Being "green" is something I have been interested in for awhile, probably going back to my parents' very careful recycling when I was a kid. We rarely had curbside recycle pickup so we'd dutifully sort it all in the garage and then about once a month my Dad would fill the back of the van to make a big drop at a recycle center in a Sam's Club parking lot. We didn't just recycle but also did a lot of reusing (my Mom, to this day, sends us home with leftovers in butter tubs) and they've composted my whole life.
I've written various posts on the subject over the years, often relating to cloth diapering (something I am so glad we did, the more I've been reading lately, but that's easier to say when I'm not currently cloth diapering). A lot of my posts have been about recycling because I have often seen people NOT recycling, which is super easy where we live because we have a giant wheelie cart for recycle and another for trash. In the city we have no choice but to pay for trash AND recycle pick-up. We pay for it, they give us the tub, there is no reason not to do it. Few things raise my blood pressure like people throwing recyclables in the trash (there are a lot of other things that can make me mad, but this one is SO EASY NOT TO DO).
It tracks that I would read books about being green and living a more sustainable life. It's something I am very interested in and a big reason I have only volunteered in the school cafeteria a handful of times - the waste they generate is staggering and that's just ONE school in a city with dozens. I KNOW it's a project I really should tackle but it just seems so overwhelming. Also, COVID so we parents haven't been allowed in the school all year.
Just in 2021 I've, somewhat accidentally, have read 4 books that really made me rethink a lot of our shopping and consumption patterns. Simply recycling something isn't good enough although that's better than throwing it in the trash if it's recyclable. We, the big whole world WE, need to reduce our consumption, especially of one-time use plastics, to help save the planet. I don't care if you believe in global warming or not, we've got one planet and we need to take care of it.
If you are looking for some inspiration or ways to change your life, try one of these:
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Can I Recycle This? A Guide to Recycling Better and How to Reduce Single-Use Plastics by Jennie Romer, illustrated by Christie Young
Yes! There are illustrations in this one and they are adorable. This is the one I read the most recently and in one single day, maybe 2 hours. It's a very low commitment book that taught me a lot. She goes into pretty good depth of a standard recycling program, what they actually can accept and what they can't. Obviously, there are hundreds of different programs in America and they all probably vary just a little so, of course, follow local guidance. BUT, I still learned a lot about how ours probably works. A good half of the book is just going through specific items like light bulbs, batteries, face masks (hello, COVID world), straws, and so much more, telling you if they are recyclable or how to recycle them or how to dispose of them.
I learned to leave my lids on bottles that we are recycling because the lids are too small to be picked up otherwise. That most plastic sorting machines can't pick out black plastic so it's not really recyclable. That cereal boxes are very recyclable. That foil, like yogurt lid tops and candy wrappers, etc. should be balled up all together or the magnets won't find them. That despite having a recycle symbol, that those little yogurt containers aren't really recyclable. AND MORE. Like I said, this was the final of these 4 that I read and really drove home even stronger the drive to make changes in our lives. Sorry boys, no more little yogurt containers!
Sustainable Minimalism: Embracing Zero Waste, Build Sustainability Habits That Last, and Become a Minimalist without Sacrificing the Planet by Stephanie Marie Seferian
Minimalism is something I am very interested in and have read many books on the topic in the past ~6 years but I haven't seen many other books that tackle being a minimalist in a zero-waste kind of way. Really, the two teachings go rather well together. The less that comes into your house the less you have to figure out how to dispose of. This books combined both of those in ways that felt doable and not overwhelming.
I've read other zero waste books but this is one that really got me taking actionable steps towards living zero waste. There are many items we've been doing for at least 10 years - cloth napkins, rags instead of paper towels (we have paper towels solely to deal with grease, since it's a bad idea to throw grease soaked rags into the washer), and reusable water bottles (I spend more time in close proximity to my water bottle than I do to my husband). This book gave me some ideas, many I had heard before but this time they just seemed to stick better. It helped me see how I can live like a quasi-minimalist (I don't think I'll ever have as little as I'd like as long as I have a husband and kids in the house and I'd really like to keep them around) as well as really reducing our trash.
Living Without Plastic: More Than 100 Small Swaps for Home, Travel, Dining, Holidays, and Beyond by Brigette Allen and Christine Wong
This one is exactly what the title says - more than 100 small swaps to live without plastic. Very practical and helpful for very specific ways to have less plastic, especially one time use plastic, in your house. Now, I haven't done NEARLY all of these, there are a lot of potential changes and some of them are easier to do than others (I have never seen milk sold in glass jars in my life and would it even be affordable for the amount of milk we drink (~4.5 gallons a week) if I could find it??). It did give me some good easy changes to make though as starting points as we move away from what we've always done to things that are better for the environment. I've read many an article or book on the topic but then quickly become overwhelmed and not know where to move forward. This gives the steps forward, easy to pick and choose which are easiest for you to do!
Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade by Adam Minter
It is easy to remember what I learned from this book because it is completely different from the others but still gave me so much to think about in terms of what we consume and how we recycle. It is about the business of recycling, as in what happens to our recyclables after our bins are picked up. I have thought about how much I'd like to see our local recycle center, to see what actually happens but this goes beyond that. How do all these items actually get recycled? For years the answer was China. They were shipped to China where they
were dealt with in ways that were harmful to the environment and the
people who were dealing with them.
This book is 6 years old and things have changed with China in the meantime but it was was still so interesting. I can't say it's the most riveting book I've ever read but it was WAY MORE riveting than I expected a book about trash and recyclables to be. It's a world I never imagined. It largely dealt with electronics and metal recycling but there was a fair bit about plastics and other items too. I liked that the local metal recycle place where Matt takes our stuff was mentioned and in pictures (even if it called our skyline "modest" which might be true but it didn't need to be pointed out). I don't know that I made any concrete changes to my life yet from reading this but it gave me a lot to think about, especially when I followed it up with all the books listed above.
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