How to fit a month of waste into a jar

It's been a month since I attempted to reduce my waste and replace my rubbish bin with a 420ml jar. I wanted to share some of the things I learnt during that time. Before I go on, I realised quite early into this challenge that I needed to have some clauses to make it possible.

Clause 1: I did not initially think through the fact that before I started this challenge I already had lots of food, products, etc in my flat. I soon realised that the pre-jar me hadn't been purchasing these products with the aim of fitting the waste into a jar. After almost failing on day 1 due to pre-jar Josh's sins I allowed a clause in the deal. Anything purchased pre-jar went in a separate bin. Anything purchased post went in the jar.

Clause 2: Prior to what you might think from reading these rants I actually don't live alone. Up until now I had shared my bin like any normal human does with their partner. However while my partner was very supportive and got fully onboard with the challenge this jar was only for waste I created. If we shared something that came in plastic it would be cut in half and split into the bins. I realise this seems a bit weird but it's what happened so...

Apart from that everything else went in the jar. It started as only things that I would normally send to landfill would make it into the jar and recyclable plastic would just go in the recycling. But I found that once I had switched my mind to be anti plastic it was just as easy to avoid both forms altogether. Plus while doing a bit of research on plastics and waste I discovered that plastic degrades each time it is recycled and can often only be recycled once at best. So while we think we are recycling and reducing our waste that is often not the case. This article outlines how many times different materials can be recycled.

With this in mind, I found this challenge a little easier than I imagined it would be. I think we are often guilty of imagining the worst of a situation and allow that perceived hardship to stop us even giving something a go. There was even still a bit of space in the jar at the end of the month.

What went into the jar?

Here is a list of things I was unable to avoid or find alternative packaging for:

• 2 pieces of small plastic that go around the top of jars to make them appear sealed. It was only when I got home I realised the jar had this on. I never noticed how many jars have this.
• 1 energy bar wrapper - I went mountain biking and came close to bonking so had to eat it.
• 2 crisp packet wrappers. Fair enough, I could have easily avoided these but I am a sucker for kettle chips so I make no apologies for eating them.
• 1 hidden water filter wrapper. It came in a cardboard box but inside was a plastic bag. It is frustrating how much hidden plastic packaging there is.
• 1 hidden tea wrapper. More hidden packaging that was inside an innocent looking cardboard tea box.
• 1 plastic tofu wrapper. I couldn't find a way of buying tofu that didn't come in plastic. It is actually much easier to eat meat plastic free that things like tofu, tempeh etc.
• 1 sourdough starter wrapper. This has caused endless joy since I activated the sourdough starter so was well worth the plastic. It has also helped me make lots of treats plastic free.
• 1 plastic wrapper on a torch/flashlight. My camping torch broke and as much as I resisted buying a new one I ended up compromising and found one with minimal packaging.
• 2 milk lids. I switched to glass milk bottles but even they came with plastic lids. I found bottled milk the only thing that avoided glass. All soy, almond, etc milks come in very hard to recycle packaging.

That was all of it. The whole month.

How to reduce your waste?

If you would like to reduce your waste here some rules I followed that made it possible:

1. Never take a plastic bag from a store, ever! Always take a reusable bag of some sort with you where ever you go and if you happen to forget then get creative. Stuff pockets, use armpits, teeth, whatever you have to carry your purchases home. It was your mistake to forget the bag so you have to deal with the consequences not the planet!
2. Never go anywhere without a reusable coffee/tea mug (unless you don't have a  coffee/tea problem like me). It isn't a fair trade in my opinion to have one small drink and leave a plastic lid as memory of that drink for hundreds of years.
3. Try to keep bags you can use for bulk supplies on you whenever you go shopping.  Ideally the non plastic kind such as cotton, hemp, bamboo etc. But if you already have some ziploc style bags they will work too.
4. Find stores nearby that sell in bulk. I have been able to find places nearby that sell everything from nuts, rice, pasta and porridge oats to washing detergent, soap, and even toothpaste. It all comes package free as long as you bring your own bag/container (point 3). If you forget your bags then instead of using the plastic bags provided I would just grab a paper mushroom bag from the grocery area and fill that instead. If you live in Vancouver then I highly recommend adding The Soap Dispensary to your shopping routine.
5. Avoid processed and convenience food. I found, most of the time, if it's processed or convenient it will come in non recyclable packaging.
6. Try not to buy fruit and vegetables that are wrapped in plastic. It is worrying how difficult this can be. A lot of supermarkets have opted with the philosophy that plastic makes it look safe/clean/new. The food came from the dirt so a little more isn't really going to hurt anyone.
7. Generally supermarkets = waste so try to find a smaller independent store or market. Often they will buy their produce locally, from smaller farms who don't have the means or need to wrap everything in plastic. Farmers markets are your friend.
8. Buy less stuff.

