Marie-Ange and the last green crusade
Do you know about Zero Waste? If you are at all involved in ecological efforts, the ZD lifestyle could hardly have gone unnoticed in your home. Otherwise, I hope to introduce you to a great way to contribute to the movement, just as it inspired me.
What led me to adopt this lifestyle was the weight of wanting to do more. Impatience in the face of so many problems. For years I have been carrying frustrations with our world on my shoulders. And paradoxically, I see all the beauty and joy it has to offer us. For me, everything we do and everything we are is in symbiosis, and for my health, my environment, my family, my friends, my wallet and my happiness, I had to act. Otherwise, how can we ask others for something that we cannot do ourselves?
Garden harvest
I came across the many Zero Waste blogs by chance when, unconsciously, I had been taking slow steps in this direction for almost ten years, when I left my parents' house. Ten years of snail’s pace is like an intensive year! As someone who has always wanted to be as eco-friendly as possible, because it is important to me, I saw everything that I could still improve. And here I am, a year ago, deciding to step up the pace. So, what is zero waste?
Bulk grocery shopping
It is to reduce or eliminate from our lives everything that we recognize as superfluous packaging, single-use objects whose relevance is questionable and which will end up in nature at the end of their usefulness. Refuse plastic utensils and straws, carry your travel set (cup, water bottle or reusable utensils), shop in bulk with cotton bags or mason jars… In my case, I simply added these ideas to several other of my values: buy local, do not overconsume (I am not a minimalist, but I adhere to the principle in several areas of my life), buy sustainable products both in terms of production methods and in their longevity, reduce , reuse, repair, recycle, garden, buy organic, buy fair trade... Do I follow all of this to the letter? Not always, but I'm always willing to look for better solutions to my habits.
Homemade reusable paper towels
Zero waste was not a bomb among those close to me: everyone knew my environmentalist nature. These new changes in habits were on the doorstep, I just had to open. But I observed the reactions. Those around me, those of strangers. And although zero waste is a way of life whose ideal is to reduce waste as much as possible (even if it is impossible to reach absolute zero), to change our habits at our own pace, according to our personal limits, I see two very unhealthy tendencies developing among some of its followers, just as among those who have no intention of getting into it: on the one hand, being impatient to see the whole planet getting into it for our common good and a healthy future; on the other hand, systematically attacking green ideas, the frustration of having the impression that they are guilty of all the evils of the Earth.
To all of these I say: you are responsible for yourselves. Let's all stop judging others. Your aspirations and disappointments are personal. If you're doing a lot and you're proud of it, keep doing it. You are inspiring! On the other hand, if you think you're not doing enough and want to improve, don't worry: everyone goes through that. It's normal. No one can force you to adopt habits that don't suit you. It’s your life, your decisions! However, you have so many possibilities before you, take the advice that seems reasonable to you, even obvious, and go at your own pace!
Zero waste means being creative, having the imagination to see things differently, an open mind, but it also means criticizing what we see, keeping a scientific mind in order to question harmful habits, to question the different solutions and make an informed choice.
I'm going to offer you my point of view as an imperfect eco-friendly person, who questions herself, but who likes to have fun. Because the choices we make must be simple and easy to apply and do not become a chore. For me, zero waste is not a constraint, it is a liberation!