Should you buy a reusable coffee cup and a set of bamboo drinking straws? Maybe it would be better to donate some money to charity and sign a petition? Marta Dymek examines different ways of helping the world—starting with your own kitchen.

It seems to me that “zero-waste” is one of the most popular terms nowadays. It is a constant refrain in newspapers and on television; there are websites, shops, collectives, and a plethora of zero-waste-related hashtags. Most importantly, there are a lot of disputes on the topic. Not Oxford-style debates, mind, more like late-night pub chats: “Have you seen what she wrote? What a pile of . . .”

I wish that there could be a substantial exchange of thoughts and ideas on the matter, especially since zero-waste ideology has divided its followers into two separate groups. The first insists that a lot can be done through the individual observance of a more ecological lifestyle. The other criticizes such an approach, condemning individual efforts as a narcissistic act of identity-building.

Before I invite you to meet both factions, I will try to explain what the zero-waste approach is all about. The shortest definition describes it