I am going to continue this challenge to see how long I can keep it going. Each month I will empty the jar and start again. It's been a great exercise in changing my shopping habits and opening my eyes to just how much plastic is out there. I had never realised just how many things come in some form of non recyclable packaging. Having the waste in a clear jar is also a great reminder that this waste is going to be here for many more years than I will be so it makes it a little harder to turn a blind eye. If fitting your waste into a jar is a bit extreme for you one thing I did before this was to make note of the date each time I had to empty the rubbish bin. I would then challenge myself to extend the number of days before I emptied it again. Just doing this simple exercise helped make me much more aware of how much waste I was creating.

If you have any advice on how you have cut down your waste I'd really appreciate you sharing it below to help both myself and anyone else interested reduce their impact. If you have any questions about specific ways I was able to find package free products then get in touch below too.

A journey off the grid

I can't get use to the stars. Those moments when you look up and see the stars, not the city stars when you maybe see three, I mean properly see them,  still catch me by surprise. I've spent a reasonable amount of time camping and sleeping outside, measured against some it might seem an excessive amount, against others I'd be a rookie.  Either way, every time I find myself outside on a clear, dark night and look up I am shocked to realise that this is the view we have blocked from ourselves. Our modern lives of electricity and lighting have meant that for the majority of us that unbelievable panorama is a rare sight. Some people will have lived their entire lives having never even experienced it. Yet without our intervention this view would always be there. The latest star gazing wasn't far away from the city geographically but it was a long way away in nearly every other comparison. It was a public holiday over in Vancouver this weekend and that means one thing, get out of the city. This time around Rachel and I decided to continue exploring the nearby islands by bicycle with a trip to Lasqueti Island.

Lasqueti, from afar, looks like any other island in the Salish Sea that sits between Vancouver Island and the  mainland. The main and quite significant difference with Lasqueti is that it is a fully off the grid island. No electricity, no mains water, no gas. I have always dreamed of living off the grid, it is something I plan to try to some extent in the future but living in the city doesn't make it possible for the time being. I love the idea of living in sync with nature, being forced to live a simpler life and leaving as little footprint as possible. So it was with some excitement that we set off to see what is created when approximately 380 people choose to live off the grid on an island.

There is no camping on the island so we stayed in a tiny cabin which was little more than a shed. No facilities, just a bed and a composting toilet, we had to bring our own water and food, and take any trash we made home with us. It might sound like hell to some but for us it was all we needed. We cooked food on our camping stove, listened to the wildlife around us and were, of course, surprised by how bright the stars were.

When I first spoke to people about Lasqueti it seemed to have some mixed reviews from both previous visitors and those who have never even stepped foot on the island. As with anything that goes against the grain it attracts criticism from those comfortable getting in line. I find it strange that as a society we are so fearful of people doing things differently. The stereotypical tag of "hippies" is so often thrown around whenever the words off the grid, nature or even organic is used. It makes no sense to me that the people selflessly trying to look after the planet are the odd ones. I wasn't there long, but long enough to see enough. What I did see was lots of smiles amongst the odd disapproving look, a tight community mixed with some fierce independence,  the health conscious, hemp wearers and the beer drinking, chain smokers, some unbelievable levels of self sufficiency as well as a reliance on diesel powered generators and food brought in from outside. The people were really no different to anywhere else except for one thing. Everyone there had made a conscious decision to live on this off the grid island. Everywhere I looked I saw someone who was taking a big step to being the change they wanted to see in the world and it was inspiring.

