KAT Goodwin and her family haven't quite achieved their zero waste goal – they generally fill a wheelie bin with rubbish every two months.

But they are well on their way.

And Kat is on a mission to help others follow in her and her family's footsteps, by guiding people through simple and not so simple ways to reduce the amount of waste they produce.

She stresses that whatever steps they take, whether that's remembering to take their own bags to the supermarket or buying vegetables that aren't wrapped in plastic, it's a start.

She also runs not-for profit classes at her home to show people how to make their own household products, reducing or even eliminating waste packaging, and runs a popular Facebook group, Zero Waste Making Circle, where ideas, recipes and encouragement are shared.

For Kat, reducing her waste and making her own products was born out of necessity.

"I came out of a broken marriage with my very young daughter and was made redundant at around the same time," explains the mother of one who lives in Badger Farm, Winchester.

"In terms of supporting myself I had to be really thrifty.

"For me, zero waste was born out of needing to save money. I've also always been conscious of the need to reduce our impact on the environment, and that has become part of our lifestyle in general."

Over time, Kat has become increasingly concerned about the impact on the environment of our consumerist and wasteful society.

She points out that Earth Overshoot Day came earlier this year; on August 1 we had used up the world's resources for the year, according to the Global Footprint Network, which calculates how much “annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year”.

Her family travels to three different recycling points, in order to recycle as much as possible, on top of what their local council collects from their house and they are accustomed to simple lifestyle choices which take less of a toll on their pocket as well as the environment.

She acknowledges that many people think that making more environmentally friendly choices takes up too much time, and is keen to emphasise that she does not have a great deal of spare time on her hands.

She and her husband both work full-time, she has an 11-year-old daughter and is also studying part time for a degree.

"It's really important for me to do things that are quick," she says.

"Some of the things actually save you time when you are cleaning. I spend a bit of time making the stuff in a job lot, and then it's out of the way and it makes shopping quicker because you don't have to go down all the aisles!"

Among the items in her home that she has made are hand soap, toilet cleaning 'pods', reusable sanitary pads, fabric softener, washing powder and a range of other detergents for floors, windows etc, bread, butter, produce bags, sandwich bags, beeswax food wraps, moisturiser and make-up.

She acknowledges that it can be hard to convince people to begin to make changes and is keen to emphasise that it's not necessary to go all in at once.

"Every little step is helping," she says.

"Lots of people think that this is hippy dippy rubbish," she adds.

"A big part of the issue is that people don't believe that there is a problem and they also think that everything that goes in their recycling bin is recycled, but if someone puts something in that hasn't been cleaned properly, that can contaminate all the recycling from their whole street!

"Another reason people have for not doing this kind of thing is convenience. People can't be bothered or think that it's a really long process, when often it isn't.

"It can seem really daunting. There are so many things that you can do to make a change, but you can take it one step at a time, like investing in a reusable water bottle and always taking it out with you.

"I think people would rather brush it off as a myth rather than face up to the truth that we are desecrating the planet. Things like Earth Overshoot Day seem like just statistics to some people.

"If people kept all the rubbish that they throw away in their house for a few weeks, they'd see how much they are throwing out, and what a difference reducing it would make."

The Zero Waste Making Group came about from some of Kat's friends being interested in learning how to make some things themselves. Rather than keep showing them individually, she invited them over. This then grew into friends of friends wanting to learn, and became a regular group.

Participants only pay for the cost of their raw materials. Kat gives her time for free. She is more interested in spreading the zero waste message and helping people to reduce their own waste than turning a profit.

The group of friends developed into a Facebook group, where Kat shares recipes and tips.

"It's all there so that other people can do the same thing," she says.

"I know it's a good business model. People could do something like this and make a lot of money but I want it to be accessible for everyone.

"I would never have been able to do it myself if I had to pay to go to a class to learn. Often, the people who really want to make a difference don't have a lot of money, but they can afford some bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar, to make some of the cleaning products."

As well as making products, she and her family buy their clothes and furniture second hand.

They also choose activities that produce less or no waste, for instance going for family days out for birthday treats, rather than throwing parties, with all the waste balloons, gift bags, decorations, plastic cutlery, etc, and love going foraging for fruit together.

The family gets most of their furniture from free sites, such as Freecycle. The only thing she can remember buying in the last decade or so is her daughter's bed.

"It doesn't stop us from getting the things we want, wearing the clothes we want, or doing the things we want to do, it's just that we might get things from different places."

Kat believes that the need for everyone to reduce their waste has reached critical point. It's essential, she says, that all of us now take steps to reuse more and waste less.

"We are on the verge of it being too late," she says.

"The importance has escalated. I worry about what future we are creating for my daughter and her children and other children. Will there even be air that's safe for them to breathe, let alone somewhere safe for them to sleep?

"I think a huge barrier for many people to changing their lifestyle is that even if they accept that their is an issue, they doubt their ability to make a difference. 'It's only one water bottle,' said seven and a half billion people," she adds.

"If everyone did one thing, even stopping buying water in bottles, that would be a big step forward."

Kat's top tips for starting out on your zero waste journey:

1) Get a reusable water bottle/ coffee cup.

Most places will allow you to get a tap water refill for your water bottle for free, and most coffee shops offer a discount for using your own cup too.

2) Not all plastic was created equally

In many ways plastic is unavoidable but as well as checking what items can be recycled by your local council, make use of as many items as possible before disposal, reuse bottles, wrappers, and tubs. There is no need to throw away your already perfectly usable plastic containers to make way for tins, use what you have, in doing so you are already avoiding unnecessary waste.

3) Bulk is better

Swapping from usual shopping habits to reducing your waste can seem really daunting but you don't need to start by making everything yourself. You can get rice, pasta, even soap in bulk, it reduces the amount of packaging and costs less per gram too.

4) Re-use your water

Water wastage is expensive and there are lots of things that don't require fresh water around the home. Pour unfinished 'stale' water into an old bottle, fill a bucket with shower water as it comes to temperature etc, and use it to clean floors and window sills, or water the garden. Grey water (washing up bowl) can also be used to water flowers, but not veg.

5) It's not about keeping up with the Jones'.

Every step forward in your zero waste journey is a good one, even if you think it is small or insignificant it really does help. The term 'it's only one plastic bottle said 7.5 billion people' also has the same effect in reverse 'here's my reusable bottle, said 7.5 billion people'.

Recipe: Toilet cleaner pods

Ingredients:

1 cup/250ml baking soda

1/4 cup/63ml citric acid

distilled vinegar spray

essential oil

Equipment:

Measuring cups

Bowl

Spoon

Spray

Silicone ice cube trays

Method:

Put the baking soda, citric acid and a few drops of essential oil in the bowl and mix well.

Spray a little distilled vinegar (not so it fizzes) then stir. Repeat until it begins clumping like pastry crumb.

Press the mixture into the ice cube trays, taking care to wipe away the excess.

Leave to set for 4-12 hours, then push out and store in an air tight container.

To use:

Drop one cube into the toilet and allow to fizz. Once it has finished fizzing, use the residue to brush the toilet and flush away.