Life, Waste-Free
4 Things You Can Do To Start
Is it possible? While wasting my life away watching youtube last Friday, I came across a TED Talk by Lauren Singer - a girl who has only produced a 16oz mason jar full of trash over the past 3 years of her life.
Then, I came across Bea Johnson - a mom and wife who lives a lifestyle in which she and her family produce zero trash.
What?! How is that even possible?
So, that research led to more research on the effects of plastics and trash on the human body and the environment.
My trash will outlive me. By thousands of years. Before we know it, there will be too much trash and not enough room for us.
Pretty much everything I use is made of plastic or comes in plastic. My toothbrush is plastic. My toothpaste comes in a plastic tube. My contact case is plastic, my contact solution is plastic. My tupperware is plastic. My fridge is made with plastic. My lunchbox is made of plastic. I eat with plastic utensils at work. My water bottle - even though it's reusable - is plastic. The mixed greens I buy at the store come in plastic bags, for crying out loud!!
We're raised to not even think about it - that plastic is clean, protects our food and products.
But plastic is... Ew! All those chemicals leaching into my food and products? No thank you.
So, I've decided to reduce the amount of waste my husband and I produce! I'm not convinced that 100% waste free is completely possible where we live. Our grocery stores don't exactly offer too many foods in bulk. I'm going to focus on a few minor changes, though:
1. Buying spices in bulk - there is a Whole Foods about 40 minutes from us! As much as I love the idea of being waste free, I'm not sure it will always be financially sensical. So - I'll have to compare prices and research other places I can get bulk spices from.
2. No more plastic bags for all my veggies at the grocery store! Squash, apples, bananas, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes - all things that I usually put in plastic. I'll be putting these in my own cloth bags from now on!
3. Food scraps - I bought an "ice bucket" for $3 from Goodwill that I'm using as a compost bucket. I live in an apartment, so I don't have a compost pile. Booooo. BUT - there are lots of mulch and garden companies around here that I can take my compost to! I'm sure they would take it if I called and asked! AND - Whole Foods has a compost bin! I go there every Sunday anyways!
4. Eggs - I've ordered some REAL eggs from a friend who raises chickens. So that means I won't be buying styrofoam packed eggs any longer! AND - she only charges $3 a dozen! SO CHEAP.
Even these small changes will make a big difference over time. I don't want to be the reason our oceans have so much trash and plastic in them. I don't want kids several hundred years from now to pick up a plastic fork I used to eat lunch and wonder why we didn't stop polluting the planet before it became a huge problem.
See you next time!
Annice
