Tips for a Low-Waste Vegan Lifestyle

Posted by Faith on October 14, 2024

The most important decision you can make to help protect the environment is to stop paying for and consuming meat, eggs, and dairy. Raising animals for food requires massive amounts of land, food, energy, and water, and the byproducts from animal agriculture pollute the air and waterways. By simply changing what’s on your plate, you have the power to benefit the environment, improve your own health, and save nearly 200 animals every year.

Vegan living also shares a lot of similarities with a minimalist lifestyle. For example, minimalism is deeply rooted in sustainability, and being vegan is the best way to lower your carbon footprint. If you’re looking to take additional steps to protect the environment and follow a low-waste vegan lifestyle, we have some great tips and products for you that are kind to animals!

Shop in Bulk Using Reusable Bags and Jars

Healthy vegan staples often include protein sources like beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds, all of which (and more) are easily found in the bulk section of your local grocery store. Bring glass jars for bulk items, canvas bags for fresh produce, and reusable totes for your vegan grocery hauls to help cut back on your use of plastic and nonrecyclable food packaging.

Make Your Own Vegan Milk

Making your own vegan milk is simple and can save you money in the long term. You can purchase vegan milk machines, like the Almond Cow, or just use a blender—it only takes a few ingredients. (Check out the simple almond milk recipe below.) Not only are you using less plastic and other waste by avoiding disposable vegan milk cartons and purchasing nuts or oats in bulk, you can also use the leftover pulp to make nut butters, add to smoothies, or heat up for a healthy “pulpmeal” breakfast bowl.

Use Cruelty-Free Toothpaste Tablets

Say goodbye to plastic toothpaste tubes and hello to vegan toothpaste bites sold in refillable glass jars from brands like Bite.

Get Decor, Not Dust Collectors

When you’re thinking about items to decorate your home with, go for ones that won’t just sit and collect dust. For example, cute pillows, chairs, and couches will brighten up your place and can be used for years to come. 😍 Just remember to choose pillows made without down feathers, which are ripped out of birds before they’re killed, and chairs and couches made without leather, which is the skin of cows who were sent to slaughter.

Keep Timeless Items

Whether you’re looking through your closet or shopping for new clothes, keep only items that are truly timeless (they won’t go out of style). It might also help to decide what colors work best with your style and keep only the drip that matches that color palette. You can donate items you don’t want so that they can bring joy to others instead of sitting in your closet unused. Pro tip: If you have items made with fur, donate them to PETA, and we’ll make sure they go toward protecting vulnerable members of our communities.

Look for Duplicates

If you have several similar items, just pick your fave and donate the others. It’s always smart to hold on to items that have animal rights messages—like our joggers—since they’ll keep inspiring others every time you wear them. So you could donate other sweatpants without animal rights message to people in need.

Donate Books

As with donating clothes, donating old books is a great way to enrich the lives of others and reduce waste. 📖 If you’ve already read Free the Animals or other animal rights books, donate them to your local library to help spread compassionate messages to others.

Does It Spark Joy?

Here’s a good question to ask yourself before getting something new: Does it bring you and other animals joy? 🤔 If it doesn’t bring you joy, it isn’t worth cluttering up your space—and if it doesn’t bring animals joy (if it’s made with animal-derived materials or was tested on animals), it’s a definite no. Animals should never suffer for fashion or accessories. (Coachtopia, we’re looking at you. 😒)

Replace Your Shampoo Bottle With a Bar

Shampoo bars frequently outlast bottles and can be purchased from many brands with zero plastic. Check out Lush’s vegan shampoo bars, which are also animal test–free!

Buy Secondhand

Prevent clothing, shoes, and other items from ending up in a landfill by filling your closet with gently used items from thrift stores, extending their life. Even with secondhand purchases, though, be sure to steer clear of animal-derived materials like wool, leather, cashmere, mohair, and down, as these perpetuate the speciesist idea that humans can abuse other animals for clothing simply because they’re different from us.

For more tips on low-waste vegan living, check out our guide to low-waste and cruelty-free cleaning options.