All about My Zero Waste

Filed in Blog by on May 31, 2008 1 Comment
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The Green Family

The Green Family

We welcome new readers to our site. Whenever I visit a new website I want to know all about the people behind the words and about the idea behind the site. Here are some FAQs about us. Feel free to add yours in the comments below and we’ll answer them here!

Who are you?

We are a family of four living in semi rural England. Our family comprises of Mrs green, Mr Green, Little Miss Green and Cattus Green.

In June 2008, we decided to embark on a zero waste lifestyle and chronicle our journey on this website.

What is a zero waste lifestyle?

The title of our website might cause some confusion! It conjures up images of self sufficient living off the land and has been known to appear overwhelming to some of our readers.

In the context of our site, we are trying to minimise our weekly landfill waste as much as possible.

We do this by reusing, recycling and composting as much as we can. What is left is usually non recyclable plastics and composite materials which cannot be recycled or reused.

Currently, we put out less than 100gms of waste per week.

In an ideal world, we would like to reuse, recycle or compost everything that comes into our home, but with current recycling facilities nd manufacturers allowed to create any type of plastic they wish for products and packaging, this is not yet achievable.

What is your motivation for your zero waste challenge?

There were four key things that started us on our zero waste journey.

1- Having a child raises your awareness of the fragility of the planet. You realise that long after you have gone, your children and their children still need somewhere safe and clean to live.

2- We have been inspired by other people walking their talk on the internet such as Mrs Average from the Rubbish Diet, Tracey Smith from the Book of Rubbish ideas, Beth from Fake plastic fish, Jen from the clean bin project and a host of other people making real changes.

3- Reading stories about the devastating effects of plastic on marine life and wildlife touched us beyond words. After seeing the impact of our lifestyle on innocent creatures we were compelled to take action.

4- We were in Boscastle on the day of the flooding. Watching people’s cars and possessions being washed out to sea makes you realise that the impact of climate change is real and its happening right now.

Is this a publicity stunt or a diet for 6 months?

This is a lifestyle change which will continue to evolve. Once you’ve made changes and realised the impact your current lifestyle is having on the environment, there is no going back.

Nearly everything we have put into place to reduce our waste is now a habit anyway, so it would be impossible to go back to our ‘old ways’.

our conscience has kicked in and it actually feels bad deep to the core of our being to throw things in the landfill. Wherever we can find a more repsonsible way to dispose of our waste, we will.

Why should I bother reducing my weekly household waste?

If current estimates are correct, we have about 9 years of landfill space left in the UK.

There are numerous news headlines concerning recycling, pay-as-you-throw schemes, increased landfill taxed and fines for people who do not recycle properly.

Recycling more and putting less rubbish into the landfill is better for the environment and our future.

Once landfill space runs out the options include incinerators, fly tipping, shipping our waste to other countries and whatever else we don’t know about yet.

In addition, we are running out of resources, so it makes sense to reuse things as much as possible before finally recycling them for future use.

Putting things in the landfill is a waste of valuable resources and can have serious impacts on the environment, such as contributing to global warming and devestating effects on wildlife.

How can my individual action make a difference?

many people do not bother doing something because they feel helpless or that their contribution is not enough to make a difference.

Imagine if you made the decision to recycle one more can a week. You might not think this is going to change the world overnight.

But imagine if everyone in the Uk recycled one more can each week. This would be 60 million more cans being recycled weely. Now THAT makes a significant difference!

We urge you to rethink your ‘insignificance’ and get on and make a change anyway. Once your friends and family see you making changes they might be inspired to join in. Before you know it you will be making a real difference.

About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

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