Not Wasting Anything

REDUCE is the best method for eliminating waste.

The long version of the name of our blog could be: Not Buying Anything, Not Wasting Anything. The two are inescapably linked in a cycle of buying and disposing, buying and disposing...

Therefore, one of the best ways to reduce the amount of waste produced is to reduce consumption. However, this is not something that you will ever see promoted in the mainstream.

The consumer world is a wasteful world. Why? Because there is profit in waste, from selling disposable crap, to collecting and burying it when it is unwanted or unusable. Indeed, most of what we buy becomes waste within six weeks of purchase.

Breakdown of average household waste.

Even after cutting consumption and addressing the problem of waste at its origin, we can still do more to eliminate waste from our lives.

Living more gently upon this planet means getting as close to zero waste as possible. Any system that expects less, like conspicuous consumerism, violates the general laws of nature and is doomed to fail.

Waste is death. That is why there is no waste in nature, and that is why I am reducing consumption, and trying my best to not waste anything of what I do buy. My Junk Drawer is alive and well and saves me from time to time with valuable, re-usable resources that can be put to re-use in creative ways.

A great deal of food waste occurs in the home.

Ways to Not Waste Anything (or at least waste less)

1. Cut your consumption. Reduce, reduce, reduce.
2. Say no to disposable, single use items, and anything plastic.
3. Use it up, wear it out, or do without.
4. Compost kitchen scraps.
5. Say no to products with excessive packaging (processed foods, fast food, consumer products, etc.). Ask Customer Service if you can leave packaging in the store after purchase. If you can't, leave without buying.
6. Cook with whole foods (that usually have minimal packaging).
7. Use food more efficiently - eat what needs to be eaten first to prevent spoilage.
8. Buy what you need to get the job done, and no more. 
9. Avoid "luxury" anything.
10. Make a game of living harmoniously within the cycles of nature - leave the linear and wasteful ways of "buy and throw away" consumerism behind, because there is no "away".