Ratna's Story

Ratna's Chicken SupplierThis week, Ratna shares her experience with Zero Waste in China. I always enjoy getting a point of view from far, far away;) Thanks for sharing with us, Ratna!"I am from Bali but have been living in Beijing for almost 12 years. I have seen how bicycles are replaced by cars, aluminum containers by plastic ones, water thermos by bottle water, home style cooking by McDonald, traditional snacks by packaged biscuits, reusable chopsticks by disposable wood ones, traditional market by Carrefour, saving food by wasting food and early morning Tai Chi by late noon hangover. I have...

Read more »

Frustrating yearly tally, cheered up by Solar

Yep! By the look of the blog, you’ve guessed it! We are getting solar!Solar has been on our wish list for years but with Scott quitting his job in 2008 to take on a sustainability start-up, our financial priorities have laid elsewhere (mostly survival and mortgage) and our dream put on the back burner. But the incredible cumulative savings that this lifestyle offers, has finally afforded us a solar installation! And I am so excited about it.It comes at a perfect time in our ZeroWaste journey.I looked at our yearly landfill tally last month and realized that we hit a plateau. Compared with the...

Read more »

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...

Read more »

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 JohnsonIn 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...

Read more »

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 discoveringnew ways to enjoy my community."Approaching Zero" by Chevanne S., NJIn 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...

Read more »

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...

Read more »

A word on Heirloom Guilt

My grandmother's pot inspired my home's orange touches"For you, [Bea] you are on a different level, 'Zero waste' means you have to eliminate even mementos and pictures. To each their own, but it's not a road I am willing to go down." - Sam.Come on now, let's not exaggerate, I have reduced mementos, but have not eliminated them, and especially not pictures! I cherish them so much that I have even scanned most of them to keep them safe from deterioration and loss.What I did eliminate from my life though, is heirloom guilt, that is the guilt associated with letting go of heirlooms by fear of:Forgetting...

Read more »

Quince: the perfect Zero Waste Fruit

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Open Garden Project, a weekly garden exchange. I love the concept. I brought a couple of jars of homemade pickles (one of the jars was that of the vinegar mother) and came home with quince fruit.Ah Quince, the mystical fruit.Cored whole quinceThe woman who brought them to trade, had a full tree at home but did not know what to do with them. I was happy to take them off her hands and work on the delicacies my mom used to make for us. It's amazing how much you get out of the (whole) fruit and cannot bear keeping the following recipes from you;)QUINCE JELLYWash and...

Read more »

Auto Pilot

Some might think that we are obsessed with Zero Waste. Although it is an eminent part of our lifestyle, I do not consider it an obsession... anymore. It might have started as such, but as I mentioned before, Zero Waste for us is now more than just garbage reduction. With the logistics on Auto-Pilot, we can fully enjoy its financial, health, and time savings benefits. I realize that our success with the lifestyle relies mainly on organizational skills applied to shopping, so I thought I would share my Friday routine with you.GROCERY AND ERRANDS LISTSWe have grocery and errands lists pinned to our...

Read more »

Happy Spooning

Little things make me happy.On a Tuesday evening a month ago, Scott and I were kid-less. We contemplated going to the local theatre for Comedy Night, but opted for a downtown stroll and a stop for dessert instead. With Zizou, our Chihuahua, ecstatic at the sound of his leash, we knew we had made a good choice - little did I know that Dana Carvey would make the theatre roar that same evening! The night was chilly, and with much haste, we made our way to the town's organic gelato place, tied the dog to the tree outside and headed straight for the colorful lit display of the handmade delicacy....

Read more »

Costume Swap Day

Much of Zero Waste relies on planning ahead and being proactive: Taking your name off mailing lists before getting junk mail, saying "no" to the straw before it shows up in your drink at the cafe, or refusing the party favor, days before it gets handed out to your child. With the kids now back in school, we'll soon need to start thinking about Halloween. Last year, we used items from home and the thrift shop to dress up the kids. Max (pictured) was a grandma. We bought a secondhand dress, wig, glasses and purse for a few dollars during a thrift shop sale. I shortened the dress's hem to fit his...

Read more »

Salt packed anchovies

Every summer, I learn a few new things from my mom. While the kids learn french, I learn homemaking. I even dream that these new tricks will eventually "offset" the carbon emissions of my trip over time ;).Last year, my mom showed me how to salt pack (cure) anchovies. Under her direction, I proudly prepared my 1st jar of anchovies. A few weeks later, Scott was flying back to the US, the salt packed anchovies carefully wrapped in his undershirts, which I now understand to be a "no-no" for US customs. Once home, a nice surprise awaited him upon unzipping his suitcase ... You guessed it: The juice...

Read more »

How to Get Started

I recently wrote an article for Yes! Magazine, which included 10 tips for a Zero Waste Household. I thought I would share them with you. These tips happen to summarize the lifestyle perfectly and are a great (and much needed) "How to Get Started" for the blog. It's a good review for those of you who are already well down this path too.____________The zero in "zero waste" makes it sound scary and hard to achieve. It is actually not as as hard as it seems, and it is as simple as following these Five R's, in order:Refuse what you do not need.Reduce what you do need. Reuse by using reusables.Recycle...

Read more »

Progress!

I have had a very satisfying 10 days and I thought I'd share them with you. Over the past couple of weekends, we adopted a few sustainable ideas (I tweeted about them) that have been on my mind for a few years. Tackling them, feels so good.Homemade Vinegar:Since embarking on Zero Waste, I had tried and greatly failed at making fruit scrap vinegar (a cheap way to make it). I have therefore been solely relying on vinegars available in bulk. But when I tried my brother's yummy homemade wine vinegar this summer, I realized, that it was time for me to give it a try and make my own using a foolproof...

Read more »

Back to school. Finally!

OK. I am back and for real this time ;) The kids were off for three months this year (while our tax dollars renovated the local schools), but they returned to their routine this week, and so have I. Writing this, seated in the shade of the oaks bordering my sunny deck, with hummingbirds buzzing around, feels like a "stay-cation" now.With the start of a new academic year (and Max in Middle School!), September always feels like January's onset of a new calendar year. Off to a fresh new start: Supplies, Lunches and Activities are revised.SUPPLIESEach year, teachers request many un-recyclable items...

Read more »

Active Discard

Friday is housekeeping day in the Johnson household. The day is usually marked by hidden treasures emerging from my kids pockets.This is how I discovered a non-recyclable one this week:Max: "Wow, we really don't have that much trash."Bea: "What did you throw out to notice what was in there?" ;) As Max was putting his dirty laundry in the machine, he found the plastic wrapper of RealD 3D glasses in one of his pockets. In our previous life, we would have discarded it and never thought about it again (...and repeated the same disregard for our discards, each subsequent viewing of a 3D movie). But...

Read more »