I adhere to the tenets of Zero Waste.
What is Zero Waste, and why is it a thing?
Zero Waste is a philosophy and lifestyle most popularly pioneered by Bea Johnson starting in 2008. (The term “Zero Waste” was actually coined many decades earlier, and of course these philosophies are not brand new since 2008: many of our grandparents practiced Zero Waste, but they just called it “Life” back then. However, in my opinion it is Johnson’s blog and book, both titled Zero Waste Home [the latter of which is available in 17 languages], that catapulted Zero Waste into the modern version of the ever-growing global movement it is today.)
Zero Waste says that we, both as individuals and as families, businesses, governments, etc., should do everything possible to minimize the amount of physical waste we produce, with the ultimate goal being…Zero Waste. Of course, achieving *actual* Zero Waste is nigh impossible—even Johnson herself (along with her family and dog) produce one small jar of trash per year. So if you’re the kind of person who gets turned off by extreme language, feel free to change the term Zero Waste in your head to anything that is more meaningful to you: Minimal Waste, Less Waste, or whatever you like.
As for me, though I’m not perfectly Zero Waste, I still use the term for two reasons: first, because I have found members of the Zero Waste community to be some of the most passionate, inspiring, and motivating people on the internet, and I want to be part of their club; and second, because even though I’m not perfect at it, the Zero reminds me what I’m striving for. If I just called myself a Less Waster, well that could mean anything, right? Less than what? And how much less? Just a little bit? Are we talking 75% less? 80%?
I don’t want to just be “less,” I want to be Zero. Zero is the goal.
How does someone achieve Zero Waste?
According to Johnson’s book, there are 5 R’s that provide the road map for Zero Waste:
- Refuse (what you do not need)
- Reduce (the items that you do need)
- Reuse (what you consume)
- Recycle (what you cannot Refuse, Reduce, or Reuse)
- Rot (i.e. compost the rest)
I have personally been intrigued with the Zero Waste movement since around 2010, before the publication of the Zero Waste Home book. However, for a variety of now-silly sounding reasons, I never fully took the plunge into Zero Waste until January of this year. But now that I have, I will never return to my old wasteful ways.
Every day I discover new ways to reduce my waste, and I’m excited to share those with you, wherever you may be along your journey of waste reduction.