Zero Waste
A couple of years ago, I discovered the concept of “Zero Waste.” In my life it has become more of a goal and not yet a lifestyle. That said, I have changed many habbits and have tried many of the concepts.
I discovered “Zero Waste” listening to, and reading a blog by Lauren Singer. Her website, http://trashisfortossers.com/, is a great read, and offers some great tips for anyone interested in getting started. She often references a woman named Bea Johnson (https://zerowastehome.com/) who runs a zero waste household with 2 kids and a husband.
The Zero Waste idea is very simple. Produce as little waste as possible in your everyday life. This concept was not so foreign 100 years ago. Everything was re-used, and the idea of throwing something away during the depression was ludicrous. I have spent days in my great Uncle’s house cleaning out his storage areas to prove this fact.
One of the biggest areas of waste is packaging. Packaging in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course, this is the thing that attracts us to a product while browsing in the grocery store. So I buy a box of cereal and on the box it says that the box is made of recycled packaging. That’s great! When I get home, I open up the package, and there is a plastic bag inside with the cereal in it… not so great. But at least I can recycle the box when I’m done. The box goes off and someone breaks it down and makes it into another box. This process repeats 7 times until the fibers are no longer useful and end up in the landfill. Thus, the box of cereal I bought becomes trash.
So I ask the question, what did I actually want when I bought the cereal? Well, probably just the food and not so much the packaging. The difficulty is separating these two things, but it is possible! Zero waste buying is not easy. It takes some research, but there are stores which offer zero waste buying experiences. Buying in bulk is probably the best way of getting grains like rice, pasta, cereal, nuts, granola etc. Many stores like Whole Foods offer a “bulk” section. They also have a butcher, backer, and loose veggies all of the time. The trick is to bring your own containers and cultivate relationships with the various people that you need items from at the store.
Try it!
Items to bring with you:
Re-useable canvas bag
Mason jars (or any re-useable containers)
Cloth bags (for your loose veggies)
Crayon, or something you can write on your jars with.
How:
When you first get to the store, make a quick visit to a cashier. Ask them to mark your jars with the “tare.” This is the weight of your jar or container before you put anything into it.
Next, find the bulk foods section. (This can be a little tricky, but ask around)
Look at all of the options. I am always amazed that there are so many different types of rice!
For some reason many veggies are packaged in foam and plastic. I tend to stick to the stuff I can pick up feel. Use your bags, or just leave them loose, depending on the veggie. Peppers don’t need to go in bags, we clean them when we get home anyway.
When you go to the cashier, they will take the weight of the items and subtract your “tare.” You will be charged based on the weight of the food alone.
The best part is that when you get home there is no unwrapping, you just put things away and you are done!
-Nate