We left the island and headed inland on our bikes to spend some time camping and to digest a bit of what we had just experienced. Sat round the campfire, with our few belongings we managed to bring on our bikes, making a meal out of the very last of our food, listening to the wildlife, I was again surprised by the stars. I may not be able to live off the grid in the city but I realised if I am in pursuit of living in sync with nature, being forced to live a simpler life and leaving as little footprint as possible then sleeping outside in this way will do for the time being.

If you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem

It seems we are all in agreement, Planet Earth could do with some improvements. A quick scan on anyone's social media feed will show that everyone has some opinion on it, global warming, deforestation, genetically modified food, famine, obesity, war, poverty, or even the shooting of a lion called Cecil. At least one of those ingredients is enough to bring out a passionate post from the calmest of souls. Yet what are we doing with this passion and these opinions, sharing a post on Facebook, signing an online petition, or maybe videoing ourselves with a bucket of ice? While all of these things are done with the best of intentions and can create change, they all have one common problem, they rely on someone else doing the work for us. Don't get me wrong, social media has become a powerful tool for bringing attention to atrocities happening across the world, petitions can create a change in policies and seemingly people dropping a bucket of ice on their head can raise a lot of money for charity. But what happens after we complete that quick, easy, convenient, online action? Most of us go back to living our lives the way we always had. We've done our bit, it's someone else's responsibility to sort that out now. I've donated, signed, shared, I'm contributing to change...That's all well and good except I'm not seeing change. All of those problems listed at the start of this post are still problems. Some are becoming worse. Our post sharing, petition signing attack on the things we disagree with doesn't seem to be working fast enough.

Now imagine a world where people saw a post on Facebook that showed how using plastic bottles is damaging the planet and instead of just liking it, maybe even sharing it, they actually decided then and there to never use a plastic water bottle again. I'm not talking about avoiding them until you forget to bring a refillable bottle, I'm talking NEVER AGAIN. And imagine that every post shared on social media that people liked or shared resulted in the same action, people changing their ways to match their beliefs. We can't rely on someone else to sort out our problems any longer as it's just not working. The attitude that "what's the point in me changing if no-one else will" isn't serving anyone. Even if you are the single sole person standing up for what you believe in isn't it still worth doing?

We need to wake up to the fact, if we aren't part of the solution we are part of the problem. If, for example, we disagree with the deforestation of the rainforest in Borneo and Sumatra that is putting Orangutans and many other animals, including us humans soon enough, on the endangered species list but still consume products that include palm oil sourced from that deforestation then we need to realise we are part of the problem. Just because we aren't the one cutting down the tree doesn't make us guilt free. The person responsible for cutting down the tree probably doesn't think he or she is to blame for the problem either, they are being paid by someone making the decision above them, they are just a logger. The person in the marketing department of the company selling the product probably doesn't think they are to blame either, they just promote the products the company makes. Even the owner of the company probably looks at the sales of the product and thinks that people still clearly want a product made in this way so they should still provide it. We are all partly responsible. If the product was made and we disagreed with it and never purchased it imagine how long that product would remain on sale for. 

It really isn't a big shift to change our habits. We don't need to all run off into the wilderness and set up self sufficient communes to make a change. We won't completely change our habits straight away but if we all start to make a conscious decision to not just go into auto pilot and simply ask ourselves "is this action I am about to take in line with the change I want to see?" I believe we could make a big change.

With this in mind I am taking on a series of month long challenges to try to shift my life to be more inline with the changes I want to see in the world. They aren't massive changes, but they are changes. Slowly but surely I aim to make small steps towards this goal and make these changes part of my everyday routine.

One thing I've learnt on this short journey I've been on is that committing to something in your head is one thing, if only you know about it it's easy to go back on it. However, voicing your intention to friends, family and even strangers brings with it peer pressure to see it through...

