This is a repost from my previous blog. A slice of personal history and does not necessarily reflect all my opinions today.
def.
Zero Waste is the conservation of all resources by means of responsible
production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of all products,
packaging, and materials, without burning them, and without discharges
to land, water, or air that threaten the environment or human health.
When
people talk about Zero Waste, the all or nothing way of thinking
surfaces quickly. People often find the path a failure if you haven't
done everything you can as fast as they think you should. For me, that
has become an important though when I began my Zero Waste journey in
spring last year. I didn't walk it intentionally in the beginning. I
mostly looked for research about the environment. Instead, I was offered
so much more, and it gave me a new perspective on waste and the way
waste ruled my life. That's also why I've chosen to consider myself a
part of the Low Impact Movement rather than the industrial term, Zero Waster.
The
first month, I watched so many videos on zero-waste living until I felt
like I knew it all. I quickly found that living a little bit more
sustainable, didn't need to be as hard as I'd imagined it to be. It
wasn't giving up on items I enjoyed or never sitting in a car again. I'd
looked at it as giving up on luxuries and privileges, not these small
swaps that were as easy as choosing natural alternatives above synthetic
ones, prioritizing ethics over pleasure or just simply choosing
long-lasting and reusable tools.
My
first swap action wasn't actually a swap. It was figuring where I had
the largest need to make changes in my lifestyle, where most plastic
needed to be switched out for natural and non-plastic alternatives when
we ran out. I started with the bathroom because I already had one part
done there - a bamboo toothbrush.
In the videos I'd watched, two things were clear:
a) I shouldn't buy anything new before I'd used up what I already had &
b) recycling what I already had and treasuring it by reuse or repair was a way to keep it out of the waste stream.
The
first line spoke to me the most. It was so easy, yet it felt...
unnatural. In my house, we never really needed anything. We had the
finances to get what we wanted when we wanted it so we never suffered
any need that I knew of. I didn't need to use up my shampoo bottle if it
didn't fit my hair or we had bought a new one. We always had bottle
after bottle in our cupboard, and I never thought twice about it...
until that day I went looking and figured we had the scraps of more than
10 shampoo and conditioner bottles showed into a corner, taking up
space, being resources we'd just trash the way we became tired of them
toppling over when we tried to find something on the same shelve.
My first action was to sort it all. I took them out and put them in a
bowl beside the shower. This way, we'd have to use them up before we
bought anyone new. When it came up on our shopping list, I'd keep saying
we already have it at home. Now, a year later, some still live in the
red bowl while others have passed on. After a while, I decided that the
natural aspect of something new was something I wanted to try. Now
knowing how many chemicals that went into that plastic bottled product, I
wasn't especially enthusiastic to use them. To tell the truth, they
made me feel anxious. A product I'd used all my life and never thought
twice about made me feel uneasy.
This was why my first swap was picking up a shampoo- and conditioner
bar. A two-in-one solution that fit me from the first try. I was
satisfied I didn't need to demand more plastic bottles into production
for my hair products. That I didn't need the chemicals and still, my
hair got just a clean as it used too. And it was this easy!
When the first was done, I followed with several others. I switched to
OrganicCup (most satisfying swap yet tbh), got stainless-steel shaver,
made my first DIY body butter, started using Coconut Oil for make-up
remover and reusable towels for it. I got vegan wax paper for the
kitchen and stainless steel straws. I thrifted my first items and
brought my own cup and straw to my first drink on-the-go! Some of these
were more successful than others and I think that's an important part of
the process to figure what suits you and what not. To not lock
ourselves in the trends that come and go. Despite zero waste often
taking you out of the mainstream trends, it also, naturally, comes with
its own versions of status inside the community - for example, glass
jars.
Zero Waste is impossible in today's society, and doing it well is often
brought on by privileges as accessibility, availability, and economy. I
knew I never would do it perfectly, at least not for many years to come,
but then and there, I collected my resources and started in the small.
In a way, I think that's all you can do. You can choose to start and
then do as well as you can with what you have and constantly strive to
improve when you have the resources to do so.
A journey of a thousand miles starts beneath one's feet' - Chinese proverb
My first year of "zero waste" didn't go perfectly. To take an example
that most people have heard about, I had to switch my bamboo toothbrush
for an electrical one. It wasn't doing the job therefore it needed to
go. I chose an electrical toothbrush because they're some of the best
out there and you just need to recharge them. If you take care of them,
they'll last you a long time.
What one year of zero waste has taught me, or reinstated, is that it
isn't impossible to make a change. I have given the stuff I own a new
value and me a new perspective on the consumerism I do. I purchase less
and I choose natural, reusable, recyclable where I can. I've started to
eat more fruits and vegetables and used it as an inspiration to try more
new food than to stay in the line I've been taught all my life. Maybe,
the most impactful mindset I've acquired is the understanding that what I
support with my money matters and that I should remove my wants and
look at my actual needs. There's a difference.
For the year to come, I've put a goal of getting compost in our kitchen,
possibly yard. It is something I wanted to do since last autumn but I
never got the time (or money) to do so. I try to grow a few vegetables
on my own and compost gives you really good soil to do so.
As for the time being, I study organic farming which elevates my
interest in it. Together with zero waste, it has given me a broadened
picture on how everything circulates in nature and how important it is
to not only use our resources with responsibility but to reuse them in a
way where resources don't go to waste and that you can benefit from
doing so.
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