Bea Johnson Quotes

refuse what you do not need; reduce what you do need; reuse what you consume; recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse; and rot (compost) the rest.

What we did not truly use, need, and love had to go. This would become our motto for decluttering.

Pen: Today, the most reusable pen is a fountain model fitted with a piston or converter and refilled with bottled ink. The most sustainable pen is the one that already exists. Search eBay for secondhand pieces.

Trust me, Bea, you are on your way. It’s about acknowledging where you are and knowing that you are okay. The universe has your back and so do I.

Reducing also results in a simplified lifestyle that allows you to focus on quality versus quantity and experiences versus stuff.

She reached for the notebook she kept in her purse. Bea found the page and read to calm and steady herself. 1. See yourself as beautiful. Flowering and giving life to the earth. This baby can’t do it without you. You are important. 2. Food is your fuel. You need it in your body. It’s your sustenance. 3. When you feel overwhelmed go for a walk, write down your feelings, or play your favorite songs.

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. —Aldo Leopold, in his book A Sand County Almanac

OPTIONS FOR REDUCING While thrift stores such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army can be a convenient way to initially let go, many other outlets exist and are often more appropriate for usable items. Here are some examples: • Amazon.com • Antiques shops • Auction houses • Churches • Consignment shops (quality items) • Craigslist.org (large items, moving boxes, free items) • Crossroads Trading Co. (trendy clothes) • Diggerslist.com (home improvement) • Dress for Success (workplace attire) • Ebay.com (small items of value) • Flea markets • Food banks (food) • Freecycle.org (free items) • Friends • Garage and yard sales • Habitat for Humanity (building materials, furniture, and/or appliances) • Homeless and women’s shelters • Laundromats (magazines and laundry supplies) • Library (books, CDs and DVDs) • Local SPCA (towels and sheets) • Nurseries and preschools (blankets, toys) • Operation Christmas Child (new items in a shoe box) • Optometrists (eyeglasses) • Regifting • Rummage sales for a cause • Salvage yards (building materials) • Schools (art supplies, magazines, dishes to eliminate class party disposables) • Tool co-ops (tools) • Waiting rooms (magazines) • Your curb with a “Free” sign

(Lu en traduction française: Zéro déchet.) La nourriture de qualité se paie, c'est certain, mais, à long terme, elle est meilleure pour nous et pour l'environnement: c'est un investissement que je suis prête à faire pour la santé de ma famille et celle de la planète. Plus nous achetons de produits bio, plus il y a de chances que leur prix baisse. Chaque fois que je fais les courses, je vote résolument "Oui aux aliments en vrac!" et "Oui aux produits biologiques!" Pour mes enfants, je rêve d'un avenir plus sain et sans déchet: je suis heureuse d'y investir mon argent chaque semaine.

I reflect on Bicycle Bob Silverman, who prodded and pushed Montreal into being one of the best biking cities in the world. I think about Dan Buettner and the Blue Zones gang, who’ve shown entire cities of people how to live healthier and longer lives. I think about Bea Johnson, who through her passion and pint jar of trash has changed the way thousands of us view our garbage. I think about Dr. June McCarroll in California and Dadarao Bilhore in India – on their hands and knees – painting center lines and filling potholes, one by one, to make our roads safe. These are people so passionate about changing some sliver of the world that they just rolled up their sleeves and dug in. They forged ahead without job title, majority vote, business card, salary, office, or political affiliation. Writer Thomas Friedman refers to these people as “leaders without authority.” Where do we find more? Well, we can start by taking a selfie. And listening to a pair of voices from the past. Alexis de Tocqueville – a man absolutely smitten by democracy in America – reminds us that one of the beauties of living in a democracy is that policies aren’t decreed from on high by “church and state” but from the bottom up, by “village and congregation.” And anthropologist Margaret Mead expounds, “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

It seems that if you have little in life, you have little to worry about. If you have much, it seems you have much to lose.

We did not know whether we could eliminate every piece of trash, but striving for zero would provide a target to get as close to it as possible, to scrutinize our waste stream and address even the smallest items. We had reached a turning point.

Explaining to the person behind the counter "I don't have a trash can" became my standby tactic.

