Zero Waste Home – A Critique

Zero Waste Home on TedTalks – My Analysis and Comments

 

Bea Johnson is well-known for her Zero Waste lifestyle – she writes and talks about it on CNN, CBS, the BBC and of course, on TedTalks which is where this video is recorded.

You can watch the video, and then I’ve also written out the video details – together with my personal comments and analysis, below.

Read my comments, or watch the video – or both. The choice is yours!

The video has a dramatic opening. Bea says that the average American generates one ton of garbage per year. She and her family generate one small jar per year.

Bea and her husband became increasingly concerned about the future they were leaving to their children, and decided to change their lifestyle and reduce their consumption.

Some Failures

 

She talks with some humour about some of her earlier attempts to go zero waste, for example, stinging nettle as lip gloss is not a good idea as it really stings, and moss instead of toilet paper didn’t work either because unless the moss is freshly picked, it dries out and becomes more reminiscent of a scouring pad – ouch!

Hair

 

Another option she tried was “no poo” which means replacing shampoo with baking soda and rinsing with apple cider vinegar. Bea said she ended up with really dry, out-of-condition hair. To make matters worse, her husband told her she smelled like pickled herring!

There are plenty of people who use ‘no poo’ successfully. Coconut oil is simply wonderful for your hair, and I’m sure she might have been more successful with the no poo option if she had included the oil in her regime.

The 5 Rs

 

After the pickled herring incident, Bea decided she had gone a little too far, and decided to instead follow the 5 R rules:

zero waste 5 rs

Now, this is great, but personally I would place Rot ahead of Recycle. To me, recycling is the LAST thing we should be doing. Recycling is great, but it takes a lot of energy and although it’s miles better than sending to landfill, it’s still not ideal.

Refuse

 

The first rule is to refuse everything that you don’t need.

 Just Say No!

Bea says No to junk mail, to single-use plastics, and she also says No to freebies. Every time we accept a freebie, we create a demand to make more. For example, if we pick up a plastic bag at a conference, we are really saying: “Please, go ahead, drill some more holes in the ground, extract some more heavily polluting oil and messily create a new replacement”.

So, if you don’t take freebies, you tell manufacturers not to carry on polluting.

Reduce

 

Bea went through a de-cluttering process. It allowed her to share the things she didn’t truly need, with other people. She says the second-hand-market is extremely important for the future – and I agree with her whole-heartedly.

However, I don’t think I could de-clutter quite as much as she has done! For example, she said she used to have about 10 wooden spoons. Then she thought, well, I only have 2 hands. And I can only stir one thing at once. So she reduced to one. I have also reduced this sort of clutter in my own home – but I do keep more than one, so that I have one spare while one’s waiting to be washed. Which probably isn’t necessarily sensible, but I find it to be more practical. (I strongly suspect I wouldn’t survive very long as a minimalist).

white vinegar instead of bleachShe showed a picture of her utensil drawer – just 4 items. I was suitably impressed. Then her under-the-sink cupboard – which she says used to be full of different cleaning products because she listened to all the marketers who told her she needed different products for all the different parts of the house. Now she cleans the entire house with white vinegar and castile soap. (I use baking powder with vinegar).

The photo of her medicine cabinet is equally impressive. Extremely minimalist. She uses baking soda sprinkled onto a wet toothbrush instead of toothpaste, she uses burnt almond oil on her eyes, cooking oil on her skin (I prefer coconut oil) , and she uses cocoa powder instead of blusher on her cheeks.

Her pictures of an immaculate and very white master bedroom and a tiny closet were also inspiring (and for me, not terribly realistic, but I really admire what she has done).

Bea says most of us use about 20 percent of the clothes in our wardrobe, and it’s probably correct.

We keep the other 80% for the “what ifs”. What if I need to go to a funeral, a wedding, a dinner dance? What if I gain weight, or lose weight. Until that time, our clothes hang there, unused, taking up space.

zero waste clothesSo she and her family worked out what their 80% was, and got rid of it. In her case, she has worked out a very usable mix-and-match wardrobe which provides for every need – more than 50 outfit options! That’s very clever! I’ve seen others do it, and (as I’ve always been hopeless with clothes anyway), I’ve never even tried to emulate it.

