In honor of earth month here are some amazing tips for embracing a zero-waste lifestyle! These tips were provided by Herbalander Natalie, who inspires everyone at HQ to live a cleaner, more earth-friendly lifestyle everyday.

Pro-tip: If you're in Van, and looking to reduce your waste, you can swing by The Soap Dispensary to pick up your fave Herbaland Gummies in bulk!

Shopping tips:

• Always bring some reusable shopping bags. Keep some in your purse or car so you always have some on hand!
• Shop in stores such as Bulk barn and The soap dispensary that allow you to bring your own containers so you don’t have to use single use plastic bags or containers. If shopping in the bulk food section at your grocery store, grab some of those brown paper bags from the produce isle (the paper bags that are supplied for mushrooms) and use those to put your bulk products in instead of using the plastic bags.
• Try to buy local as much as possible. Transportation of food in our grocery stores account for a lot of energy usage!
• Instead of driving to your neighborhood grocery store, go for a walk. You will benefit immensely for the fresh air/exercise and slowing your day down a bit.
• Support local farmers and crafters whenever possible
• Local produce will have more of the nutrients in them since most are allowed to ripen fully  on the plant since they don’t have a long transportation time.
• Eat as many unpackaged whole plant based foods as you can! The more processed/packaged a food product is the more resources it has used to be produced.
• If you absolutely need to purchase packaged food, try to purchase products wrapped in paper or cardboard.  Food in glass containers are also another option, don’t throw the glass in the recycling though! You can reuse those containers for you own food storage (when buying food at bulk stores) or give them to zero waste stores

 Commuting tips:

• Ride your bike to work
• Walk/rollerblade/skateboard/hoverboard

Eating out:

• Bring your own container for leftovers or take out. There are even some collapsible silicone containers that will fold up and take no room in your backpack/bag/purse/car
• Always remind your server not to put a straw in your drinks! If you need a straw for your drinks, bring your own metal straw!
• Bring a reusable coffee/tea thermos, this will save a single use coffee cup from being thrown in the landfill and you can also keep your drink the perfect temperature for so much longer!

Recycling:

• Recycle all of your electronics! There are precious metals and other reusable parts in each and every electronic. Free Geeks is a great place to donate/recycling your damaged/unusable/old electronics because they deconstruct them and reuse the parts to build other things!
• Reduce, Reuse/Repurpose, Repair, Recycle!
• Try your hand at composting at home, this is a great way to repurpose your kitchen scraps into something useful for your garden!