Recycling currently depends on too many variables to make it a dependable solution to our waste problems.

When it's absolutely necessary, recycling is a better option than sending an item to the landfill. It does save energy, conserve natural resources, divert materials from landfills, and create a demand for recovered materials. Although it is a form of disposal, it provides a guide for making better purchases, based on the knowledge of what recycles best. When buying new, we should choose products that not only support reuse but also are made of materials that have a high postconsumer content, are compatible with our community's recycling program, and are likely to get recycled over and over (e.g., steel, aluminum, glass, or paper) versus downcycled (e.g., plastics).

We consumers can greatly allay the concerns associated with recycling by applying the 5 Rs in order. By the time we have refused what we do not need, reduced what we do need, and reused what we consume, little needs to be recycled -also simplifying the guesswork around recycling (no need to find out whether a disposable cup is recyclable or not) and decreasing the trips to the hard-to-recycle collection sites.

Many people confuse the terms reuse and recycle, but they differ greatly in terms of conservation. Recycling is best defined as reprocessing a product to give it a new form. Reusing, on the other hand, is utilizing the product in its original manufactured form several times to maximize its usage and increase its useful life, therefore saving the resources otherwise lost through the process of recycling.

Waste management starts outside the home by curbing consumption.

Simplicity Women and men alike often have reservations about paring down their wardrobes for fear of losing options or outfit combinations. Ironically, the same individuals often simultaneously complain of having a closet full of nothing to wear. I have come to learn that decluttering unexpectedly makes options clear and easy.

Find satisfaction with what you already have.

Freecycle.org

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. —Ancient proverb

Il n'y a pas si longtemps, la procrastination était ma pire ennemie, mais, depuis que je m'efforce de simplifier ma vie, elle a fait place à l'efficacité.

The universally positive way in which these two are perceived makes for a fascinating contrast with the reactions that Bea Johnson provokes in people. The reasons for this are subtle but instructive. The first two trash-fighters identify a problem of waste in the outside world and ask people to give of their money or time to help solve it. And people do just that. They can spend money at a yard sale or spend time on the beach and help save the world - without making any fundamental changes in their own homes or lives. But Johnson and her zero-waste crusade are a whole different animal. She has identified a problem not on a campus or a beach but inside everyone's home and lifestyle. And her family has responded by transforming itself in a dramatic way, becoming happier and more prosperous by rejecting the consumer economy and lifestyle most Americans live and breathe. Is there any wonder why this angers so many people ? Agreeing with the Johnsons' views means you either have to accept living a wasteful life, or change. A kind of cultural physics comes into play in this sort of situation, a fundamental, almost Newtonian principle that states it's always easier to oppose change than to propose it. Or put another way, picking up trash on the beach makes us feel good. Admitting we lead wasteful lives that need to change - not so much.

Кожна річ, яку ми беремо від когось, створює попит на виготовлення ще однієї. Таким чином, брати ці речі (на противагу відмові від них) виправдовує на посилює марнотратні практики. Якщо дозволяємо офіціантові наповнювати склянки водою, якої ми не питимемо, та класти в них пластикові соломинки, які ми не використовуватимемо, то ніби підсвідомо говоримо: "вода не є цінністю", "будь ласка, зробіть пластикових соломинок іще!" Коли беремо "безкоштовну" пляшечку шампуню у кімнаті готелю, буде викачано додаткову нафту на виготовлення ще однієї. Коли пасивно беремо рекламну листівку, то в цей час десь рубають дерево для виготовлення ще більшої кількості листівок, та ще й потім марнуємо свій час на переробку цієї листівки. У суспільстві, побудованому на споживанні, є безліч речей, від яких можна відмовитися.

have a small container to collect cork corks, for taking to my grocery store, which upcycles them.

We keep two shopping lists: one for groceries, one for errands. Both lists are conveniently located adjacent to our pantry and are made of strips of used paper (typically homework printed on a single side). I’ve clipped them together and attached a pencil. We fill the sheets from bottom up, so we can tear off the bottom and bring it to the store. Cell phones are good paperless alternatives but not as suitable for the participation of the whole family or on-a-whim jotting.

