March 8, 2024 • 46 mins
Imagine living a life where your yearly trash fits into a single mason jar. Sounds like a tall order? Not to Heather Bedy, our special guest and Zero-waste sage, who joins me to inspire you with the notion that a near-zero waste existence isn't just a pipe dream—it's an attainable reality. We dissect the lifecycle of disposable coffee cups to uncover the significant environmental toll they take and then pivot to the inspiring actions of families who've mastered the art of minimal waste. Heather and I dig into the idea that the choices we make every day, no matter how small, can steer us towards a more sustainable future and drive manufacturers to consider the planet in their production methods.
Have you ever faced the mystery of what to do with your plastic waste? This episode doesn't just skim the surface of our plastic predicament; it provides a treasure map to navigate the jungle of sustainable living. We'll walk you through a world beyond the blue recycling bin, where refusing, reusing, and repairing become your new best friends. Heather and I explore the power of individual habit changes, like carrying a reusable water bottle or shopping in bulk, to mold a lifestyle that's as kind to the Earth as it is rewarding for you. While we acknowledge some adjustments might seem daunting, we're here to assure you that each step, however small, propels us closer to a healthier planet.
Dive into the potential of a circular economy and the transformative recycling programs that are putting a dent in our waste woes. We spotlight trailblazers like Brightmark, who turn plastics into fuel, and Terra Cycle's heroic efforts to recycle the unrecyclable. Sharing my personal 'trash audit' experience, we get real about what we're tossing out and how we can shift our habits for the better. This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a call to action, encouraging you to take the first step—no matter how small—toward a zero-waste lifestyle. It's about being part of a community that values mutual care and respect for our shared environment. So tune in, get inspired, and begin your journey to a cleaner, greener tomorrow.
Recycle Nation
RecycleNation is the the number one technology tool in the United States to improve environmental sustainability and circular economy initiatives and features the world’s largest recycling database
The Trash Punx
Terra Cycle
Recycle the Unrecyclable
Baby Steps Toward a Zero-Waste Home
At Home Trash Audit Steps
Great activity to do as a family!
Interview with: Heather Bedy
Tile Image: John Cameron
Things that make you say "Wow"!
For more episodes and additional information visit the Two Chicks and a Hoe website and our Facebook page.
Big thanks to our Producer, Casey Kennedy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey listeners, I want to read a small part of the
2018 Trash in America movingfrom destructive consumption to
a zero-waste system report.
That's a mouthful, but I wantedto share this with you to
illustrate what's happening.
Every morning, americans acrossthe country stop at a local
(00:21):
coffee shop for a cup of coffee,usually served in a disposable
cup.
We use the cup while we drinkour coffee and then toss it in
the trash.
The time it takes to drink ourcoffee, though, is just a brief
moment in the history of thematerials that went into the
creation of the cup.
To produce coffee cups, treesmust be cut down in oil
(00:42):
extracted from the ground.
Those raw materials must betransported to a factory to make
paper and plastic, which arethen often transported to
another factory to bemanufactured into a coffee cup.
The coffee cup is packaged upwith others, often in more paper
and plastic, and shipped, oftenover long distances, to a
(01:05):
distributor and, finally, to acoffee shop.
At the coffee shop, somebodypurchases the cup with their
coffee.
After drinking it promptly,they throw the cup away.
The cup, which is likely notrecyclable or compostable, will
then be taken with other trashand burned in an incinerator or
dumped in a landfill, where theplastic will break down into
(01:26):
smaller and smaller bits, butwill persist in one form or
another indefinitely.
This process repeats 63 milliontimes every day in America, 441
million times each week and 23billion times every year.
Wow, I know this sounds crazy.
(01:50):
I wanted to read that to you.
That's a brief history of thiscoffee cup, and it just
highlights how absurd thissystem is, where valuable
natural resources, which areformed over years or millennia,
are taken from the earth andmade into disposable items.
Well, today we're going to talkabout how we maybe don't need to
(02:13):
use that disposable coffee cup.
We're going to talk about zerowaste.
Hi everyone, it's Vanessa fromTwo Chicks and a Hoe, the
(02:37):
podcast that hopes you say, wow,I didn't know that, and maybe
get you to think and act indifferent ways.
Today's guest is Heather Bedy,a zero waste advocate and part
of The Trash Punx, which is agroup located in the San
Francisco Bay area.
Okay, so now, before you say,zero waste, yeah, this is not
(02:59):
possible, hang on, hang on.
Today we're going to chat aboutways we, as individuals can help
to change the direction thatthings are going with our trash,
pollution and plastic.
So before we started thisconversation, I talked to
Heather and I said please keepthis simple, because I know that
(03:21):
it's confusing.
It can be complicated,overwhelming and perceived as
time consuming, but we're goingto talk about small steps
instead of no steps.
Hang in there, don't tune out.
I know it's easy to just throwstuff in the garbage, close the
lid and have someone else dealwith it, but those days are gone
(03:45):
.
No one is dealing with it.
It's our turn to step up to theplate.
I'm going to share with you myown shortcomings about what to
do with my household trash.
We're going to do a trash auditand we're going to share
solutions and alternate ways ofthinking and moving through our
trash filled world.
There are answers and I'mthrilled to have Heather joining
(04:07):
us to point us in the rightdirection.
Welcome, heather.
Please help us Well.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
thank you, vanessa.
I'm so excited to be here andtalk with you all about zero
waste and what that looks likeand how to get started.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Excellent, excellent.
So everybody pay attention,because here's the biggest
question of all what is zerowaste?
Please start with that for us.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, zero waste in the big picture is eliminating
the idea of waste.
How can we, as consumers, nothave trash?
It's a big question, it's a bigconcern, it's a big problem.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
It almost seems that I hope.
It almost seems impossible.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And it may very well be Okay, we have to think about
plastic.
It originated not too long ago,so it's a man made substance.
What were people doing beforethen?
Why can't we get back to that?
But us as individual consumers?
What does that look like andmean for us?
What can we take in our homesand reduce or reuse in ways that
(05:13):
stop the influx of plastic inour lives?
Because when we start to dothings, change our habits of the
things that we buy, then themanufacturers out there start to
notice that their products areno longer being purchased
because consumers are startingto change what they require from
their manufacturers.
(05:33):
So we can make change in a bigway.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
So consumer demand really does drive markets.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I think so as well.
I think that's been kind ofused and proven now for many,
many years, many years.
And of course, my famous, myhero, my icon, jane Goodall, has
always said too that you as aconsumer have the power to
change everything.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Absolutely.
I mean, and if you, theconsumer out there, are willing,
you know you have theopportunity to write to these
companies and say have youconsidered changing your plastic
to glass or a compostablematerial or something else?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That takes some time and people generally take a lot
of people behind it too, doesn'tit?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Absolutely, absolutely.
But if you stop spending moneyon a product because it's not in
a form which you want in yourhome, then numbers speak.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Okay, okay, so all right.
So zero waste is about no waste, so let's talk a little bit
more about that then, okay, sotell me, I guess, tell me even
more to tell you the truth.
I mean that you know, like Isaid, it sounds almost
impossible.
And I did read in.
You know, in coming up withthis conversation, I did read
(06:53):
about a gal and her family Ithink a family of four, if I
read this correctly can walkaway with like a mason jar Okay,
maybe a big mason jar, but notthat big, still a mason jar of
trash, that that is their trashfor the year.
I like, wow, so I can see thatthere's, I see there's obviously
(07:15):
possibilities, but you know, Iagain, again, Small steps
instead of no steps.
I'm gonna repeat that probablyseveral times, because that kind
of came to me earlier today instarting this conversation.
Again, I am thinking, oh mygosh, this is so, it seems so
overwhelming.
(07:35):
But I, I, I know I've hadconversations with you before
again about Taking steps, notbeing frozen, going to know I'm
not gonna do anything becausethat doesn't help anything
absolutely, and I thinkoverwhelming is a really good
word.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
A lot of times we as consumers and individuals say
well, what can I do?
What does one small thing thatI do?
What difference does that make?
Well, the reality is it makes ahuge difference.
It is one action turns into aripple effect and then people
see that and then more and morepeople are doing that.
But if you look at it and say Ican't take it all on, I can't
(08:11):
do it all, you don't have to doit all, just have to do one
thing.
But you have to find thatmindset where you actually want
to do that one thing.
You're ready to take that firststep.
And what that first step looksfor you, looks like for you,
vanessa is going to be differentthan what it looked like for me
.
Right?
We all have to find what thatis for us.
So if we have animals, maybeit's, you know, finding a
plastic.
(08:32):
I am that you purchase for youranimals and say, okay, we're
not gonna go plastic anymore isanother option.
Or if we love to drink water,it's like are we using plastic
water bottles or can we get, areyou usable water bottle?
So it's gonna look differentfor everybody and it's about
what you can say yes to now anddoing that one thing until it
(08:54):
becomes habit.
And then, when you're good withthat and you say, okay, what
else can I do?
But it really starts with thatmindset to say, hey, I'm ready
to do something.
What can I do?
What works in my lifestyle?
Because that one thing again,you're gonna take it everywhere
you go.
