My Zero Waste consciousness
People who know me know that I like beautiful objects, beautiful clothes and shoes ;-). In France, I very often went "shopping". My budget allowed it, and I had no children yet !!!
But in recent months, I realized that my house was accumulating objects that we did not use. The children's playroom was not a space to play, but a toy store. Our wardrobes were filled with clothing and household appliances that we kept out of habit or as souvenirs. And I'm not even talking to you about the pantry! There would have been a war that we could have waged for weeks!
The people around me will say, "But you have space!" (It is certain, when we compare our house to the 30 square meters of our accommodation in France, everyone finds it "VERY" large); "Your house is still tidy, it looks like a magazine." (And I behind, I think: "Don't open the cupboards above all!") ... Well, it's a fact: the more space we have, the more we accumulate!
So , I spoke to my spouse. I told him that I felt oppressed by all of these items. He supported me in my approach. We started sorting. First in the clothes, by asking us the right questions, for example: am I going to put this jacket on one day? Have I worn this skirt recently? Are these pants damaged? Can i give it? The shoe closet, the one for tools, the guest bedroom, the sewing workshop ... everything is there. It made me feel great! And thanks to this sorting, I got a lot of new textiles for my creations ;-)
And the children's area in all this? Since November 2017, we have been telling our coconuts that they can offer the toys they no longer play with, either to friends or to organizations that redistribute them. We still have work to do in this room, but the children are sponges and they learn very quickly. They are not bullied or unhappy, far from it. Our biggest challenge is the distance that separates us from our families. They feel guilty for living away from their grandchildren, so when they come to visit us, their suitcases look like Santa's hood. However, our children, my spouse and I, all we want is to take advantage of them and create beautiful memories. We just want to have a good time and hug those we love ...
At Christmas, this year, there will be no toys or objects that would create new needs . We will have a good time with family, we will go out, we will go on weekends. We can even keep going all year long, and that's the wonderful thing.
Since we've been careful about our purchases and using the zero waste rules, we've reduced our waste enormously. Because the easiest starting point to reduce your waste is to consume better and pay attention to what we put in our baskets. Must vegetables be absolutely wrapped in plastic bags? Wouldn't reusable cloth bags be preferable? It's just an example. There are hundreds of ways to take care of our planet!
Here are the 5 principles of zero waste: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle and compost.
< p> I am very proud of my family's commitment to this process, and we already feel an improvement in our daily lives.And you, what are your actions? If it is, you started walking on this path without even realizing it ...
Be proud of your actions. They all make the difference.
Here are books that can help you in your approach:
Book by Béa Johnson, click here
The zero waste family, click here