The grocery list is dedicated to items available at the grocery store that I visit on a weekly basis and that I have carefully chosen based on its bulk selection, location, and on-premise bakery. When we want to get something from another store, we write it on the errands list. By the time I leave for my weekly shopping, I have typically found alternatives, or simply eliminated the need to buy many items on the list. I also use the errands list to jot down such things as donation drop-offs or “specialty bulk” items.

Where we spend the fruit of our hard labor should more than meet our basic need of filling a pantry shelf; it should also reflect our values. Because ultimately, giving someone your business implicitly articulates this message: “Your store satisfies all my needs and I want you to flourish.” We can vote with our pocketbooks by avoiding wasteful packaging and privileging local and organic products.

LocalHarvest.org

Eggzy.net

I have found rotting to be a revelation. The whole process has opened my eyes and helped me understand the simple workings of the natural world. I cannot get over the fact that I can grow an herb on my deck (with compost), feed its stalk to my worms, use their castings to grow more herbs, and use their “compost tea” to boost the growth of my houseplants, which in turn improve our home’s air quality by absorbing pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene. Their trimmings, along with the dust bunnies that I sweep, will also get composted and benefit the environment. Rotting represents the kind of big closed-loop waste cycle upon which our manufacturing model should have been based from the beginning.

SHOE CARE To dust, use a worn-out sock. To remove salt marks, use the Basic Mix cleaner. To polish, use worn-out nylons. To protect, use the Multipurpose Balm recipe (see “Bathroom, Toiletries, and Wellness”). WATERPROOFING DIRECTIONS 1. Melt 2 tablespoons beeswax and 11/ 2 teaspoons oil in a double boiler (I use a small glass jar in an inch of water). 2. Brush onto leather. (The wax will streak the shoe as it cools during application. It might look scary but don’t be alarmed. The streaks will disappear when you dry the shoe.) 3. Use a blow dryer and an old sock to work the wax into the shoe or boot.

BASIC MIX DIRECTIONS Fill a spray bottle with 1 cup water and 1/ 4 cup white distilled vinegar. Note: For added scent, you can infuse the vinegar with citrus peels in a jar for a couple of weeks, prior to diluting it.

У той час, як індивідуальний акт відмови не змусить сміття зникнути, він створює попит на альтернативи.

Living with less does not deprive your life; it improves it.

If you are afraid of letting go a hostess gift, remember that your guests do not mean to burden you or instill guilt; they just want to offer a polite gesture. It’s okay to let go of something that you never intended to purchase and don’t really want. And when guests ask about the whereabouts of their gift, it is totally acceptable to express gratitude and then to let them know that you are simplifying your life. Be the king or queen of your castle.

Nothing should be overlooked. Get into the details of what you have. And if you end up keeping items “just to fill empty space” (yes, it happens!), then remove free-standing storage or shelves or consider moving to a smaller house with a smaller kitchen! Because to reach full efficiency, “fit” should marry “need.” Anything beyond that union will ultimately be a waste of

Each family member uses a monogrammed ring to identify and reuse his napkin between washes.

Is it in working condition? Is it expired? Old cosmetics provide havens for bacterial growth and can become health hazards, just as combs with missing teeth can hurt your hair. Recycle the former through the Return to Origins Recycling Program (at any Origins location; see Resources) and the latter with your number 1 plastics

The price that you paid for the item that you are now recycling was worth every penny if you take away better consumption habits from the decluttering process.

commonsensemedia.org

Activity pouch on airplanes Buttons and pins Crayons and coloring place mats from restaurants Disposable sample cup from the grocery store Erasers and pencils with eraser tops Fireman hat from a visit to the fire station Goodie bags from county fairs and festivals Hair comb from picture day at school Infant goods from the maternity ward Junior ranger badge from the ranger station and Smokey the Bear Kids’ meal toys Lollipops and candy from various locations, such as the bank Medals and trophies for simply participating in (versus winning) a sporting activity Noisemakers to celebrate New Year’s Eve OTC samples from the doctor’s office Party favors and balloons from birthday parties Queen’s Jubilee freebies (for overseas travelers) Reusable plastic “souvenir” cup and straw from a diner Stickers from the doctor’s office Toothbrushes and floss from the dentist’s office United States flags on national holidays Viewing glasses for a 3-D movie (why not keep one pair and reuse them instead?) Water bottles at sporting events XYZ, etc.: The big foam hand at a football or baseball game or Band-Aids after a vaccination or various newspapers, prospectuses, and booklets from school, museums, national parks . . .

