True story — my family currently lives in a quiet little neighborhood with set trash days. On Monday mornings, trash goes out. On Wednesdays, it’s recycling. In prior rentals, we usually dealt with bringing bags directly to a centrally located dumpster, so this was an interesting change of pace.
Interesting how, you may ask? Well, I was able to compare our normal weekly trash output to everyone else’s. And I was shocked. Sure, we have a small kid in the mix, and kids often create a lot of trash (especially if you go the disposable diaper route.) But even other households on our street with kids, such as our next-door neighbor, had just one can with a lid tightly secured. It’s noticeably smaller than my large, overflowing can that also has additional garbage bags lined up next to it. It was embarrassing, I’m not going to lie. It’s not like we had one bad spring cleaning week — this is our situation every week.
Environmental issues are becoming more and more important as the years go on, but some people still don’t take our communities seriously. Refusing to recycle altogether leads to more greenhouse gasses being released from landfills. In saving energy, we’re also helping make a difference in regards to the lingering (and very important) issue of climate change. That’s why this woman’s personal story should be inspiring.
That step lead to so many other severe life changes that have really improved her quality of living, and have saved her a bit of money as well.
Singer had an Environmental Studies course that helped open her eyes about how garbage can affect the environment. She’s the first person in her family to take an initiative like this. According to TODAY, Singer’s family was — like a majority of us — blissfully unaware of the negative impact they were creating with their trash.
I reduce my emissions by walking home from work over the Williamsburg bridge every day - how do you reduce your emissions? #CNNZeDay
— Lauren Singer (@Trashis4Tossers) September 21, 2016
“I had a class with this girl who was using a lot of plastic in every class,” Singer admitted to TODAY. “I was really judgmental of her. We were environmental students and she was making so much trash. Then I went home and saw that every single thing I had was made of packaged plastic.”
Sure, that means that food like Lunchables and string cheese may be no more, but her change of lifestyle also had a good impact on her overall diet.
By not eating prepackaged foods, Singer also became healthier. Of course, since even produce can leave waste, Singer composted everything.
Singer told CNN that both composting and recycling happen, but as a last resort. She’s formed a negative opinion on food packaging waste in general and tries hard not to have it enter her life. So if you’ve been patting yourself on the back for recycling, just know there’s way more you can do that’s relatively easy.
To make things easier, she’s even gone so far as to make her own toothpaste at home. As she told CNN, it’s easier than buying it in the store for a few reasons. “I make my own toothpaste, it’s three ingredients, I can do it naked in my kitchen and it takes me 30 seconds and doesn’t cost more than 50 cents,” she said.
Beyond that she used the tooth paste example again to show just how much less effort it is to make it yourself.
Singer believes anyone can do the zero waste lifestyle.
“It’s plastic that no one will recycle … I like to collect my trash just because it helps me see what problems are difficult to avoid,” she explains.
Examining your trash is really important.
Singer said that some of the items in her jar include banana stickers and clothing tags. Even though she has vowed only to buy clothes secondhand from the thrift store (which also saves her a bunch of money) some of those clothes still have tags and stickers that create unnecessary waste.
Singer took a page from California resident Bea Johnson, who also lives trash-free. She adopted the zero-waste lifestyle in 2008 and wrote a book in support of it called Zero Waste Home. Her method includes the mantra of “Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rot” — and according to Johnson, yes, the order makes a difference.
The website is chock full of ideas to live a trash-free lifestyle, including fun tips like bringing an airtight, stainless steel lunch box to work with you. It’s easy to clean and resistant to spills, which means that your sandwich doesn’t need unnecessary plastic wrap on it.
One of her techniques is quite interesting. She believes that there are plenty of foods that can be given new life as a full meal simply by adding an egg. Another bonus? Eggs are excellent in terms of protein, especially if you’re trying to eliminate red meat from your diet.
Singer prefers to use a reusable cup when it’s her time of the month. You might cringe at the thought, but they’re actually becoming even more user-friendly and popular with women who are tired of spending money on tampons every month. If you’re considering a change, this is another pro to add to the list.
Biodegradable toilet paper is better for the environment, and anyone with a septic system already knows its value. According to Backpackerverse, regular toilet paper is made from trees, which is harder for the environment to break down — and, a pretty upsetting use for the tree, if you think about it. The regular stuff also includes more additives that biodegradable doesn’t have.
“Most people don’t plan,” she stated. “You find yourself needing to grab things on the go all the time and because of that, that’s where a lot of trash comes from. When I learned how to plan out my day and my week and buy food accordingly, I didn’t have to buy stuff on the go anymore.”
It’s amazing how creative you can get with the products you already have in the kitchen. With a little bit of research, you can clean your home while saving money and helping to save our environment. Next time you walk into the grocery store, just think about how much plastic surrounds you.
It also requires a lot of habit-breaking. Maybe you grab a coffee every morning, and don’t have a portable hot beverage holder— that, there, is waste. If you take baby steps towards your main goal to live a life like Singer’s, you’re more likely to be successful. Just know that you’ll learn a ton about both yourself and the environment along the way.
Despite Singer’s success, she knows asking or encouraging people to quit their habits cold turkey is a recipe for disaster and setting someone up to fail.
So why should you do this?
If that’s not enough to prompt you to action, there’s some more somber news about the state of out planet.
Reducing your plastic pollution can be done in many ways.
All you’ve got to do is say “No straw, please” when ordering a beverages at restaurants or cafes, and if you’re really feeling up to it, request no lid (it’s very unlikely you’ll spill.)
So, next time you think somebody like Singer is being over-the-top by being conscious of her waste, think about how easily you could find all the beautiful creates in the sea and on shore.
Another zero waste blogger Bea Johnson, who wrote the bestselling book, Zero Waste Home says her life has been enriched.
She is known as the mother of the movement, after chronicling her family’s zero waste journey in 2008. “When she launched her quest, most people had never heard the term ‘zero waste’ as it was mainly used in government documents and by manufacturing companies,” according to Money Crashers.
The best part? It’ll save you money. Since it’ll reduce the number of things you buy and consume.
Additionally, you can check out a ton of free resources, like “Buy Nothing” groups and Freecycle Network for a little inspo.
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