the train station
and instead of buying my ticket on the machine,
I decided to buy it on the app
to save the unnecessary paper.
Because when you buy a train ticket,
you get the actual ticket and then a receipt,
and my mom is with me so we would have had
four pieces of paper.
But instead we decided to book roundtrip on the app
for the both of us so saving paper.
- I would say, yeah the trash that I saved
was definitely less than I expected.
I felt like a lot of things were gonna compile together
and this was like gonna be filled to the brim.
And I'd probably have to bring two or three of these in.
But honestly, just to be conscious about it,
you realize that the stuff that you usually buy,
you don't need to.
And so the amount of trash is actually a lot less
than you think and it's really is the little things.
Yeah I was proud of the amount that I had saved
and put into this jar.
'Cause it really shows me that it's not that hard to do.
- I feel like as for the receipts and some of the little
plastic things that clothing or other items come on
like not saying it's not my fault,
but it was kind of like out of my control.
Obviously like this little wrapper
from my chicken nuggets was my fault,
but I really wanted chicken nuggets so like--
- Same with the cookies, girl.
- Exactly.
Yeah, I definitely feel like I don't have
as much as I thought which is really cool.
And it makes me feel proud.
I don't wanna say like, "Oh I'm proud of myself,"
but like it's cool.
- Yeah, I feel like I already did a lot of meal prepping
for myself so I don't have many like food wrappers in here,
but like there are a lot of things
that were out of my control,
like I have plastic from the doctor's office
'cause you know they put the thing on.
- Mm hmm.
- They put it in this plastic bag
and I could have just thrown it out there,
but this is my trash because I've used it.
So this is going in my bottle of shame.
- My advice to anyone that wants to try zero waste
would definitely be to do your research and find resources
in your area that work for you and that are close to you.
- My advice would be to not let accessibility stop you
from trying to be zero waste.
There are all these little things that you can do
by like bringing your own bottles to Starbucks
or just bringing your Tupperware out to eat.
Don't be afraid to challenge yourself and don't be afraid
to just try new things.
- The little things do count like if you can't do
the grocery haul and you can't do, you know,
not buying a specific thing,
like if you need meat for some reason.
Bringing a cup and bringing Tupperware and meal prepping
just a little bit like does add up and it does really count
if you can't do the whole lifestyle.
And I also wanna say do your research,
it helps a lot and it takes maybe 30 minutes of your time.
- Bake more.
That's what I did this week.
I was just craving sugar and I baked a lot.
I had these little silicon cupcake liners.
So if you like baking get those
'cause they were helpful with my cupcakes.
- [Ellie] Yeah.
- No waste cupcakes.
- Sort of rhymes. - I should start
a cupcake shop.
- No waste cupcakes. - No waste cupcakes.
- [Victoria] Oh my God, Trademarked.
Copyrighted.
That's my cupcake shop.
- [Alexa] Don't talk to your shop.
(all laughing)