In April 2015, I read an article about a girl who’s landfill impact over the course of two years fit into a pint jar. I was shocked; I was amazed; I was in disbelief. I scoured her blog, looking for a clue that she was lying, that she was a crazy environmentalist nut, that this could not be possible.
In my investigations, I stumbled across a whole online community that seemed to be embracing what’s called a “Zero-Waste” lifestyle. I needed more proof this was possible so I hopped into my car and headed to the bookstore where I found The Zero-Waste Home * (which happened to be written by a woman residing in my home county of Marin).
I truly hoped this book would present me with the fly in the ointment I was looking for. I say this because I really wanted to to find a reason to ignore Zero-Waste; to disprove all these people writing books and blog posts about how they fit a years worth of landfill refuse into a pint jar. I wanted to grab them by the shoulders and shake them, tell them that they are asking too much of this world and that all of us who have lives, jobs, family can’t live your crazy and exotic lifestyle. It’s more work than any one person or family could do!
Mostly I wanted a reason to go on living without having to take responsibility for the garbage I produce because, like so many before me, once the idea of living a life without (or with little) garbage was planted in my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to know how to replace “necessities” like toothpaste and Hamburger Helper. Surely, no one could adapt to living without those items.
What became apparent to me while reading this book, was that the initial steps to reducing waste are simple:
Learn how to organize existing garbage. I got a list from my towns waste management company that details what is acceptable for each Greenwaste, Recycling, and Landfill cans. Very quickly I noticed a change. I was dumping food waste and dirty paper products into the landfill when my green waste can was where it should be going. That cut my landfill can usage in HALF!
Buy groceries in bulk. My local Whole Foods has a huge bulk section, I brought my own bags to fill up on dry goods, seasonings, and produce.
Ditch the paper towels. I know this sounds dramatic, but this happened to be the EASIEST way for a lazy girl like me to cut down on my garbage. My boyfriend works in construction and his standard uniform consists of bulk-bought white tees. About every six months, he retires them and buys a new set. These tees may be stained and dingy, but when I cut them up they make perfect rags to substitute for paper towels – I get twelve rags out of each shirt. I keep two small storage boxes under the sink, one for dirty rags and one for clean rags. Easy peasey, lemon-squeezey!
With these three tasks employed in my day-to-day goings on, I realized that I had cut my waste by 70%, with minimal effort on my part. I went from stuffing my weekly landfill can with three bags every week to one bag per week.
I could truly not believe how easy it was for me to cut down so much waste with three little steps! I felt so good about myself that I wanted to keep testing myself! How far could I take this? Could I actually get to Zero? What will the next challenge present?
Lazy Zero-Waste 