Good Morning Watershed Explorers,
Can you imagine being able to fit a year's worth of trash into a container the size of the one pictured above? For most of us, this is pretty hard to imagine. My family, I think, does a pretty good job limiting our trash, and we still fill one trash bag each week. Across the world, however, the number of people joining what is known as the Zero-Waste Movement is growing. Zero-waste means aiming to keep as much trash out of landfills as possible. Many people who have joined the movement proudly share similar jars of their own. The jar pictured above is from Bea Johnson's family. Bea is a Zero-Waste Movement leader. She travels the world speaking about her efforts to refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot. She explains that she places the R's in this order because the critical way to ensure less waste is to not create it in the first place, which means that refusing waste is priority number one. Check out Bea's story at https://zerowastehome.com/
Going zero-waste for most families imposes many challenges, but similar to my post on plastics last Thursday, if families eliminate just one type of waste from their lives, like eliminating one article of plastic, it can greatly impact the total waste that families produce. These small changes become habits, and after a while, families may not even remember life the way that it was before eliminating the item. Since your adults are the ones who are purchasing most of the food, beauty products, and paper products for your house, you may have to use your knowledge to educate them and ask that they choose products that create less waste. Definitely revisit the plastic blog from last Thursday, and review wonderful ways to eliminate plastic waste, which is by far one of the largest waste culprits!
Refusing items is truly the best way to eliminate waste. I know that as a kid, it is hard to refuse an item that you really want. What I would suggest to you, is truly think about the item before you ask your parents for it. If you really need it, maybe you need a new coat because your current one is ripped or too small, then it is a necessity. If it is just an item that you want, weigh out how much you will use the item. If it is something that you might not even have time to enjoy, it is probably better left at the store. Refusing is extremely difficult for adults as well, but if more people can refuse, there is less demand for products and in turn, less waste.
If we all work together to make small changes, these changes multiply into bigger changes, and eventually, a movement is created. As NBC Watershed Explorers, you all showed me that a collected effort of thoughtful people working together for change can make a huge impact on this world. I am so proud of all of you for your continued efforts to make this Earth the best it can be, and I know that you will continue to work hard towards positive change.
I would love to hear about your efforts to refuse waste. Please email me at cmorissette@narrabay.com
Much love Watershed Explorers,
Mrs. Morissette