Becca's Story

This week, Becca shares her journey with us. I love her writing style and how she and her family have evolved in the past year!

"thanksgiving 2010, while visiting my aunt, i picked up a magazine and began to thumb through it. my eye caught a glimpse of the type of decor i love, minimal, clean and modern. i choose to read the article and my first thought was these people are crazy! i handed the article over to my husband whom also loves that type of decor and his thought was the same, beautiful home and crazy lifestyle. on our drive home we started talking about how we should start to get rid of all our junk, that slowly turned into trying out as best as we could at living this lifestyle. we knew all of it wasn’t for us but we tried to began to change. we were a “leave the lights on in all the house, let the water run forever, never recycled type of family.” soon we were making our own dishwashing and laundry soap, bringing all our containers, veggie bags and grocery bags to the grocery store.


i was in process of learning how to sew before finding this article and now really have a passion for up-cycling or refashioning clothing. this is someone who would never set foot in a goodwill (i couldn’t handle the smell).


i find myself actually thinking about things before i throw them away. can i reuse it? should i of even purchased it in the first place? did i really need a bag inside my bag? can someone else use this?


i was so excited for living this way that i thought i should start blogging about it. by the time i got a blog together my zero waste lifestyle was more like a little less waste lifestyle. i decided not to blog about it because i felt like we failed.


my husband was not going for the handmade laundry soap and many times we would forget our bags when we headed to the grocery store.


even though my kitchen does have a few plastic bags in it, i realized we really haven’t failed. my mind set has completely changed. we are not a “leave the lights on, let the water run forever, never recycle type of family.” i think about refusing and sometimes i do. i think about reusing and sometimes i do. i think about recycling and sometimes i do. sometimes is better than never.


we have no desire to live in a big house. we have been fine with one car and hope to get my husband a nice bike. keeping our house clean has been so much easier. my desire to have a clean minimal home has happened. our kids don’t need anymore toys than what fits in their toy box, we too just want to share experiences with them more so than things. i can’t believe it but i actually don’t feel like i need a closet packed full of clothes. i don’t hold on to all my girls art work and church crafts, we take pictures of it.


we really have changed! thank you for your inspiration! if we can change anyone on can!"

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Zero Waste can save and make you money this holiday season!



Long before I ever heard about the term, businesses adopted Zero Waste to make their processes more efficient and financially wise.

Graphics by Leo Johnson

In the home the same is true. I have mentioned the monetary benefits that this lifestyle has afforded my household before, but I want to go into specifics, on how it can save money, and even make a profit this holiday season! This time of the year can be a source of financial stress during these trying economic times, but ZeroWaste can afford relief. Here are concepts that I introduced in earlier posts and how they translate to holiday savings and potential revenue.

Zero Waste will save you money this holiday season by:

• Curbing consumption: Using what you have is obvious, but I know how tempting the holidays can be! The best waste prevention is not spending at all, and not spending at all offers instant savings! Use a potted plant as a Christmas tree, and yard clippings or edibles as table decorations. You probably do not need new ornaments either…
• Focusing on activities vs. stuff: You can offer your expertise or services (i.e., your time) as gifts. Usually older people need a hand, more than they need stuff. Hold on to your dollars and offer your creativity, cooking, manual skills, mobility or time instead. Offering repairs or beauty care will please the elderly, for example.
• Buying used (if you must buy): Thrift stores, rummage sales and online secondhand markets (Ebay, Etsy, Craigslist) undeniably offer affordable gifts and decorations.
• Buying groceries in bulk: Since bulk is generally cheaper, celebratory meals for company will cost you less.
• Eliminating disposables (keep your money out of the landfill): Reusable gift bags and Furoshiki squares offer cumulative savings over the years. No need for wrapping paper or tape.
• Turning your waste into useful gifts: You can make lemon bars, marmalade, lemoncello with excess lemon harvest, turn junk-mail or kids artwork into stationery, melt bits of old candles, soap or crayons into new shapes, use corks for a bath mat and sew rags (i.e., worn-out clothing) into gift bags. I will be making the latter for family and friends.
• Reducing activities that support consumption: Avoiding the mall and decreasing media exposure (tv, and magazines) will ease the shopping temptations and spending binges as well.
• Reducing your paper output: E-mailing your Holiday card or video you’ll be saving material, shipping, and printing costs. This year, our kids will be “elfing” themselves for a comic custom video.

Zero Waste can even make you a profit by:

• Participating in collaborative consumption, i.e., sharing seldom used assets: You can rent your dwelling (through VRBO or Airbnb) and car (through Getaround or Relayrides) this holiday season and make a profit. We take full advantage of this aspect as mentioned here and on Twitter. The process is evidently easier once you have decluttered, but the potential revenue is HUGE!
• Sharing unused resources with others (see post on decluttering): It offers an opportunity to not only re-gift (instead of buying new) but also, and preferably, sell these items for a profit. And the holiday season, is the best time to do so, since Ebay, Amazon and Craigslist can bring you many more buyers than the rest of the year. Green shoppers looking to buy used hope to find your unused items in the secondhand market!
• Recycling and composting: The holiday season also usually means more consumable consumption, which increases recycling in the home. Why not save your recyclables, and take them to the recycling center for redemption after the holidays instead of throwing them in the curbside recycling bin? Instead of costing you money, recycling could make you money!
• Controlling clutter: If you get a gift that does not fit your needs, relieve yourself from the gift guilt. Don’t let anything that you do not need or love, take root in your home, let others use it: Sell it!

