by Jess Chamberlain, Sunset market editor
We've been thrillled(!) with the huge response from readers about The zero waste home article in this month’s issue of Sunset. Many were inspired, some were shocked, others were confused. Most had questions.
Here, Bea Johnson, our zero-waste heroine, answers them:
Q: Wait, recycling is bad? Why do you keep your recycling to a minumum?
A: Recycling is not bad, it is simply best to reduce and reuse first... Reduce-Reuse-Recycle are to be excercised in order. Many people seem to forget that.
Q: How does some of what goes in the recycling bin end up getting wasted?
A: Because sometimes there simply is not a market for the stuff we recycle. #1 and #2 are the most recycled. You also have to consider the end of the plastic life. Even if it gets recycled into a new product, that product is not recyclable and ends up in the landfill. There is no way to make plastic just disappear once it is created. Look in our oceans.
Q: You ship toothbrushes from Australia? (What about the carbon footprint of transport?)
A: Of course I am aware of the carbon footprint of shipping but where do people think most toothbrushes come from??? The store got them from somewhere. And often, they are made in China. Before choosing the Australian kind, I carefully looked at my options. One of them was the Preserve toothbrush, made in the US from recycled plastic but I can't get myself to buy more plastic when biodegrable alternatives are available.
It would only support our society's addiction to plastics. The Preserve toothbrushes are made from yogurt/cottage cheese containers, which I do not support or buy to start with. Then they are made into un-recyclable plastic benches or decks which I would not buy either, nor would I want these to furnish my kids future. Plastics are an unclosable loop, the end product (here a plastic bench) always ends up in the landfill. So while these toothbrushes seem like a good idea at first, they only temporarily divert plastic from the landfill. I believe that the right toothbrush has not yet made it on the US market. I'll wait for it impatiently using the compostable kind. (Besides, I am not sure that shipping Preserve toothbrushes to stores and then sending 12 of them back individually for recycling within the US, in the supplied envelope, is any better than shipping a pack of 12 bamboo ones across the Pacific.)
Q: You lug glass jars to the market?
A: Yes, but only for wet items like cheese, deli meat, fish, honey, peanut butter, and olives. Additionally we bring cloth bags and produce bags for other bulk items and produce.
Q: Shipping the tab back to Netflix is still trash though right?
A: Of course it is still trash. But why should every piece of trash be solely the consumer’s responsibility? I have contacted Netflix to suggest that they find an alternative to the tab. When they receive our envelope, they are reminded to do something about it. If every Netflix user did the same, the tab would already be eliminated. Also, I thought I'd mention that we have reduced our Netflix subscription to "one out at a time", the minimum for new releases. We stream or rent for the library everything else.
Q: How do you clean up after the dog?
A: Zizou is a prude. He likes to go deep into ivy, and very often I can't even find his tiny excrements. But when I do, I use a piece of paper to pick it up.
Q: What about food waste like bones and bacon grease?
A: Foods scrapings such as meat and fish are composted thru our city compost. I do collect bacon grease in a container in the fridge for an annual soap making (weird, but it does not smell like bacon, simply like soap).
Q: Do you off-set your flights to France?
A: Yes and we try to reduce our trips there. I was hoping not to go this year, but my brother is getting married, and I would not want to miss it in the world!
**Have more questions? Please post them in "comments".
Also, Bea's personal blog, The Zero Waste Home, is FULL of further tips and information.