People are gonna ask you aboutit and then they're gonna say I
never thought it was that easy.
(09:14):
I can do that.
I can get a reusable waterbottle, or I can take an old
t-shirt and replace paper towels, or I can Use a container that
I got at the grocery store fordishwashing detergent and use it
as a compost bin.
You can do anything.
It's just again changing thatmindset and saying what can I do
(09:35):
today that works for me and myfamily?
Because every person, everyfamily, is different, their
needs are different, so justwant to accommodate for that.
But there's always somethingthat can be done perfect,
perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I talked about that earlier.
When heather showed up to thestudio for for the interview, I
asked how this listen I'mlooking for, so I have, I do
compost and I, but I can't put acompost bin on my kitchen
counter because it attracts ants, which I have an ant problem.
So I was like what do I do?
(10:07):
And I don't?
I don't want to spend, you know, and buy another product,
another croc thing or whateveryou know to put on my counter.
And I knew that.
You know, heather, what do I do?
When she came up with a, youknow, she told me she says I use
one of those containers at the,the dishwashing pods come in.
I was like, oh, and you know, Inever thought of that because I
(10:28):
would take that, recycle it,thinking that I'm recycling and
doing the right thing.
But I think I love this and Ijust I love this concept.
It's not a concept.
I love the idea that the wholeidea of recycling, but there's a
way, more steps that you cantake before you ever get to the
recycling part, and that I wouldreally like you to address.
(10:52):
Because I think recycling, wethink we're right on and I
thought, I thought I'm gonnarecycle this bin and everything,
but the whole idea of actuallyusing it for something else that
I need instead of buyingsomething else.
I love that idea and that madeperfect sense to me yeah,
absolutely, and I think to again.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
It starts with your choice, right.
What works for you, where areyou at in your life and what do
you want to do?
Again, everybody's gonna be ina different place right it's
changing that process in makinga choice that you want to do
something.
When you go out to the store,you can refuse to buy things
that are plastic.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Can you?
You can, because I meaneverything seems to be in
plastic it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, you can choose not to buy it.
There's gonna be somewherewhere you can purchase it in
bulk or at a zero waste shop,more and more showing up
everywhere.
I was traveling to ireland nottoo long ago and they had and
you go, friendly, zero wasteshop and I was so excited.
So anywhere you go, there'sopportunities available.
You just have to look fortypically small shops, but even
(11:57):
some of the larger brand nameones, like whole foods, they
have a bulk section.
You can take your containers inthere and buy nuts and seeds
and I know this soundsridiculous, that I don't know
this but you can take your owncontainers in there.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I believe so absolutely.
You don't have to use yourplastic bag that's hanging there
.
Think so.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That's awesome okay, and so there's a lot of a lot of
places like that around.
So you know you just again,it's Thinking about what you
have available to you right, andfinding it in a different place
.
It may not be your local storethat you go to all the time.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I never heard of those zero waste shop.
Tell me they're springing upeverywhere I hope so.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I was just super excited when I saw I was walking
by, like what is that?
Let me go check that out.
And you know, we have somelocally here and I, you know,
I've heard of other ones indifferent places.
So I really recommend thateverybody listening, you know,
google search, see what's nearbyand there may be some that
aren't so close to you, but doyou happen to go into that area
(13:00):
maybe once a month and say, okay, these are things I want to buy
, and then, when you Happen tobe in that area, stop in your
fill up and then you come backhome so you're, you know,
reducing the carbon footprint ofgoing to, you know, five
hundred different places, justbecause you want to be eco
friendly.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Kind of defeats the purpose.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, you know you're thinking about, how can I still
consolidate my Places that I'mgoing to, the number of
locations that I'm going to,especially if you're driving to
be a little bit more efficientand effective in terms of gas
and in the carbon footprintassociated with going to
different places?
Right, not be in your localarea, right.
But again, as we think about tonot using single use stuff, we
(13:43):
have that power.
We can choose not to use.
It may not be as convenient,but is there something in your
house that already exists thatyou can use instead?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
like my existing dishwasher tub.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Thing right that I could use for my compost pale.
Absolutely, and then when youdo go to the store there things
you're buying in plastic thatyou can actually reduce the
amount of is it something youand your family actually need?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Okay.
So we're thinking, we'retalking about putting some more
thought into the things that,like you just said that you had.
Do you really need it?
So?
So, before we go, that, so tellme that.
And the five hours, the sixhours, that, what is the
strategy?
That that you know that keepscoming up, which I love, but
(14:29):
it's again, it's, it's beyondthe recycle part, which we think
is the top of everything, butthat's actually further down the
line, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
in terms of Methods to use absolutely, absolutely so
, and it's a lot of what we'vejust been talking about, with
recycling being the final pieceof the puzzle, where you recycle
what it is because you cannotfind another purpose I got it,
got it okay for it and so someof these things.
Again, like we just talked about, it's really Thinking how you
(14:56):
think about things, the choicesyou make, refusing things.
You go to some event, you getsome plastics way or something.
You can say no to that.
Okay, you can again reduce whatyou're using already that's in
plastic.
You can reuse the plastic youalready have.
You can refurbish things, youcan fix them.
(15:19):
I know a lot of places arestarting to come around with
different local laws that aresaying you know, repair is
important, so we want to makesure that people have the
opportunity to repair instead ofhaving to completely replace.
And you can also repurposeagain, like we've talked about,
so you can take something youhave and use it for a completely
(15:39):
different purpose than what itwas originally intended for,
similar to the dishwashing podcontainer that we were talking
about for compost, and then,when all else fails, then you
can recycle it.
But is there another way youcan use those things that you
get that you already pay for atthe store in a different way?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So let me kind of repeat that, okay.
So, because I, this is a group,there's a great thought.
So the idea is refuse.
You know, first of all, you behanded crap that you don't
really want, but you takebecause you know, whatever, it's
the way we do things a lot oftimes.
I don't want that, so yourefuse, you reduce potentially
(16:17):
how much you are using in thefirst place by rethinking about
how you potentially use it.
You reuse stuff, okay, repairthings.
I love that and you know, and Iknow that people repair socks
and furniture and electronics,their household.
(16:38):
You know what do you call them?
Dishwashers and washingmachines and what have you.
And then also the rot it wasone of the Rs that I had saw.
Of course, that's compostingand and then recycle, okay, so I
just wanted to get all thosekind of an out there again.
I love, I love that strategy.
(17:00):
It just takes.
It takes way more, not way more.
It takes a different way ofthinking about things, doesn't
it?
Because we're kind of likeencouraged and we've talked
about this on other episodes,like cell phone recycling we're
encouraged to buy the nextbiggest, next greatest thing.
You know, yeah, and, and we do,and a lot of us do, and instead
(17:23):
of recognizing that the currentone you have is still good.
So it's kind of kind of.
This thought process goes alittle bit against the grain of
consumerism, doesn't it right?
okay, a lot against the grain ofconsumerism which is kind of
part of the process too, isn'tit about?
Oh, about rethinking about thethings that we use in our life,
(17:44):
in our households absolutely,and it goes back to starting.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Simple.
It's like where are you at andwhat are you willing to do today
?
You might not be willing to cutup old t-shirts and get rid of
(18:08):
paper towels, and that's okay,but you might be willing to use
a reusable water bottle insteadof buying plastic water bottles
at the grocery store so give mesome, give me some examples,
like you just said, of the waterbottle, instead of buying
single use plastics.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
You know, okay, I'm going to refill my water, you
know my water bottle every day.
What else?
What else are some reallysimple ones that people can, you
know, can, take on and then gofor the bigger stuff, of course
sure?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
so again, shopping in bulk at the grocery store is
huge, even if you don't have acontainer or the store doesn't
allow a container, think aboutthe overall amount of plastic
you're bringing into your home,right?
So if you have one of thoseplastic bags to put your bulk in
, versus a big plastic containerthat it comes in, so you could
(18:59):
also reuse that plastic bagexactly several times over.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Got it so thinking.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Going back to the dishwashing pod container, it's
plastic.
We can reuse it, say, as acompost bin.
Well, if you don't want to washout that compost bin, maybe you
use those plastic bags to linethat compost bin and then put it
in your trash and then whateveryour municipality does for
(19:23):
compost, if they have thatoption, well then process it
through their system.
Some stores now which iswonderful are actually using
compostable bags for theirproduce bags which I found
amazing, and they do havecompostable produce bags and
trash bags and all kinds of bagsout there for you if you want
to go there.
So yeah, so there's a lot ofdifferent, different
(19:46):
opportunities there.
Ziplock bags we all use them,love them, love them.
They make traveling amazing.
But they do have opportunitiesout there for you to buy either
silicon bags that are similar oh, I've seen those yes bags.
Yes, or um, also food wrapping,like they have.
The cloth with the beeswax yes,that you can use yes, so again
(20:10):
there's.
There's a bunch of things andyou know, some of some of you
out there might be saying that'sjust not for me and that's okay
.
Again, we want to come back togoing what is simple and what
can I do today?
So I mean it.
Maybe it's a straw.
Maybe you're like I use strawsa lot.
