This topic may be a bit controversial, but hear me out!

I’ve talked about the BEST things we can do for the planet a number of times, but I’ve never talked about the worst…

I honestly think that every single person is capable of giving up all of these wasteful habits in some capacity. These are the things I think that can be some of the most damaging things to do for the planet and the broader zero waste movement.

So, let us know your hot takes below and let’s get into it. Our first one is also a bit of a disclaimer:

Blaming and judging one another

I think we should STOP blaming one another for the climate crisis. Wait, is this post not just me judging people? No, it’s not. I can understand why people would do these things that I’m about to list. Perhaps they’re done out of necessity, or perhaps it’s because it’s the social norm. If you do these things, it’s no hard feelings. I’m making this post to hopefully change the culture around these things.

So, yes, judgment and blame get us nowhere unless you’re blaming the right people. I’m not to blame for the climate crisis because I have blue hair. I’m not to blame for climate change because I use an iPhone. It’s the companies that are at fault for polluting and not providing us with eco options. I am aware I could cut both of these things out, and that this mindset can be a slippery slope into just being as wasteful as you wish. I still think we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the planet without shouldering the entire blame of the climate crisis ourselves.

We cannot live perfectly eco-friendly lives while our society is full of wasteful options! I talk more about this here.

So, stop judging internet strangers and people in your direct lives. Yes, educate folks on how to be more sustainable, but you can do so kindly. I hope this makes sense.

Now, let’s get into the rest of the list!

Fast fashion

Fast fashion is seriously horrible for the planet and also ethically. But, a caveat: I know it is extremely affordable, and many people rely on this for clothing. There is a difference between consuming what you need and consuming what you do not need. There is a difference between buying a shirt for a job interview and overconsuming a bunch of unnecessary junk. I am not upset at anyone here, but I am especially not upset at those who NEED this source of clothing.

I did a full video on fast fashion literally years ago that is so old, but it still gets you to the gist of why fast fashion is so bad. From textile waste to not paying workers a living wage to polluting our air and water to pushing out new trends literally every day and encouraging people to just throw away old items, this industry has got to go.

Sure, it can’t change overnight, but we do need protections in place. We should not be sacrificing the health of workers and the climate for a pair of pants. Consider shopping secondhand instead. If you have to shop fast fashion, be mindful about your purchase. Make it last a long time, and buy stuff you will truly love for years and years.

Selling off our public lands

I’m willing to bet none of you have done this. That’s because this one is for the government. How destructive it is to sell off our public lands for logging and oil drilling. This kills plants and therefore kills animals since that is their home and food. It pollutes water, air, and soil alike. It removes places for us to recreate, which is good for our physical and mental health. And so much more. This is an awful thing that our government has done, loads of this administration so far, and it needs to be stopped!

What can we do? Call and write to your elected officials (yes, it works), sign petitions, go to protests, and USE your public lands to show that there is a demand for them. You can even volunteer, too! Here is a full post of action items for public lands.

Dismissing small actions

Individuals, governments, and corporations do this all the same. Dismissing small actions is not only wrong, but they do it on purpose to make you feel powerless. Your small actions MATTER. If you are an individual who thinks that they don’t matter, please reconsider. And, if you want to dismiss your OWN small actions, fine, but please don’t tell others to stop trying.

I would rather everyone try to be just 1% better today and another 1% tomorrow than not try at all. We way too often focus on this all-or-nothing mindset. That you have to do the biggest and best thing, or do nothing at all. This is not true. If I use a reusable water bottle today, sure, it seems meaningless to reduce 1-2 plastic bottles per day. But if 100 people do this or 1,000 or 1,000,000 people do this every single day, can you start to see how this adds up?

Small actions matter on their own, yes, but they matter even more when we all do them together and over long periods of time. Don’t dismiss this power.

Overconsuming

Inspired by the recent Labubu trend (what the heck even is this thing?), we have to talk about overconsumption and how to break up with consumerism. Overconsumption is running rampant. What do you mean people are buying brand new jars to fit a trending aesthetic, and people are lining up to wait hours to buy $90 plushies that are just going to be donated in a few months? Even in my wasteful days, I’ve never understood this. If you overconsume, truly, I would love to talk about it to understand why this is considered normal, and I’m the oddball for not buying these things.

Overconsuming is easily one of the worst things we can do for the planet as individuals. I did not say consuming. Specifically, this is talking about OVERconsuming. It takes resources to make the things we buy. That plastic had to be extracted, refined, turned into plastic pellets, melted into the object, assembled, packaged, shipped, etc, all to get to your door. Double this with trending items that are only used for a short period of time before being thrown away, and it’s an environmental mess. Understanding the full footprint of an item can hopefully help you see how much goes into it and will hopefully make you take care of the items better and buy only what you need.

Not to mention, both our landfills and our thrift stores are running out of space. We are consuming faster than we can dispose of things, and it’s adding to the environmental mess. So, even this excuse of “I’ll just donate it” doesn’t work because thrift stores don’t have space for all this junk. It’s a giant cycle of waste, and our societal mindset around overconsumption needs to change.

Fear of perfection keeps you from even trying

Another mindset that has to get out of zero waste spaces is that you have to be perfect, or you might as well not even try at all. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress or the enemy of good. It is a good choice to turn off the lights today, even if you have to drive your car to work. It is a good choice to start a compost bin even if you don’t have access to recycling. Every little bit of good we can do matters and provides good in return to the planet, ourselves, and our fellow humans.

Not to mention, this goal of being 100% eco is truly impossible. Even the definition of zero waste states that you only have to reduce your waste by 90%. Even the movement knows perfection is impossible! So, aim for 1% today and another 1% next week, and make it a 5-year goal to reach 50% or whatever number works for you. I would rather see everyone trying to be just a tad bit better today than not try at all ever. The small things we all do add up!

