Week 8 of Zero Waste
Apologies in advance for the long post - this post is more about our struggle with zero waste and how we are overcoming it. It also touches on the link between zero waste for the sake of the environment and frugality, health and minimalism for various reasons not exclusive to the environment.
We were away last weekend and I didn't get the time to post so will post a few throughout this week instead.
Stumbling Blocks
I had a bit of frustrating weekend away in terms of zero waste efforts. Colm came home with takeout in a (gasp1) styrofoam container and got something in the shop in a (gasp2) plastic bag. He also came home from the grocery store with a number of items I felt we could do without (yogurt in plastic, ice cream bars and popsicles etc) however I now think I was being irrational and unrealistic. We aren't going to be perfect every week and need to set expectations a little lower if this is going to be a sustainable lifestyle. I also need to focus more on the victories rather than the failures. As Colm put it - we are still doing way better than we were before. Also although Colm is on board with the lifestyle change, it was my idea and I can't hold him to my standards - he is perfectly entitled to incorporate the zero waste lifestyle in a way that works for him. In a book/guide I'm reading (Simplify by Joshua Becker - free on his blog becomingminimalist) there were two interesting anecdotes about how to start down a path of a big change - one was if you want to run a marathon you don't go out and run 26 miles on your first day, you work up to it bit by bit - the same goes for changing anything in your life, whether it's becoming minimalist, going zero waste or any other change you want to make - it's a slow process and takes time to get it right. The second was that victory breeds victory and you need to start small - a friend of the author was trying to get out of debt and his debt counsellor advised he pay off the smallest loan first (rather than the highest interest loan) - this would seem all wrong to me but psychologically you need a quick win to start off in order to keep you going and build momentum. In another article I read it interviewed 5 families in the States who had incorporated a zero waste lifestyle and each had varying levels of waste reduction - certainly not all of them were fitting their annual waste into one jar. This was reassuring and although I'd like to cut down as much as possible we still have to live our lives rather than let the lifestyle rule us.
Contemplative Realisations
I'm reading two books/guides at the moment. One on zero waste (Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson) and, as mentioned above, one on minimalism. They have been useful but also interesting for me to realise that I was already following a lot of the principles well before I started trying to go zero waste. Most of which I think were instilled in me by my upbringing, not that the environment was at the core of it but rather frugality and health - however I'm seeing now that these all go hand in hand.
Upbringing
We were a family of six living on one income, we had a wonderful childhood and never went without, but I'm learning now that most of that was due to the careful planning and sacrifices of my parents - Dad the provider and Mom the household manager. We ate whole foods with little packaging, as much homemade as possible. We very rarely had frozen/processed/packaged foods (unhealthy and costly). We very rarely had single use things like straws, paper plates, paper towels or water bottles (wasteful and unsustainable form a cost perspective). Mom never cleaned with sponges and instead used reusable/washable cloths. Most of my clothes were second hand. Mom didn't regularly wear make-up, get her nails or hair done. Etc Etc. All of these are things I saw as a child and have carried through to my adult life - though this is only occurring to me now.
Results of Upbringing
As I never had paper towels, straws, margarine etc as a kid, I saw no need or use for them in my adult life - why use single use/unhealthy products when you can easily use a more sustainable and economical alternative. In terms of hair/make-up/nails - anyone that knows me knows these things are wasted on me - sure I like to get prettied up once in a while but it's not the norm and has likely saved me thousands over the years. I'm sure if I had grown up with those things, going zero waste would be a much bigger adjustment.
Frugality also carried through, and I'm constantly trying to live beneath my means (except for maybe the downtown apartment we bought when I was 26 - still paying for that one - though I argue the lifestyle it afforded us at the time was well worth it and a fond memory), however living cheaply has allowed us to travel, live and work in other countries and build up savings for a second property. Again frugality was on constant display growing up and I'm not sure I'd be in the same position today had it not been.
Anyway here's the stuff you're probably actually interested in:
Shopping
Total 35€
Dunnes 25€ (everything else pictured)
Butcher 10€ (chicken for Ezio and mince for us)
Meals:
We had dinner at friend's and family's on Friday-Sunday so only needed a few meals to get us through the rest of the week.
Pork, potatoes, corn
Spaghetti
Taco Salad (quinoa, lettuce, kidney beans, pepper, green onion, avocado sprinkled with taco seasoning and mayo/lime dressing)
Scrambled eggs and shaved carrot "bacon", avocado and tomato
Friday we were lazy and got McDonald's :S
No shame corner this week as I felt bad enough for our failures and trying to focus on the victories :)
