Regular readers know that I’ve made dozens, if not hundreds, of small changes in my quest to reduce waste and live more sustainably. But there are some zero-waste swaps that I refuse to make. This might seem like an odd thing for someone who writes about eco-friendly living to say, but there’s a good reason why I draw the line at some changes.

This post was originally published in June 2020 and updated in March 2023.

Progress not perfection

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you’ll know that, when it comes to waste reduction, my motto is “Progress Not Perfection”. To be perfectly honest, I have a hard time with zero-waste perfectionists who insist we should DIY everything and not accept any waste. I just don’t think it’s realistic. For me, this quote says it all:

We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.

Anne Marie Bonneau aka The Zero Waste Chef

In addition to the environmental perspective, my eco-friendly journey is about health and wellbeing. I have changed a lot of things but I just won’t make any changes that could be detrimental to my health.

With that in mind, here are three zero-waste swaps I refuse to make.

Zero-waste swaps I’m not willing to make

Sunscreen

Skin cancer rates are on the rise. In Canada, skin cancer accounts for about one third of new cancer cases. For the best protection, Health Canada suggests using sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. 

If you search DIY sunscreen, you’ll find all sorts of people making their own sunscreen with zinc oxide, coconut oil and a variety of other ingredients. They swear it works. Maybe it does—but maybe it doesn’t. Having fought a battle with cancer, that’s not a chance I am willing to take.

In my mind, there are two issues with homemade sunscreen. First, it’s really hard to mix the ingredients consistently to get good skin coverage. Second, you don’t really know what SPF you’re getting. This post on Realize Beauty talks about an Australian chemist’s experiment with homemade sunscreen and what she learned. If a trained chemist can’t make a reliable sunscreen at home, why would I think I could?

If you’re worried about skin cancer and don’t want to use commercial sunscreen, I suggest a hat, long sleeves and staying out of the sun. For me, homemade sunscreen is just not worth the risk.

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Frozen fruit and vegetables

We all know that fruit and vegetables are full of vitamins and other nutrients that are vital to good health. Here in Canada, our summer growing season is really short so we’re stuck eating imported produce for most of the year. Most of the “fresh” produce we buy in the winter time is grown in California or Mexico. By the time it travels on a truck for the better part of a week, much of the nutritional value is gone.

On the other hand, frozen fruit and vegetables are picked and frozen at optimum freshness but yes, they are unfortunately packaged in plastic bags. So, we’re stuck making the choice between nutrition and plastic.

In my post Foods that fight cancer, I wrote about foods with cancer-fighting properties. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, and berries are on the list of foods we should all eat daily.

So, I will continue to buy frozen fruit and vegetables. But, I will make sure I buy them in recyclable bags and I’ll wash and reuse the plastic bags as much as possible.

Disinfectant

The last thing on my list of zero-waste swaps I’m not willing to make is something we all hearing a lot about in the early days of the pandemic—disinfectant.

Most commercial cleaners and disinfectants contain harmful chemicals. In my Chemical free cleaning post, I shared some effective low-waste options for cleaning.

But it’s really important to make the connection between cleaning and disinfecting. No matter what you read online, vinegar, baking soda and essential oils might be good for cleaning but they are not effective disinfectants. To disinfect surfaces, you first need to clean using your preferred cleaner. After that, you can disinfect with a mixture of water and either bleach or hydrogen peroxide. Check out the David Suzuki Foundation website for more information on non-toxic disinfecting.

I can live with imperfection

To sum up, I agree with Anne Marie Bonneau’s view of what the world needs. I’m happy to be one of the millions of people doing zero waste imperfectly. I will continue to reject these zero-waste swaps in the interest of my health.

Are there changes you’re not willing to make in the name of waste reduction? Tell us about them below.