The Almost Zero Waste Guide is written in a basic, easy-to-read format, showcasing tips to assist the reader in actively living a "greener" lifestyle.
I did actually find a few new tips! I'll be ordering some silicone zip bags and quit buying sandwich bags! And I did take some notes! I loved the fact that the author acknowledged the fact that most of us are quite unable to fit our year's worth of trash in a mason jar and live in a zero waste world. However, we can all take small personal steps in our homes and communities to reduce our carbon footprint and live more consciously.
Informative and a good refresher ,especially for those who may remember the reduce, reuse and recycle mantra.
Thank you netgalley and Tiller Press for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

Well executed for a quick guide with helpful information to get started. There are better guides out there though and this would not be my first recommendation.

I've known a bit about the zero waste community for a little while (through YouTube and blog posts), but would still consider myself a beginner in this particular subject. The (Almost) Zero Waste Guide was such a great resource for me - it's my first low waste ebook that I have ever read and I learned so much! This guide goes so far and reaches to many different areas of a person's life (from food to clothes to random bits and bobs) and I think at the very least it gives a brief background to a ton of subjects. The intensive source list provides lists of websites/real life resources that one could use to expand their research on the subject. And, it is written in such an ingestible way that, in my opinion, would be a great beginner to even intermediate introduction to the ways in which a single person's every day decisions effect the environment. I plan to use this for reference, and to re-read certain sections to help inspire me on my low waste journey.

A quick, easily readable book of tips to reduce the amount of waste you produce at home, work, and beyond. I was aware of most of the tips, as I have even actively trying to be more eco-friendly for years now, but there were some reminders included that I appreciated. I think this would would be great for someone just starting on their journey to reduce, reuse & recycle, as there are lots of books that go more in-depth and have been researched a lot more. All in all, not a bad little book, and one that didn’t seem preachy or pushy in the slightest.

I received a copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Decent starter for anyone dipping their toes into reducing personal waste.
For people already working on being more environmentally conscious this will provide little info.
Lots of cool references for companies that can help reduce your waste, by buying smarter and donating more often.
They are all American references though , so you're doing your own digging if you live elsewhere.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tiller Press for my DRC.

Melanie Mannarino shares over 100 tips for reducing waste in our everyday lives. While some tips were very basic, others were extremely useful, and I'll be implementing them in my own life.

Visionary, contemplative and poignant. The irreversible and dire situation of our climate has become one of the most talked about topics around the world. New laws are being enforced, changes are being made within continents, countries, and communities. Though it would appear as though we may be too late. We are a point where, if we do not collectively make moves toward change on a drastic scale, we are looking at a very different world in five years. The (Almost) Zero-Waste Guide is here to change that ominous future picture.

Drastic change doesn't just start at the government level. It starts in each and every person's home. Through self-policing ourselves we can help to influence industry and political leaders to make these sweeping changes. And even with these dire circumstances, and the daunting list of things that need doing in order to attempt to save the planet, it may not be enough. But there is no rule that says we cannot try, right?

What I love most about this book is that is acknowledges, right from the beginning pages, the living a zero-waste lifestyle is easier said than done. The concept is simple: live in such a way that you leave no impact on the world around you. This can be done through recycle practices, sustainable farming and water collection, reducing emissions and harmful impact on the environment and more. However, the book makes it clear that, despite everything, it is practically impossible to live completely zero waste. It does give us guidance on how to get closer to that goal. It also gives you different levels of how to do things.

For example, we all go grocery shopping - well, most of us anyway - and there are different ways and levels of how to shop, zero-waste style. The simplest is to no longer use plastic bags as they difficult to recycle, but one can also forgo paper bags and use only reusable bags. You can also use produce bags and shop for items that are not pre-packaged with non-recyclable packaging. It recommends getting your fish, meat and poultry cuts directly from the butcher to avoid unnecessary food packaging. Furthermore, purchase the food you need and grow the rest.

Now, for many people some of these seem incredibly outlandish or impossible to do. And I get that, as did the author Melanie Mannarino. Not everyone lives in a place where they can grow their own food. Some communities are limited in their fresh food options so things are required to be purchased frozen vs. fresh, which can lead to unwanted non-recyclable or compostable packaging. This book not only tells you HOW to get closer to living a zero-waste life, but lets you pick the extent of how you can do it. This book is filled with alternative options for just about everything and encourages its readers to become inspired and motivated to make changes in their own lives.