ZeroWaste has taken the financial stress out of my holidays. It did not remedy my anxieties overnight, rather over a couple of years as we slowly implemented and understood the full advantages of the lifestyle, but today it engages my creativity and pays back! Now that’s one advantage we did not foresee when getting into this.Can you think of other ways that Zero Waste will save you money this holiday season?

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Chevanne's Story

Thanks so much for your submissions, and please keep them coming!

Our first guest is: Chevanne.

Coincidently, Chevanne posted one of my favorite comments a while back and that comment is what motivated me to host guest posts!

Needless to say more, other than: Thank you Chevanne for participating!

________________________________

Zero waste means discovering
new ways to enjoy my community.

"Approaching Zero" by Chevanne S., NJ


In February 2011, I read an article on Huffington Post about a family that produced less trash in six months than most people did in a day. Impossible. I mocked the whole idea after seeing a picture of their six month trash tally that could fit into the palms of my hands. Just another crazy set of hippies on their high horse. The cacophony of the "green" movement was all the same junk. Soon I forgot about it.


I can't deny though, that I was intrigued by the concept. A few months later, I revisited the idea of zero waste by asking myself a simple question: Is it possible to produce no waste? Theoretically, yes, but this modern society is full of things we must throw away and the trappings of luxury we've become accustomed to would be difficult for anyone to shake. I'm a woman of science and logic before all and decided to be charitable. I began to read all the articles posted on the ZWH blog, but was still relatively unconvinced. I got ahead of myself and like others, judged the language as condescending and the tone, annoying casual.


Then I started to think a bit about the context of the message and play devil's advocate against my own judgments, shifting my focus in order to look at both sides of the argument and find slivers of truth. I found that most of the objection to zero waste was a matter of perspective from a cluttered life. The issue of time commitment kept coming up and I realized the lost potential in days spent stocking our cupboards with food we will never eat, reorganizing things we don't need and still buying more stuff. It was also a false perception of cost. I realized I had learned that a long time ago. I found a recipe for scones and could make them for pennies, instead of buying them for $4 a piece. I never bought another again. Why are we so afraid to admit what we already know is true?


I became a believer in the zero waste journey when I decided to clear out my cupboards. I threw away about $100 worth of expired food, finally realizing what terrible shopping habits I had. I didn't even know what food was in my house and I piled on more. After that experience, there was no turning back, but in order to make the changes, I had to start phasing out a life of waste. I also started thinking about donation. It was an unnerving prospect at first, but an essential part of decluttering my life. I went through old clothes that still had tags on and wondered why was I making space in my home to keep junk. Over the next few weeks, I donated one third of my clothing.


I was still fumbling through the process when I had a revelation. In math, there is what's called an asymptote. It's a curve that infinitely approaches zero, but never gets there. That was the secret. It's about getting as close as you can to zero and posing the question over and over: Is it possible to produce no waste? From then on, every challenge I met was treated like an experiment beginning with that same question. It has spurred a host of small experiments all over the house. I decided on a transitional strategy of observing, weaning and replacing. Examine the routine, try out less wasteful solutions and replace wasteful products when they run out. I have come to know what exactly is in my cupboards with no duplication of products. I am phasing out use of plastic containers and replacing them with glass or reusable bags. There have been no paper towels for months. I'm even toying with homemade facial scrubs. It's almost as if this journey has been a exercise in logic and so far everything I'm doing makes sense.


There is a bigger picture we don't see which keep us focused on our own silo, forgetting that each one of us makes an big impact, good or bad. We really have to start thinking about what choices we make and keep heading toward zero. I've changed the way I think because I've altered my perspective, seeing truly the consumerist machine for what it is. It takes a while to realize what you really need and week by week, month by month, letting everything else go. It's like shedding your skin and you are all the more free and liberated because of it.


Despite my failures and setbacks, I know I've come a long way. I recently ordered reusable sandwich bags and the website offered a free gift with my purchase. I happily refused.

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Share with us!

There I was yesterday (my scheduled blog day), in a strapless dress, sitting on the sunny deck with my computer, squirrels and hummingbirds hopping and chirping all around me. I did not want to be blogging, I just wanted to celebrate and enjoy the most beautiful day of fall (maybe the last) with them.

Want to take my place writing?

Ever since I started this blog, you have shown a great deal of patience and understanding reading through my posts of frustrations, growing pains, and self discovery.

Sometimes you relate to my stories, sometimes you do not, but through the comments we connect, and support each other. Yet, comments only offer a glance at your personal journey.

I invite you to share further with us by submitting your story (zerowastestory at gmail dot com) of 750 words or less in the body of an email (no text attachment please), with a picture attached of you, or whatever would illustrate your words. Let us know what got you started, what keeps you going, what your biggest challenge is (or was), or all of the above. The possibilities are infinite.

I'll alternate my posts with guest articles each week.

Inspired?

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