Back in 2008, a French-born lady named Bea Johnson coined the term “zero waste home”. Bea was based in France at the time with her family and has since moved to the USA; Ms. Johnson’s main aim was to reduce her waste in the home to zero by various means such as reducing, reusing and recycling amongst others. It was a very specific and high-achieving goal but she has managed to accomplish it for her own home nonetheless.
As part of her zero waste movement, Ms. Johnson outlines five actionable ways to reduce waste and recommends such tips as always going shopping with a list in order to avoid picking up items you don’t necessarily need or want; she also outlines decluttering as part of the plan all over the home and to give any excess to charity shops. Ms. Johnson continues to travel the world spreading her message and has published a number of books and ongoing blog posts on the topic. While for many of us, the goal of reducing our waste down to a single jam jar like Bea Johnson did might be daunting, we can still aim for an overall reduction in our waste disposal and think about every time we purchase and consume about its disposal consequences.
We hear a lot about climate change / global warming in the news in today’s world and it’s a worrying news trend that has impacted people all over the globe and will continue to do so according to meteorological experts. It’s playing havoc with weather patterns and we have witnessed flooding, heightened temperatures and melting of the ice-caps as part of these climate change issues. It remains to be seen whether everyone could actually follow the zero waste movement as it definitely does require a total overhaul of everyday behaviours. Can people who wear makeup really agree to using cocoa powder instead of bronzer or blusher; could they really fit all their waste from one year into one jam jar? It does remain to be seen whether a zero waste home is attainable for the masses but wouldn’t it be wonderful if vast swathes of us tried to do so? In our endeavours, at the very least we would likely dramatically reduce our waste output which can only be good news for our environment…and our wallets!
EZ Living Interiors has put this graphic together to focus on the five actionable ways of reducing waste in the home; see how much of it you can follow in your own home and see how long you and your family can stick to it!