Maybe I can get a silicone ormetal straw and replace all
those other or not use a strawor not use a straw got it so
(20:30):
there's there's a ton of optionsout there and it just really
again depends on where you areand what you're willing to do
today and then, once you're goodwith that, then you just build
on it one thing at a time.
Keep it simple.
Keep it simple.
You do too many things at once,you get overwhelmed right,
right it's.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
It really is about making lifestyle changes, isn't
it absolutely?
We're programmed to do certainthings certain ways.
Throw it in the garbage, turnyour back and walk away.
Yeah, which I know I'm aculprit of.
I know this, you guys, I knowheather was the one that taught
me about wish recycling and youknow I I have another friend and
I know she's going to listen tothis podcast because she is
(21:09):
rides me.
When she comes down, she livesup in oregon when she comes down
, she opens my trash slashrecycle bin in the kitchen and
says oh, are you kidding me?
Do you think you can actuallyrecycle this?
And I think I'm thinking, yeah,I thought I could, you know,
and and and that's when heatherintroduced me to the idea of
(21:32):
wish recycling.
It's like, well, it's plastic,it should be it, it should be
recyclable.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So I'm going to put it in the recycle bin because
it's because it should berecyclable it should be, and it
makes us feel good about whatwe're doing, because that's what
we've been taught.
So what is wish recycling sowish recycling or wish cycling
is basically putting an iteminto the recycle bin because
(21:58):
that's where you believe itbelongs, whether it actually
does or not.
And it gets a little bitcomplicated because every single
city, county and state havedifferent recycling requirements
.
Some, some places, don't haveany recycling at all which I've
seen and some do, and so I maywork in city a, but when I go to
(22:20):
city b it's somethingcompletely different and I don't
know what I'm doing.
So I'm going to do what I do athome, and it may be completely
wrong for that city or thatcounty that I'm working in.
So it's really challenging forus as the consumer yes to
understand.
So what we do is we say, oh,it's plastic, it should be
recyclable.
It goes into the recycling binthat's glass, it should be
(22:40):
recyclable.
It goes into the recycling bin.
Well, some places don't takecolored glass, but you don't
know that unless they have goodeducation around their programs.
Ideally now we would have aunified recycling program so
everything's consistent acrossthe nation, across the world.
So, no matter where we go,we're all doing the same thing,
right?
We're just not there yet andhopeful one day we can get there
(23:01):
.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Are we getting closer heather?
Because I mean so, as we, as weall know this, the I mean
there's all obviously a lot of,and I'm glad you know there's
big conversations about plasticand it not being recyclable and
where it's ending up in theoceans.
All the big, the big plasticpatch, all of those types of
(23:22):
things.
I get that and I'm glad thatthese conversations are being
had.
But you know the trash ingeneral that's ending up in the
landfills and the amount of foodwaste that goes into the
landfills, which I hear is is uh, I'm reading statistics
anywhere from like 30 to 40percent of stuff that goes in
(23:42):
the landfill is food waste.
So I mean is um, are we, are wechanging things?
Are we?
Uh, I know, I mean I've saidthis, I know small steps, small
steps, I know I know these alladd up.
I know that's how things work.
But are we too?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
late, I I would not say we're too late, okay, I
think everybody taking a standand doing something is going to
make a change, and that's wherewe're at.
We need everybody to makechange.
We need you to say, yes, I'mwilling to replace that plastic
water bottle with a reusable one.
I'm willing to take one thingand make a change for that today
(24:23):
, because when we all startdoing that, then it becomes an
exponential thing.
The people around us see it andthen they get excited and
interested and then they startto change the way that they're
doing things.
And then, if you bring childreninto it, you know, then they
have healthy habits growing up.
So their future children andtheir grandchildren and
generations beyond are alreadygoing to have those healthy
(24:44):
habits.
So we're going to see anexponential change.
But all of us right now need totake a stand.
We need to do something.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
As small as it is, it may seem like it's small, but
it's really quite large justtaking that first step to do
something because there's a lotof us, there's a lot of right,
okay, so if we all do something,that it's a big thing, then
absolutely got it got it.
So I've been hearing a lotabout circular economies.
Tell me, tell me.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, so circular economies are where the
manufacturers make a product andthey have a complete closed
loop system.
So when that product isManufactured it goes to the
consumer, it has somewhere to goafter its use, its Life has
been completed, and then it getsreused back into potentially
(25:34):
making that product again orsome other product.
So every bit of that Item isused or repurposed in a
different way.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
So that's an example of the closed loop.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Let's, for example, say we have there's, there's an
organization called bright markand they're trying to eliminate
plastic and and one of thethings that they do is they take
all of the plastic.
Doesn't matter what kind it is.
(26:07):
They're like bring it in, we'lltake it.
They take that plastic and theyprocess it and in the process
of doing that, it gets changedinto CNG gas and wax.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And CNG gas we can use, for.
I've seen that.
I've seen those and I've seenthat yeah, so some vehicles use
that.
That's yes, different things.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yes, but so they're taking all of that plastic and
it's turning into something else.
So the wax can be sold and itcan be used to make candles, to
make whatever's, to do this orthat, and then the gas can be
used for, you know, potentiallyVehicles and different things
like that as well.
Another example I'm not surethat that's a great example of
(26:52):
closed loop, because they're notactually manufacturing the
plastic.
But if you think let's just say, for example, you have a metal
water bottle and themanufacturer of that metal water
bottle says, when this metalwater bottle has Reached the end
of its life, say it's got dense, it cracked because it fell
down a hill on a hike, they willtake it back, they will recycle
(27:15):
it, and then that material willbe used to make either another
new metal water bottle orSomething else with that
material.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So that's where the manufacturer is saying we want
to be part of the solution,we're gonna close the loop.
So we're not putting it on theconsumer to say, hey, we've
created this problem and nowwe're gonna put it on you to
kind of solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So that's circular Economy, yeah, got it, so that
that product never kind of losesits life is kind of what it is.
It gets Transform, transformedagain.
Yep, okay, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I love that, and so isn't that kind of what aluminum
is all about as well.
Yeah, so metals are really goodat being Recycled into other
things, the glass as well.
I mean we've seen glass sodabottles, you know many, many
moons ago.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
They're coming back, but that's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Just being.
You know, brie used indifferent forms.
You know they're able to takeit, they break it down, they
heat it up, they put it into anew form and then it's holding
some other substance which isamazing got it.
If everything was like that andwe were stopping to use all of
the plastic, then we wouldn't,you know, have a lot less
(28:29):
Pollution plastic pollution inthe world, because now we're
talking about micro plastics andthat's pretty scary right.
But all of the plastic thatwe're putting in the landfill is
decomposing into those microplastics which then contaminate
the earth, right, but then theyget so small then they're
carried in the air so we'rebreathing it in as well, and
then it gets into the waterwaysand then our food sources.
(28:52):
You know, all of this stuff itjust kind of endless scary
streams.
Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's avicious cycle.
So if we can reduce some ofthose pollutants, those plastic
pollutants in the world, peopleare going to be healthier, the
environment is going to behealthier, the food we eat is
going to be healthier and I, youknow I would.
I look forward to that day.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
So so tell me, heather, I mean so.
So Heather has turned me on toan Organization called Terra
cycle, which I I still don'ttotally grasp.
I'll be honest with you again.
See, I'm as overwhelmed as youguys are.
Okay, but the idea.
So so Tell me, because I'vegiven you bagfuls of stuff, and
(29:35):
tell me, tell us more about thisparticular program, because
this is really different,because this, to me, this is
about recycling things thatyou're like you hold up a
toothbrush and go what am Isupposed to do with this?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Sure, what am I supposed to?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
do with this.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Absolutely, and so Terra cycles, an amazing
organization, and their wholemission is to eliminate the idea
of waste, and what they havedecided to do is take all of
those hard to recycle plasticsand Offer the consumer an option
to recycle them.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
So they have different sponsors that make
products that haven't quite yetcreated their own closed loop
systems.
So they pay Terra cycle tocollect their materials and
recycle them for them.
Oh, and that's free toconsumers like you and I.
They also have other Programswhere they work with
municipalities.
For example, they will put upcontainers in different cities
(30:28):
where folks can put theircigarette butts in there and
they recycle cigarette.
Wow yeah, it's crazy.
And then they also have paid forservice, where you can buy a
box that's called a zero wastebox and put everything in it,
ship it to them and they'llrecycle it for you.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And how much is that?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
What's?
How much is that expensive?
They vary that.
The zero waste boxes can be 50to $150, depending on how much
of the sorting you're gonna doyourself.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Okay, so in a zero-waste bar, in a in Terra
cycle zero-waste box, I can putmy toothbrush Sure.
How about old razor blades?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Absolutely.
They have a bunch of differentoptions.
They have a catch-all you canput anything in that box.
No, or they have a box that'slike oh, you have a coffee room
or a coffee break room in youroffice, let's have one that's
focused on those materialsreally so again, it just depends
on those little cogs things, onhow much of the different
things you're willing to kind ofSegregate out into the
(31:27):
different work streams thattheir pot or their boxes are
made of you love it, All right.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
So it's tell me the.
Do you know the website off topof your head?
Is it Terra cycle org?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I believe it's Terra cycle calm Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Listeners will find that out.
It'll be on the resource page.