Biked to get coffee and a pastry. Brought my cup but not a container lol

Wasting food

Speaking of compost, one of the most wasteful things we can do as individuals is throw food into the landfill. Food waste in landfills creates methane, which is 28 times worse than CO2, according to the EPA. So, what can we do about this?

First, start composting! Here are a few ways you can get started. Some food waste is inevitable, like banana peels or a moldy orange. So, compost those instead of throwing them away.

But, second, try to prevent food waste from even ending up in your compost bin, especially if you are unable to compost. This looks like making and adhering to a grocery list so that you eat what you buy and don’t overbuy. This also looks like getting creative with food waste, such as making banana bread from brown bananas or using a broccoli stem in stir fry. You can also try freezing food that is about to go bad, such as wilted spinach or a wrinkly bell pepper. Save it for later!

Get creative and prevent as much food waste from the landfill as you can!

Ignoring the facts of climate change

I truly cannot believe we are in the year of our Lord 2025 and people are still out here denying climate science. I reacted to a climate denier here very recently. It is so wasteful and harmful to continue to ignore this science and not be a staunch advocate for a cleaner planet. It’s one thing to believe in climate science but not know what to do to solve climate change, and it’s another to full-on say that the science is wrong.

I don’t get it. If you’re a climate denier watching this, please let me know how you come to those conclusions. It’s time to believe the science. It’s literally killing people to ignore it.

Throwing items away

I know I just said that our thrift stores are way too overrun with junk. What else are we supposed to do with our unwanted items? Let’s use this list:

Still in good condition? Sell or donate (try a smaller thrift store instead of a big chain; those usually fill up the fastest)
Not in great shape for someone to reuse? Try upcycling (turning an old t-shirt into a rag) or recycling it (broken tech can be salvaged for parts)
Is something stained or just a little worn out, but you want to still use it? Try repairing! Maybe you need to glue a handle back on a mug or dye a shirt to cover a stain or give that photo frame new life with a fresh coat of paint.
Will that item rot? Compost it instead of throwing it away

All of this to say, think before you send stuff to the landfill. Not only are our landfills running out of space, but by repurposing, upcycling, or selling an item, you are preventing the creation of a new item that would have to be purchased in its place. This further reduces emissions and waste!

Ignoring current events

This may be my hottest take of the list (check out more hot takes here), but I hate when people tell me that they don’t watch the news or follow current events. How can you take action if you don’t know what’s going on? No, I’m not asking everyone to take to the streets, but you can be an activist from home in other small ways simply by being aware of what’s going on in the world.

It is an extreme privilege to turn away. You may be hearing about bad news, but someone is living that bad news somewhere else. I get it, fatigue and burnout are real. It’s hard work to have empathy and to care about so many things, but it is so, so important.

My solution here is to take breaks, but please don’t turn away completely. If you need to turn off your phone after dinner every night and take time to unwind, do it. Maybe it’s weekends where you have phones off instead. Whatever works for you, I simply ask that you don’t turn the news all the way off. Quite frankly, that’s how we’ve gotten into this mess: too many people ignoring what is happening to us.

We need to be aware to act. Please stay educated and aware.

War

Yeah, I wish humans would quit doing war. It is unethical, obviously, but also extremely bad for the planet. Even if you don’t care about human lives, I hope you’re here because you care about the earth.

Yeah, I know, I’m not the one calling the shots, and neither are you, but every environmentalist should be actively anti-war. What do I mean by that? I mean sharing posts and making noise about ending all wars and genocides. It means pointing the blame at the aggressors and not the victims (looking at you, Israel and the US). It means voting with your dollar so that you are not giving money to these war machines. It means voting in real elections to elect anti-war candidates. You get the idea.

Yes, this is a much larger problem than you and me, but not enough people are vocally anti-war, and I hope to see that change.

Buying new tech

I love a gadget as much as the next guy, but I’m on a mission to never buy a new piece of tech ever again, and I hope you join me. Here’s another ancient video of mine, but it outlines the environmental impact of tech. It’s one of the worst things that we can buy new and one of the worst things we can throw away, so be sure to recycle your e-waste, too.

So, try buying it secondhand and refurbished. Here are my tips for doing so. I’ve bought less-expensive gadgets on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp and even at my in-person thrift stores, such as a juicer, a dehydrator, and lamps, but I’m not sure I would buy a used iPhone in that way. I would feel much more comfortable going with a certified refurbisher like Back Market. And, the same goes with cars! I think EVs are great, but a new EV is unethical to make, and also not that sustainable. That’s not to say we shouldn’t decarbonize, but we just have to be mindful about where we are sourcing this green tech.

Support Mega Corporations

I know shopping small is a huge privilege. But, when and where you can, I encourage you to do it. There are so many economic and environmental benefits to shopping small, such as:

More likely to listen to your feedback about eco suggestions
Fewer emissions
Mega corps invest their money into wasteful practices and buy politicians
Mega corps cut corners for worker safety, pay, and the environment

I wish we lived in a world where mega corps didn’t exist and we could all shop small within our budgets. I do not judge you if you rely on stores like Walmart and Amazon to survive. We have to do what we have to do. But, if you have the means, consider shopping small the next time you need something. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be the STORE but the brands that the store carries. I talk more about that in this video where I shopped at Kroger.

I mainly get upset here when I see prominent eco creators supporting mega corporations like Wild, Stasher, and Thinx when there are so many better smaller brands such as Meow Meow Tweet, Durbl, and Period Company, respectively.

That’s the list for now, but I’m sure I’ll be thinking of others! What do you think some of the most wasteful things we do are? Let us know below!

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

Emma

These are the MOST Wasteful Things we do for the Planet