Mo’ Trash, Mo’ Problems
Recently, our city announced that they may be removing public recycling bins due to the inability of our community to properly sort and dispose of recyclables (rendering them all landfill bound). It’s an issue that is not unique to our city. And it is frustrating when you think of all of the unnecessary landfill buildup.
Our landfills are a huge contributor of greenhouse gasses. Many of the items in them are usable (glass jars, fabric, items that could be repaired), compostable (food waste, grass clippings, other organic matter), or unnecessary in the first place (plastic bags, plastic bottles, other single use plastics, i.e. plastics used once then thrown away to go to their forever home in the landfill).
Additionally, it is estimated we are currently consuming and wasting resources at an unsustainable rate estimated to be about 2 Earths’ worth. There’s much debate surrounding this claim, but most of that is NOT as to whether or not our consumption is sustainable. (Most scientists agree it is not! In fact, if you go here you can learn about Earth Overshoot Day, the day each year where we use up 1 year’s worth of Earth’s resources and start diving into resources that will never be replaced. It’s usually around August 1!)
This, paired with a growing anxiety about our children’s future led my husband and I to seek something new. A way to have a positive effect on the state of our planet and do our small part to reverse the damage that’s been compounding for so long.
Enter: The Zero Waste Movement
*This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small commission – at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting my blog!!
What is Zero Waste?
The Zero Waste Movement is about finding ways to live a sustainable lifestyle in an effort to preserve resources that are currently just wasted. The term “zero waste” itself implies that the focus is on producing no trash, but that can be misleading.
Part of living sustainably is being mindful of all of the needless trash you produce. Naturally, if you strive for a sustainable lifestyle, you are aiming to drastically reduce your waste production. I don’t think it is possible for a modern American human to produce literally ZERO waste. Some families are able to get theirs down to the famous quart sized jar per year. Most are not there yet.
Our family has been focusing on making sustainable swaps for things we need and trying to reduce our overall consumption. We’ve been at it a few months, and our actual trash content at this point for our family of 5 is that we could wait at least a month before we’d have to roll the city issued trash bin down to the curb. (We don’t, because it stinks something crazy if left that long! One of our lingering waste items is meat byproducts, so letting them sit for a month is not an option.)
The 5 R’s
For more about zero waste itself, read The Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson. She is one of the most prominent spokespersons for the lifestyle, and her book is a great place to start. Her expansion of the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to 5: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot (in that order) is really the best way to sum up zero waste.
The primary focus is not necessarily on trash, but rather on refusing unnecessary items and reducing consumption altogether. Then, for things you do consume, choose sustainable options and dispose of waste responsibly. This includes seeing if you can use something you already own before buying something new and aiming to, at the very least, eliminate all single use plastics from your lifestyle.
Zero Waste Swaps
We have been consistently adapting our lifestyle for about 3 months now. It’s important to note that we did not make every change or implement every system at one time. When possible, we are really trying to adhere to the “use what you have” rule. After all, the most zero waste you can possibly be is not consuming something new in the first place (and not sending something still usable on its way to you know where!)
Part two of this post will be more detailed information about some of these changes (let me know if there’s one or more you’re particularly interested in!)
The Easiest Swaps
From paper towels to cloth napkins and rags. We’ve eliminated all paper waste of this sort from our kitchen. They go into a well ventilated bin hanging above the washing machine when dirty and are washed with other loads throughout the week. We use old cloth rags and burp cloths for cleaning.
From water bottles to reusable cups. We were never huge water bottle consumers anyhow, but I can safely say we are in a position to not need to purchase them again. Our kids have ones that seal and can be tossed in a bag, and we’ve got plenty of cups for when friends come over. We just wrapped up a water bottle free camping trip – so it is very possible!
From plastic grocery/produce bags to reusable bags. This is a single use plastic that nearly everyone consumes and nearly everyone could cut out. Start with your totes to get the groceries home, then work on replacing produce bags with reusables. Sadly, this meant I had to give up curbside pickup.