You know, for this particularepisode, we're gonna provide you
with as many resources aspossible because you know, again
, small steps instead of nosteps.
You know so and you know, andand for some people I understand
that Buying a box to recycleyour own stuff is not doable.
(32:01):
That's no problem.
But there are other people, likeHeather, that is interested in
doing something like that and Ihave given her stuff for her box
because you know she's as partof the trash punks the group
here in the Bay Area.
She's asked us hey, give meyour stuff so I can fill my box
and and get it sent off.
(32:21):
So I mean that's that's quite ablessing for all of us to be
able to do that.
So thank you for that.
But there are companies outthere that are recycling stuff.
Heather asked the other day Giveus, give me your old socks that
have holes in them, or, youknow, your old crappy socks that
you don't want anymore.
And I'm thinking, yeah, youknow I didn't realize this
(32:41):
because I was actually justonline that earlier that day
thinking I need some new socksand After the call went out, I
emptied my sock drawer and I waslike oh my god Holy moly, I
have a lot of socks and I gaveHeather a big bag full of socks
that that had holes in them andthen I just kept shuffling back
in the back of the drawerthinking I need socks.
(33:02):
So what happened to those socks?
Because you put out a call andyou got a lot of socks.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I did I did so.
Thank you for contributing tothat yeah, so this is absolutely
.
This is part of the terrorcycle.
Free event are the free optionthat they have for you, and the
benefit to that is one Using alarger box that you already have
, so you buy something in amazonyou got a box where you gonna
put in a new, recycle it.
(33:28):
While you put your stuff in oneof those boxes, when it's full,
you send it in.
The bonus here is when you sendit in, they give you points,
and what those points do is theyturn into cash for your
favorite charity or school.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
So you get a free donation recycling stuff so
that's a free process.
That's the free process.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
So anybody and I can sign up and look at all of the
various things that they'rewilling to recycle for you.
And then you start collectingthem.
We get a full box, you send itin and you start earning points,
and then your kids school.
Could, you know, get a bonusdonation this year?
Gosh, you hear that people.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
That's awesome, so it's so.
May ask you then to use eitherI read it or you told me,
because I know that oh my gosh,clothing textiles.
Textiles are a huge, also ahuge contributor to land
landfills, to the way stream,and I read I have been watching
(34:31):
too much stuff.
You know I'm learning so muchawesome, but you know the whole
fast fashion, which was like anew term for me, you know, cuz
I'm not a fashionista.
If you know me, you know thewhole idea that you can buy
something super cheap online,have it sent to your door and
and it doesn't fit, doesn'tmatter, cuz it was only a couple
(34:52):
bucks kind of a thing, and thenit's get thrown away.
And then they have ultrafashion, which is, I guess, even
cheaper and faster and crappierand same kind of thing.
These are products that don'thave any real, they're not
quality, so it, you know.
So people like it doesn'tmatter and they kind of toss it
away.
But textiles are huge problem,aren't they?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
absolutely, absolutely.
So we all probably have moreclothes than than we all wear,
right?
So as we think about theclothes and what, those jeans
are never gonna fit again.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Sorry, I gotta tell you that now.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
And as we think about the jeans that may never fit
again, or, you know, the fancyoutfit that you wore to this one
, you know, premier event, thatyou may never wear again.
There's a place for that.
But those clothes last, becausethey were made well right when
you have something that's notmade well.
You know you wear it once, itgets a tear and so you throw it
(35:48):
away.
But what are you willing to paymore to get some quality, some
key quality clothes?
I think the majority of us andI'm guilty of it too I have a
lot of clothes.
However, if we're able to spenda little bit more on quality
key staple items that areinterchangeable and you can use
a lot of different outfits are,create a lot of different
(36:10):
outfits with it.
You can also find yourself onthat zero waste journey because
you're reducing the amount thatyou're taking in even though
you're spending a little bitmore on the front end.
It's gonna last yousignificantly longer.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
So it's actually the terms, it's actually money
savings it can be absolutelyabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
And then there's a lot of things happening and many
, many communities where thereare clothing swaps I guess I'm
in.
So people bring clothes they nolonger use to these clothing
swaps and then they get somefresh new stuff that's still in
really good shape Fill thewardrobe.
I mean, we hear about mom tomom events for kids clothes
because they grow so fast and,whether there's a stain or not,
(36:50):
some other little kids not gonnaknow the difference, right.
So we're so clothing swaps, momto mom swaps.
And then let's just make thatone step larger.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Let's have free markets yes, yes, heather, tell
us about free markets.
So yeah, wait, wait.
I have to tell the listenersbecause heather heather was, as
I mentioned, as you know howthis part of the trash punks,
but heather brought the ideafree market to the trash punks
and it has been a huge success.
Well, thank you, huge success,thank you yeah, so the idea.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Free markets are similar to it, say a garage sale
or a flea market.
We're all familiar with those.
We have stuff we want to getrid of it.
Right, let's try make a fewextra bucks if we can, but we
all know some things are worth alot more than what we let them
go for.
What if we let them go for free?
What if we have gatheringswhere we have stuff that we no
longer need?
(37:44):
We bring them to an event andthen we invite the community,
our local community, to come inand take whatever they need free
of charge.
Work extending the life of theseproducts love this engaging our
communities were helpingsupport those that are
underserved with, potentially,things that they may never be
able to get, and the communityand it's going back into the
(38:06):
community so it's, it's again.
It's a different cycle, butwe're just reusing and extending
the life of things and gettingthem into the hands of people
that can use them.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Love it.
I think it's such a great idea,you know, and it's so funny.
It's such a gosh.
I it's such a foreign conceptbecause when we have these free
market events, you'd besurprised how many people walk
up and go.
How much free, yeah, I know,okay, but how much?
How much do you want for that?
No, it's free, please take it,it's for you and it's the it's
(38:41):
kind of the way that washes overthem.
You can see that whole Wow andthen the gratitude, and then
then it's a mutual gratitude.
Then the person is thrilled tobe able to get the thing that
they needed, or they can neverafford or that, you know,
whatever that is that they werelooking for, and we're thrilled
(39:03):
to be able to not get in thelandfill, to be able to pass it
on and help somebody else.
So great thing for community.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Absolutely.
This is also known as thegifting economy in case you hear
that term out there and itreally does it can bring your
community together and, Iimagine, back in the depression
this was probably very common.
You know people helping peoplewith the things that they have
that they're not using.
We just got really used tobeing able to go out and buy
everything.
I use it once and then it sitsin the shelf in the garage and
(39:31):
then we all have a lot of thingswe don't use anymore.
Right so why don't we have morefree markets or more library ask
type Operations where, if youneed to go run a tool, you go
run a tool instead of buying itfor a single project?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
love it?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
are there places like that?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
yes, there is where you can rent tools.
Yes, love it, love it.
I've read, actually, an articlerecently where you could rent a
christmas tree Wonderful.
I have to tell you, Iabsolutely love that idea.
And not a real live one, youknow, and it stays in the bucket
and take care of it, you doyour thing with it at christmas
time and then you bring it backto the nursery, you know, and
(40:10):
for rental fee, and I'm like Ilove that absolutely.
That's great.
Love, all these ideas.
I think there's some reallyamazing stuff going on in our
world absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
there's a lot of innovation and, like you said
early on, it can be overwhelming, and to jump into any one of
these can be a big undertaking.
Yes, yes, when you just do onething, yes, I love, you make a
difference and that's where youstart, and then, before you know
it, you're adding another thingand then another thing in your
(40:41):
wall, in your ways, your way toa zero waste journey love it.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
So I hope I hope listeners, I hope you gleam
something from this conversation, some ideas, some, you know.
You know I ran a tree, you know, go to come on the free market
events or start a free marketevent.
But I would like now forheather to look through my trash
.
You know, I have to tell you,like I mentioned earlier, I've
(41:10):
been not dreading it because I,you know, I recognize that I
don't do it well, but I need todo it well.
I wanna do better.
I think I met the part in mylife or I'm willing to take the
extra time, take the extra stepsit takes to do it right, and
recognize that that you know thewish cycling doesn't work and I
(41:31):
am happy to share my lessonswith you guys.
So let's go look at my trash.
Alright, guys, I know here wego.
Okay, we got our gloves on, andso I have two bins in my house.
I have a bin that I use forwhat I my recycling and then
garbage, and they're right nextto each other.
(41:53):
So I told Heather, I said Idon't wanna dump my garbage out,
because my garbage has coffeegrinds in it and oh my gosh, I
think it has cat poop in it.
And what have you?
And when she's like no, shesays because I'm thinking, no,
no, it's garbage.
I know it's garbage, but shesays that's not what it's about.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
It's not about the garbage itself.
It's about the awareness of theplastic use and identifying
what you can change your habitsto reduce the plastic use on.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Okay, so I gotta dump my garbage out too.
So I'm gonna put the little micdown here and here we go.
All right, I'll do the garbageone.
I'm gonna put in my gloves.
We've got the recycle one, Okay, all right, All right garbage.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Countdown three two one.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Oh it's gross, okay it is gross.
Oh my God it is gross.
Okay, that is my garbage.
