A Crash Course in Going Zero Waste: Breaking Down The 5 R's (by Kathryn Kellogg

A CRASH COURSE IN

G N I O G O R E Z E T S A W BREAKING DOWN THE 5R ' S

KATHRYN KELLOGG

Z E R O W A S T E Zero Waste (noun) /zirō wāst/ The art of living without creating trash. We aim to send nothing to a landfill. We reduce what we need, reuse as much as we can, send little to be recycled, and compost what we cannot.

Zero Waste. ZERO waste. What do you mean by zero?

Zero is a goal. By breathing, we create waste. The only way to actually create zero waste is to die.

Zero waste is an industrial term used to mimic nature in that we resume responsibility for our waste. That's a circular economy. An economy that's based on taking back the "waste" produced and turning it into something useful.

The true goal of zero waste: 1. Prevent waste from happening: precycling or refusing 2. Putting value back into our belongings 3. Reusing as much as we can with what we have

Following these principles is tough when you live in a society that's based on a throwaway mentality. We don't have a circular economy; we have a linear economy.

We use precious resources to create products that are used on average five times and then put into a hole in the ground where it lives for all of eternity. We operate in a system that assumes there are infinite resources.

But, that is the flaw in a linear economy. We don't have infinite resources.

Every year there is a day called "Earth Overshoot Day." It's a day to mark when we've used all the resources the earth can sustainably reproduce for the next year. The day comes earlier and earlier each year.

In 2016 it came at the beginning of August. We are stealing time from future generations. We cannot sustain this.

The average American throws out 4.4lbs of garbage a day. Think of all those resources used to create something you tossed.

10% of the world's oil supply is used to create plastic in America alone.

That doesn't even include the transportation cost of getting the plastic to the store. That plastic is on average used 9 seconds before being discarded.

The garbage man picks up once a week, and then it's out of sight out of mind. You never have to come face to face with your consumption. The garbage man just takes it away... but where is away?

The zero waste movement is fixated on avoiding the landfill because our trash is a physical representation of the resources we're consuming. Of course, there's a much larger picture.

At this point, I'm sure you're thinking, "What can I do as one person?" And, let me tell you... a whole hell of a lot.

The zero waste movement has become synonymous with the trash jar. I mean, you'll see mine on the next page. But, that is not the goal.

That was an experiment, a test, but not the true goal of zero waste. The true goal of zero waste is to rewrite the story of our consumption. It's to put value back into our belongings and to focus on living instead of collecting junk we don't need.

The best way to approach these principles is to focus on the five R's. I use all of these principles in my life and on the blog, but I've never fully delved into each one.

In this short, little eBook we'll discuss each of those R's and how they pertain to you. How you can use them to your advantage in making everyday decisions. As a consumer, you have more power than you think.

Every decision you make is a vote for the future.

It's simple supply and demand. If you want products made in your country, buy products made in your country. If you want ethical fashion practices, buy ethical fashion or second hand. If you want to see socially and environmentally conscious companies thrive, support those type of companies. It's a very simple, but very powerful tool. Vote with your dollars. We often forget the power to create change is in our hands.

It all starts with you.

R E F U S E The easiest way to prevent waste from leaving your home is to keep it from entering your home.

How do you prevent waste from entering your domain? Start by using the word, "No." No is a hard word to learn. It can have such a negative connotation that can make you seem ungrateful. But, it doesn't have to.

We can easily be grateful for an offer without accepting.

Let's practice. Now, I'm going to ask you a series of questions, and you'll respond, "No, thank you." You can improvise after, "No, thank you," if you like.

1. Welcome to our third annual event! Take a swag bag.

2. Paper or plastic?

3. Here's a flyer for our new restaurant.

4. Water bottle?

It's easy to refuse swag, it becomes more difficult when dealing with gifts from people you care about. The best way to refuse gifts is to stop it before it happens. Chat with the people you care about.

Tell them why you want to avoid trash and plastic in your life. The time to

have the talk is not the moment you receive the gift it is well before or well after to make sure feelings are not hurt.

It is important to be gracious.

Gifts and swag are external forces, the real person you have to deal with is yourself. I am definitely guilty of buying something because "It's cute!" or "It's on sale!"

We have to rethink our shopping habits. Ask yourself these questions below.