To pack a healthy lunch, my children follow simple packing guidelines. They combine, and not duplicate, ingredients from each of the following categories. All are available in either loose or unpackaged form, and when possible, we buy organic. In order of importance (i.e. amount), they pick: 1. Grain (favor whole wheat when possible): Baguette, focaccia, buns, bagels, pasta, rice, couscous 2. Vegetable: Lettuce, tomato, pickles, avocado, cucumber, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, celery, snap peas 3. Protein: Deli cuts, leftover meat or fish, shrimp, eggs, tofu, nuts, nut butters, beans, peas 4. Calcium: Yogurt, cheese, dark leafy greens 5. Fruit: Preferably raw fruit or berries, homemade apple sauce, or dried fruit 6. Optional Snacks: Whole or dried fruit, yogurt, homemade popcorn or cookie, nuts, granola, or any interesting snack from the bulk aisle

I discovered that creativity need not be limited to the canvas, that opportunities to create abound all around us. For example, reinventing leftovers for dishes, and repairing have been sources of creativity, and our yard, compost, and recycling, of materials. Since the latter keep recurring and are always on hand, the kids and I do not need to collect or store them but simply reach for them when needed. Just as “the clothes do not make the man,” I believe that the art supplies do not make the artist. It is not a wealth of supplies that gave van Gogh’s work power, but rather his vision and execution. After all, “creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun” (Mary Lou Cook); none of it depends on supply inventory.

We should not blindly follow traditions—there’s no learning in that. We need to understand them. —Overhill Cherokee Indian saying

Include “acts of kindness” in the holiday schedule. Helping in a homeless soup kitchen, volunteering at the local food bank, writing a thank you card to someone whose services or efforts you appreciate (the friendly baker, for example), singing carols in the neighborhood or at a senior home, participating in a gift drive, or putting together a box for Operation Christmas Child (see “Resources”) bring compassion to the season.

Host one or multiple simple “holiday cheer” gatherings. I found that just one afternoon of baking can go a long way. I make large batches of several types of cookies for Scott to share at work and the kids to offer as teachers’ gifts and to host small get-togethers, such as afternoon cocktails with my girlfriends, a coffee hour with my walking group, a mulled-wine evening with the neighbors, and spiced-cider playdates with the kids’ playmates. A minimal effort for maximum impact. No wasted flour there!

And remember: only you (not a friend, a relative, or the brains behind a successful marketing campaign) should determine your family keepsakes.

REFILLABLE OIL VOTIVE

Take care, take time, and make something you yourself would like to receive.

what about “creating one inventive, recycled, or edible valentine to be exchanged randomly”?

Although I do not consider myself a religious person, I recently found that Lent satisfies my spiritual needs and presents an opportunity. It sets aside a forty-day period to test a sustainable idea, or to evaluate a personal attachment to a habit.

Each Christmas, our boys receive a monthly subscription to a surprise family activity (SFA). Throughout the year, we take part in twelve activities that we have never tried before. Some cost money, others are free, but Scott and I always keep them secret until we get to them.

Your Time Time is money and makes a respectable present. It can be offered in the form of an IOU (i.e., a coupon) or as an impromptu visit. Professional expertise: A plumber could offer to repair a leaky faucet, an electrician a faulty connection. I can offer decluttering and Zero Waste consultations. Manual labor: Planting a tree, painting a room for a new baby, fixing a deck, leaf raking, lawn mowing, babysitting. These are particularly great for kids to give. For example, one sibling could take another sibling’s chore for a period of time. Visit: When distance keeps us away from our parents or grandparents, a spontaneous visit is sure to make them happy. Why not offer the gift of your presence?

