Gittemary - Zero Waste Tips

Meet Gittemary, a 25 years old sustainability influencer and activist from Aalborg, Denmark. Gittemary started her Zero Waste journey in 2015. She had never wondered what happened to her waste after throwing it in the bin, until she read an article about how every piece of plastic ever produced still exists in some shape or form. It made her take a look at all the plastic she used in her everyday life, and that’s when she knew she had to change something. She then started a blog about Zero Waste, which led her to writing articles, books, creating Youtube videos and giving lectures.

When and how did you get to this lifestyle?

I came to Zero Waste step by step. Usually, when we want to dive into a new lifestyle, whatever it may be (fitness, food…) we like to go out and buy tons of things for it, but you can’t really do that with Zero Waste. So I looked at my possessions, and every time I needed to buy or replace something, I would look for a sustainable alternative instead of buying the thing I was used to. Little by little, I eliminated plastic waste and plastic products from my apartment and from my life.

Why do you think environmental issues are becoming more mainstream?

I think it’s getting more well spread because we are just now starting to see, in our backyards, the consequences of our consumption of goods. For a very long time, people in the production countries, which are developing countries, have been able to see that because that’s where the pollution was. But it is now reaching us too and affects people a lot, which is why I think the sustainability discourse is gaining so much momentum right now.

You live in a small town in the north of Denmark. How to you manage to live this Zero Waste lifestyle without access to bulk stores?

A lot of people don’t have access to bulk because they live in smaller countries or towns, or less “fashionable” areas. But there are a lot of things you can do to reduce your waste without access to bulk stores. Try to focus on what you can do instead of what you can’t do. Avoiding plastic bags, aluminium foil, cling wrap… and finding alternatives to them is a great way to get started. You can also buy things packed in cardboard, glass or tins instead of plastic, going from store to store to see what they offer, what kind of produce is sold loose, and compare the prices. I usually go to 2 or 3 grocery stores instead of just one. I also build my diet around the seasons, because seasonal produce is usually sold without packaging, is cheaper, more nutritious and doesn’t need to be shipped from far away.

For dried goods, looking in different grocery stores, it is usually easy to find pasta, rice, etc in cardboard instead of plastic, but if you cannot, you can also make your own pasta, which is very easy and kind of a treat! I love making my own pasta! (find Gittemary’s fresh vegan pasta recipe here).

And when it comes to non-food products, look at what you use every day. Cotton pads, dish brush, the way you do laundry… See if you can find alternatives to common practices, because nowadays it’s quite easy with the internet to look up sustainable tips that you can use.

What do you think are the main things to tackle when you want to start living a more sustainable lifestyle?

I think that Zero Waste is just one pillar. It’s a great tool, but we need to look at more things than just the trash we put in our bins. Although that trash is very important, we also need to look at the trash that doesn’t make it into our bins, what goes behind the production of our items.

Looking at fast fashion, for instance, is very essential, and one thing you can do there is going for second hand instead of new.

Looking at the way we eat and switching to a more plant-based diet is also essential. I think that going vegan cuts your carbon emissions in half, which is definitely saying something. Even though you can technically eat meat without producing any trash for your bin, there is still a lot of impact behind that so, once again, we need to look at more than just the plastic in our bins.

It’s an overall lifestyle concept. It might seem like a lot to tackle at once and it can be very overwhelming and daunting, but doing it little by little is not actually that bad.