Zero Waste

I really like the concept of Zero Waste. I like the refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle mantra. To me, it really fits into the minimalist lifestyle that avoids overconsumption.

And if you are thinking of partially or fully getting off the grid, then that’s one concept to think about. It’s part of being self reliant and independent, not needing the weekly rubbish pick up.

Also it is obviously good for the environment.

I’m not quite sure how easy it would be to go zero waste in an urban environment, as you would definitely need a compost. Some cities provide compost bins for food waste, but not all.

Most of the rubbish we got in our home consists of food packaging and not much else. And there is always so much of it! Now, that we eat more fresh produce, it’s a shame to throw kitchen scraps into the bin, from where it goes straight into the landfill. If they could at least use it there, to make it into methane or something..

Plastic packaging is obviously evil, but it’s also other things that get discarded, that may be in perfect working condition, which we just trow out because we got a replacement or don’t use it anymore. Think about giving things away, to charity shopes for example.

I loved watching the clips of this Zero Waste families home. I like it because I found some other Zero Waste clips, where people are like really into their recycling. While that is obviously a good thing also, I really like the minimalist approach of refusing to drag waste into your house in the first place. Recycling is good, but plastic bottles still have to be made from oil, consume energy and water in production, recycling and transport processes. So yeah, with some thought, a lot of waste can be avoided in the first place. And it’s healthy, because most of the time packaged food=processed food, unpackaged food=whole food.

I love this and how stylish does their home look?! Here is another one!

And here are some easy tips to get your started if you are thinking about reducing waste in your home.

Go to the farmer’s market and buy fresh, unpackaged fruit and vegetable. Great for you the environment and small farmer’s.

Buy loose foods, reconsider packaged foods. Cook from scratch if possible.

Buy loose dry goods.

Use reusable containers, produce and shopping bags when shopping.

Make your own non toxic cleaners with lemon, bi-carb soda, vinegar or borax.

Make your own cosmetics with coconut oil, cocoa butter, bi-carb and crystal salt.

For more tips and information check out this great link to the tips section of The Zero Waste Home.

Have you tried cutting waste in your home? In what ways?

Children’s Farm and a Lentil

Today we went to the farmer’s market at the Collingwood Children’s Farm in Abbotsford. They had animals in enclosures(which i don’t like, but i like patting the animals), different plants growing everywhere, a cafe and music, all in a really pretty foresty setting. But why is the market only once a month???

Got some very nice produce and then we went to eat at Lentil As Anything, which is a not for profit community restaurant where you can ‘pay as you feel’ for a really nice vegetarian/vegan buffet. It was delicious! I’m thinking of volunteering there, but it’s a bit tricky at the moment with working full-time and at the weekends i just wanna make my own food and go for drives in the country..

After that we went to the wholefoods shop.

When we got back i made a roast with our finds from the market, so inspiring to cook with veggies in all these odd shapes and gorgeous colours.

The roast I made

And i made another bread, which turned out nicer and much less messy then the one from last week. I put heaps of spices in it, that’s why i call it the Pepper Bread..

The Pepper Bread

We also found heaps of rosemary growing in a library car park. Now how cool is that?! That went straight into the roast! It smells so nice! I wish i could eat like this every day.

So yeah, lots of food foraging and cooking today and hopefully some more eating and relaxing with some youtube clips coming up!

Ah yeah, and i watched this.

Watch it! It’s good. It’s about kids and how they get marketed to and turned into mini consumers so they can grow up to be big consumers. Nice, right?! I hate brands and marketing and consumer crap. That shit should be outlawed! Or better, people should stop being so stupid and buy all this shit trying to fill the voids in their lives.. and stop buying this crap for their kids too.

I wish you all a happy weekend!! What are your plans? I might go for a drive in the country tomorrow..