Apologies if this link has already been posted:
http://www.sunset.com/home/natural-home/zero-waste-home-0111-00418000069984/
The comments are fascinating (mainly negative). Reading them makes me see how far I've come down the decluttering path. Ever-so-slightly edging towards minimalism. Off to count the childrens' clothes now...
Fascinating article! We lived in Germany for two years (in Koenigstein, about 20 km N. of Frankfurt) and I was amazed that our entire apartment complex -- 11 units -- used ONE trash bin per week, about the same sized can used by the typical US family every week. And most weeks it wasn't filled. Gives you something to think about . . .
Oh! I have been reading Bea's blog for about a year now - she is an inspiration! I know I posted the link to her blog in other threads but I will post it here for those who didn't get to see it. And thank you for posting the link to the article! I can't wait to read it :o)
Sorry, this link should work:
Hmm. I'm conflicted about this. The initiative is laudable, of course; reducing waste and eliminating clutter is, I think, part of all our goals. But there's something about Bea's tone that rubs me the wrong way. It's probably a personality thing, but to me she comes across as cold, obsessive and judgemental. Just two examples of what I mean:
1. from page 2 the article: "“We don’t do everything right,” she says. “We do have garbage. We do fly overseas to see my family in France once a year.” Despite the regressions, the way the family lives makes others at least sit up and take notice..."
Wait. Did she just say travelling is wrong? Did she just call seeing a different part of the world a "regression"?! To me, that's horrifying. Travel is one of the experiences I value most in life; it's pretty much the only thing that truly opens one's mind to diversity, if you let it. Besides, isn't it slightly hypocritical to refrain from experiencing the world you're trying to protect from waste?! If living in one place, with your head in the sand, is the way of the future, then count me out.
2. Then I tried reading the blog, starting with the oldest entries. In the second entry, "a Zero Waste Chrismas or almost..." I found this next gem: "my personal favorite present this year came from my husband who gave me coupons for dinners out and undivided time with him (much needed for decluttering)."
The idea of giving "time together coupons" is something some people find charming. I'm not one of them, but to each their own. However, when your first thought for quality time with your husband is to use it for decluttering, that makes me pause. I guess what couples like to do together is their business, but to me that sentence speaks of obsession and a very cold personality.
I had to stop reading the blog because her tone throughout every entry made me angry. Not sure if I'm particularly irritable today (don't think so...), but while I admire the idea, I had a visceral reaction to her writing.
Sorry about the rant...
http://myzerowaste.com/ is a UK version - MrsGreen is a keen unclutterer too and very interesting.
Anita, I agree something comes across as... smug? about the tone. I think the tone might be ok in a very very green magazine, where you're sort of preaching to the choir. To the more diverse audience of Sunset it doesn't work so well.
I think what they meant by the travelling part was that it's not very green. They're right. Flying by airplane is one of the biggest CO2-generating acts an ordinary person can do, especially taking a transcontinental flight. They've made the choice to do it anyway, but obviously they feel (a bit) guilty about it.
While I applaud many of the things they're doing to prevent/control waste, part of it just seems ridiculous -- ordering compostable toothbrushes from Australia?? Borders on ludicrous in my opinion, and seems totally counter-intuitive to their overall mission.
I know that when I tried to live more like Bea I found that I was becoming obsessed with every little piece of trash that I was throwing away. I had to stop obsessing because it was taking over my life. However, her blog has taught me so many ways that I can cut back on waste and I have implemented those in my life. I no longer use paper/plastic cups and dishes when friends come over. I don't buy bottled water any longer. I have purchased many glass food storage containers so I won't use plastic baggies to store any food at all.
Her tone can definitely come across as judgemental, but I still read her blog because her tips are fabulous. She has inspired me to look into a greener lifestyle and has made me think about things that I never even gave a second thought to before.
I agree, she should try to cut back on the judgement because it isolates potential readers. I could not be nearly as extreme in the way she lives - it would involve way too much of a lifestyle change and would take over my life and make it more complicated. What happens if a friend comes over with fast food, and wants to throw out his trash? Would I make him take it home so I don't put it in my trash? I can't do that. I feel it would involve a lot of work and while I am not trying to be lazy, I can't see spending my life being the garbage police.
