Advice for Reducing Waste

what advice do i have for those of us who want to reduce their waste?

change your focus. send your kids to camp (my favorite). stop eating. stay home. don’t go anywhere. don’t vacuum (also my favorite). don’t wash anything (another favorite). and certainly, don’t throw anything away! just sit in a big pile and cry.

seriously though. i have been buying much less of everything since i realized how dangerous plastic was and decided to boycott it. i notice how so much of everything i had been buying is in it. wow! plastic rules! plastic is everywhere! and wow! my cupboard has been getting pretty bare.

what i noticed was that my point of view has shifted. i no longer go to the store thinking, what do we want to eat, what do i want to buy, or what would make my family happy? but rather, is it in plastic and can i/we do without it? are there glass or metal container equivalents? what would make my family really miserable?

thusly, i have been able to reduce my waste and plastic consumption a lot. my lovely mate is supportive as he notes that we can easily see the back of the fridge now, on every shelf too. and i clearly see how much it needs to be cleaned. the good part is i seem to be losing weight too.

also, my concentration is being improved by the need to think a head more. i need to remember and prepare more for outings in the real world. do i have my bags with me? do i have any containers that i can use? what route do i need to take to buy locally most efficiently?

the truth is even if i don’t plan on shopping, i might think of something later on, or be distracted enough to just find myself walking around in some market chasing my 3 year old as he drives away from me in his car-cart.

really, it takes focus and dedication. looking at that great free ranged ham and controlling my impulse to buy because i don’t want the plastic, is definitely making me skinnier. spending much more time preparing food than it is to eat it, i realize how difficult life used to be before all these conveniences, and understand better why plastics and the tv dinners were embraced to begin with. sometimes i even want to hug a garbage bag, i mean a good hot dog, but then i want to shower.

boringly, i recognized that it would help the most if i just kept my bags and jars into the car. that means putting them there when they are emptied or washed. but that is me because my planning ahead capacities are limited to making sure my son has a snack and i have directions to where i am going. and since i try to limit my driving as well, i need to try to remember that my shopping will be done during the day while i am otherwise out and about.

changing my focus is changing my lifestyle. i go to the farm for milk and am working on making my own cheese. mozzarella, here i come!