Okay, do I want me to put therecycle next to it?
Speaker 2 (42:55):
or are we just gonna go through the garbage?
Let's start here.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Okay, let's do it All right.
A lot of coffee grinds.
Obviously, I drink a lot ofcoffee, okay, okay.
So what we're actuallyphysically doing is we're
digging through my garbage andwe're pulling out plastic.
We're separating things, sowe're pulling out plastic yes,
yep, separating like things withlike things.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
So, if you have plastic with plastic, if you
have organics with organics.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Okay, I shouldn't have any organics.
By the way, I have an activecompost that if you look at my
garbage right now, you canclearly see that I only use it
sometimes because I have bananapeels in here and I have coffee
grinds and some other greenthings.
Yeah, all right.
(43:46):
Oh, I get it.
Okay, you guys are really doingthis.
Okay, okay, this is like so.
Okay, so this is a plastic andpaper.
Do I put it with the plastic?
Yep, okay, all right.
Okay, oh, my gosh.
(44:08):
Yep, neighbors are building ahouse or something I don't know.
Okay, why are these?
Boy, all right, lots of plastic, you guys.
Paper, what is this?
It's kind of paper.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Oh, that's a good question.
So for the listener, these arethings that come on like new
clothes, the sticky things thatwrap around that say small,
medium, large or what theclothing is.
And because they're sticky I'mgonna say they're not true paper
so I would put plastic.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Plastic.
Okay, all right.
So I aired my dirty trash withyou, heather, and I continued to
sort through my trash and myrecycle bins and, yes, my wish
recycling showed up.
But Heather kindly showed mewhere items belonged and how I
could do better.
I highly encourage you, give ita try.
Try this at home trash audit.
(45:04):
It helped me feel less shameabout my trash and more
empowered about what I could dobetter.
No more wish recycling.
Let me know if you do an audit,send me some pics.
You know, share your experienceon the two chicks and a whole
website, or not website,facebook site, please.
I'm so grateful to Heather forsharing her knowledge with all
(45:26):
of us.
Little steps are so much betterfor all of us than no steps.
Keep it simple, like Heathersaid, do what's right for you
and your family.
It's different for everybody.
Several little steps are waybetter than no steps and you can
be the model for your children,your neighbors, your friends,
creating that much needed rippleeffect, spreading awareness,
(45:48):
knowledge and love for ourcommunities and planet.
Remember the Rs refuse.
You can always say no, no,thanks.
Reduce, reuse, repair and rot.
The compost part and recycle.
Remember, recycle is actuallythe least desirable of those
items of those options.
(46:10):
I'll have several resources upon the website that can help you
with your zero waste journey.
Thanks for listening, you guys.
I hope you liked this.
It was really different.
I recognize that and I hopeit's not as complicated anymore
for you.
It's not for me.
Share this with your friendsand take care of each other, you
guys.
Bye.
Hey listeners, I want to read a small part of the
2018 Trash in America movingfrom destructive consumption to
a zero-waste system report.
That's a mouthful, but I wantedto share this with you to
illustrate what's happening.
Every morning, americans acrossthe country stop at a local
(00:21):
coffee shop for a cup of coffee,usually served in a disposable
cup.
We use the cup while we drinkour coffee and then toss it in
the trash.
The time it takes to drink ourcoffee, though, is just a brief
moment in the history of thematerials that went into the
creation of the cup.
To produce coffee cups, treesmust be cut down in oil
(00:42):
extracted from the ground.
Those raw materials must betransported to a factory to make
paper and plastic, which arethen often transported to
another factory to bemanufactured into a coffee cup.
The coffee cup is packaged upwith others, often in more paper
and plastic, and shipped, oftenover long distances, to a
(01:05):
distributor and, finally, to acoffee shop.
At the coffee shop, somebodypurchases the cup with their
coffee.
After drinking it promptly,they throw the cup away.
The cup, which is likely notrecyclable or compostable, will
then be taken with other trashand burned in an incinerator or
dumped in a landfill, where theplastic will break down into
(01:26):
smaller and smaller bits, butwill persist in one form or
another indefinitely.
This process repeats 63 milliontimes every day in America, 441
million times each week and 23billion times every year.
Wow, I know this sounds crazy.
(01:50):
I wanted to read that to you.
That's a brief history of thiscoffee cup, and it just
highlights how absurd thissystem is, where valuable
natural resources, which areformed over years or millennia,
are taken from the earth andmade into disposable items.
Well, today we're going to talkabout how we maybe don't need to
(02:13):
use that disposable coffee cup.
We're going to talk about zerowaste.
Hi everyone, it's Vanessa fromTwo Chicks and a Hoe, the
(02:37):
podcast that hopes you say, wow,I didn't know that, and maybe
get you to think and act indifferent ways.
Today's guest is Heather Bedy,a zero waste advocate and part
of The Trash Punx, which is agroup located in the San
Francisco Bay area.
Okay, so now, before you say,zero waste, yeah, this is not
(02:59):
possible, hang on, hang on.
Today we're going to chat aboutways we, as individuals can help
to change the direction thatthings are going with our trash,
pollution and plastic.
So before we started thisconversation, I talked to
Heather and I said please keepthis simple, because I know that
(03:21):
it's confusing.
It can be complicated,overwhelming and perceived as
time consuming, but we're goingto talk about small steps
instead of no steps.
Hang in there, don't tune out.
I know it's easy to just throwstuff in the garbage, close the
lid and have someone else dealwith it, but those days are gone
(03:45):
.
No one is dealing with it.
It's our turn to step up to theplate.
I'm going to share with you myown shortcomings about what to
do with my household trash.
We're going to do a trash auditand we're going to share
solutions and alternate ways ofthinking and moving through our
trash filled world.
There are answers and I'mthrilled to have Heather joining
(04:07):
us to point us in the rightdirection.
Welcome, heather.
Please help us Well.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
thank you, vanessa.
I'm so excited to be here andtalk with you all about zero
waste and what that looks likeand how to get started.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Excellent, excellent.
So everybody pay attention,because here's the biggest
question of all what is zerowaste?
Please start with that for us.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, zero waste in the big picture is eliminating
the idea of waste.
How can we, as consumers, nothave trash?
It's a big question, it's a bigconcern, it's a big problem.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
It almost seems that I hope.
It almost seems impossible.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And it may very well be Okay, we have to think about
plastic.
It originated not too long ago,so it's a man made substance.
What were people doing beforethen?
Why can't we get back to that?
But us as individual consumers?
What does that look like andmean for us?
What can we take in our homesand reduce or reuse in ways that
(05:13):
stop the influx of plastic inour lives?
Because when we start to dothings, change our habits of the
things that we buy, then themanufacturers out there start to
notice that their products areno longer being purchased
because consumers are startingto change what they require from
their manufacturers.
(05:33):
So we can make change in a bigway.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
So consumer demand really does drive markets.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
I think so.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I think so as well.
I think that's been kind ofused and proven now for many,
many years, many years.
And of course, my famous, myhero, my icon, jane Goodall, has
always said too that you as aconsumer have the power to
change everything.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Absolutely.
I mean, and if you, theconsumer out there, are willing,
you know you have theopportunity to write to these
companies and say have youconsidered changing your plastic
to glass or a compostablematerial or something else?
Speaker 1 (06:13):
That takes some time and people generally take a lot
of people behind it too, doesn'tit?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Absolutely, absolutely.
But if you stop spending moneyon a product because it's not in
a form which you want in yourhome, then numbers speak.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Okay, okay, so all right.
So zero waste is about no waste, so let's talk a little bit
more about that then, okay, sotell me, I guess, tell me even
more to tell you the truth.
I mean that you know, like Isaid, it sounds almost
impossible.
And I did read in.
You know, in coming up withthis conversation, I did read
(06:53):
about a gal and her family Ithink a family of four, if I
read this correctly can walkaway with like a mason jar Okay,
maybe a big mason jar, but notthat big, still a mason jar of
trash, that that is their trashfor the year.
I like, wow, so I can see thatthere's, I see there's obviously
(07:15):
possibilities, but you know, Iagain, again, Small steps
instead of no steps.
I'm gonna repeat that probablyseveral times, because that kind
of came to me earlier today instarting this conversation.
Again, I am thinking, oh mygosh, this is so, it seems so
overwhelming.
(07:35):
But I, I, I know I've hadconversations with you before
again about Taking steps, notbeing frozen, going to know I'm
not gonna do anything becausethat doesn't help anything
absolutely, and I thinkoverwhelming is a really good
word.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
A lot of times we as consumers and individuals say
well, what can I do?
What does one small thing thatI do?
What difference does that make?
Well, the reality is it makes ahuge difference.
It is one action turns into aripple effect and then people
see that and then more and morepeople are doing that.
But if you look at it and say Ican't take it all on, I can't
(08:11):
do it all, you don't have to doit all, just have to do one
thing.
But you have to find thatmindset where you actually want
to do that one thing.
You're ready to take that firststep.
And what that first step looksfor you, looks like for you,
vanessa is going to be differentthan what it looked like for me
.
Right?
We all have to find what thatis for us.
So if we have animals, maybeit's, you know, finding a
plastic.