Our Favorite Swaps
Adding a bidet attachment to the toilet. This has drastically reduced our toilet paper consumption and eliminated our “flushable” wipe situation. And I love it. I will never be without one of these in my home ever again. It’s that great.
Turning food waste into compost. There’s something inexplicably satisfying about the process of food returning to the soil. Did you know that food in landfills can be discovered years later completely unchanged? There’s no oxygen for the composting process to take place. It’s wild! We’ve got two piles going. One that’s on its way to being usable, another we’re actively adding to. They’ll swap roles when #1 is spread around my butterfly garden.
From store bought to homemade treats. Granola bars, Larabars, cinnamon raisin bread. They’re all from scratch and package free now. We’re having a lot of fun learning how to make all kinds of things now. I’ve currently got my weekly batch of yogurt cooking in the Instant Pot!
Our Most Innovative Systems
Water reuse/conservation. One of the areas I’m most proud of is our steps involving water conservation. My husband taught me that you can dump water into a toilet (fast) and it’ll flush itself. We have a bucket in our shower collecting the water that would’ve been wasted waiting for the water to get hot. We use this for flushes until its empty. I’ve also got a bowl in the kitchen sink catching all of the very close to clean water there. (Think water from washing berries, rinsing out a measuring cup, etc. It adds up FAST.) I use this for watering non-edible plants, and of course, flushing.
Dog waste disposal. Turns out, we threw away a lot of dog poop. Our German Shepherd is quite the producer. Did you know the EPA endorses flushing pet waste down the toilet? (They also say the trash is fine, but we are trying to keep things out of the landfills, yeah?) There’s an outside access to our sewage line, and we add our dog waste to it (nearly) daily.
The Hardest Parts (So Far)
Accessibility. Buying from the bulk bins is about a thousand times harder when the only thing your town serves up in bulk is rice and pinto beans. (Which we ARE buying, but aren’t planning to live on!) A trip to Sprouts or HEB with bulk is about 30-45 minutes, depending on where we go, so we are having to do some long term planning when we make our trips to stock up.
Out and about. We’ve taken our cloth napkins into restaurants. We’ve got the silverware stash in my purse. But most waste is unavoidable at fast food restaurants. Even if you ask for no fork or napkins, you’re probably going to get a fork and napkin mountain. And you know when you hand them back, they’re not putting it back in the bin, it’s going in the trash. We are still working on ways to cut out waste when we are out of the home.
Cleaning and hygiene. We are first and foremost using what we already have, so I haven’t switched many of my beauty products to sustainable choices yet. Dishwasher detergent is proving to be the hardest cleaning swap so far. I’m settling into my new hair care routine after running out of conditioner a month ago. It’s a process y’all! I’ve put more food products in my hair this month than I’ve thrown away.
Quitting convenience foods. There have been weeks when I have felt like I had literally nothing to eat as a snack in the house. We’re learning just how much of everything we need on hand to avoid these issues. In turn, we have less food waste because we’re not overbuying and are eating fresh foods first.
Unwanted trash. The most frustrating trash of all is the trash I didn’t even ask for. Junk mail that is unrecyclable. (Recyclable junk mail is just as frustrating.) The papers from school. Random Easter eggs for my son from the ladies at the antique store. These things are HIGH on my list.
So Much More
There’s so much more going on in our house. I’m freezing random scraps of veggies (with purpose), I’ve cooked an egg in my hair (not on purpose), and we are growing some of our own veggies in the only sunny spot we’ve got left (the driveway).
Most importantly, our kids are seeing us make changes and are a part of the changes. They know exactly why we are doing what we’re doing, and they’re proud and excited. We’ve joked that when they are going through their “rebellious phases” they’re going to bring home pre-packaged food and eat on paper plates. But I think the changes we are making are instilling values that they will carry with them long term. And if we are going to affect the state of the Earth, we’ll need them and all their friends.
We are still slowly making our way to sustainability, and have so many ways we can still improve. Hopefully you can commit to a change today as well. Let me know what you’re excited to try, and brag on yourself for what you’re already doing! Check out what we’ve done to reduce back to school waste if you’re looking for more tips!