How to Create a Zero Waste Car Kit

A few weeks ago we put up a social media post about our eco-friendly, zero-waste car kit.

It was just something we'd created for ourselves to help us reduce our reliance on single-use plastic in our personal lives. If we're planning on doing the grocery shopping we always remember to take our produce and reusable shopping bags with us. Or if we're going on a picnic we know to chuck some cutlery in the car.

So much in life is unplanned though and we were finding that we were still relying on single-use items when this happened. If we needed to stop for dinner groceries on the way home we didn't always have our produce bags with us so we'd use single use paper mushroom bags instead. Not as terrible as plastic I know, but still, an item that's used the Earth's resources to be disposed of after 1 use. Or we might have planned to go on a short outing, but one thing leads to another and 3 hours later we're still out, it's lunchtime and the kids are hungry and unplanned lunches out inevitably involve using single-use items.

I was determined to do something about this so I came up with the idea of the Zero Waste Car Kit. I thought about all of the things we find ourselves using when we're out and about and I put eco-friendly, sustainable versions of those things in a box in the boot.



The response my little personal car kit received was incredible, so we've created this guide to help you make your own. How to Create an Eco-Friendly, Zero Waste Car Kit Below are some of the best things we've found to include in a Zero Waste Car Kit in order to really reduce your reliance on single-use plastic and single-use items in general. Some of these things you may already have at home. If it's easier for you, check out this pre-made Zero Waste Car Kit.

Step 1: Find a storage box. We use a small cooler bag type esky. It's the perfect size and it's also good for keeping groceries cold. Multi-purpose! But really any box or container will do.

Step 2: Compile the items you need to help you reduce your plastic use when out and about. See below for our suggestions. Once you've got everything in your box, put it in the car and you're good to go! We haven't used single-use plastic since we've had our car kit. It has been so easy to use and helpful for our family's waste reduction. I can't recommend it enough! Occasionally things will have to be brought inside to be emptied or cleaned. Once that's done I just put them with my car keys that way I remember to put it back in our box in the car, ready to be used again.

Suggested Zero Waste Car Kit Items

1. Stainless Steel Water Bottle - I like the Cheeki 1L Active Stainless Steel Bottle. The Active Lid has 3 different flow settings which is easy to use for my kids. The 1L size is the perfect way to stay hydrated - drink 2 of these are there's your daily water intake. Made from premium grade stainless steel and BPA free plastic, they're built to last. This particular bottle isn't insulated but there are plenty of insulated options available if that's important to you. 
2. Food containers - Useful for takeaway lunches, taking a packed lunch with you or buying meat at the deli or butcher (Note: There is nothing in legislation preventing you from taking your own containers to get your deli meat put in, some backwards organisations are not particularly receptive to the practice. Hopefully with time and peer pressure they'll change their ways). For our personal Zero Waste Car Kit we used old plastic containers we already had at home. Once they've reached the end of their life I'll be replacing them with a more durable, plastic free alternative like Bento Boxes. 
3. Insulated tumbler - This insulated tumbler is one thing I didn't already have at home and purchased specifically for our Zero Waste Car Kit. I was a bit dubious about how much use I would actually get out of this. When I thought about it though, a fresh juice or smoothie is often my lunch of choice when we're out, and sometimes Miss 6 likes a milkshake so I gave it a go. It's been one of the best additions! We use it all the time! It keeps my drink cold literally for hours - one day there was still icecream in the bottom of it after it had been sitting in the hot car in a Qld summer! 
4. Fresh produce & bulk food bags - Produce bags are a given in a Zero Waste Car Kit. Sure some fresh food doesn't need a bag, but if I'm buying 15 carrots I'm going to want something to put them in! I have a mixed collection of produce bags - some I've made myself from old curtain netting, some were given to us and then I have a couple of the Ever Eco tight weave cotton ones which I find particularly useful for things like nuts and grains at the bulk food store. Make them, by them, it doesn't matter as long as they're in your kit. Side note - if your bags are made from natural fibres like cotton, you can return them to the earth once their usable life is over. No need for landfill. 
5. Cutlery set - Also a given in a Zero Waste Car Kit. This has stopped me from having to eat with my hands on numerous occasions (because I refuse to use plastic cutlery). You can buy a traveller set, but really you could also just use the cutlery you have a home. 
6. Other things you might like to include based on your needs:
   
   Reusable coffee cup - I am a strange, non-coffee-drinking human so I had no need for a reusable coffee cup in my car kit. If you're a coffee drinker I would definitely recommend including one.
   
   Reusable straws - I'm not a big straw user, I generally just say no thanks to the straw. I've got one in our kit as it was included in my Picnic Basket cutlery set, and we do use it occasionally. You might like to include a few straws depending on your needs. I find the Cheeki straws particularly good for kids as the mouth piece is rounded.
   
   Shopping bags - we always have about 20 reusable shopping bags floating around the boot of our car anyway, so didn't include it in our Zero Waste Car Kit specifically. If don't already have a stash of bags in your boot, definitely include a couple of reusable options in your car kit. If everyone had a Zero Waste Car Kit imagine how much plastic would be avoided! 

Please feel free to contact us or comment below if you need further suggestions for your Zero Waste Car Kit or reducing plastic dependence in general.

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