(08:32):
I am that you purchase for youranimals and say, okay, we're
not gonna go plastic anymore isanother option.
Or if we love to drink water,it's like are we using plastic
water bottles or can we get, areyou usable water bottle?
So it's gonna look differentfor everybody and it's about
what you can say yes to now anddoing that one thing until it
(08:54):
becomes habit.
And then, when you're good withthat and you say, okay, what
else can I do?
But it really starts with thatmindset to say, hey, I'm ready
to do something.
What can I do?
What works in my lifestyle?
Because that one thing again,you're gonna take it everywhere
you go.
People are gonna ask you aboutit and then they're gonna say I
never thought it was that easy.
(09:14):
I can do that.
I can get a reusable waterbottle, or I can take an old
t-shirt and replace paper towels, or I can Use a container that
I got at the grocery store fordishwashing detergent and use it
as a compost bin.
You can do anything.
It's just again changing thatmindset and saying what can I do
(09:35):
today that works for me and myfamily?
Because every person, everyfamily, is different, their
needs are different, so justwant to accommodate for that.
But there's always somethingthat can be done perfect,
perfect.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
I talked about that earlier.
When heather showed up to thestudio for for the interview, I
asked how this listen I'mlooking for, so I have, I do
compost and I, but I can't put acompost bin on my kitchen
counter because it attracts ants, which I have an ant problem.
So I was like what do I do?
(10:07):
And I don't?
I don't want to spend, you know, and buy another product,
another croc thing or whateveryou know to put on my counter.
And I knew that.
You know, heather, what do I do?
When she came up with a, youknow, she told me she says I use
one of those containers at the,the dishwashing pods come in.
I was like, oh, and you know, Inever thought of that because I
(10:28):
would take that, recycle it,thinking that I'm recycling and
doing the right thing.
But I think I love this and Ijust I love this concept.
It's not a concept.
I love the idea that the wholeidea of recycling, but there's a
way, more steps that you cantake before you ever get to the
recycling part, and that I wouldreally like you to address.
(10:52):
Because I think recycling, wethink we're right on and I
thought, I thought I'm gonnarecycle this bin and everything,
but the whole idea of actuallyusing it for something else that
I need instead of buyingsomething else.
I love that idea and that madeperfect sense to me yeah,
absolutely, and I think to again.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
It starts with your choice, right.
What works for you, where areyou at in your life and what do
you want to do?
Again, everybody's gonna be ina different place right it's
changing that process in makinga choice that you want to do
something.
When you go out to the store,you can refuse to buy things
that are plastic.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Can you?
You can, because I meaneverything seems to be in
plastic it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, you can choose not to buy it.
There's gonna be somewherewhere you can purchase it in
bulk or at a zero waste shop,more and more showing up
everywhere.
I was traveling to ireland nottoo long ago and they had and
you go, friendly, zero wasteshop and I was so excited.
So anywhere you go, there'sopportunities available.
You just have to look fortypically small shops, but even
(11:57):
some of the larger brand nameones, like whole foods, they
have a bulk section.
You can take your containers inthere and buy nuts and seeds
and I know this soundsridiculous, that I don't know
this but you can take your owncontainers in there.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
I believe so absolutely.
You don't have to use yourplastic bag that's hanging there
.
Think so.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
That's awesome okay, and so there's a lot of a lot of
places like that around.
So you know you just again,it's Thinking about what you
have available to you right, andfinding it in a different place
.
It may not be your local storethat you go to all the time.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
I never heard of those zero waste shop.
Tell me they're springing upeverywhere I hope so.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I was just super excited when I saw I was walking
by, like what is that?
Let me go check that out.
And you know, we have somelocally here and I, you know,
I've heard of other ones indifferent places.
So I really recommend thateverybody listening, you know,
google search, see what's nearbyand there may be some that
aren't so close to you, but doyou happen to go into that area
(13:00):
maybe once a month and say, okay, these are things I want to buy
, and then, when you Happen tobe in that area, stop in your
fill up and then you come backhome so you're, you know,
reducing the carbon footprint ofgoing to, you know, five
hundred different places, justbecause you want to be eco
friendly.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Kind of defeats the purpose.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Yeah, you know you're thinking about, how can I still
consolidate my Places that I'mgoing to, the number of
locations that I'm going to,especially if you're driving to
be a little bit more efficientand effective in terms of gas
and in the carbon footprintassociated with going to
different places?
Right, not be in your localarea, right.
But again, as we think about tonot using single use stuff, we
(13:43):
have that power.
We can choose not to use.
It may not be as convenient,but is there something in your
house that already exists thatyou can use instead?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
like my existing dishwasher tub.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Thing right that I could use for my compost pale.
Absolutely, and then when youdo go to the store there things
you're buying in plastic thatyou can actually reduce the
amount of is it something youand your family actually need?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
Okay.
So we're thinking, we'retalking about putting some more
thought into the things that,like you just said that you had.
Do you really need it?
So?
So, before we go, that, so tellme that.
And the five hours, the sixhours, that, what is the
strategy?
That that you know that keepscoming up, which I love, but
(14:29):
it's again, it's, it's beyondthe recycle part, which we think
is the top of everything, butthat's actually further down the
line, isn't it?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
in terms of Methods to use absolutely, absolutely so
, and it's a lot of what we'vejust been talking about, with
recycling being the final pieceof the puzzle, where you recycle
what it is because you cannotfind another purpose I got it,
got it okay for it and so someof these things.
Again, like we just talked about, it's really Thinking how you
(14:56):
think about things, the choicesyou make, refusing things.
You go to some event, you getsome plastics way or something.
You can say no to that.
Okay, you can again reduce whatyou're using already that's in
plastic.
You can reuse the plastic youalready have.
You can refurbish things, youcan fix them.
(15:19):
I know a lot of places arestarting to come around with
different local laws that aresaying you know, repair is
important, so we want to makesure that people have the
opportunity to repair instead ofhaving to completely replace.
And you can also repurposeagain, like we've talked about,
so you can take something youhave and use it for a completely
(15:39):
different purpose than what itwas originally intended for,
similar to the dishwashing podcontainer that we were talking
about for compost, and then,when all else fails, then you
can recycle it.
But is there another way youcan use those things that you
get that you already pay for atthe store in a different way?
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So let me kind of repeat that, okay.
So, because I, this is a group,there's a great thought.
So the idea is refuse.
You know, first of all, you behanded crap that you don't
really want, but you takebecause you know, whatever, it's
the way we do things a lot oftimes.
I don't want that, so yourefuse, you reduce potentially
(16:17):
how much you are using in thefirst place by rethinking about
how you potentially use it.
You reuse stuff, okay, repairthings.
I love that and you know, and Iknow that people repair socks
and furniture and electronics,their household.
(16:38):
You know what do you call them?
Dishwashers and washingmachines and what have you.
And then also the rot it wasone of the Rs that I had saw.
Of course, that's compostingand and then recycle, okay, so I
just wanted to get all thosekind of an out there again.
I love, I love that strategy.
(17:00):
It just takes.
It takes way more, not way more.
It takes a different way ofthinking about things, doesn't
it?
Because we're kind of likeencouraged and we've talked
about this on other episodes,like cell phone recycling we're
encouraged to buy the nextbiggest, next greatest thing.
You know, yeah, and, and we do,and a lot of us do, and instead
(17:23):
of recognizing that the currentone you have is still good.
So it's kind of kind of.
This thought process goes alittle bit against the grain of
consumerism, doesn't it right?
okay, a lot against the grain ofconsumerism which is kind of
part of the process too, isn'tit about?
Oh, about rethinking about thethings that we use in our life,
(17:44):
in our households absolutely,and it goes back to starting.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Simple.
It's like where are you at andwhat are you willing to do today
?
You might not be willing to cutup old t-shirts and get rid of
(18:08):
paper towels, and that's okay,but you might be willing to use
a reusable water bottle insteadof buying plastic water bottles
at the grocery store so give mesome, give me some examples,
like you just said, of the waterbottle, instead of buying
single use plastics.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
You know, okay, I'm going to refill my water, you
know my water bottle every day.
What else?
What else are some reallysimple ones that people can, you
know, can, take on and then gofor the bigger stuff, of course
sure?
Speaker 2 (18:36):
so again, shopping in bulk at the grocery store is
huge, even if you don't have acontainer or the store doesn't
allow a container, think aboutthe overall amount of plastic
you're bringing into your home,right?
So if you have one of thoseplastic bags to put your bulk in
, versus a big plastic containerthat it comes in, so you could
(18:59):
also reuse that plastic bagexactly several times over.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Got it so thinking.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Going back to the dishwashing pod container, it's
plastic.
We can reuse it, say, as acompost bin.
Well, if you don't want to washout that compost bin, maybe you
use those plastic bags to linethat compost bin and then put it
in your trash and then whateveryour municipality does for
(19:23):
compost, if they have thatoption, well then process it
through their system.
Some stores now which iswonderful are actually using
compostable bags for theirproduce bags which I found
amazing, and they do havecompostable produce bags and
trash bags and all kinds of bagsout there for you if you want
to go there.
So yeah, so there's a lot ofdifferent, different
(19:46):
opportunities there.