1. Do I need it?

2. Will I still need it 30 days from now?

3. Do I have something similar?

4. Can I use anything else?

5. Does it have at least three uses?

Ask yourself all of those questions again, and sleep on it before making a purchase. You'll find that really getting to the bottom of why you're buying something will cut extraneous spending and junk from accumulating in your home.

Now, we've worked on gifts, swag, and our shopping habits it's time to talk about packaging.

Most of our trash comes from the packaging surrounding what we buy.

Just by buying less, we'll have less packaging to deal with.

So, it's better to buy things meant to last that you don't have to replace.

Try and buy things second hand to avoid extra packaging. Look for products that don't have packaging and come naked like bar soap, food from bulk bins, etc.

R E D U C E Like I mentioned in the last section, just by having less, you'll have less trash to deal with. Reduce is the second R and is what I like to think of as the "zen" zone. Reducing has a lot of benefits to mental health.

We need to drastically take a look at our consumption on every level. The more stuff you have, the easier it is to accumulate. Clutter attracts clutter. I found this to be especially true when I was at my first acting gig in PA. I was very limited with what I could bring into my shoebox sized actor housing. I was forced to only bring the clothes I truly loved. While in PA, I went to the mall and saw a poster of a girl wearing an outfit. I owned a similar piece of clothing for everything she was wearing except the vest.

All of those similar pieces of clothing were at home, so I passed by. But, had they been with me, I would have bought the vest in a heartbeat. By having less, I wanted less.

Less stuff means less mental and physical clutter. You have less to take care of, less to store, less to heat, less to cool. Having a lot of extra stuff weighs on you and costs you in more than one way.

By reducing what we have, we can focus our attention and efforts on the things that we truly love. Zero waste is all about putting value back into our belongings and truly caring for what we have

R E U S E Why discard when you can reuse? There was life before disposables, and while I am truly grateful for their use in the medical and scientific fields, there is no reason for them to have entered into everyday life.

Let's go over some simple swaps.

Swap tissues for handkerchiefs. Swap a plastic water bottle for a reusable 18/8 stainless steel bottle or glass bottle, even a mason jar. Swap toilet paper for a bidet attachment or tree­free or 100% recycled paper. Swap paper towels for rags. Swap takeout trays for reusable tiffins or glass containers like snapware.

If there's a disposable, there's a reusable version. A lot of the things you already have lying around your house will probably work. There's no need to go out and buy all new stuff. See point one and two.

Reuse also feeds into the secondhand market. Why buy something new when you can buy something used? Most of the stuff on the secondhand market is like new!

All of my furniture and clothes are secondhand. Even the TV is secondhand. Always check the secondhand market first. By buying secondhand, less resources are being used to create new items, and you're saving perfectly good items from the landfill.

R E U S E

R O T Composting is a crucial step in zero waste. Composting allows you to return resources to the earth. You can compost food scraps, natural fabric, hair, cardboard, paper, and really organic substance.

The organic matter eventually breaks down and turns into dirt that can be used to grow more of these resources. This is the epitome of a circular economy.

I would encourage you to look for a composting option in your town. A quick google search should show you compost drop off locations or if a company or the city offers composting services in your area. Also look for a community garden. Often times, they will take your compost.

You can build a compost in your backyard. My city doesn't offer municipal compost yet, but they do subsidize backyard composters. You can go down to the recycling center in town and pick one up.

There are several types of backyard composters. Do some research to see what type might be right for you. If you live in an apartment vermicompost might be right for you.

R E C Y C L E And, lastly recycling. Recycling should be a last resort. Recycling is energy intensive and is not a perfect system. A lot of our recycling is shipped overseas to be dealt with.

The two items that can be recycled infinitely are glass and aluminum. If you need to buy something look for things that come in glass and aluminum over plastic. Plastic cannot be recycled.

I repeat: plastic cannot be recycled.

It can only be downcycled. It will be turned into a park bench or speed bump and after that item outlives its usefulness it will be landfilled. There also isn't a huge demand for recycled plastic. When oil prices are low, it's cheaper to make virgin plastic than it is to use recycled plastic.

I completely understand that purchasing things in plastic is necessary sometimes, but try to do it consciously.

F I N This brings me to my final point and conclusion. Being conscious is half the battle. Be a conscious consumer. Don't consume mindlessly.

Know what you're buying. Know where it came from. Know where it's going when you're through with it. Being aware is half the battle.

I believe in you. You got this. And, remember....

It's not about perfection; it's about making better choices.