So here's my commitment: This month I am going to try to make all of my plastic waste for the month fit into a small glass jar. Both "recyclable" and single use plastic. Why a jar? Funnily enough a friend shared a post on Facebook about this lady www.trashisfortossers.com who has fit all of her waste from 2 years into a small jar. I liked the post but then realised I needed to do more than just like the post. While I am not sure I currently have the ability to do exactly what she is doing I felt a good first step would be to try it for a month. I also like the fact that it is a glass jar so that each time I look at it I will be able to see the waste I have created. One big problem I see with our current waste system is we put our trash in a place that is usually hidden out of the way, under the sink, in the corner of the room, etc, then it gets dropped off at the dump that is also hidden away. Everything is kept out of sight, out of mind and leads us to a false sense of security to how much we are actually wasting. This will be a constant reminder.

For sometime I have disagreed and been angered by the damage our plastic obsession causes to our environment and our health yet I often still turn a blind eye and buy products wrapped in it? I can hardly complain about it if I am still reliant on it. It's quite a daunting challenge for me as recycled plastic packaging is unfortunately part of so many products that I use on a regular basis. It will take quite a bit of forward planning with shopping etc too which isn't my strong point.

If you agree with what I've said why not make a stand and commit to being part of the solution in one small way yourself. It doesn't need to be a month long thing, that format just appeals and works for me. It could be a small change or a big one, perhaps one day a week without using your car or a year of eating locally sourced food. Whatever it is post it in the comments below and/or on social media and announce it to the world. Sure, people may think it different to your regular updates and your post may not get as many likes as that nice picture of a sunset you just posted but at least you will be able to say you are being part of the solution and not the problem and you may even inspire someone you know to do the same.

Why I eat organic food

2 years ago a friend asked me if I ate organic food and I remember my response was something like "It's too expensive, we can't feed the world on organic food and the research doesn't prove pesticides do us any harm". Today the same question would result in a very different answer from me. The reason for this change is not because I suddenly came into lots of money and could now easily afford organic food, it's not that I read a report that says organic food can feed the world, and it's not that I have seen studies that conclude that certain pesticides "probably" do cause cancer.  No, I had heard all of that before and despite deep down believing them to be true I still continued to buy non organic. Besides for each of the hundreds of articles you can read spinning it this way you can find just as many going the other way. Pesticides are safe. GMO's are the best bet for feeding the world....etc, etc.

The alarming reports did little to change my habit.  We're an odd bunch us humans. We have an amazing ability to disconnect from realities that aren't convenient for us. Take smoking for example. As someone who grew up in the early 80's I was fully aware that smoking was bad for me. It was conclusive. No questioning the facts. Yet still I wanted to try it. Thankfully for me it didn't go much further, turns out attempting to smoke an entire packet of Marlboro Reds is enough to put a 13 year old off for life, but lots of people I knew continued to smoke and some still do. Even though we all know 100% that it can cause cancer, cigarette companies still make millions each year from new customers. It's madness. I'm sure a psychologist would be able to explain what it is in our psyche that causes this and if anyone knows please do let me know in the comments. Anyway, I digress...

So despite the reports I had read about pesticides,  I was still taking the smoking attitude to my food consumption. I was choosing convenience and price over my health. But this has changed. I am not any richer but I now make sacrifices elsewhere in my life to ensure I can afford to buy good food. I heard a quote the other day which sums up my new attitude towards this perfectly

Don't ask why organic food is so expensive ask why junk food is so cheap

It wasn't that one day I woke up and had an epiphany that non organic might be bad for my health. The shift in my mindset actually came from gaining more of an appreciation for nature and realising that if I believe in evolution then maybe I should trust that the planet wasn't simply sat around for 3.8 billion years waiting for us humans to come and save it. 

3.8 billion years. That's quite a long time. Us humans have been around for, give or take, 200,000 years. Which is 0.0052% of the time that the planet has been going. Us clever humans only discovered modern, synthetic pesticides in the 1930's which is roughly 85 years ago. 85 years is 0.0000022% of the time the planet has been evolving. If you are lucky enough to live to 100 years old that would be less than a second of your entire life.