Ziplock bags we all use them,love them, love them.
They make traveling amazing.
But they do have opportunitiesout there for you to buy either
silicon bags that are similar oh, I've seen those yes bags.
Yes, or um, also food wrapping,like they have.
The cloth with the beeswax yes,that you can use yes, so again
(20:10):
there's.
There's a bunch of things andyou know, some of some of you
out there might be saying that'sjust not for me and that's okay
.
Again, we want to come back togoing what is simple and what
can I do today?
So I mean it.
Maybe it's a straw.
Maybe you're like I use strawsa lot.
Maybe I can get a silicone ormetal straw and replace all
those other or not use a strawor not use a straw got it so
(20:30):
there's there's a ton of optionsout there and it just really
again depends on where you areand what you're willing to do
today and then, once you're goodwith that, then you just build
on it one thing at a time.
Keep it simple.
Keep it simple.
You do too many things at once,you get overwhelmed right,
right it's.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
It really is about making lifestyle changes, isn't
it absolutely?
We're programmed to do certainthings certain ways.
Throw it in the garbage, turnyour back and walk away.
Yeah, which I know I'm aculprit of.
I know this, you guys, I knowheather was the one that taught
me about wish recycling and youknow I I have another friend and
I know she's going to listen tothis podcast because she is
(21:09):
rides me.
When she comes down, she livesup in oregon when she comes down
, she opens my trash slashrecycle bin in the kitchen and
says oh, are you kidding me?
Do you think you can actuallyrecycle this?
And I think I'm thinking, yeah,I thought I could, you know,
and and and that's when heatherintroduced me to the idea of
(21:32):
wish recycling.
It's like, well, it's plastic,it should be it, it should be
recyclable.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So I'm going to put it in the recycle bin because
it's because it should berecyclable it should be, and it
makes us feel good about whatwe're doing, because that's what
we've been taught.
So what is wish recycling sowish recycling or wish cycling
is basically putting an iteminto the recycle bin because
(21:58):
that's where you believe itbelongs, whether it actually
does or not.
And it gets a little bitcomplicated because every single
city, county and state havedifferent recycling requirements
.
Some, some places, don't haveany recycling at all which I've
seen and some do, and so I maywork in city a, but when I go to
(22:20):
city b it's somethingcompletely different and I don't
know what I'm doing.
So I'm going to do what I do athome, and it may be completely
wrong for that city or thatcounty that I'm working in.
So it's really challenging forus as the consumer yes to
understand.
So what we do is we say, oh,it's plastic, it should be
recyclable.
It goes into the recycling binthat's glass, it should be
(22:40):
recyclable.
It goes into the recycling bin.
Well, some places don't takecolored glass, but you don't
know that unless they have goodeducation around their programs.
Ideally now we would have aunified recycling program so
everything's consistent acrossthe nation, across the world.
So, no matter where we go,we're all doing the same thing,
right?
We're just not there yet andhopeful one day we can get there
(23:01):
.
Speaker 1 (23:02):
Are we getting closer heather?
Because I mean so, as we, as weall know this, the I mean
there's all obviously a lot of,and I'm glad you know there's
big conversations about plasticand it not being recyclable and
where it's ending up in theoceans.
All the big, the big plasticpatch, all of those types of
(23:22):
things.
I get that and I'm glad thatthese conversations are being
had.
But you know the trash ingeneral that's ending up in the
landfills and the amount of foodwaste that goes into the
landfills, which I hear is is uh, I'm reading statistics
anywhere from like 30 to 40percent of stuff that goes in
(23:42):
the landfill is food waste.
So I mean is um, are we, are wechanging things?
Are we?
Uh, I know, I mean I've saidthis, I know small steps, small
steps, I know I know these alladd up.
I know that's how things work.
But are we too?
Speaker 2 (23:59):
late, I I would not say we're too late, okay, I
think everybody taking a standand doing something is going to
make a change, and that's wherewe're at.
We need everybody to makechange.
We need you to say, yes, I'mwilling to replace that plastic
water bottle with a reusable one.
I'm willing to take one thingand make a change for that today
(24:23):
, because when we all startdoing that, then it becomes an
exponential thing.
The people around us see it andthen they get excited and
interested and then they startto change the way that they're
doing things.
And then, if you bring childreninto it, you know, then they
have healthy habits growing up.
So their future children andtheir grandchildren and
generations beyond are alreadygoing to have those healthy
(24:44):
habits.
So we're going to see anexponential change.
But all of us right now need totake a stand.
We need to do something.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
As small as it is, it may seem like it's small, but
it's really quite large justtaking that first step to do
something because there's a lotof us, there's a lot of right,
okay, so if we all do something,that it's a big thing, then
absolutely got it got it.
So I've been hearing a lotabout circular economies.
Tell me, tell me.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, so circular economies are where the
manufacturers make a product andthey have a complete closed
loop system.
So when that product isManufactured it goes to the
consumer, it has somewhere to goafter its use, its Life has
been completed, and then it getsreused back into potentially
(25:34):
making that product again orsome other product.
So every bit of that Item isused or repurposed in a
different way.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
So that's an example of the closed loop.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Let's, for example, say we have there's, there's an
organization called bright markand they're trying to eliminate
plastic and and one of thethings that they do is they take
all of the plastic.
Doesn't matter what kind it is.
(26:07):
They're like bring it in, we'lltake it.
They take that plastic and theyprocess it and in the process
of doing that, it gets changedinto CNG gas and wax.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And CNG gas we can use, for.
I've seen that.
I've seen those and I've seenthat yeah, so some vehicles use
that.
That's yes, different things.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yes, but so they're taking all of that plastic and
it's turning into something else.
So the wax can be sold and itcan be used to make candles, to
make whatever's, to do this orthat, and then the gas can be
used for, you know, potentiallyVehicles and different things
like that as well.
Another example I'm not surethat that's a great example of
(26:52):
closed loop, because they're notactually manufacturing the
plastic.
But if you think let's just say, for example, you have a metal
water bottle and themanufacturer of that metal water
bottle says, when this metalwater bottle has Reached the end
of its life, say it's got dense, it cracked because it fell
down a hill on a hike, they willtake it back, they will recycle
(27:15):
it, and then that material willbe used to make either another
new metal water bottle orSomething else with that
material.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
So that's where the manufacturer is saying we want
to be part of the solution,we're gonna close the loop.
So we're not putting it on theconsumer to say, hey, we've
created this problem and nowwe're gonna put it on you to
kind of solve that problem.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
So that's circular Economy, yeah, got it, so that
that product never kind of losesits life is kind of what it is.
It gets Transform, transformedagain.
Yep, okay, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I love that, and so isn't that kind of what aluminum
is all about as well.
Yeah, so metals are really goodat being Recycled into other
things, the glass as well.
I mean we've seen glass sodabottles, you know many, many
moons ago.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
They're coming back, but that's what I heard.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
Just being.
You know, brie used indifferent forms.
You know they're able to takeit, they break it down, they
heat it up, they put it into anew form and then it's holding
some other substance which isamazing got it.
If everything was like that andwe were stopping to use all of
the plastic, then we wouldn't,you know, have a lot less
(28:29):
Pollution plastic pollution inthe world, because now we're
talking about micro plastics andthat's pretty scary right.
But all of the plastic thatwe're putting in the landfill is
decomposing into those microplastics which then contaminate
the earth, right, but then theyget so small then they're
carried in the air so we'rebreathing it in as well, and
then it gets into the waterwaysand then our food sources.
(28:52):
You know, all of this stuff itjust kind of endless scary
streams.
Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's avicious cycle.
So if we can reduce some ofthose pollutants, those plastic
pollutants in the world, peopleare going to be healthier, the
environment is going to behealthier, the food we eat is
going to be healthier and I, youknow I would.
I look forward to that day.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
So so tell me, heather, I mean so.
So Heather has turned me on toan Organization called Terra
cycle, which I I still don'ttotally grasp.
I'll be honest with you again.
See, I'm as overwhelmed as youguys are.
Okay, but the idea.
So so Tell me, because I'vegiven you bagfuls of stuff, and
(29:35):
tell me, tell us more about thisparticular program, because
this is really different,because this, to me, this is
about recycling things thatyou're like you hold up a
toothbrush and go what am Isupposed to do with this?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Sure, what am I supposed to?
Speaker 1 (29:47):
do with this.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Absolutely, and so Terra cycles, an amazing
organization, and their wholemission is to eliminate the idea
of waste, and what they havedecided to do is take all of
those hard to recycle plasticsand Offer the consumer an option
to recycle them.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Hmm.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
So they have different sponsors that make
products that haven't quite yetcreated their own closed loop
systems.
So they pay Terra cycle tocollect their materials and
recycle them for them.
Oh, and that's free toconsumers like you and I.
They also have other Programswhere they work with
municipalities.
For example, they will put upcontainers in different cities
(30:28):
where folks can put theircigarette butts in there and
they recycle cigarette.
Wow yeah, it's crazy.
And then they also have paid forservice, where you can buy a
box that's called a zero wastebox and put everything in it,
ship it to them and they'llrecycle it for you.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
And how much is that?
Speaker 2 (30:45):
What's?
How much is that expensive?
