Sprinkle of Glitter // Plastic Free July

Did you know that regular glitter is made up of tiny little bits of microplastic and will take hundreds of years to breakdown? Until a few years ago, the thought had never even crossed my mind. I don't know what I thought glitter was made of, but I certainly didn't worry about how much damage it was doing to the environment. So what's the problem with glitter? Well, glitter is essentially a...

Vegan Banana Bread // Plastic Free July

Banana bread is one of those great cakes that you can make with ingredients from your cupboard and now I can bulk buy vegan chocolate chips, the recipe is zero waste too. It's also a great way to use up any bananas that are too ripe too eat so you don't end up with food waste. I made this cake last night and as you can see from the photo I've already eaten about a third of it which can only be a...

My Zero Waste Bathroom // Plastic Free July

Happy Plastic Free July! I hope that you're all enjoying the challenge of trying to cut ditch single-use plastics and look for zero waste alternatives. Of all the rooms in my flat, my bathroom is definitely the most zero waste. It was the first area of my life that I really tackled, and I'm proud that it's a plastic free zone. So I thought I would share the products I use to inspire you to make...

Where To Bulk Buy in Edinburgh | The New Leaf Co-op

Want to know where to bulk buy in Edinburgh? Well The New Leaf Co-op has all your zero waste needs. I discovered this shop last year, and these days I can often be found there scooping chickpeas into jars and looking at all the shelves of spices. The store is open from Monday to Saturday and is the best place in Edinburgh to buy in bulk. The shop sells loose fruit and veg, bread without packaging,...

Zero Waste Mascara

My makeup bag is probably one of the areas of my life that isn't very zero waste. If you know me well then you'll know I don't wear much makeup anyway, but one of my must-have items is mascara. I was previously using drugstore mascara which came in a plastic bottle, but since it ran out a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to find a zero waste alternative. I found Beauty With Roots for Etsy...

Zero Waste Shaving - Safety Razor First Impressions

I've been waiting for a couple of months now to use my last remaining disposable safety razors before I could order myself a safety razor. A few weeks ago, I finally finished my last plastic razor so I took the plunge and bought myself a safety razor. I did a little bit of research and decided to go for the Edwin Jagger DE89L which you can purchase from Amazon here and enough razors to last me a...

Zero Waste Beginner's Tips

Say hello to my new venture into the world of social media! I've dabbled with YouTube before, but I've never really committed to it properly. I've made a few videos over the past few years, but nothing that great and I guess I never stuck with it as much as I should have. So I decided to change my channel name from my nickname Moyesy to ZeroWaste30 and start again. If you would like to subscribe...

Zero waste laundry

If I'm honest, I probably didn't think much about what I was washing my clothes in until a couple of months ago. Aside from looking for a vegan product, I would generally just pick up whatever washing detergent was on offer. However this zero waste journey has not only made me think about my plastic use, but it's also made me aware of all the chemicals around me. A few months ago while browsing...

Zero Waste Shopping

I've been using reusable shopper bags like this one for years, long before I had even knew what zero waste meant. In Scotland, there's been a 5p charge on single-use plastic carrier bags since 2014, but even before then I carried around one of these shoppers. I've had a fair few over the years but this green one is my current favourite. I picked it up from Chiaralascura at a vegan festival last...

Zero Waste Periods

Let's face it, no one likes getting their period. I am currently sitting on my sofa with a hot water bottle on my stomach because of cramps and I'm not exactly thrilled by it. However, we (women) all get periods so we need to think about what products we want to use. I'm lucky because I get light periods due to the birth control I use (it's a UID if anyone is interested). I read something a few...

Making my own almond milk

Guess who made her own almond milk at the weekend? I had wanted to make it for a while, but I kept putting it off. I thought it would be really difficult, but in actual fact it's really simple. So here's my step by step guide to making your own almond milk. 1. Soak 2 cups of almonds overnight or for at least 8 hours. Place the almonds in a bowl and cover with an inch of water. The longer...

DIY Himalayan Face Scrub

There are so many recipes for making your own face scrubs, but this one is my favourite at the moment because it's so simple. I've used lots of face scrubs over the years and more recently I had been using the St. Ives apricot one, but in reality it's not the best for your skin. It's one of those products that uses the word 'natural' but is full of unnatural ingredients. It's also quite harsh...

Lush Shampoo Bar

I've finally taken the plunge and entered the world of solid shampoo bars and I love it. I'll admit that I never really thought much of them before, but it turns out that I was completely wrong (now that I something I don't admit to much). I picked up the Seanik shampoo bar from Lush last week and my hair has never felt better. You basically just rub the bar into your wet hair and...

Zero Waste Makeup Remover

I used to use makeup wipes all the time. I'd use one at night to remove all my makeup and then another again in the morning because I usually had some mascara or eyeliner left that always managed to end up on my pillow too. That's A LOT of wipes and I don't even want to attempt to think about how many I've used in my lifetime. So about a month ago, I decided to completely change my makeup removing...

Juice Warrior & Eco Straws

I want to do a series of posts on this blog about restaurants, shops and companies that do their bit to cut down on waste. The more I get into the zero waste lifestyle, the more I will discover new companies and I want to share as many of them as possible with you. So to start things off, I thought I would talk about two different companies - Juice Warrior and Eco-Straws. I've been a Juice Warrior...

Zero waste teeth cleaning routine

I'll be the first to admit that I was pretty sceptical about making my own toothpaste. I thought it would taste horrible and not clean my teeth as much as the store bought toothpastes I was used to using. However let me tell you that my teeth have never felt cleaner!! It only took me a few minutes to make and there's no way that I will ever use store bought toothpaste again. To make this toothpaste...

Plastic Tally Challenge

In order to get me on the road to a zero waste lifestyle, I decided that I would take part in the Plastic Tally Challenge. The challenge was set by one of my favourite YouTuber's Hannah McNeely who is also trying to cut down her waste. She set the challenge to find out how much plastic she actually throws away (single use or recyclable) in a week. The idea is that once you know how much you use, you...

Welcome to Zero Waste 30!

Hello! I'm Sarah and thanks for stopping by Zero Waste 30. I'm had my own blog here for the past few years, but I decided it was finally time to take the plunge and start a brand new blog all about zero waste. I'll be the first to admit that my lifestyle at the moment is not completely zero waste. Some aspects of my life are as I make my own toothpaste and don't use plastic bags or water bottles,...