I have already been taking steps towards living a more eco-friendly, sustainable and zero-waste lifestyle (much to my boyfriends chagrin). In making some of these changes I have realized just how easy some changes are to make while others seemed so out of reach. Regardless, this book inspired me to make sweeping changes but reasonable ones at that. Like ensuring we use only reusable bags to shop or use paper bags (which double as our trash bags since we can't compost at our apartment). Only purchasing products that follow sustainable, eco-friendly practices like recyclable/biodegradable/compostable packaging. By making ourselves hyper-aware of everything we touch and use, we realized just how many things we had were made out of pieces that weren't recyclable in their current state or at all. Or were a waste in itself, like trash bags which are made of plastic which doesn't break down well.

Everyone needs to get their hands on this book and read it. Then they need to decide what changes they can make and encourage family and friends to do the same.

Sometimes we need some centering, a reminder of what's in the circle of common sense, and just some polishing of our skills. We're bombarded every day with information, traumas, fears, worries...our brains are stacked right now, and earth friendliness has to compete with other scary things. So it's nice to get a compendium of smart ways to waste less, live smarter and greener and just feel better about having the power to adjust our habits for the better. I liked this book a lot, never expecting to find hundreds of never-before-seen tips and being happily reminded of what my family could be doing better. It's worth your time.

Environmental books are kind of like self-help books-- even if I'm not the audience, I hope that someone else will find it useful. This book's organization wasn't my favorite, and some of the tips felt a little repetitive--it seemed that the kind of listicle-style meant that the book has to have 100 items, even if they are similar. For the person just beginning to think through consumption habits, though, it could be helpful.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

The general premise of this book is a very good one: reducing waste and becoming an environmentalist imperfectly is better than not doing it at all. The tips were generally helpful and some of them were things I hadn't thought of before. I love the research involved and the casual conversational tone. What I didn't like was that it made it seem that personal impact matters more in fixing the planet rather than corporations. Also, the tips would be good for a middle class and privileged beginner, it's not helpful for people who already were heavily involved in environmentalism and people who experience systemic oppression that makes it harder to do many of the things listed. I think having poor voices and indigenous voices involved could add a lot of dimension to this book. I would have loved if some of the tips involved ways we can work with legislation to help the environment or ways to hold large corporations accountable and a part about the land back movement and how indigenous people are the front-runners of sustainability. It has potential, but it ultimately seems like something a white, middle-class woman would buy and vaguely use to appease her guilt.

***I received an e-ARC of this book on NetGalley.***

This is a fantastic primer on how to incorporate smart strategies for reducing waste in your home and everyday life. Several of the tips in The (Almost) Zero-Waste Guide will sound familiar to waste-conscious consumers - for example, reducing the use of straws, starting a compost pile, incorporating re-usable cleaning cloths. But others are quite inventive, including reducing food waste by pickling otherwise inedible food scraps like watermelon rinds.

Pros:
- Easy-to-read
- Checklist-style organization of chapters makes it easy to follow (and check things off as you go!)
- Each chapter/focus area provides a variety of options so that you will definitely find something that works for you

Cons:
- When clicking through the the source material on which the tips were based, I found at least one case (e.g., cloth diapers vs. disposable diapers) where the author's recommendation for reducing waste didn't necessarily align with the research findings. While I think she does an admirable job trying to show the "behind the scenes"" waste we should all be aware of, it felt clear to me that she favored options that led to a reduction of the things you, the reader, put in the landfill even in a case where industry-wide waste "behind the scenes" might be the bigger issue.
- I wish the marketing for this wasn't focused on "reducing waste without changing your life." When it comes to making better choices for our planet, some life changes are both necessary and good (and not that hard to do!) and so we shouldn't shy away from that.

All in all, a fantastic, quick read - and one I plan to buy when it comes out. I'd just encourage readers to use this guide as a starting point and then on topics you are especially interested in, it's important to do your own follow-up exploration by searching out the latest research on the issue.

This is a great book full of organized tips on how to reasonably live a life where you try to limit your daily waste. Many of these tips are fairly easy to implement; would recommend for anybody looking to decrease their waste impact on a regular basis.

Melanie Mannarino’s new book The (Almost) Zero Waste Guide is an easy-to-read listicle of 118 actionable suggestions for reducing your impact on the planet. This is a topic I’ve cared about for a long time, and while many of the tips are common sense, it’s helpful to have a collated resource to refer to. I found the chapter on clothing waste to be particularly surprisingly and thought provoking.

