BUFFALO, N.Y. — As climate change continues to threaten our planet, many people are trying to reduce their footprint.
One part of that is lowering your waste.
That’s the main goal of the zero waste movement, which appears to be booming in Western New York.
“This is all my stuff. I keep it in the fridge,” said Chris Lo, as she pulled a bowl filled with food scraps out of the fridge. “Orange peels, cauliflower and banana peels, these are the shells from almonds that we cracked open, old grapes.”
Most people would probably chuck these remnants, but not Lo. She uses it for compost, depositing them into a worm bin in her basement to be turned into dirt.
It’s one of many things she does on her “zero-waste” journey, from reusable utensils and water bottles, to buying local, package-free produce, to shampoo and conditioner bars.
“I don't just open up deodorant and swipe, swipe and done,” Lo explained. “I have a jar, I have to open it up, I have to fish it out, I put it on my hand and I wash my hands when I'm done. It takes like five seconds longer than it takes everybody else, so it's a commitment to change, but I don't know, I think it's worthwhile.”
It’s a two year long journey for Lo, trying to reduce her waste, but it’s helped along by local businesses embracing that change.
“We just went into it because we knew it means something to us,” said Tracey Wei, a co-owner of Little Salmon. “It came out like better than expected.”
Little Salmon is one of the zero-waste stores Lo goes to for supplies.
“As a country, we have the highest per capita single use plastic problem. That goes to the landfill and ends up polluting our waterways and going into the ocean,” Wei said.
A recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development found plastic usage has quadrupled in the past 30 years, with the average person in the U.S. creating about 487 pounds of plastic waste per year.
Only 9% of that is recycled.
Wei opened this store to try and make a difference.
“The upfront costs might sound like a lot, but we are promoting the concept of buying better, buying less,” explained Wei.
It’s all in an attempt to put value into waste, one swap at a time.
“There's a lot of places that I'm saving money,” Lo said. “I'm saving money on toilet paper, I'm saving money on napkins and paper towels and tissues. All of these things that I'm using reusable.”
Lo is still working on phasing out wasteful products.
She knows she probably won’t ever be completely waste free, but trying never hurt.
“I don't call myself a zero waster. I like to call myself lower waste, because you can't set the bar so high that you never even want to take the first step,” Lo said.
On top of selling zero-waste products, Little Salmon also takes non-traditional items to be recycled. That includes plastic razors, toothpaste and toothbrushes.