75% Less Garbage

As I was taking the garbage can out to the curb this morning, I looked in and had a wonderful surprise. The can was only about 25% full. It was a huge surprise, compared to normal. Normally, our can is overflowing. It was an incredibly pleasant surprise.

I love the idea of zero-waste. But my family is still working on minimalism - we'd never paid that much attention to actually practicing a zero-waste lifestyle. However, it seems our attempts at minimalism have even affected our garbage.

So when I got back inside I sat down and started thinking about what had caused this huge reduction in our waste. And thinking back, it's pretty simple.

• We started using cloth bags at the grocery store (when we forget them, we use paper bags)
• We bought more fresh food in cloth produce bags, instead of overpackaged junk
• We switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers (this saves us about $100-$200 a month)
• We stopped using ziplock bags and switched to glass spaghetti jars to put our leftovers in
• We put our used coffee grounds in our indoor plants - it makes great fertilizer!

I think, if we were allowed to compost where we live, we'd only fill up about 10% of our garbage can. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Today's challenge is simple. Pick one small change you can do in your home to produce less waste. You'd be surprised how big of a difference it can make. If you don't know what to do, try one of these:

• Compost!
• Switch to cloth grocery and produce bags
• By more fresh food instead of packaged foods
• Switch to cloth diapers instead of disposable, underwear instead of pullups (they potty train faster this way, too)
• Keep leftovers and pack lunches in stainless steel or glass containers
• Stop drinking bottled water - reusable water bottles are soooo much better
• Switch to a digital version of your newspapers and magazines
• Buy bulk soaps and toiletries, and get them in reusable or recycled packaging if you can
• Shop at your farmer's/holiday market!!
• Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones
• Towels and washclothes instead of paper towels and clorox wipes

What have you done to reduce your families waste?

Further Reading:
The Zero Waste Home: Tips
Zero Waste America
EcoCycle Zero Waste at Home Guide
EcoCycle Compost Guide

What's Really Important

This week I found out my family might end up homeless again. Once I got over the initial terror, I went through the normal routine of thinking about what I needed to pack in case we had to leave in a rush. For a family of four, this means I only have room for one suitcase.

Realizing I had to fit what I need to survive, and what's really important to me, in a single suitcase was a big wake-up call.

Me and my family have slowly been purging our belongings, taking a tiny step each day to minimalism. Since this month last year I've purged over 70% of my belongings. But I still have way too much to fit in a suitcase.

When I entered my room this morning and looked at my shelves, full of stuff just yesterday I had felt was too precious to even consider getting rid of, I realized how worthless most of it was.

Slowly, almost in a meditative process, I pulled things off the shelves and put them in a get-rid-of box one at a time.

Manga? Gone. Books? Keep a few, toss the rest. CDs? Poof. Magazines? Gone. Makeup and Accessories? Almost completely gone. Art supplies? Wiped out. Fabric scraps? Gone. Bulk fabric? Substantially lessened.

I can now list my personal belongings, and it's just a little more than one hundred things. This is the biggest purge I've ever done at once, and I feel completely set free, as if I could pick up and leave at any moment without anything holding me back. I am no longer tied down by material objects. And I love it.Going to college like this is going to be very easy.

My 100(ish) Belongings:

• 22 pieces of clothing
• 1 small box of makeup and jewelry
• 1 Cellphone
• Computer
• 1 Bible
• 4 notebooks
• PSP
• Camera
• Ukulele
• 2 small boxes of art supplies (markers, paints, ink, pencils, etc.)
• Wallet
• I-pod
• 43 Books
• 1 photo album
• Sleeping Bag
• Atari piggy bank (what can I say? I'm a nerd)
• 2 boxes of magic cards (again: nerd)
• Knife
• 1 bag (bag has library books in it, nothing else. I use this when traveling)
• 5 sketchbooks
• 6 binders of writing
• 1 portfolio of drawings
• 4 pairs of shoes (Sneakers, flip flops, high-heeled sandals, and green flats)
• 3 CD's
• 1 CD booklet 
• 1 tackle box
• 1 fishing pole

Total: 109

I'm not quite down to a single suitcase yet, but I am really, really close. I managed to move a few things digital, which helped. I keep my schedule on my phone, and I use my phone's alarm as my alarm clock for example.

Look at your belongings as if you could fill only one suitcase - what would you take with you? What's really important? What isn't?