Reducing Your Waste
This isn’t a typical blog post, but it was requested by a follower and I thought it would be a great time to share this information to anyone interested while we are all sheltering at home. I made the personal choice several years ago to try and drastically reduce the amount of waste I was creating in order to live more sustainably with the goal of trying to live as close to zero waste as possible. I couldn't stand the thought of every bag of garbage I was creating getting put into the ground somewhere and potentially lasting for an eternity, I felt responsible for the things I was throwing away. Spoiler alert: Living this way can be rewarding yet challenging at times. It isn’t always easy or convenient- honestly I think most of my family and friends are intimidated by my house because they know we don’t have a trash can (it's a constant joke at every party we host). I hope that this blog post can serve as a living testimony for some of the steps you can take that are very do-able, but also to help make this seem less extreme. I can tell you that over time this way of life becomes the new normal and isn’t something you have to constantly evaluate.
Disclaimer: I know it’s not for everyone and I don’t ever judge people for how they live their life- this is just how I choose to live mine and if you are looking for ways to help reduce the amount of things you send to landfill, I hope you can find pieces of inspiration here. While this may not be directly about architecture, I think it has a very strong way of starting the conversation about how we live in our homes and use them and also how they are constructed.
We all know the saying: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
The important thing to know is that the order is very important. Reducing is the absolute most important part of trying to go zero waste, followed by reusing, and recycling is considered last if the first two options aren't possible.
Reduce
Reducing the amount of things you bring into your home in containers will reduce the amount of garbage you create. This seems like an obvious statement, but it wasn't until I started using reusable produce bags, shopping bags, and jars for dry goods that I realized how many things I was buying came in a container- it was practically everything! Even vegetables that naturally come in their own "container" or skin, come in plastic wrap or bins. Here are a few suggestions to help you reduce:
Replace soaps with bars or purchase bulk bottles and refill dispensers
Utilize bulk bins whenever possible and bring your own containers
This one is probably the most unpopular, but I've gotten a lot of positive comments about it at coffee shops: Bring your own coffee tumbler or mug
Be selective about the items you are buying- is there a reusable or biodegradable alternative?
Go digital with documents whenever possible
Consider using natural cleaning products you can make yourself with items you probably already have in your pantry
Lastly, support companies that are doing their part. Our local coffee shop, Higher Grounds, is a zero waste business that only offers coffee in mugs to drink there or they have donated mugs you can use if you forgot your own tumbler.
Reuse
Finding a new use or purpose for items is very important for keeping them out of the landfill. Probably the most impactful thing I've done on my zero waste journey was to start composting. Pretty-much anything that is a natural material can be composted! There a few different types of composting depending on the amount of space you have and what kinds of things you want to compost (ex. not all composting methods accept meat products). I started with a stationary compost bin right off my deck for easy access and it's been so helpful! Composted items should consist of a mix of green (kitchen scraps and grass clippings) and brown (shredded newspaper, coffee grounds, dry leaves, wood chips) elements. There are many great articles out there to help you get started. After some time in a compost bin breaking down, you will have created some very nutrient dense dark soil that's a great addition to any garden or planters!
Other ways of reusing items include finding a new purpose for something once it's no longer needed for its original use. You can also donate items you no longer use to friends, family, or donation centers to find someone that could get more use out of it. Be careful you aren't just dumping things off on people that might not be able to find a new home for them. This also goes for buying items, when you buy items second-hand or from a sustainably made source, you are doing your part to reuse and reduce the impact on resources we have available.
Recycle Everything Else
Recycling, while still an important part of living sustainably, can be a very energy intensive process, which is why it's considered the last resort for things you couldn't have otherwise reduced or reused. Many recyclable materials only down-cycle, so for example it takes a lot of energy to turn a cardboard box into a much smaller paper product. The good news is glass and metal can be recycled infinitely. Unlike plastic and paper, these items can be recycled over and over again without losing quality or purity of the product- which is why I always try to buy items using these types of containers whenever possible.
In the Traverse City area, I am extremely thankful to have the recycling center that we do for this area. American Waste offers a really excellent recycling program that accepts a wide range of materials. These items must be cleaned well, so every container must be washed out instead of just thrown in a trash bin. I personally replaced the pull-out trash bins in my cabinets with some reusable tarp recycling totes that I purchased and put my recyclables in the bags- when I have enough bags collected I take them to the recycling center.
Click here to view American Waste's Recycling Guidelines... you will probably be surprised by the things you thought were garbage but can be recycled!
Lastly, Just get started! It won't happen overnight so has there ever been a better day to start than today? There are so many aspects to reducing waste and there are many helpful resources and blogs online dedicated to this topic. Zero waste living was something I dreamed about and tried to implement for a long time. It wasn’t until I decided to just get rid of my trash can and see what happened did I realize I could do it. There were things I was throwing away because it felt like the normal thing to do. Once I didn't have the ease of trash can, I started being more careful and selective about the things I brought into my home and how I planned to take care of it when I was done.
If you have made it this far- thank you! Here's my call to action: Go peek inside your garbage can right now... what do you see in there? What do you have the most of? What would make the biggest impact? Start there. Is it coffee cups or food waste or plastic? You know what to do....