How Garbage Changed My Life

Recently I came across Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home, The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste. What started as curiosity for me to create a more streamlined, less cluttery home life, became a psychological journey on materialism, consumption, and self-realization.

Bea's story appealed to me because she had once been a full fledged over achiever of The American Dream, complete with 3000 sq ft home in the burbs, Koi pond, 2 cars, 2 refrigerators, holiday celebrations that would be the envy of Martha Stewart, and the upgraded diamond engagement ring, worthy of her husband's ascending status. She was in her early 30's and investing heavily into her striking good looks which included botox, manicures, and hair salon services.

In some ways we are all Bea, striving to achieve more, showing our neighbors and community the desserts of our accomplishments, which mirror our desired social profile.

She was exhausted trying to keep ahead of the Jones. And then, she and her husband shared an epiphany. What if they could reclaim the excitement and carefree life that they once had, early in their relationship. Travel, outdoor sports, and minimalism were the ingredients for that rich life.

Bea summarizes her current Zero Waste lifestyle with the following statement of her family's view, “We learned that Zero Waste does not deprive; on the contrary, through Zero Waste, I have found a sense of meaning and purpose. My life has been transformed—it's based on experiences rather than stuff, based on embracing change rather than hiding in denial.”1

As she addresses each part of the home life and how she transformed it to Zero Waste, she also explores the psychology that encouraged the wasteful style. Once she comes to terms with that, she's able to let go and enjoy a quality and richness of life that cannot be bought but must be experienced.

In the last few years, I have noticed my own taste for things has not produced the charge I got earlier in my life. I'm older, divorced, remarried, cynical, tired, and overwhelmed with my role as a working mom who wants to be a present parent. Most days I'm lost in a sea of emails trying to get to everyone in time to get them what they need. Little is left for me but I know from others who have been down this path, being a working mother means not having everything right now. I am hungry for more but swim in excess.  I want to be happier but have no time to add anything else to my agenda.

What better reason for me to start on a path that promises renewed energy and focus on the things that matter in life. A lifestyle that provides the ultimate and politically correct excuse to reject consumerism and status for something more valuable.

And with that I began my journey.

Since most of the waste that is created in the home begins in the kitchen, I decided to tackle that first. What I didn't expect is the deep psychological intrusion this process would have on myself and my family.

Bea explains that everything we need should serve us in some purposeful way. She encourages the questioning of every kitchen tool & appliance. Do I need this? Can something else perform the same function? Have I used this in the last year? Could somebody else benefit from this?

Mother's Day 2015, I announced my desire to have my family help me achieve my first step in Zero Waste via reconciliation of the pantry. We've only been living in our home a little over 2 years and had already consolidated the cupboard when we moved in. How much work could this possibly be? Still, the kids groaned as they helped me remove all the contents of the pantry shelf by shelf. As we moved through the process, I organized the items into distinct categories. With Bea's coaching I knew that the garbage can should always be the last resort. This forced me to rethink placement and disposal.

The first category was expired food. We actually had food that was more than 2 years since the Use By date. I would guess this was more than 20% of the pantry. Instead of throwing this food into the garbage can to become part of the Great Pacific Landfill, we opened every jar, every can, every bag and box, and poured the spoiled food into our compost bin, which was added to our green bin for recycling. The boxes, cans, and jars were rinsed and disposed into the recycle bin. The kids actually enjoyed dumping the food into the bin and making a disgusting mess. We rinsed the kitchen compost bin in between hauls and found there was very little remnant odor.

Another 10-15% of the food filled about 2 large grocery bags. This food was still usable but the truth was it was probably never going to be consumed by our family. My kids' school was doing a food drive and so the timing was perfect. Placement complete.

The next category was appliances. The few things I actually had to throw into the dumpster were a few broken appliances that hadn't worked in years and could not be repaired. At least 70% of the appliances were not regularly used or had not been used in the last 12 months. These items filled the dining room table and spilled over onto the floor. Some items were never used even once. Many had been replaced with other appliances. My first challenge came when my husband viewed the scene and decided that I had gone too far by shedding the cherry pitter and turkey deep fryer. I reminded him we didn't use any of those items in the last 5 years (which is how long I had known him). But the psychology was too strong and he insisted that there may be a time in the future where he'll want to make me a cherry cobbler or deep fry a turkey on a camp out. Something to work toward and wouldn't it be lovely if we could make that happen?