JustGive.org

Let those with whom you exchange gifts know that you abide by Zero Waste principles and prefer experiences to more stuff. • Timing is everything. Let them know before they bother to gather/buy objects for you. It is easier for a child to refuse a party favor ahead of time than on the spot. • Offer givers (grandparents, playmates’ mothers) concrete gift examples, such as those mentioned above. Easy and inexpensive suggestions include gift certificates for the movies, the local ice cream parlor, or iTunes. Digital (versus a plastic gift card) is always preferable.

We can maximize our impact and eliminate our waste by being proactive and refusing these single-use items at the time of ordering. But if they sneak into your dining experience, propose reusable alternatives to the business owner (or suggest that they simply be eliminated) and point to the financial savings! The more we as customers act, the sooner we can phase these disposables out.

beef jerky (sold loose in liquor stores)

Sometimes you run into roadblocks (e.g., you can’t find bulk or a store refuses to refill your jars), but then you remember that any change at all benefits the environment, your health, and your finances. Actively working on Zero Waste, at your own pace, is what really matters. It takes time out of your day today, but you know your efforts lead to future benefits. It is time well invested.

Join a sustainability organization in your community, and sit on the waste committee.

How to Write a Suggestion Letter No need to ramble on about your environmental concerns or the ideology behind your lifestyle. Keep your letter short and concise, your words tactful and courteous, and your content diplomatic and hopeful. In short, write a letter that you would like to receive. 1. Start with gratitude: state your appreciation for the company, such as the efficiency, affordability, or availability of their product or service. 2. Show understanding of the current practice employed. 3. Address the problem. 4. Propose up to three constructive solutions. 5. Support your solutions with working examples: how other companies have addressed the problem effectively. 6. Mention how the change would benefit your addressee, focusing on financial profit. 7. Gracefully conclude with a positive note.

heirloom guilt

Organize it: Reorganizing or shuffling a wardrobe can provide a new outlook on its contents; changing the placement of a garment might simply highlight its potential.

Hem it: The height of a hem can completely change a garment. A dress can turn into a shirt, jeans into shorts (I use orange thread to follow the design elements of denim).

Felt it: A wool sweater can be felted down to fit a smaller size or to make another useful item. My girlfriend Rachelle taught me that the forearm can be cut to make an extra-small dog sweater (the cuff serves as the sweater collar; simply cut two holes underneath for the legs). It keeps our Chihuahua cozy in the winter.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that about 97 percent of postconsumer textile waste is recyclable. Yet only 20 percent gets recycled because the consumer simply does not know it can be. When I was a child, I remember watching a wooden mill turn old bed linens into beautiful paper sheets at the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse, but I had forgotten about the class field trip until today. Throughout the world, a small portion of worn-out textiles is currently being converted into rags for the construction, painting, and automobile industries; another percentage is shredded into flocking fibers for insulating, padding, upholstering, or soundproofing purposes. But the recyclers wish they could put their hands on all textile discards, including the extras that we simply throw away or hoard for the what-if. Resale giant Goodwill, along with mobile recycling bins, accept both natural and man-made fibers of any brand for recycling. Those items that have holes, rips, and stains beyond repair can be boxed, labeled “rags,” and donated to participating locations, where they are then dispatched to textile recyclers.

Downsizing answered our questions. It gave us a chance to shift our lives from spending our free time maintaining our investments to doing things that we truly enjoy, such as spending time with our loved ones, indulging in a few hobbies, creating, and learning.

such as grout and refrigerator joints. Since we purchase compostable toothbrushes, we compost them when the bristles are no longer effective.

One pair of pj’s should be light enough for summer, warm enough for winter, and decent enough to wear when staying as a guest at someone’s house.

Reusability is not only about eliminating disposables, it’s also about buying durable quality when replacements are needed. Buy secondhand professional gear, such as used chef’s tools, when possible; alternatively, visit your local restaurant-supply store to locate products designed to withstand heavy use.

