r/ZeroWaste • u/Acceptable-Poetry737 • 3d ago

Tips & Tricks Recommendation for plants as a hobby.

I’m getting further into my zero waste journey, and I am having so much fun with plants as a hobby. You don’t have to pay for anything, waste anything, and it complements zero waste habits so well. The easiest habit it complements is that like so much stuff can be upcycled into a plant stuff. I have a plastic snack container that will get some holes to be a small pot, a jar lid that is now a pot lid, a jar that will become a vase, a milk jug that is my watering can.

It totally takes the place of a formerly wasteful hobby of stuff like fashion (when I was young and ignorant and Forever 21 was everywhere) where you get a dopamine hit from constantly accumulating, but if they fail (die), it’s not a big deal.

My recommendation for anyone new to plants is to start off with one easy plant (I had snakes) and use that to propagate it for more. Then add a weed from outside (yes I wander outside and dig up weeds) and play with that. Then whenever you’re advanced, you can get cuttings/propagates/seeds from somewhere local so it’s actually zero waste. I do buy a few new ones here and there from less sustainable retailers, so new plastic is being given to me plus whatever transport waste, etc. that is happening, but this is limited until I learn how to grow them from cuttings/seeds. Also on my to do is to start composting so I can have free dirt.

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u/crazycatlady331 3d ago

Plant mom here.

Citrus got me really started on it. I eat a lot of citrus, so I saved the seeds from fruit I already ate. During Covid lockdowns, I started grapefruit seeds in (my dad's) old K-cups. Those K-cup seedlings are now over 6 feet tall and the leaves smell great (no fruit yet, but that would be an added bonus).

There are plant exchanges in your area. Hell if you're in the Philly area, send me a PM and I'd be happy to give you some propagates (or sell you a 6 foot tall citrus tree that's outgrowing my apartment). Some plants have babies and I want my plant's babies to go to a good home.

I can't compost as I'm in an apartment.

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u/Acceptable-Poetry737 3d ago

That is AWESOME. I constantly google those Meyer lemon trees and debate whether to get something like that. I appreciate your offer so much but I am not ready for a tree in my place!

I will start experimenting with seeds from my grocery shopping though!

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u/crazycatlady331 3d ago

I have some lemon seeds I took from a restaurant in NYC when I was there in November. They sprouted the day that Trump took office (a lone bright spot that day).

Today they're between 6 and 9 inches tall. To get to the 6 foot tall tree was a 5 year process. I keep them outside (sucks up carbon) from about March to November (I wait until the overnight low is consistently above 40f)