CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Social media influencer turned CEO Lauren Singer is helping lead the charge against climate change one sustainable swap at a time.

Singer says she decided to strive towards a zero-waste lifestyle nearly 10 years ago after she decided to embrace environmentalism in her daily life.  

“I used to blame everybody and everything in the world for the state of our climate, the state of our planet and one day I decided to be introspective and look to my actions,” Singer said.

After she began posting about her zero-waste journey on Instagram, she went viral in 2012 for fitting a year’s worth of waste into a single 16-ounce jar. 

Now she runs a blog called “Trash is for Tossers,” offering inspiration and tips for other people to do the same, and launched a company called Package Free, where she provides products for reducing waste.

Singer said the average American makes 4.3 pounds of trash per day, amounting to thousands of pounds a year sent to landfills which give off methane gas and contribute to climate change.

Her top tips for reducing waste? Composting and using reusable packaging. 

Many products can be swapped for alternatives made out of bamboo or other decomposable materials, while cleaning products can be kept in reusable glass bottles.