But the experiment made me ask questions and learn a lot about the process. When we broke a couple of drinking glasses, I had to figure out how best to dispose of them: landfill or recycling? My searches on the Internet did not unanimously answer my questions and leaned toward sending them to the landfill, but I wanted to know for sure. It took visiting two different recycling centers, contacting twenty-one people, and shipping pieces of broken glassware to my glass recycler (tracking him down was not easy) to find out that my drinking glasses were recyclable after all (crystal ones are not, because they melt at a different temperature than most glass). I am not suggesting that you too put your glass in the bin (please first check with your local jurisdiction), but that you realize how complicated the system is, and reflect on the fact that for recycling to be successful, finding answers should be easy.

Here are ten ways Zero Waste makes financial sense: 1. Reduces consumption of products (focus on activities versus “stuff”) 2. Reduces storage, maintenance, and repair costs 3. Eliminates the need to purchase disposables and offers amazing cumulative savings 4. Encourages buying bulk groceries, which are generally cheaper 5. Reduces (or at best eliminates) solid waste, therefore reducing disposal fees 6. Eliminates the purchase of trash liners (“wet discards” are compostable) 7. Favors buying quality, and therefore provides value for money spent 8. Supports a healthy lifestyle (see below), therefore reducing health care costs 9. Advocates selling unused items and renting seldom-used assets for a profit 10. Offers an option to sell recyclables directly to MRFs and compost material to gardeners

Monday: Pasta • Tuesday: Legume • Wednesday: Dough (homemade quiche, pizza, or tortillas) • Thursday: Bread (to go with our veggie “fridge-cleanup” soup or salad) • Friday (shopping day): Potatoes and fish • Saturday: Wild card, dinner with friends or dinner out • Sunday: Grain and meat

Flower food: To extend the life of cut flowers, add a tablespoon of both vinegar and sugar to their water. You can also remove the white buildup on your vases by soaking them in undiluted vinegar.

Mildew remover and prevention: Use full-strength vinegar to remove mildew off most surfaces. To prevent mildew on a shower curtain, spray vinegar on the problem areas or add vinegar to your rinse cycle when you wash it.

Become a junk mail detective. • Commercial catalogs: Go to CatalogChoice.org (they cancel catalogs for you) or call the catalogs directly. I opted out and I have never been happier with my personal sense of decorating and celebrating. • First-class mail: Do not open the unwanted letter. Its postage includes return service; you can write “Refused—Return to sender” and “Take me off your mailing list” on the front of the unopened envelope. I keep a pen in my mailbox for that specific purpose. • Mail addressed to the previous resident: Fill out a U.S. Postal Service change-of-address card for each previous resident. In lieu of a new address, write: “Moved, no forwarding address.” In the signature area, sign your name and write “Form filled by current resident of home [your name], agent for the above.” Hand the form to your carrier or postal clerk. • For standard/ third-class presorted mail: Do not open those that mention “return service requested,” “forwarding service requested,” “change service requested,” or “address service requested.” These postages also include return service, so here, too, you can write “Refused—Return to sender” and “Take me off your mailing list” on the front of an unopened envelope. Otherwise, open the letter, look for contact info, then call/ email/ write to be taken off the mailing list. These items typically include promotional flyers, brochures, and coupon packs. Make sure to also request that your name or address not be sold, rented, shared, or traded. • Bulk mail: Inexpensive bulk mailing, used for items such as community education catalogs, allows advertisers to mail to all homes in a carrier route. It is not directly addressed to a specific name or address but to “local” or “postal customer,” and is therefore most difficult to stop. A postal supervisor told me that my carrier had to deliver them and that he could take them back when refused, but since the postage does not include return service, the mailman would simply throw the mail away with no further action. The best way to reduce the production of such mailings is to contact the senders directly and convince them to either choose a different type of postage or adopt Internet communication instead. In the case of community-born mailing, one could also persuade his/ her city council to boycott the postage preference. But ideally, the U.S. Postal Service would not even provide this wasteful option.

And when your best efforts fail at stopping a specific mailing, you can resort to the U.S. Postal Service’s PS Form 1500: It declares that “Under the Pandering Advertisements Statute, 39 USC 3008, if you are the addressee of an advertisement, and consider the matter (product or service) that it offers for sale to be ‘erotically arousing or sexually provocative,’ you can obtain a Prohibitory Order against the mailer.” Don’t let big words intimidate or stop you; your opinion of “sexually oriented” material is at your sole discretion and will not be questioned. Today this USPS form may be our last recourse against the peskiest junk mail.

