{"id":300,"date":"2017-08-02T17:49:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T17:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/?p=300"},"modified":"2017-08-03T01:48:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-03T01:48:53","slug":"why-zero-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/2017\/08\/02\/why-zero-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"Why zero waste?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zero waste<\/a> is a philosophy advocating for the indefinite cyclical reuse of materials and resources, often in a way that mimics how resources are reused in nature (e.g. composting). The idea of zero waste has been around for a while, since the 1970s, but has recently been adopted as an individual lifestyle, thanks in large part to Bea Johnson of Zero Waste Home<\/a>. The goal of a zero waste lifestyle is to produce zero waste.<\/p>\n

However, “waste” is rather ambiguous in this context. It can refer to garbage sent to the landfill, or garbage and recycling, or sometimes garbage and recycling and compost.<\/p>\n

Additionally, I don’t like the phrase “zero waste”. It’s unreachable, depending on how waste is defined, and thus misleading. And it encourages perfectionism, which is exclusionary and off-putting<\/span>. I prefer to talk about “waste reduction” or a “low waste” lifestyle, which everyone can adopt to some extent.<\/span><\/p>\n

So the question becomes:<\/span><\/p>\n

Why would anyone want to adopt a low-waste lifestyle?<\/h4>\n

Well, there are a lot of reasons. I’m sure you can find at least one that appeals to you!<\/p>\n

The primary motivation for a lot of people trying to reduce their waste production is that it’s good for the environment<\/em>. Waste reduction goes hand-in-hand with sustainability, allowing you to have a smaller carbon footprint and encouraging you to use fewer resources.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, reducing what you use also means that you\u00a0save money<\/em>. Bea Johnson estimates that her family reduced their spending by 40% from living the typical American suburban lifestyle to a low-waste lifestyle.<\/p>\n

And there are potential\u00a0health benefits<\/em> to such a lifestyle. When you avoid packaging, you end up eating a lot more minimally-processed whole foods, which are generally considered better for you. (Here<\/a>‘s a WebMD article summarizing Michael Pollan’s stance on eating.) You avoid plastics, which are known to leach various carcinogenic and hormone-mimicking chemicals, among others, into anything they touch. And you can reduce stress levels by simplifying.<\/p>\n

Simplifying<\/em> your life is pretty big right now. See The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up<\/em><\/a> by Marie Kondo, among a hoard of less-famous decluttering books.<\/p>\n

Living a low-waste lifestyle is the perfect canvas for crafts and DIY<\/em>, which I love (and also appeals to people interested in self-sufficiency<\/em>)! You can learn new skills, like breadmaking<\/a> and soapmaking and sewing (they’re all easier than you think!), while entertaining yourself and fulfilling basic needs. It’s very gratifying \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Resources<\/h4>\n

To get started, see this post<\/a>\u00a0for easy tips on waste reduction!<\/p>\n

And here are some zero-waste bloggers who often have helpful info:<\/p>\n

Trash is for Tossers<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Litterless<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zero waste is a philosophy advocating for the indefinite cyclical reuse of materials and resources, often in a way that mimics how resources are reused in nature (e.g. composting). The idea of zero waste has been around for a while, since the 1970s, but has recently been adopted as an individual lifestyle, thanks in large … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Why zero waste?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":339,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300\/revisions\/339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beansproutadventures.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}