I had to come to terms that he hadn't come to terms with Zero Waste. Okay, I thought, Zero Waste is a journey. Everyone moves at a different pace and ends up at a different place based on what works for their life. We made progress, we started the journey, and there was more to go, so compromise would be essential in pacing and keeping everyone moving forward with me.

After I organized the “keepers”, I noticed we had a very large cache of individual-use items, which are the antithesis of Zero Waste. Bulk and reusables are more economical and less impactful on the environment. But they are also less convenient in the short run because to move to reusables requires planning for future consumption. We had over 3 cases of bottled water, rows and rows of boxed chocolate milk & coffee drinks, and 5 cases of protein bars. How do I begin to move away from my family's reliance on these items? It takes planning, time, and individual reusable water bottles. I cleaned out the reusable water bottles and thermal vessels and put them in the pantry at the same level where the individual-use drinks were stored. I explained to the family that we were going to take a step to reduce and maybe eliminate our reliance on convenient beverages in lieu of refilling our reusables. I started the process the following week with packed milk, hot tea, water, and juice. A few bumps but I was happily satisfied how easily the kids and I acclimated.

I was able to purge other items from the kitchen including redundant pots and pans, tools, and tableware (really do I need 4 sets?), then moved into some of the more controversial areas like old silverware, plates from my grandmothers collection, and crystal. None of these things were in use in many years or ever. It's true that the personal attachment I had was heavier than the financial or market value of any of the items. But it's a step in my journey to release myself from all of the excess that dominates my life. And believe me there are many other items I still have that are sentimental so this is a small drop in the ocean.

What friends and family didn't take, I was able to donate to the Salvation Army. 

As I surveyed the finish result of the reconciled pantry, I realized that our food purchases had been wasteful resulting in about 35% of the pantry food being eliminated. How were we buying food? What was the plan? Buy buy buy and someone will eat it? It's on sale, stock up! Or worse, yet, not knowing what was already in the cabinet and buying more than what we could consume. This called for better planning, something Bea talks about in the book. All the meals needed to be thoughtfully planned out so that the shopping could be done in accordance with what would be consumed the following week. Bea is highly efficient and only grocery shops just once a week for her family of four. She favors the farmer's market and bulk stores where she can bring her own bags, containers, and bottles.

I sat down with my pickiest eater and asked him for some meal ideas. I gave him a framework to begin with: Stir Fry Night, Fish Night, Meat night, and Pasta Night to start. Then I got the rest of the family to buy in. I now had a menu that corresponded to meal plans for the week and included extras for lunch and breakfast. I mapped that against what I already had in the kitchen and arrived at a shopping list. I would aim to get this done in one day, corresponding with a trip to the farmer's market, and then the other stores to supplement. I did some cooking in advance to prepare for the week so I could keep the time to get dinner on the table to about 30 minutes tops.

The first week had several successful meals! We took what didn't work and tweaked the process for the following week. (Stephen is much better at making the stir fry so he's on duty and I'm sous chef that night). What a feeling of satisfaction to know that I was able to give my family healthy fresh meals that they enjoyed. This is what I had hoped for-- that adopting Zero Waste would eventually translate into a higher quality of life because the time we had together as a family was richer. The organization to get to this point is what made the meal preparation less stressful and actually enjoyable.

There is much more to do on this journey and so, I have to pause and realize in a short time I've made an impact. This is life altering and I'm convinced once you move down this path you will see the world around you in a new light. I can't go back even if I wanted to. I know too much, and I see how the lie we've been fed about what will make us happy is what is hurting our relationships, hurting our bodies, and hurting the environment around us. I feel empowered to make better choices and reject options which don't support my values. I realize my family is not on the same point of the journey that I am on. I risk losing their hearts if I push them too fast. I must try to be the change I want to see in the world, encourage and support the family to incorporate Zero Waste, and inspire others with my story.

Thank you Bea Johnson for sharing your story and inspiring many to rethink their behavior. I'm grateful to be on the path that you have generously paved.

More to come as I dive into the next big wasteful mess in my home.....my closet!

1Zero Waste Home, Bea Johnson, p 8 Scribner, Copyright 2013