Zero Waste Challenge Kiel – are you in?

One month, one mission – Zero Waste. During the month of May, you can join many Kieler “Zero-Wasters” and challenge yourself to a more waste-free everyday life. Goal of the challenge is to reduce your waste step by step, record your progress, get into contact with other participants and maybe even win a price.

The “Zero Waste Challenge” starts today, May 2^nd and goes until May 31^st but you’re welcome to join anytime during this month and try to challenge your waste habits.

The Zero Waste Team Kiel and Zero Waste experts organized the challenge and will give you important tips throughout the month. Here’s how you can participate:

Under this link, you’ll find a form which you can fill out to record your consumption behavior. At the end of the month you’ll look back at this form, reflect on your progress and the changes you have made in your everyday life.

That’s the challenge

1. Week: Food & Kitchen (starting May 2nd)

During this week the goal is to reflect your habits with groceries. How much food waste do you produce and how can you save on packaging while shopping?

2. Week: Clothes & Consumption (starting May 9th)

How would responsible consumption habits look like? Do you reuse things? How about used or borrowed things?

Week 3: Hygiene & Bathroom (starting 16th of May)

This week you challenge yourself to figure out ways to make your own cleaning supplies or think about ways to reduce packaging while shopping for products. Maybe you can find reusable hygiene products.

Week 4: Zero-Waste on the way (starting 23th of May)

How much waste do you produce during various activities in your free time?

The Zero Waste Team of the city Kiel will also provide you with tips and insights to every topic under this link. If you want to learn more about each topic and how to reduce your waste you should check out the link every week.

Step by step during the challenge, you will focus on a different area in your life and reflect on your waste habits. Of course, you can do that all by yourself. If you are willing to fill out the form linked above and hand in your progress to a jury, you might be able to win one of the prices. The first price being a Zero Waste dinner from a Zero Waste chef in Kiel. The second and third price are gift baskets.

While shopping you can look out for the logo on the left (Picture: Laura Hennies), it means that you can buy the offered food in your own containers and therefore avoid any waste. One of the places where you can bring your own containers is the unverpacktladen Kiel (Picture on the right: Laura Hennies)

Why Zero Waste?

Since the end of 2020 the city of Kiel decided a “Kieler Zero Waste-Concept”, which states that until 2035 the city wants to cut the residual waste in half and the total amount of waste down by 15%. This decision is based on a cooperation between politics, the city and the people of Kiel and their initiatives. One of those initiatives is the “Zero Waste Kiel e.V.”

On the website of Zero-Waste Kiel e.V. you can find out more about Zero Waste shopping opportunities in Kiel, Zero Waste insights and opportunities to volunteer/ participate.

Info “Zero Waste Stammtisch” from the Zero Waste Kiel e.V. (Picture: Laura Hennies)

Every 4. Thursday in every month at 7pm the Zero Wast Kiel e.V. organizes a Zero Waste Stammtisch. Questions discussed e.g.:

1. How and where can you avoid producing waste?

2. What can you do to make your everyday life more sustainable?

More information here.