While we all can’t fit our garbage into a mason jar like some serious no-waste bloggers on the internet, even a handful of intentional steps and decisions can make a difference.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Tiller Press for the digital advanced reader’s copy.

There's a hefty promise in the title of this book. Can we really reduce our waste without changing our lives? Most ambitiously, can we achieve (Almost) Zero Waste without changing our lives? Melanie Mannarino helpfully asks and seeks the answers to questions about resource usage and material wastage. Her summarizations suggest that the answers aren't straightforward and often the goal of reducing wastage will require choosing between the lesser of two evils.

As someone with a pre-existing interest in preserving the environment, reading this book provided quite an esteem boost when I recognized many of my everyday habits featured as good advice in this book. This shouldn't be a stretch for most people: we're talking about taking the stairs instead of elevator, energy-saving appliances and renos, saving your leftovers, recycling and composting, donating used clothing, bringing reusable bags to go grocery shopping, and buying electric vehicles. In some jurisdictions (like my home province of British Columbia), government and commercial incentives have already made most of these items commonplace and de rigueur.

With 118 tips to choose from anyone should be able to pick up some additional ideas. I would recommend bookmarking them as you read along, to keep track of them. It's easy to say to yourself "Oh, that's good! I could do that!" and then lose track of them as you move along. There are other recommendations that I would find more difficult to actualize but Mannarino offers this conciliatory opinion from her only quotable expert, Darby Hoover, senior resource specialist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), "The world isn't going to end because you bought one bottle of water when you were thirsty. Understand where you can do stuff, and forgive yourself for everything else."

One of the strengths of this book is its simplicity, practicality, and accessibility. However, some of the tips come across as overly obvious regurgitation of widely available educational propangada:
Don't cook too much food if you are going to waste it, but also cook more food so you don't have to cook as often.
Don't leave the water running while washing dishes.
Variations of the theme of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Other tips are so basic that they were annoying:
Let yourself go gray. Embracing your natural hair colour will save a car trip to the salon, and the ingredients of the hair dye, and even the little plastic tray that the dye is mixed in.
Thank you, Captain Obvious!

Who is this author? Her other book credits are The Best Gender-Neutral Baby Name Book and Epic Baby Names for Girls. She's a Marie Claire editor who prides herself for "repurposing leftovers like a pro." Overall, this book is helpful and will probably inspire a lot of positive action. Be warned. That action will require changes in your life. The parts of this guide that read like Jane Average's social media blog undermine the impact of all the EPA, Department of Energy, and NRDC research that this "award-winning" journalist laboured to put into writing. It's well-meaning and really feels as if you are receiving neighbourly advice.

Loves this practical, resourced, feel-good book! I consider myself pretty aware of repurposing and recycling yet learned so much in this book! I appreciated the can-don writing and the simple instructions for getting started with little changes that make a difference in our world. I highlighted the heck out of my electronic copy and am excited to put so many of these calls-to-action into practice. Will share with my family and friends. Bravo!

This is the most realistically titled eco-friendly book I have ever come across, and I have read many. I appreciate that Melanie Mannarino states upfront that being completely zero waste is practically impossible given today's current manufacturing state. Her suggestions are easy to do, easy to fit into your lifestyle. Many of them you probably do already and don't even think about the fact that they are minimizing your waste output into the world. I would absolutely buy this for anyone wanting to begin their journey towards lowering their carbon footprint on the world.

There was nothing mind blowingly new in this book. Most people should know the good majority of these things will help the environment, but it is nice to have all of the ideas in one space and if there do happen to be some people out there that have been living under a rock and don't know the basics of eing less wasteful this is definitely a great book for them to start with.

This is a very basic guide to transitioning to a lower- waste lifestyle. Many of the tips were repetitive. I think many people who want to become zero waste have already begun with these sorts of tips.

Also, there was more than one fat-phobic comment in this book, which I found to be in very poor taste.

The (Almost) Zero-Waste Guide was full of practical eco-friendly swaps. The author provided simple ways anyone could use things they already have around their house to reduce their carbon footprint. I was surprised by how many I was already incorporating in my own lifestyle but the book still gave me ideas of where I could improve! This is a great book for anyone who has an interest in living a more sustainable lifestyle but isn’t sure where to start. It’s a book I’ll keep around for reference. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

Mannarino gives a lot of great advice on how to lower your waste in daily life. She also provides various examples that are extremely practical that I had never heard before. Did you know that you can use boiling water to kill weeds? If you are looking for ways to reduce your impact on the planet this book will provide you with a blueprint.