In my field there is a theory that change occurs at the borders and the edges. Although importing composting toothbrushes from Australia is absurd, maybe an entrepreneur in Detroit will read the article and start making them there. I would LOVE my grocery store to facilitate me bringing my own containers for bulk purchases; maybe if enough Bea's ask, it will happen. I don't think I'd necessarily want to be their friend, but reading the blog is enlightening.
I welcome her ideas, attitude or not. Anything that gets me to be more aware of areas where I mindlessly produce waste; just like old clutter, my old habits tend to become invisible.
Her "Tips" are helpful, straightforward without the 'tude. http://zerowastehome.blogspot.com/p/tips.html
But please tell me that tip #2 for Gardening is a typo??
"2- Make room for compost, pee in your citrus and compost."
@Ella - I don't think that it's a typo. Her blog states that she sometimes has the boys pee in soil around her lemon plant because the acid from urine makes the plant produce more lemons!
@Ella No, urine's a good fertilizer (though cutting it with water 10/1 is recommended). Would I do it? NO, but it's not a completely wacky idea.
My mum used to make us pee on the lemon tree when we were kids. Lots of Europeans do it (ha ha - but it's true!)
I tried reading her blog when themusiclivez posted the link a while back, and also found it smug, but love a lot of the ideas. I've got glass jars for my food storage (not matching, but random old jars I bought or reused). I also love the tip about minimising childrens' clothes, because my kids wear the same clothes all the time (plus school uniforms) so there is definite room for improvement there.
A year ago I would have thought their house sterile and unwelcoming, but I'm gradually seeing the appeal in uncluttered surfaces and walls. I've always thought 'interesting' people had lots of clutter and things around them to show how creative they are, and I see that in the blog world too, but I'm going to forge my own path: if no one thinks of me as interesting because I have less stuff on show, then I really could care less. It's tremendously liberating :-)
wow, i didn´t know that i nearly live in a zero waste home. most of the tips are just "normal" for a lot of people in germany, especially those who live kind of "green". okay, except the lemon tree thing :)
@susanintexas: i know what you mean. from my point of view: when i have been at the US, i was badly shocked about the amount of plastic and waste that i have seen everywhere. really shocked.
Great article!
Like Susan in Texas, I think I can learn a lot from people who go to extremes. But they can be a little annoying!
I looked through some of the blog posts, and while some of it seemed ridiculous and other things seemed obvious, there were some interesting ideas.
well, i did love the biodegradable toothbrushes and i have ordered a 12 pack for us.
at $3 a toothbrush, that is a pretty good deal.
but i did have to wonder.
the zero-waster sends the plastic slips from netflix back to netflix.
that isn't zero waste.
that is just out-sourcing your waste!
just because it doesn't physically go into YOUR garbage bin, doesn't mean you aren't creating waste.
and i couldn't help but wonder....what other waste do they do this with?
... seems the Internet ate my second post. Will attempt to recreate.
I agree that some of her tips are great and could be very useful to most people, if they were written in a more approachable, less smug style. Mrs Green at myzerowaste.com is much more readable in this respect (thanks for the link, Charity!)
My other point was very similar to bandicoot's, in that some of her "waste reduction" is more like "waste displacement". Depending on what angle you take to look at this, the distinction could be important. If the point is decluttering her life and minimizing the amount of stuff she has to deal with, then the displaced waste could be counted towards this. If, however, the point is to minimize waste, that's a different story.
If every plastic strip returned to Netflix were accompanied by a letter asking for their abolishment, then that could be considered an effort to minimize waste; but simply returning the strip isn't helping anything.
I'm familiar with the concept of nylon shopping bags.
I have a question re: plastic packaging of US supermarket items such as meats and fish. susanintexas mentioned having lived overseas, noting that there was much less packaging waste overseas. Do people use waxed butcher paper for meats and fish, or what?
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