So despite all the reports, studies and food documentaries telling me organic food was bad for me it was actually the realisation that it's a little bit arrogant of us to assume that we know better than 3.8 billion years of evolution. We are only just starting to understand how amazingly nature has evolved, and when we look at nature versus man made creations nature wins every time. Spider silk, bee hives, dragon fly wings, we haven't come close. So for us to rock up 3.8 billion years into the job and tell mother earth she hasn't a clue is a pretty dickish move on our part.

Sure organic food production comes with it's own set of problems. It still has a considerable level of tinkering in it from us humans.  When it comes to food perhaps large scale mono-culture farms in any format conventional or organic aren't what we need and maybe smaller scale intensive farms or permaculture is what we need to strive for. I don't have all the answers. It's just what works for me.

A tale of two cafes

We live in the best of times, we live in the worst of times. Everyday a new creative, sustainable, community led initiative seems to be popping up, and everyday a new hectare of rainforest is destroyed, more food is sprayed with pesticides and another animal makes the endangered list. Sometimes its hard to work out if, as a society, we are taking a step forwards or a step backwards. The solutions are there if only we would vote with our money. Just down the road from where I live in Vancouver there are two cafes. They would be right next door to each other except for a small sushi store in-between. Two small cafe's on the same side of the road, both sell coffee, tea and the odd treat.....and that is where the similarities end.

Cafe on the left

The cafe on the left is a Starbucks. It is the largest coffeehouse company in the world and is based in Seattle, USA. There exists in the world an additional 21,365 Starbucks stores to this one. Not only is the money made from this cafe not kept in the local economy but Starbucks has repeatedly received negative press about its unfair labour policies, bullying fair-trade tactics with farmers in developing countries, tax avoidance, GMO lobbying and many other questionable practises. It serves very little organic coffee, uses non organic milk, a large number of the drinks have very high calorie and sugar levels and for a company that sells over 4 billion disposable cups a year it has a very poor recycling record.

Cafe on the right

The cafe on the right is the Heartwood Community Cafe. As the name suggests there is more than just coffee brewing going on inside. Their values for a start include phrases such as building solidarity, holding space for marginalised voices to be heard, using arts as a vehicle for change, and creating a queer inclusive space (although to be fair to Starbucks this is one thing they seem quite supportive of). On top of this they serve organic, local, vegan and ethically sourced produce. The money is kept in the local economy and they run lots of events in the evenings for the local community. Just when you think it can't get better, everyday they offer their 'Soup for the People' program which allows people to pay what they can for delicious and healthy soup, with an emphasis on no donation being too small!

Why am I telling you this? Because everyday I walk past these two cafes and everyday I am so saddened to see that the Starbucks is always busier. I do not understand why we continue to support large corporations that abuse their power over small local businesses that genuinely care about the local community they live in. I really struggle to comprehend it. I thought perhaps it was the price, but no, while the prices vary depending on what you drink a 12oz latte in Starbucks will costs you $4.15 while the same at Heartwood will cost you $3.75 (plus it's organic!). So it must come down to comfort in knowing what you are getting and fear of the unknown. I do understand this to an extent but it comes back to what I have written about before, Convenience v Conservation. If we are to see any changes in this world we have to stop choosing the convenient option all the time. Live a little, take a chance, sure you might get a crap coffee from time to time (the Heartwood coffee is actually considerably better than the black water two doors down) but what you are supporting is much bigger than always getting a good coffee.

The Heartwood Community Cafe might not be in your area, but I bet there will be something very similar and I bet there will also be a Starbucks. The thing is this doesn't just relate to coffee shops it relates to all types of businesses from bars and restaurants to mechanics, gyms and clothes stores.  We need to vote with our money and think about what we want to see more of. Do we want to see more local, independent organisations that could be run by you or I or do we want our communities to be clones of each other, selling imported products, run by faceless multinational organisations that leave little money in our local economies? If we all choose to vote with our money we can make a real difference to the world we live in.

Disclaimer: I currently have no affiliation with Heartwood Community Cafe other than occasionally buying my lunch or a coffee there. They had no influence over this blog post other than inspiring me to write about them because of the good work they are doing.