Just when you think that you are doing pretty well with recycling and reusing things, someone like Bea Johnson comes along and show you that you have barely scratched the surface of not being wasteful.
The video of her shopping on YouTube -- Zero Waste Home -- is inspiring and depressing at the same time. It's inspiring to see how creative she is in cutting down on waste, but at the same time, I don't see how it is very practical for most of us. But it does give you ideas.
One thing I tried was to take cloth bags to the grocery store for bagging produce instead of store plastic. I have been taking cloth bags for groceries for many years, but I've been bagging the produce in those plastic, tear-off bags scattered around the produce section. I took two cloth bags: I put the produce in one as I shopped, and when I got to the self check out, I put the second bag on the checkout-sensitive area (telling the register that I was using my own bags), and as I processed the produce out of the first bag, I put it into the second one. It felt like a small step in reducing plastic waste.
It is depressing and also seems impossible but I keep making small changes. Brushing my teeth with baking soda, buying shampoo and conditioner bulk. Just one or two changes at a time.
ReplyDelete