Hey there! I’m Emma, I’m zero waste, and I’m chronically ill. So, how do I do it? Let’s discuss.

No one owes you a diagnosis

I feel comfortable sharing my story, but not every chronically ill and disabled person does. So don’t go around demanding their story.

But, here’s mine:

I started having intense migraines in early 2019. It very well could’ve been in 2018, but 2019 was when it started to affect my work so much that my supervisor noticed. Our conversation went like this:

Sup: “Hey, is everything okay? Your work is not what it’s usually at.”

Me: “Yeah, I’ve just had a migraine.”

Sup: “Oh, how long?”

Me: “three days”

crickets

Truly the room went SILENT. It was the moment I realized that maybe I’m not supposed to be in pain 24/7. I thought it was normal. The same way someone with bad vision doesn’t realize how bad it is until they get glasses and they realize that not everyone sees that horribly.

So, I made an appointment. At this point, I understood what a migraine was and went with that information to my primary care doctor. I was freshly 20 and didn’t know how to best advocate for my health, so I fully let them put “headaches” on my chart. If you’ve had a migraine before, you know it’s not a headache. So this misdiagnosis or purposeful negligence led to inadequate care for years. It wasn’t until the fall of 2020 that I got a true “migraine” diagnosis, and it wasn’t until a year after that that it was upgraded to “chronic migraine.”

Over the years, I’ve run the gamut of medications. Almost none of them worked until I got a solid option in 2023. Over four years of pain and I was finally able to only semi-manage the pain. I would still get migraines, but my medication I took to get rid of them worked pretty well. Then, I got out of the Air Force in fall 2023, and the VA made me swap medications due to cost. I was devastated. But it actually came through. I now take a daily migraine preventative and have a new medication to take at the onset of a migraine, and this combination is working wonders. This, paired with medical massage to ease my neck pain, which is a huge migraine trigger, has gotten me down to a record low of just 2 migraines a month.

That may sound bad to someone who doesn’t live with chronic pain, but for me, this is a huge win. I used to have migraines 54% of my days. That’s over 190 days per year or over 15 days per month. Now I’m down to 2-4 days per month.

All that to say, I will not give up my medications for the planet. One of them comes in non-recyclable bottles, and the other comes in non-recyclable thin plastic packs. Call me a bad environmentalist, I honestly don’t care. Because here’s the thing: the less pain I am in, the better I can take care of the planet in other ways. The more time I can spend making content, the more protests I can go to, the later I can stay out during the day to do community building, the more I can volunteer, and so forth.

But there are ways I manage my chronic pain (I have arthritis, too, the migraines are just worse and therefore are my main focus) in eco ways:

Buy over-the-counter meds in bulk

I don’t love to rely on OTCs too much since they can cause other health issues with overuse, but I do use them on occasion. Instead of buying lots of little bottles that are not recyclable, I buy one big bottle every year or so to prevent all that tiny waste. These larger bottles may not be recyclable either, but they are easier to reuse and still reduces how much is sent to the landfill every year. I save any small bottles I do have to make small travel packs of medications as necessary.

Recycling medication packs where I can

As I’ve said time and time again, most medication packaging is not recyclable. From blister packs to bottles to plastic packets. Typically, you have to seek out special programs. I do this as often as I can with what energy I have. It’s easier now that I live in an apartment, but I had to stop this while I lived in an RV due to a lack of storage space. My favorite solution is sending medication bottles to this cool sunglasses brand to turn into recycled sunglasses. They’re called Coco Plum.

Heat and Cold therapy

Heat is excellent for my arthritis, and cold is excellent for my migraines. So I use reusable hot and cold therapy options. For heat, I have this secondhand hot pad that I can plug in and that is endlessly reusable. I also love this short-term heat option that I heat up in the microwave from a brand called Cherapy. They’re made from upcycled cherry pits!

For cold, I have been loving these ice helmets. I used to just use a regular cold pack that I held onto with my hands, but I also have Raynaud’s syndrome, and it was painful to touch this cold pack. The helmet makes it hands-free and easy to work with or sleep with on my head.

While camping, backpacking, and hiking, I love my reusable hand warmer. It’s Zippo brand, which is not an eco company, but it does sure cut down on single-use items. Traditionally, I used disposable handwarmers, and the waste added up! This rechargeable hot pack is great for Raynaud’s and arthritis both.

Massage therapy

My neck pain is also pretty severe. For years, I have been confident that my migraines are heavily influenced by this neck pain. I carry my stress in my neck and shoulders, and the pain radiates to my head. I tried medical massage for the first time in late winter 2024. I honestly can’t say I noticed too much of a difference for my migraines, but this was also before I started my new medication.

I tried medical massage again in late winter 2025 after moving, and I have the data to prove that this helped my migraines go down (I track my migraines with the Migraine Buddy app). My migraines were cut by 50-60%! This means fewer medications and less waste!

