Zero Waste – What you need to know

Originally posted here

Well, just a little intro to this topic. Read more here This wiki page will give you all the nitty gritty.

Now for those of us who have no time to read through pages of the Wiki – Basically it’s a movement or philosophy where we try and reduce the amount of resources we use and throw away (Waste – as close to zero as we can get to)

Now that basic explanation is out of the way, I looked for articles which can tell me more.

Tell me more!

OK. Read on. I will.

I found that there is a movement called the Zero Waste Lifestyle. And the Most popular person, is someone who has championed this and is the First Lady of Zero Waste.

Bea Johnson

Johnson is passionate about a zero waste lifestyle and has been the de-facto evangelist who has since written a book about it. Her blog – https://zerowastehome.com/ has launched this so called revolution.

Screenshot Zero Home waste

Lauren Singer

From what I have read on the few blogs I have been able to go through today, Lauren is perhaps the second most influential person in this movement. Both Lauren and Bea feature as those who have inspired an army of adopters both in the US and elsewhere. Here is her blog

trashisfortossers.com screenshot

Kathryn Kellogg

Going Zero Waste is Kathryn’s blog and she also tracks her journey on her blog.

GoingZerowaste screenshot

Celia Ristow

Celia has her own blog – Litterless.com She is listed as an influencer in this movement as well.

litterless.com screenshot

Ariana Schwartz

Ariana lives in Paris and still tries her best to be zero waste. She blogs at http://www.paris-to-go.com/

paris-to-go.com screenshot

Anne Marie Bonneau

So far, I feel like Anne Marie has the most prolific presence not as just an overall zero waste practitioner but very specifically around how to transform your kitchen and pantry to support this life style. Her blog has the most resources you could ever imagine – https://zerowastechef.com/

zerowastechef.com screenshot

I found these two India based practitioners Durgesh Nandini and Sahar Mansoor who not only practice, but also make considerable efforts to spread the word.

Durgesh, realizes that these practices are nothing new – but rather a step back into practices which were prevalent in India just a generation ago but forgotten. Most practices she says she learned from her grandmother.

Sahar also echos this sentiment and mentions how she learned most of her practices from her mother and grandmother as well. Sahar has her own side business.

barenecessities.in screenshot

Everyone mentioned above do mention that not only do they feel better about putting out less garbage, but they have become more mindful of what they consume – resulting in two positive unintended effects – Better Health and saving money.

I used this search term on pocket to get a whole list of articles. I also looked through these articles – to learn about the folks above.

Article #1 – from the Guardian.com

Article #2 – From treehugger.com

Article # 3 – from yourStory.com

Lastly – here is an article which has tips and tricks on how you can get started Now!

Remember, This is not a get hip quick scheme 🙂 it’s going to take time, but you and I can do this slow and steady. Now let’s go gitrDun!

Just found this – if you want to figure out how much of a carbon footprint you have check out this cool tool. This also shows you what changes you can make and how it will impact your overall foot print.

CoolClimate Calculator

Calculate and compare your carbon footprint to similar households and create a personalized climate action plan

Here is how my family’s footprint looks like based on the calculator above…I guess we have room to improve. A lot 🙁

Carbon Footprint sample

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