Slowly Moving Towards Zero Waste

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I'm at a place in my my life where I’m fully aware that living simply and slowly heading towards zero waste is pertinent to my own personal growth.  I feel that it’s important to have a small carbon footprint on the planet, and both minimalist living and zero waste are just that.  With that said, I’m not going to say that either lifestyle is necessarily easy, especially in the beginning.  It’s easier to go along with the norm than to go in the opposite direction.

We live in a disposable society of plastic convienence.  Sadly this convienence recks havoc on our health and the planet.

In terms of our zero waste journey, I’ve been taking tons of notes on all of the packaged products and foods that are consumed in our household by myself, my husband, and my dog.  Discovering simple zero waste solutions that we can all enjoy is where the serious work comes in.  Even with many solutions shared in the book Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson, finding solutions that fit who we are, where we live, and our lifestyle requirements is crucial.  Instead of rushing the process to achieve a zero waste household as soon as possible, I'm remembering how long my journey to minimalist living has taken.  I’m also aware that this transition must be comfortable for everyone involved.

Each small step in the right eco-friendly direction deserves acknowledgement.

I now purchase almost all of our produce package-free, and other food items in the bulk section of the grocery store.  I’ve become very accustomed to using organic cotton produce bags for grocery and bulk items, and I actually prefer them.  I look for other items packaged in glass, and items packaged in recyclable plastic as a last option.This is where living simply becomes so valuable.  When you learn to differentiate the items that you actually need and love to what is unnecessary, there are less items overall to transition to zero waste.  

This process began with decluttering my home, learning to create my own beauty products (you can find a list of recipes here), and downsizing my wardrobe.  Now it’s a matter of minimizing my DIY projects and maximizing what I already have.

We have easily eliminated our consumption of paper products such as paper towels (we use reusuable clothes for cleaning instead), and we use fabric napkins. We purchase individually wrapped rolls of toilet paper so that it’s completely plastic-free. We seldom print anything from our computer printer anymore, so haven't needed to purchase computer paper or printer ink in ages.

Zero waste encourages creativity in ways that I’ve never experienced with everyday living.

We have been using soap nuts aka aritha for laundry, which is also an amazing natural shampoo alternative.  Finding products that can serve for dual purposes makes life so much easier.  In this case washing my clothes and my hair has never been easier.  You can find other zero waste bath and beauty products that I have transitioned too as well.

After my trip to Portland, Oregon, I’m clearly aware that zero waste can be much easier in some cities than others.  In Portland they pick up food compost in the same way they do trash and recycling, so there’s little need for an at home composting bin unless you are gardening.  I’ve also heard about farmer's markets and other locations where you can drop off your food compost, but I’ve yet to find a similar set up in Los Angeles. I also saw an abundance of items sold in bulk in some of the Portland grocery stores and coops which blew my mind.  I'm hoping that more and more stores will follow suit.

Zero waste is about refusing items that are not environmentally friendly which is one area where I need to become more conscious of.

Image by Dawn Michelle

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