I read an article in Sunset
magazine (January 2011 issue) about the Zero Waste Family. They are amazing - a
true inspiration. While the average consumer throws out "1,130 pounds of
waste each year," they (The Johnsons) only throw away "a few handfuls
of non-recyclable waste." Wow! I went on to read that the matriarch and
instigator of this lifestyle change, Bea Johnson, said,
"When we started getting rid of things, it was
kind of addictive....[and] Photos are a good way to keep the memory of
something without keeping it because of emotional attachment or the guilt of
letting it go." Put another way: Hang onto the photo of your grandmother
in her fur coat, but if you never wear the coat, it's just taking up space in
your closet.
It made so much sense! I investigated further after
reading by going onto Bea Johnson's blog - Zero Waste Home. Again, it
was an inspirational process of how they came to live like this.
How do they do it? It's easy, when their mantra is
"'Refuse, refuse, refuse, and then reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot
[compost],' explains Bea. "The first step is to refuse products and
packaging that you'll have to dispose of later."
The 5 R’s, if followed in order, can help you on your
waste-reduction journey.
1) Refuse most receipts, disposable single-use items, handouts,
freebies, and even gifts that don’t fit your lifestyle.
2) Reduce
you consumption of disposables, like razors, or single-use water bottles, and
prepackages items. Farmer’s Markets and Bulk stores are the best places for
finding sticker-free fruits and vegetables, carton-free eggs, plastic/cardboard
free staples. Reduce your need to “stay on trend” with ever changing fashion or
home décor and opt for a more timeless, simple style. Anything can be reduced
if you really put your mind to it.
3) Reuse
anything you can think of. That empty cottage cheese container? Use it to store
leftovers or to hold supplies. Use your clean mason and jelly jars to get fresh
meat/cheese from the deli to avoid its packaging. Old shirt or pillow case on
its way out? Turn it into a grocery bag or alternative to wrapping paper.
4) Recycle.
We’ve been beaten over the head with this, but if you manage to stick to the
above three first, the hope is that
you’ll have less to recycle. Plastic/metal/glass can be recycled, but I’d
consider donating unused items to thrift stores a form of recycling as well.
5). Rot
(Compost). So much food waste and paper/cardboard items can be turned into
usable, fertile soil. The food and paper items that end up in landfills,
however, have a hard time breaking down since their natural decomposition is
slowed by all the different chemicals and toxins from all the different,
inorganic materials.
One of the simple ways that the Johnsons succeed in
this is by bringing their own jars, totes, and bags to the grocery store and
shopping the outer rims of the store, focusing on the bulk sections and they
buy fresh at their Farmer's Market. They avoid anything prepacked like the
plague.
The part I liked the most in the article was about
their two sons' playroom - "In the playroom there are four bins of toys.
The rule is simple: if they want something new to them, it needs to fit in the
bins."
On birthdays/holidays, family and friends are
encouraged to give gifts of experience, like "a weekend of skiing."
And I also liked the fact that each family member has a limited number of
clothes, for example their sons each have "7 casual tops, 1 dress shirt, 4
bottoms, 3 pairs of shoes, and 1 pair of PJs per season," - it must make
laundry a breeze!
As I read, I thought to myself, "Can I do this?
How much in my house is unused? How much do I buy and then throw away? Could I
sustain something like this?" Well, I'm sure it helps to have money...I
was a little discouraged by this fleeting thought since my husband and I are on
tight budgets - very tight. Though Bea did say this process took years and she
actually shops second hand thrift stores (which I love to do!). In April,
2010, she only spent about "$40 replenishing clothes for her whole
family." So the more I thought, the more I was determined to make this
work for my budget, too!
The more I thought about it, the more I got excited
and I couldn't wait to get home and donate my unused stuff! The tally totaled
eight full boxes of stuff! I was originally going to have a yard sale,
but the timing was a little last minute, so I just decided to donate it to a
local thrift store to get it all out of my living room. I felt cleansed! Bea
was right, it is addictive!
 |
| My tinted bottles |
That article had an impact I hadn't really
anticipated. I've started looking at prepackaged things - not necessarily in a
new light - but in a renewed light. Though I must admit, that we haven't
refused/reduced as much as we could/should, but I have been reusing items in creative
and unexpected ways. I've been cleaning and saving our glass and plastic
jars when we run out of jelly, or peanut butter, etc. which has come in handy!
So far, I've used several peanut butter jars as paint containers for small
painting projects and I found a nifty idea for my glass bottles/jelly jars to
hang on our balcony garden!
I wish I could shop more bulk foods, but unfortunately
there isn't a place in town (that I know of) that has a good selection.
However, I have been cooking more with raw foods and I've started bringing my
own fabric grocery bags to the store (before we were drowning in plastic bags -
however we did use them for kitty litter clean up and for ceramic projects, so
it's not like they weren't being used - and then I found out Walmart has a
plastic bag recycling program!) and so far I have refused the majority
of receipts (a useless waste of paper the majority of the time).
I recently went through all our paperwork, like bills
and medical receipts, etc. and filled two huge trash bags with 5+ years worth
of unnecessary paperwork to recycle!
For birthdays and Christmas I am going to make fabric
totes/bags for gift giving. Last Christmas, 2010, hurt my feelings a little bit
when realizing how much pomp and paper and packaging is wasted in this
consumerist holiday. Yes, I love a perfectly wrapped present as much as the
next person, but if I can wrap in something sustainable and reusable, then, by
golly, I'm going to do it! *Update 4/16/17* I pretty much forego wrapping paper
as it is unnecessary, like most Europeans do.
I'm excited to see where this journey takes us. I
doubt we'll be as hardcore as the Johnson family, but I'd like to be, and I’ve
become a lot more conscious about what I bring into my house and what I can
prevent contributing to a landfill.
Remember, your dollar is a vote.
~Nicole
A.
