How to Get Started

I recently wrote an article for Yes! Magazine, which included 10 tips for a Zero Waste Household. I thought I would share them with you. These tips happen to summarize the lifestyle perfectly and are a great (and much needed) "How to Get Started" for the blog. It's a good review for those of you who are already well down this path too.

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The zero in "zero waste" makes it sound scary and hard to achieve. It is actually not as as hard as it seems, and it is as simple as following these Five R's, in order:

• Refuse what you do not need.
• Reduce what you do need.
• Reuse by using reusables.
• Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse.
• Rot (compost) the rest.

Refuse
1. Fight junk mail. It's not just a waste of resources, but also of time. Register to receive less at dmachoice.org, optoutprescreen.com and catalogchoice.org.
2. Turn down freebies from conferences, fairs, and parties. Every time you take one, you create a demand to make more. Do you really need another "free" pen?

Reduce
3. Declutter your home, and donate to your local thrift shop. You'll lighten your load and make precious resources available to those looking to buy secondhand.
4. Reduce your shopping trips and keep a shopping list. The less you bring home, the less waste you'll have to deal with.

Reuse
5. Swap disposables for reusables (start using handkerchiefs, refillable bottles, shopping totes, cloth napkins, rags, etc.). You might find that you don't miss your paper towels, but rather enjoy the savings.
6. Avoid grocery shopping waste: Bring reusable totes, cloth bags (for bulk aisles), and jars (for wet items like cheese and deli foods) to the store and farmers market.

Recycle
7. Know your city's recycling policies and locations—but think of recycling as a last resort. Have you refused, reduced, or reused first? Question the need and life-cycle of your purchases. Shopping is voting.
8. Buy primarily in bulk or secondhand, but if you must buy new, choose glass, metal, or cardboard. Avoid plastic: Much of it gets shipped across the world for recycling and often ends up in the landfill (or worse yet, the ocean).

Rot
9. Find a compost system that works for your home and get to know what it will digest (dryer lint, hair, and nails are all compostable).
10. Turn your home kitchen trash can into one large compost receptacle. The bigger the compost receptacle, the more likely you'll be to use it freely.

And remember: You're not alone. Come here to share your experience with like-minded individuals, check out the tips page and post your questions in the forum's page.

Thank you for being open to change!

Paper Making

Well, it's that time of the year again... the end of the school year is near, so it's time to make stationary for my kids' teachers, from the stack of papers that they've sent home from school.

Last year, the gift was a hit and the news went around the school. It ended up coming handy, when in the fall, I had to warn the new teacher about our special home paper requirements (reduce)...she already knew. Giving homemade paper, I hope also makes them think about paper consumption in our school.

In the middle of the stressful week, there is nothing better to relieve stress. Some like to jog, I like to make paper ;)

For those wanting to give it a try (and for those of you not familiar with the process), here is what to do. You can listen to my podcast interview on "More Hip than Hippie" while doing it ;)

- Tack window screening or mesh tight onto a frame (picture below, down) . You can also slide a used nylon sock over a smaller frame and knot is tight (picture below, up). The size of frames will pretty much be the size of your paper and they need to fit flat into your tub, so plan accordingly. I use two 3.5x5 frames (one with nylon and one without for neater edges) for small cards and postcards. I use an 8.5x11 for letters or envelopes.

 

 

 

 

 

- Line the table with felt squares:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- In a tub (yes, mine is plastic... it serves for paper recycling, extra curbside pick-up, and paper-making), tear the papers in small pieces and fill with water (I like to let it sit overnight to give paper time to soften...),

-Using a hand-mixer or blender, blend the soaking paper into a pulp (this time, I ended up with a dark purple, which means a light purple finished product ) :

At this point you have the option of adding seeds (for "plantable" paper), lint from your dryer, dried flowers etc...

- For small cards with neat edges (which I will be demonstrating here), stack the 2 matching frames (nylon frame at the bottom), dip flat into the pulp, let drain a bit, and lift upper frame off gently:

- Remove the upper frame:

-Flip it onto a felt square:

 

-Absorb as much water as possible with a sponge (a remainder of our previous home car washing days...):

 

- and delicately remove the frame. The paper pulp should stick to the felt.

-Repeat:

- Line dry over your plants (the felt will drip on them and no water will be wasted ;)

- When dry, peel off and iron as needed:

- et VOILA!

Now, all I need to do is to make matching envelopes (with the larger mesh frame, and an envelope stencil to cut the dry sheets) and then "gift-tag" and tie the whole thing with compostable string. I think the teachers will be quite pleased.

Note: When you're done (pulp too thin to make paper), you can compost the leftovers.

I am afraid to ask... what did you think of the podcast?

Zero Waste Home’s Last Resort: Recycling

At a party, when people first find out that I run a zero waste household, they like to share with me that they “too” recycle everything…

I need to clarify something:

Running a Zero Waste Household is NOT ABOUT RECYCLING.

It’s about REFUSING first and foremost.

Home waste management starts outside the home - and then the disposal of what you refuse does not even need to be addressed. For those items that we do allow in our home, we practice the '3R' mantra (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) religiously and IN ORDER. Recycling is the last resort. A Zero Waste Home is not just about kicking the trash can, but is primarily about refusing the unnecessary packaging as much as possible, therefore reducing recycling (what goes in your recycling is, afterall, a home “reject”, or a “waste”, isn’t it?).

Furthermore, only a percentage of what we recycle, actually gets recycled. However, the cleaner the material that you recycle, the more likely it will be recycled (no, no, your pizza box can’t go in there).

So here is what to keep in mind when shopping, based on an article I found in Co-Op America Quarterly magazine: A simple list of what gets Recycled (can be recycled again) vs. Downcycled (made into an un-recyclable lesser kind of product).
- Aluminum - recycled
- Steel – recycled
- Glass – recycled
- Paper – downcycled (about eight times)
- Plastics #1 and 2 – downcycled (generally once)
- Plastics #3 to 7 – rarely downcycled
- Plastic bags – sometimes downcycled

As for "compostable" bio-plastics - it is "Buyer Beware": Only hot city composts can actually compost them, your backyard variety can't. Not all city composts accept them either (our local trash hauler won’t for example). Some people also mistakenly recycle them, which mucks up the recycling stream. With all that in mind, their disposal becomes worse than "real" plastics.

All things considered: when buying a new product (or a used product for that matter, since its eventual disposal will become your responsibility), I believe that it is best to favor aluminum (unless it comes in contact with food), steel or glass, all of which can be easily recycled again and again. Note: Some aluminum containers are plastic coated.

What’s in our recycling bin this week? As little as we could:
- Two empty bottles of white wine since I have not found a refillable white that is drinkable yet.

- Two envelopes from medical statements (no online billing option).
- One paper label, from a lemonade bottle with an attached reusable cap that I am saving for a wine refill.
- A few paper notes printed/handwritten on both sides and corners ;) since I take a break from paper making in the rainy season.
- An empty roll of TP since, you guessed it, we still don’t have solar (Zero Waste Bathroom).
- One flyer from Comcast since (damn it!) I am still fighting their junk mail . I have called them so many times…they won’t leave us alone!

I know Scott wishes that we had beer bottles on the list - but their caps don’t recycle… and the refillable jug doesn’t work for an occasional drink of beer after a hard days work in the yard.

What’s in your recycling?