Assign a file or paper tray to collect single-side printed paper for reuse. Boycott paper sourced from virgin forests and reams sold in plastic. Cancel magazine and newspaper subscriptions; view them online instead. Digitize important receipts and documents for safekeeping. Digital files are valid proofs for tax purposes. Download CutePDF Writer to save online files without having to print them. Email invitations or greeting cards instead of printing them (see “Holidays and Gifts” chapter). Forage the recycling can when paper scraps are needed, such as for bookmarks or pictures (for school collages, for example). Give extra paper to the local preschool. Hack the page margins of documents to maximize printing. Imagine a paperless world. Join the growing paperless community. Kill the fax machine; encourage electronic faxing through a service such as HelloFax. Limit yourself to print only on paper that has already been printed on one side. Make online billing and banking a common practice. Nag the kids’ teachers to send home only important papers. Opt out of paper newsletters. Print on both sides when using a new sheet of paper (duplex printing). Question the need for printing; print only when absolutely necessary. In most cases, it is not. Repurpose junk mail envelopes—make sure to cross out any barcode. Sign electronically using the Adobe Acrobat signing feature or SignNow.com. Turn down business cards; enter relevant info directly into a smartphone. Use shredded paper as a packing material, single-printed paper fastened with a metal clip for a quick notepad (grocery lists, errands lists), and double-printed paper to wrap presents or pick up your dog’s feces. Visit the local library to read business magazines and books. Write on paper using a pencil, which you can then erase to reuse paper, or better yet, use your computer, cell phone, or erasable board instead of paper. XYZ: eXamine Your Zipper; i.e., your leaks: attack any incoming source of paper.

Organic material smells bad only when mixed with nonbiodegradable items, as they are in a landfill, because the latter prohibit the former from decomposing properly. Since the preliminary stages of decomposition do not smell, you do not need to purchase a bin with a carbon filter—which needs to be replaced periodically. Your money can be better spent elsewhere.

Pantry Staples Our pantry is organized to stock a limited and set amount of jars, which contain either a permanent staple or rotational staple. Permanent staples will vary from family to family. Ours include: • Flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cornstarch, baking powder, yeast, oatmeal, coffee, dry corn, powdered sugar • Jam, butter, peanut butter, honey, mustard, canned tomatoes, pickles, olives, capers • Olive oil, vegetable oil, apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, tamari, vanilla extract • A selection of spices and herbs Rotational staples represent groups of foods that we used to buy in many different forms. In the past, our legume collection consisted of chickpeas, lentils, peas, red beans, fava beans, pinto beans, etc. Even though stocking many types of food appears to stimulate variety, the contrary is often the case. Similar to wardrobe items, pantry favorites get picked first while nonfavorites get pushed back and forgotten, take up space, and ultimately go bad (i.e., become rancid or bug infested). Today, instead of storing many versions of a staple, we have dedicated one specific jar and adopted a system of rotation. For example, our rotating jar of grain might be filled with rice one week, couscous another. Our rotating collection includes: • Grain • Pasta • Legume • Cereal • Cookie • Nut • Sweet snack • Savory snack • Tea This system has proved not only to maintain variety in our diet and free up storage space; it has also been efficient at keeping foods from going bad.

Every bit we accept, or take, creates a demand to make more. In other words, compulsive accepting (versus refusing) condones and reinforces wasteful practices

Don’t wait for change. Ask for it.

Again, it is not what you wear that defines who you are but who you are that defines what you wear.

We all yearn to save time, at any cost (including the environment), so we buy into time-saving tricks that marketing campaigns promise. But who is disposability really benefiting in the end? Take a pack of disposable cups, for example: How does (1) ripping open its packaging, (2) carrying packaging and cups out to the curb with your recycling (or trash), (3) bringing that container back from the curb, (4) going to the store for more, and (5) transporting them from the store, on multiple occasions, save time compared to (1) grabbing reusable cups from the cupboard, (2) throwing them in the dishwasher, and (3) putting them away? It seems that we have been duped into thinking that multiple shopping and recycling trips required by disposability save more time than reusing a durable product.

