I aspire to a zero waste household. We’re not there yet, but we are actively working on it. Rather than just trying to reduce my impact, I want to overall be making a positive contribution in regenerating the earth’s systems.
In our house there will always be biodegradable waste. We separate this into food for the chickens, 2 worms farms, 3 worm towers, 4 guinea pigs and the compost bin. We use a dry composting toilet which we love and our grey water is processed through a reedbed and returned to the garden. Everything biodegradable is returned to the Earth through one of these systems.
While compostable waste is our main output, we still do create other waste which I aim to reuse first before any ‘recycling’ takes place. Our absolute waste bin has been getting far less use of late, which am so pleased about. I want it to be far, far less though. It’s a big challenge for a family and something I need to keep coming back to regularly and have an ongoing commitment to.
Each week we try to make some lasting changes – shifting the household culture in a way that will stick. Going all out and making sweeping changes seems appealing, but I am worried that sustaining this would be a challenge.
Not only does this way of thinking and living help protect the environment and humanity, I find it is good for my health and happiness, and in many ways connects me with my place, my community, the land, the seasons and the Earth.
Here are a few of the books I have been using as inspiration and guidance. They are so full of practical ideas for making easy shifts to zero waste and simple living.
- www.zerowastehome.com
- www.trashisfortossers.com
- myplasticfreelife.com/
- www.lifewithoutplastic.com
- aplasticfreeyear.blogspot.com
- lastplasticstraw.wix.com/laststraw
- www.coolaustralia.org/the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-primary/
Morning Morag, that Zero Waste Home book, looks very interesting, I will check it out. I already have Rhonda's new book as I ordered it for my birthday. I am reading "Backyard Self-Sufficiency" at the mo and "The Simple Home" will be next. Have a great day.
Hi, Morag! I read "Zero Waste Home" a while ago now and there are so many practical ideas in it. Very inspiring! We compost all our kitchen scraps into our bokashi and compost bins and have a worm farm too. I use beeswax wraps instead of plastic wrap or just a plate to cover a bowl in the fridge works well too. I reuse envelopes for note paper and I re-use sturdy mailing boxes too instead of buying new packaging for parcels. I try to choose just one thing at a time and change that before I move on to something else. One thing I'd love to see is supermarkets not packaging up fresh produce on styrofoam trays under plastic wrap. Totally unnecessary and environmentally irresponsible! I'm looking forward to exploring some of your links! Meg:)