How Low Can You Go? The Zero Waste Challenge

We humans sure do generate a lot of waste. And now that I'm so aware of my carbon footprint and how plastic hangs around forever in landfills, every time I haul a bag of trash down the stairs it's a two flight hike to guilt-ville. Darn those plastic bottles! I was intrigued to learn, by way of a post by Christina Clark, one of my colleagues at Green Daily, about the "Green Family" of four (mom, dad, daughter and an elderly cat) in England who are dealing with this trash guilt by trying to get the amount of waste they produce to zero. Talk about aiming high by shooting low! They decided to show that one family can make a difference in the amount of trash that goes to landfills. They set the goal of reducing their household trash each month, eventually getting to zero waste.

They started a blog, My Zero Waste, to document their efforts and share ideas and challenges as they worked their way up the big Zero Waste Week. I especially enjoy the Monthly Dustbin Demons section of the site. Every month "Mrs. Green" highlights one of those little items that arrive at landfills practically unnoticed. In August she talked about used gift cards and expired credit cards. We cut them up, toss them out, and forget them. Just imagine the tons of credit card plastic out there! Now I'll think twice before giving a gift card, or getting a new Club Safeway membership card because I forgot my old one and can't remember the fake phone number I put on the application.

The Green family's first month was kick-started by the 5th annual recycling week sponsored by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme.) They were also inspired by the wonderful example of "Mrs. Almost Average," Karen Cannard, the creator of The Rubbish Diet. Mrs. Almost Average is another Brit who decided to participate in her local council's challenge to have a week of zero waste. She documented the steps she and her family took to prepare, including a countdown to the week: The Rubbish Diet: Zero Waste Week - The Final Countdown. She is funny and inspiring, and makes it seem utterly reasonable that any family, even one with a six year old, can reuse, recycle or compost everything. At least for a week! That's the thing: so many of the steps these two families took to achieve a week of zero waste are simple and easy to integrate into our every day lives. Following their example can help to quickly reduce the amount of trash you send to landfill, even if you're not quite ready to go to zero waste. Try to:

These all sound really familiar, right? Well, they keep coming up because they work. Remember that every little bit counts, especially if we all do it. And who knows? Maybe a zero waste week isn't such an impossible pipe dream. I'll be watching and learning from my new British friends, and hoping that their green smarts are contagious!