I prefer French canning jars, not because I am French, but because the parts are integral and therefore easy to handle and wash (my favorite brand also uses an all-natural rubber gasket).

Pencil: The most durable and reusable pencil alternative is that of a refillable mechanical pencil in stainless steel, but the leads are sold in plastic cartridges. Until manufacturers sell leads in a recycled cardboard box, newspaper pencils (versus wood) are the most Zero Waste alternative. Make sure to pick an eraser-free model (purchase a natural rubber eraser separately) so you can compost it when it is too small to write with.

Highlighters: Not only can their felted tips lose their integrity and dry out, when highlighters no longer work, they are designed for the landfill. Colored pencils can serve the same purpose and last longer. As mentioned earlier, they also have the advantage of being erasable and their leftovers and shavings compostable.

request recyclable material from your shippers. Reject bubble wrapping, Styrofoam, and plastic bags, and propose alternatives such as paper or cloth.

Reuse packing material. Dedicate a space for some of the boxes and envelopes that you receive and reuse them instead of using new ones. If you must buy new, choose newspaper-padded envelopes in lieu of bubble mailers. Shredded paper is also a wonderful alternative to bubble wrap.

Use paper tape (alternatively string) to fasten your parcels.

Plastics: Most curbside recycling pickups do not accept plastic bags, plastic sleeves, or Tyvek envelopes. Proactively requesting your senders not to mail any is the best way to avoid them. However, when your request is ignored, you can set the materials aside for reuse or check the list of items accepted in plastic bag collection bins such as those offered at grocery stores, as many accept more than grocery bags. Alternatively, you can send Tyvek envelopes for recycling (see “Resources”). Such parcel stuffers as bubble wrap (no tape attached), packing peanuts, or Styrofoam (entire pads only) are accepted at participating UPS stores for reuse. Alternatively, you can call the Plastic Loose Fill Council’s Peanut Hotline (1-800-828-2214) for the names of local businesses that also accept them for reuse.

Electronics: Spend money on upgrading your system instead of buying a new one. Donate computers, printers, or monitors (any brand) to a nonprofit or participating Goodwill location for refurbishing (some charities repair them and give them to schools and nonprofit organizations). For unrepairable cell phones and miscellaneous electronics, locate a nearby e-waste recycling facility or participate in a local e-waste recycling drive, or make a profit by selling them on eBay for parts. Best Buy collects remote controllers, wires, cords, cables, ink and toner cartridges, rechargeable batteries, plastic bags, gift cards, CDs and DVDs (including their cases), depending on store locations.

There is such a thing as being too connected. Overusing digital devices is not only environmentally draining (requiring the latest electronics and massive server farms running nonstop to keep trivial pieces of information available), it can also be detrimental on a human level. It distracts us from living in the moment, from enjoying real life; it discourages person-to-person contact and face-to-face connections; it can expose our every move and steal our privacy. Notably, nonstop entertainment robs us of alone time, crucial for independent thinking, appreciation, and gratitude—and maybe even happiness.

When we took steps to simplify our lifestyle, we not only evaluated belongings and screen times, we also evaluated friendships. We identified and focused on those that brought positivity, happiness, and strength to our life and allowed the others to fade away. This streamlining exercise made us appreciate the quality of the true friends we had. What was the point of spending precious time tending digital acquaintances to the detriment of our real-world ones? I realized that life was too short to fret about unsatisfying, meaningless online relationships. Reinforcing the bonds that we cherish and living in the moment with the people we love have since become family priorities. I no longer feel pressured to belong to social networks; those that I really care about know how to get in touch with me.

Do you remember the last vacation where you deliberately restricted your use of electronics or were forced to do so for lack of Internet access? You came back rested, marveled at how easy it was to disconnect. You can retain that vacation feel year-round by restraining your electronics use!

Give out your contact information only when absolutely necessary. Product warranty cards, for example, are not required but are used to collect data about your consumption habits and target direct mail. When you must provide personal information, write or say: “Do not rent, sell, share, or trade my name or address.