Reusable earplugs

I am highly sensitive to noise in general, but especially when I have a migraine. Not to mention, loud sounds can trigger a migraine. I always just dealt with this as I didn’t want to contribute to more waste, and I wasn’t even sure if it would help. But now I am a regular Loop user. These reusable earplugs are always on me. Not only do they stave off migraines, but they also prevent them from getting worse, and they protect my ears from hearing damage, which can prevent future health problems. They always accompany me to concerts, loud venues like bars, when I go swing dancing, and more.

Reusable water bottle

For me, dehydration doesn’t really cause migraines, but I’m not taking any chances. I stay hydrated all day long and reduce waste thanks to my reusable water bottle. I currently use a Stanley that was a Christmas gift, but I’m a huge Klean Kanteen fan if you’re in the market for a new one. Water is great to prevent migraines, get rid of underlying headaches that may turn into a migraine, and is just great for overall health. If anything, keeping the rest of my body healthy and pain-free is a great benefit to my migraine pain.

Natural remedies

I’m pro-science and I trust my doctors, but I also love a good natural remedy when it works for me. They may not work for my migraines, but I have had great success with natural remedies for my arthritis pain. I made this dandelion oil literally years ago, and I’ve never had a natural remedy work so well. Dandelion is anti-inflammatory, as are the essential oils (that I got secondhand) that I added. They were dehydrated and soaked in olive oil for about a month. I rotate this with my prescription topical ointment to stave off any bone pain.

I also eat a lot of turmeric to tackle the inflammation from the inside, too. For me, this doesn’t work on its own, but I find it a nice benefit to add on the back end of managing my joint pain.

Eco sunglasses/glasses

More than anything, my migraines make my eyes extremely sensitive. Eye strain from not wearing my glasses leads to pain, as does the sun. So I wear glasses to reduce waste since contacts are made from plastic (more hidden plastic here) and are not recyclable. My prescription glasses are from Zenni, not the most eco company, but they are made with recycled materials.

My sunglasses used to NOT be eco, but that changed very recently! I got these from SOJOS, which are made from recycled ocean plastic, and they’re also prescription. Now my eyes can be protected from the sun, my migraines don’t get worse thanks to light exposure, but I can still read and see well, which doesn’t cause further eye strain and pain. I used to flip-flop between glasses and sunglasses, and that always led to eye strain since I always had to sacrifice something. Now I don’t have to make that sacrifice, and I can hopefully stay migraine-free!

Eco hair ties

What do hair ties have to do with migraines? Well, traditional hair ties pull on my hair, which can cause head pain. I don’t recall this ever being a huge trigger for me. My migraines were actually at their worst after I chopped my hair in 2020. But I’m not taking any risks these days. My hair is always put up loosely to prevent any pain from coming near my head.

I have been loving Pina and Kooshoo for a long time. They are two eco companies that keep my hair secure without any pain and without any waste.

Fewer scented products

Yup, I’m also highly sensitive to smells. Honestly, this has gotten worse with time since I no longer buy scented products for my home: air fresheners, perfumes, colognes, candles, you name it, it’s all out of my eco home. This prevents me from buying products in plastic and also keeps harmful ingredients out of my home and the planet. And, yay, it prevents migraines! This does make it sometimes painful to visit family members who love a candle or a highly potent Bath and Body Works soap, but in my home, I have stopped buying these things to prevent waste and prevent migraines. Check out more things I no longer buy here.

Getting outside

It’s an eco action on its own, but getting into clean air and connecting with the planet helps my mental health, helps clear my head, and is a form of exercise which is great for my overall health. It may not cure my migraine, but it makes me feel good in other ways.

Focus on other areas of my life with bigger impacts

Another reason I am not stressed about the waste that my medications cause is that it is an area of my life that really is not all that wasteful. It’s much more wasteful to drive a truck, eat meat, fly in a plane, and things of that nature. So, I focus my energy on these higher-impact areas. So…

I am vegan at home and mostly vegan out and about (explanation here, again, not that anyone is owed it)
I walk and bike as much as I can. I can do this more thanks to living in a walkable community as well as I am in less pain and can therefore do it more than I could’ve without these medications
I reduce bigger pieces of single-use waste, such as water bottles, coffee cups, grocery bags, and food packaging, by shopping at the bulk store
I use my time to encourage others to make these swaps
I conserve energy and water daily
I compost to prevent food waste

There you have it! You can still live zero waste while chronically ill and disabled. It might just look a bit different from someone else. But no two zero-waste journeys are going to be alike. Do what you gotta do. My biggest pieces of advice are:

Take care of yourself so you can better take care of the planet and
Focus on your biggest areas of waste, not the smallest ones like medications

This goes for able-bodied folks if they are injured or sick and have to rely on medications or hospitals for that time. We have to take care of ourselves, and our sustainable lives have to be sustainable for US, too. Not to mention, we have to work with what we’ve got. It’s not my fault that my medication doesn’t come in recyclable packaging. I shouldn’t face the consequences of that with a lifetime of pain. Make the best choices for you and your body based on what you have access to.

It may be a hot take, but I don’t think we should sacrifice our health for the planet. The healthier we are, the better we can take care of our home.

Thanks so much for reading along. I appreciate you being here and hearing my story as a disabled climate activist.

As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)

Emma

How I Live Zero Waste While Chronically Ill