On March 15^th, dozens of students across the world went on strike to tell politicians to treat climate change for what it is: a crisis and the biggest threat to our generation and generations to come.

Inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta, millions of people pressurised their governments to pass legislation that would reduce carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

However, each of us can do something about climate change. Last year I discovered the Zero Waste Movement. Zero Waste is about significantly reducing and eventually completely eliminating the amount of resources we send to disposal.

Adopting a zero waste lifestyle is one of the most sustainable ways of living and everybody can do that.

It’s easy to take simple steps towards zero waste, for example, instead of accepting plastic bags and creating more demand for them, you can use reusable cloth bags. Another step would be to buy organic and local and bring your own jars to grocery stores when they sell things in bulk, to avoid bringing home any unnecessary plastic containers.

Instead of using a single use disposable plastic straw you can use an acrylic or steel straw. Moreover, there are sustainable and reusable food wrappers which are made out of beeswax and are completely biodegradable.

Especially when we go out for lunch, we tend to use a lot of plastic, from bottles to utensils. We could simply bring them from home, or use portable utensils made out of bamboo.

The same concept works for bamboo toothbrushes. When it comes to fashion it’s better to avoid shopping at fast fashion shops – like Zara, H&M, Pull&Bear, Bershka and so on. These are non sustainable stores. A great and cheap alternative would be to buy second-hand.

Everyone should become more conscious of their environmental footprints, but zero waste living does not happen overnight. Each small step we take together will make the difference.