I began yesterday as promised to challenge myself to a new “green” task…ZERO WASTE!
In our home, we do a great job of recycling–especially because it is supported in our community. We have bins that are picked up weekly, along with our garbage, to encourage us to recycle paper, plastic, cans, and glass. But this really isn’t doing enough. Linda Christopher of the GrassRoots Recycling Network states, “Recycling is important, but it takes place too far down the waste stream. By the time something can be recycled, we’ve already used up water and energy, created pollution, and caused deforestation. If we really want to make a change, the important decision points are not after we’ve brought a product into our homes–it’s ‘upstream, where the product is made…and even further out–where it was designed. We need to stop managing waste and start eliminating it.”
So this is what “ZERO WASTE” is all about. It doesn’t mean that we are expected to produce no waste! But it’s a way of going beyond recycling, formally acknowledging that waste isn’t inevitable–that it can be reduced by designing it out of the system in the first place!
So this week, I’m going to focus each day on a new way to change my household “systems” in an effort to have less waste. I’m also going to give you and me a new stat each day to ponder…
DID YOU KNOW…”As of 2005, nearly 70% of the U.S. municipal waste was dumped in landfills or burned in incinerators; only 30% was recycled?! A 70/30 ratio may not sound bad, but Americans create almost 2 tons of waste per person every year. That comes to over 400 million tons of municipal waste–two-thirds of which is thrown away.” 50simplethings.com/zerowaste
FOR TODAY (started yesterday)…I will avoid using plastic wrap, baggies, and aluminum foil as much as possible to wrap and store food items. Today, I will cover leftovers with a dinner or lunch plate on top of the bowl or plate of food. I will store my leftovers in glass/ceramic containers (more about plastic tomorrow…).
