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For the Love of Earth: My Zero-Waste Journey

Lindsey Appleton
Sep 30, 2017
3 min read

As a self-proclaimed hippy, there are certain expectations I feel responsible to live up to. For example, I have to not brush my hair more than twice a week and I have to own at least one article of tie-dye clothing. However, as a former hard rocker, I'm also expected to have a general disregard for anything and everything. Attempting to find that balance has been what this year is all about. How do I manage my daughter-of-a-pot-farmer inclinations and my I-only-wear-black rocker past, along with my new found teacher identity. It's a tough life, I tell you.

There's a few things rockers and hippies can agree upon: sex, drugs, and making a statement. This is where the glorious union of my multiple selves occurs (the making a statement part). No statement has been louder on social media this year than being "zero waste." What does "zero waste" actually mean? According to GrassRoots Recycling Network, zero waste is a philosophy that "includes 'recycling' but goes beyond recycling by taking a 'whole system' approach to the vast flow of resources and waste through human society." The organization goes on to quote Peter Montague, editor of Rachel's Environment and Healthy Weekly, who says, "Zero Waste makes recycling a powerful entry point into a critique of excessive consumption, waste, corporate irresponsibility, and the fundamental causes of environmental destruction."

Essentially, zero waste is the new veganism.

While Joe was abroad, I took the opportunity to completely reinvent our household resources and procedures. NO MORE PLASTIC! I proclaimed. I'LL MAKE MY OWN TOOTHPASTE! I boasted. Yeah, not as easy as I expected and certainly not cheap--at least at the beginning. In the long run, however, a $30 Diva Cup pays me back after a couple of cycless; a bag of reclaimed huck towels in place of paper towels paid me back within a couple weeks!

My first step was to take inventory of what my waste consisted of, which, honestly, was primarily food waste and wine bottles. Other things included paper towels (Joe is a paper towel fanatic), plastic wrap, cotton balls, etc. I determined that my largest areas of waste were food and sanitary items. Then began the research. How do I buy toilet paper that's not wrapped in plastic? How do I replace paper towels? Is it possible to replace cotton balls? After a month or so of research, I began the process of waste elimination and produce replacements.

Let me remind readers that you do not have to do everything on the list. There is a lot of ways that we waste and there are a lot of ways to do better; select the problems that are easy, and affordable to fix.

For example, I started with solving the issue of toilet paper, paper towels, food waste, plastic wrap, toothbrushes, and cotton balls. Like, did you know that you can buy bulk, paper-wrapped toilet paper at Staples? Or that Target sells reusable cotton swabs? Have you ever used the bulk bins at your grocery store? And no, they don't charge you for the weight of the container you bring! Those are easy solutions, so start your journey today!

Rather than detail each of my zero waste replacements in paragraph form (with poor humor, I'm sure), I created a chart/slideshow that identifies the problem and the zero-waste solution. Keep in mind that I have not adopted a completely zero waste lifestyle; I still have trash, and some zero-wasters claim that even recycling is a form of waste, but it is a journey that I embrace!