Her kids are minimalist too. Her youngest child has such a neat wardrobe, that all his clothes can fit into carry-on luggage. The same holds true for all members of the family.

Yes, even the garage is white and minimalist. (I compare that to my garage…….).

She opines that having less does NOT mean you have fewer options. In fact, she says, they can quickly decide to go on vacation, because it’s so easy to pack – just toss their entire wardrobes into their carry-on luggage and they’re away.

And sometimes, because it’s so easy for them to pack, they rent out the house while they’re away and so their holiday is paid for.

(I just hope the people who rent the house, appreciate a minimalist lifestyle!).

Reuse

 

In Bea’s home, reuse meant swapping anything that was disposable for re-usable items. So her kitchen is full of attractive glass storage jars. A glass jar filled with handkerchiefs has replaced the tissue box. Disposable sponges and paper towels are replaced by brushes and rags.

zero waste pantryDisposable food packaging has been replaced by re-usable bags which they take to the supermarket – and she shops mostly in the bulk aisles. Then she transfers the foodstuff from the re-usable bags into the glass containers and voila, a beautiful pantry (white of course).

Bea even buys her wine in bulk and uses re-usable bottles which the winery refills for her. I like that idea – that’s a great way of working towards zero waste.

The other way they reuse things is to buy all their clothes second-hand. She says she gets the most amazing bargains that way, and it’s certainly true!

For items they need, that they can’t find in a thrift store, they visit flea markets or eBay for some specific items that she can’t find elsewhere

Recycle

 

zero waste recycleAs Bea correctly says, the idea of a zero waste lifestyle is – contrary to what many people believe – to recycle less, not more. Because you refuse, reduce and reuse instead, before you get to recycle.

Plastic needs to be avoided at all costs, as it pollutes during oil extraction and plastic manufacture, and may also promote health issues when used with food.

Many of the items we send for recycling are not able to be recycled. In addition, a lot of items which are recycled are made into items which cannot be recycled again. That’s not zero waste!

Rot

 

Bea’s family compost (rot) not only food such as vegetable scraps, they also compost their butter wrappers. She says butter is the only food that they buy that’s wrapped in packaging – but they buy butter in wax paper because then they can compost the packaging. Clever!

They also compost floor sweepings, dryer lint, and the kids’ hair. She doesn’t compost her own hair, instead she recycles it. She lets it grow long, has it cut and sells the cut hair to an organization which makes wigs for cancer patients.

Health

 

Of course a zero waste lifestyle is great for the environment, but Bea also found that it was really beneficial to the health of her family. Having eliminated so many toxins from their home, they are sick far less often than they used to be before.

In addition, they find they save on average 40% of their previous budget – that’s a significant saving.

  • They consume less. They buy only what they absolutely need, and they buy second-hand so it costs far less.
  • Buying in bulk also saves money, as about 15% of the cost of the item covers the cost of the packaging. No packaging, no premium price.
  • Swapping out disposables for reusable items has meant they no longer throw their money away into a landfill – I thought that was a nice way of looking at it!
  • And solar panels on their roof help them to save money on electricity.

The Big Benefit

 

In closing, Bea talks about the difference that a zero waste lifestyle has made to their lives. She and her family have embraced “voluntary simplicity” and she says the time savings involved have been massive.

Her family live a life based on experiences, not things.

Being, not having

 

They have been able to do things and go to places they would never have thought possible before. Cycling, snorkelling, climbing and other experiences have brought them closer together as a family.

She quotes Ghandi: Happiness is when what you say, what you do and what you think are in harmony”.

Inspiration

 

She came to the US from France to work as an au pair when she was just 18. Now she is a successful author, blogger with thousands of followers. She has inspired others to open zero waste stores. She says we all share a regret that we haven’t started earlier.

What do you have to lose by embarking on the zero waste lifestyle? Who knows what you might discover about yourself?

Perhaps, absolute happiness?

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Summary

 

Complete zero waste may not suit everyone – but I think we can all do more to create less waste and consume less.

Please Share this post  –  it’s easy – sharing buttons below and right!

Could YOU live totally zero waste? Let me know in the comments below.

Warm regards,

signature Clare

 

 

 

P.S.  Don’t forget to download “Live Well, Live Green” for FREE here!

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bea johnson, critique, eco friendly, green, tedtalks, zero waste, zero waste home


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