My Daily Waste, Issue 2 (January 2024)

Issue 2 | January 2024

A catalogue of items I use all the time by @juliette_amazing on ig

1. Loop noise reduction ear loops (rose gold, £29.95).

As someone who attends a fair amount of concerts, having proper ear protection is key! (ok i did only just buy these after many concerts in 2023 but still!)

Permanent hearing damage can occur at sound levels of 85 decibels, and at concerts the noise levels can regularly reach 100db.

While music can make all your troubles disappear (at least for a little while), don’t let your hearing disappear on you!

Issue 2 | January 2024

2. Plastic bag (free, used to hold bagels and un croissant aux amandes).

Plastic bags may be one of the most emblematic icons of the environmental movement.

They are difficult and costly to recycle, and most end up in landfills or in nature where they can take hundreds of years to fully decompose. Their particles contaminate ecosystems and can harm animals when accidentally ingested.

The next time you’re offered a plastic bag, ask yourself if it’s essential.

Could you carry those items in some other way?

Issue 2 | January 2024

3. St-Michel ‘Sablé de Retz’ individual cookie wrapper (120g box for £1.50).

Finding snacks that aren’t individually wrapped is really challenging; especially for cookies and other dry items.

While there are several more sustainable options (buying locally vs from a large box store, using glassine paper or tiered cookie packaging), these aren’t readily used by most well-known brands.

We can all sign petitions and write to companies to demand a switch to more sustainable packaging, but our biggest tool is in our buying power.

Issue 2 | January 2024

4. Waxy paper bag used to hold bagels.

I find one of the largest contributions to my daily waste is take-away food packaging.

Before covid, some stores would offer a small discount if you brought in a reusable mug or tupperware. There isn’t an easy solution to this type of waste, especially since you can’t typically buy items in bulk from local stores.

Do you know of a business that has found an effective way to deal with this type of single-use waste?

Issue 2 | January 2024

5. Leftover cardboard from holiday ‘Moonlit Meadow’ advent calendar (£14.40).

This paper was part of an advent calendar

used to hold the pop-out pieces.

While I didn’t buy this item myself, I’m still responsible for its end of life. A lot of gifts come wrapped in several layers, and these can be hard to find other uses for. While we should all strive to minimize our daily waste and move towards a circular economy, it’s also ok to indulge.

Realistically, most

of us are not going to move towards a lifestyle in which we don’t ever buy unnecessary items. Are there ways in which we can give physical gifts while avoiding using excess materials?

Issue 2 | January 2024

5. Cling film (1 roll of 30cm x 50m, £4.06).

As much as I try and limit my consumption of single-use products, plastic wrap has been more difficult for me to give up, as it’s versatile and keeps food fresh. BUT... there are alternatives out there!

While it’s cheap and portable, its commercial form (made of LDPE) is extremely tough to recycle and releases dioxin when burned. Consider using beeswax wraps, cotton bowl covers, mason jars, or reusable sandwich bags when possible.

Issue 2 | January 2024

Thank you for reading!

☆ For the purposes of this

zine, I am defining waste as an item that I did not need to acquire, but chose to either out of convenience or because it might enhance my life positively. I did not include any food waste, since we all need food to live and ‘food waste’ is a separate issue.

☆ If you’d like to follow

along for the 3rd volume or check out my other zines, consider following me on IG @juliette_amazing.

☆ This zine asks you to

reflect on our everyday choices, rather than making demands. Make demands of multi-national corporations and politicians.