[armedpacifist]

Bea Johnson's book Zero Waste Home (and talks) is the go to on how to start.

My gf works towards a 'zero-waste' household, but you'd have to cut back on a lot of products. It's not impossible, but it does require sacrifice. However, you will discover new things which will compensate for that.

I can recommend you give it a go though, maybe for just a month. You'll learn a lot, discover interesting new products and your local zero-waste shops and sharpen your overall awareness about everyday use of plastic.

[Fnoord]

I don't want to downplay such efforts; all good to you being ahead of the curve.

That being said: average people work 8 hours a day, have a family, and other responsibilities. Stuff like this takes a considerable amount of time, money, and effort. Which is why I believe it should be dealt with top-down such as a recent addition of small plastic bottles to the container-deposit legislation.

I have a different minor example on how to add good weight to the problem: go outside with part of your family (or whole) and gather plastic on the streets. Kids like the fresh air, walk, and small tasks they get. It makes your neighborhood look less impoverished/more proper on top of that. Here in my city, they give the sticks to grab the plastic for free. And I wouldn't call it a progressive city (VVD). If you used the stick for one hour they got the investment back (7,50 EUR last time I checked).

[jbotz]

> Stuff like this takes a considerable amount of time, money, and effort.

Indeed, and by far most of the world doesn't even have any "local zero-waste shops"... in much of the developing world the amount of plastic waste the average consumer produces is still rising and nowhere near peaking, and the consumers there are still seeing this as a sign of their increasing prosperity rather than a fundamental problem.