Welcome to Sustainable Style, a new series in partnership with the New Standard Institute, where we’ll be publishing stories devoted to the fashion and beauty industry’s effects on the environment. Click through for lessons on how to shop sustainably, explorations on what the future of your closet really looks like, and plenty of myth-busting along the way.


Activist and CEO of Package Free Products, Lauren Singer has been living a zero-waste lifestyle for eight years and is “on a mission to make the world less trashy.”

In this episode of Food Diaries, the Brooklynite begins her day with a cup of hot coffee that she makes totally trash-free with the help of bulk coffee grounds and a French press. She explains, “After I’m done with my coffee, I compost them in my freezer and bring them to my farmers’ market. It’s a really amazing waste-free way to enjoy what is the most important moment of my day, besides cuddling with my dog Rose.”

Being prepared is the best way to avoid any unnecessary packaging when grocery shopping. Singer takes reusable cotton produce bags and totes from her store, Package Free, to the supermarket or farmers’ market when she needs to replenish her fridge. “I always like to bring a second bag with me that’s expandable. In case I decide to buy something extra, I don’t want to have to get a paper bag or another type of carrying device. This really helps prevent all types of waste that I can encounter when I’m shopping for food,” she tells BAZAAR.com.

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At lunchtime, Singer likes to make simple and fresh meals in large quantities. After she hits up one of her favorite spots, Marlow & Daughters, for ingredients, she takes us through how she makes her go-to panzanella salad, or as she calls it, “a big-ass salad.”

“Very often, I’m so busy that I forget to eat, and I like to be really kind to myself and have enough ingredients or food made on hand so that when I am in a situation where I’m rushing that I’m not grabbing something that’s packaged.” She continues, “I’m eating something that’s really good for me—healthy, real food.”

For Singer, composting is essential to combatting the massive problem of food waste. She keeps her compost in a metal bowl in her freezer and takes it to the farmers’ market every Saturday. “You can really compost anything that comes from something that grows. So you can compost anything from paper, leaves, dead houseplants, any kind of scraps or peels, meat.” She adds, “You have to just check with your local municipal composting program to see what they accept and don’t accept, but anything that comes from something that’s alive can be returned back to the earth. That’s the beauty of our ecosystem.”

Once Lauren has finished preparing her salad, she makes a quick dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, and capers, then stores it in an airtight stainless steel container and takes it with her to the office.

The business owner is always on the go, so she prefers her dinners quick and easy too. On the menu tonight: tacos. Flour is a staple in her household. It’s cheap and easily found in the bulk section of the grocery store. Making tortillas from scratch sounds complex and time consuming, but Singer proves the task can be done in just 15 minutes. Plus, it’s a great way to avoid single-use plastic without having to sacrifice her favorite hangover food.

“I like to ask myself the question: Is the benefit of having this thing worth the trash that it will create? Tortillas, definitely not—especially since they’re so easy to make. So that’s why I do it myself.” Singer goes on to make some rice, while chopping up fresh vegetables like zucchini, squash, mushrooms, avocado, and tomatoes. “When I first started [living a zero-waste lifestyle], I ate straight-up crap. When I got rid of packaging, as the parameter for how I shop and buy food, I was kind of left with just real fruits and vegetables, and ingredients like bulk rice and pastas. Eating in alignment with a zero-waste lifestyle has helped me feel better than I’ve ever felt.”

Watch Lauren Singer’s full episode of Food Diaries above and check out the rest of Sustainability Week on BAZAAR’s YouTube channel.

Thank you to Marlow & Daughters.

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