Ever since I saw the blog The Zero Waste Home last week (thanks ShalomMama!), I can’t stop thinking about the idea of living a life with less, if not “zero” waste. I’ve been hyper aware of every single thing I put into the trash. And I’ve been asking myself, what would I do with that, if I didn’t throw it away? Bea Johnson, says “Refuse, refuse, refuse, and then reduce, reuse, recycle.” And I certainly like the idea of simplifying my life and reducing my carbon footprint. But I’m just not sure how far I’m willing to go to get there.
I mean, I think I can handle using a hanky instead of tissues, but I’m not so sure I’m willing to give up toilet paper. And, while I enjoy buying bulk, I also really like some foods that are pre-packaged. Hmmmm
I feel I’ve been working toward a more sustainable lifestyle for a long time now. I’ve composted for about seven years and I love watching the soil come alive with organisms when it’s given some nutrients. Last spring we raised chicks at our house, and now we’re getting three or four eggs a day from our four hens. The chickens are such sweet pets and the eggs are delicious.
This year we’ve harvested quite a few mature apples from the apple tree in the front yard, and there are still several more on the branch. I fertilized the tree with bat droppings. I wonder who collected the bat scat and where it was harvested. Does anyone know if chicken droppings would work as a flower/fruit fertilizer?
I also shop secondhand a bunch. I use my local kids resale shop, Kids-n-Style like a rental house for toys, clothes, and baby gear. I walk in with something to trade and walk out with the thing I’m really wanting that is perfect for my daughter’s current stage of development. It’s really a win/win. And then there are the environmental benefits of less manufacturing, less transportation and shipping. Oh, and I bring my re-usable bags with me everywhere, and I use them. So I think I’ve made some really positive changes that help me to live a more sustainable life.
One of the choices that I’m most proud of is my choice to cloth diaper my daughter. In fact, I have NEVER used a single disposable diaper for her, even when we traveled across the country. I’m really happy to know that we haven’t added any diapers to our landfill.
On the other hand, I LOVE hot water. In fact, conserving water at all is a BIG challenge for me. And while I’m thinking of putting up a clothesline, I’m not sure if I’m going to like the stiffness of the line-dried clothes. Does that make me an irresponsible energy hog?
We also have a hot tub and I do NOT want to give it up just to reduce our energy consumption. I find the hot water absolutely therapeutic. My husband and I often spend “date nap” in the hot tub. It was absolutely wonderful to be in the warm water during the first stages of birth…mmmm.
Oh, and I really enjoy having bananas and other tropical fruits on hand, no matter what time of year it is. I understand that it would be better for the environment if I ate only locally produced food, but we have a very short growing season here in Bend, Oregon and come on, who can resist the bananas at the grocery store? I surely can’t, at least not yet…
So, what if I had a solar powered home and I set up a very tall grow room for my banana tree? That’s eating locally and producing the energy to grow my own food, but I guess I didn’t really take into account the production of the solar panels. OK, I’ll admit that’s a pretty outlandish example, but isn’t it strange to be learning to produce less waste and use less energy while typing away on my laptop? I wash some of my clothes with an old fashioned washboard, but I also stream movies through my big flat screen TV. By the way, are the photovoltaic production plants running on solar power yet?
As you can see, sustainability is a VAST topic and at our house we’re no where near achieving it, but I think we’re doing pretty well so far and I know we’ll continue to learn, change, grow, and improve, because, well, that’s just what we do!
Have you made any recent changes at your house to improve your impact on the environment? I would love to hear about it! Have a super week, Shelly