They vary that.
The zero waste boxes can be 50to $150, depending on how much
of the sorting you're gonna doyourself.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Okay, so in a zero-waste bar, in a in Terra
cycle zero-waste box, I can putmy toothbrush Sure.
How about old razor blades?
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Absolutely.
They have a bunch of differentoptions.
They have a catch-all you canput anything in that box.
No, or they have a box that'slike oh, you have a coffee room
or a coffee break room in youroffice, let's have one that's
focused on those materialsreally so again, it just depends
on those little cogs things, onhow much of the different
things you're willing to kind ofSegregate out into the
(31:27):
different work streams thattheir pot or their boxes are
made of you love it, All right.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
So it's tell me the.
Do you know the website off topof your head?
Is it Terra cycle org?
Speaker 2 (31:36):
I believe it's Terra cycle calm Okay.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
Listeners will find that out.
It'll be on the resource page.
You know, for this particularepisode, we're gonna provide you
with as many resources aspossible because you know, again
, small steps instead of nosteps.
You know so and you know, andand for some people I understand
that Buying a box to recycleyour own stuff is not doable.
(32:01):
That's no problem.
But there are other people, likeHeather, that is interested in
doing something like that and Ihave given her stuff for her box
because you know she's as partof the trash punks the group
here in the Bay Area.
She's asked us hey, give meyour stuff so I can fill my box
and and get it sent off.
(32:21):
So I mean that's that's quite ablessing for all of us to be
able to do that.
So thank you for that.
But there are companies outthere that are recycling stuff.
Heather asked the other day Giveus, give me your old socks that
have holes in them, or, youknow, your old crappy socks that
you don't want anymore.
And I'm thinking, yeah, youknow I didn't realize this
(32:41):
because I was actually justonline that earlier that day
thinking I need some new socksand After the call went out, I
emptied my sock drawer and I waslike oh my god Holy moly, I
have a lot of socks and I gaveHeather a big bag full of socks
that that had holes in them andthen I just kept shuffling back
in the back of the drawerthinking I need socks.
(33:02):
So what happened to those socks?
Because you put out a call andyou got a lot of socks.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
I did I did so.
Thank you for contributing tothat yeah, so this is absolutely
.
This is part of the terrorcycle.
Free event are the free optionthat they have for you, and the
benefit to that is one Using alarger box that you already have
, so you buy something in amazonyou got a box where you gonna
put in a new, recycle it.
(33:28):
While you put your stuff in oneof those boxes, when it's full,
you send it in.
The bonus here is when you sendit in, they give you points,
and what those points do is theyturn into cash for your
favorite charity or school.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
So you get a free donation recycling stuff so
that's a free process.
That's the free process.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
So anybody and I can sign up and look at all of the
various things that they'rewilling to recycle for you.
And then you start collectingthem.
We get a full box, you send itin and you start earning points,
and then your kids school.
Could, you know, get a bonusdonation this year?
Gosh, you hear that people.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
That's awesome, so it's so.
May ask you then to use eitherI read it or you told me,
because I know that oh my gosh,clothing textiles.
Textiles are a huge, also ahuge contributor to land
landfills, to the way stream,and I read I have been watching
(34:31):
too much stuff.
You know I'm learning so muchawesome, but you know the whole
fast fashion, which was like anew term for me, you know, cuz
I'm not a fashionista.
If you know me, you know thewhole idea that you can buy
something super cheap online,have it sent to your door and
and it doesn't fit, doesn'tmatter, cuz it was only a couple
(34:52):
bucks kind of a thing, and thenit's get thrown away.
And then they have ultrafashion, which is, I guess, even
cheaper and faster and crappierand same kind of thing.
These are products that don'thave any real, they're not
quality, so it, you know.
So people like it doesn'tmatter and they kind of toss it
away.
But textiles are huge problem,aren't they?
Speaker 2 (35:14):
absolutely, absolutely.
So we all probably have moreclothes than than we all wear,
right?
So as we think about theclothes and what, those jeans
are never gonna fit again.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Sorry, I gotta tell you that now.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
And as we think about the jeans that may never fit
again, or, you know, the fancyoutfit that you wore to this one
, you know, premier event, thatyou may never wear again.
There's a place for that.
But those clothes last, becausethey were made well right when
you have something that's notmade well.
You know you wear it once, itgets a tear and so you throw it
(35:48):
away.
But what are you willing to paymore to get some quality, some
key quality clothes?
I think the majority of us andI'm guilty of it too I have a
lot of clothes.
However, if we're able to spenda little bit more on quality
key staple items that areinterchangeable and you can use
a lot of different outfits are,create a lot of different
(36:10):
outfits with it.
You can also find yourself onthat zero waste journey because
you're reducing the amount thatyou're taking in even though
you're spending a little bitmore on the front end.
It's gonna last yousignificantly longer.
Speaker 1 (36:22):
So it's actually the terms, it's actually money
savings it can be absolutelyabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
And then there's a lot of things happening and many
, many communities where thereare clothing swaps I guess I'm
in.
So people bring clothes they nolonger use to these clothing
swaps and then they get somefresh new stuff that's still in
really good shape Fill thewardrobe.
I mean, we hear about mom tomom events for kids clothes
because they grow so fast and,whether there's a stain or not,
(36:50):
some other little kids not gonnaknow the difference, right.
So we're so clothing swaps, momto mom swaps.
And then let's just make thatone step larger.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Let's have free markets yes, yes, heather, tell
us about free markets.
So yeah, wait, wait.
I have to tell the listenersbecause heather heather was, as
I mentioned, as you know howthis part of the trash punks,
but heather brought the ideafree market to the trash punks
and it has been a huge success.
Well, thank you, huge success,thank you yeah, so the idea.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Free markets are similar to it, say a garage sale
or a flea market.
We're all familiar with those.
We have stuff we want to getrid of it.
Right, let's try make a fewextra bucks if we can, but we
all know some things are worth alot more than what we let them
go for.
What if we let them go for free?
What if we have gatheringswhere we have stuff that we no
longer need?
(37:44):
We bring them to an event andthen we invite the community,
our local community, to come inand take whatever they need free
of charge.
Work extending the life of theseproducts love this engaging our
communities were helpingsupport those that are
underserved with, potentially,things that they may never be
able to get, and the communityand it's going back into the
(38:06):
community so it's, it's again.
It's a different cycle, butwe're just reusing and extending
the life of things and gettingthem into the hands of people
that can use them.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Love it.
I think it's such a great idea,you know, and it's so funny.
It's such a gosh.
I it's such a foreign conceptbecause when we have these free
market events, you'd besurprised how many people walk
up and go.
How much free, yeah, I know,okay, but how much?
How much do you want for that?
No, it's free, please take it,it's for you and it's the it's
(38:41):
kind of the way that washes overthem.
You can see that whole Wow andthen the gratitude, and then
then it's a mutual gratitude.
Then the person is thrilled tobe able to get the thing that
they needed, or they can neverafford or that, you know,
whatever that is that they werelooking for, and we're thrilled
(39:03):
to be able to not get in thelandfill, to be able to pass it
on and help somebody else.
So great thing for community.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Absolutely.
This is also known as thegifting economy in case you hear
that term out there and itreally does it can bring your
community together and, Iimagine, back in the depression
this was probably very common.
You know people helping peoplewith the things that they have
that they're not using.
We just got really used tobeing able to go out and buy
everything.
I use it once and then it sitsin the shelf in the garage and
(39:31):
then we all have a lot of thingswe don't use anymore.
Right so why don't we have morefree markets or more library ask
type Operations where, if youneed to go run a tool, you go
run a tool instead of buying itfor a single project?
Speaker 1 (39:46):
love it?
Speaker 2 (39:47):
are there places like that?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
yes, there is where you can rent tools.
Yes, love it, love it.
I've read, actually, an articlerecently where you could rent a
christmas tree Wonderful.
I have to tell you, Iabsolutely love that idea.
And not a real live one, youknow, and it stays in the bucket
and take care of it, you doyour thing with it at christmas
time and then you bring it backto the nursery, you know, and
(40:10):
for rental fee, and I'm like Ilove that absolutely.
That's great.
Love, all these ideas.
I think there's some reallyamazing stuff going on in our
world absolutely.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
there's a lot of innovation and, like you said
early on, it can be overwhelming, and to jump into any one of
these can be a big undertaking.
Yes, yes, when you just do onething, yes, I love, you make a
difference and that's where youstart, and then, before you know
it, you're adding another thingand then another thing in your
(40:41):
wall, in your ways, your way toa zero waste journey love it.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
So I hope I hope listeners, I hope you gleam
something from this conversation, some ideas, some, you know.
You know I ran a tree, you know, go to come on the free market
events or start a free marketevent.
But I would like now forheather to look through my trash
.
You know, I have to tell you,like I mentioned earlier, I've
(41:10):
been not dreading it because I,you know, I recognize that I
don't do it well, but I need todo it well.
I wanna do better.
I think I met the part in mylife or I'm willing to take the
extra time, take the extra stepsit takes to do it right, and
recognize that that you know thewish cycling doesn't work and I
(41:31):
am happy to share my lessonswith you guys.
So let's go look at my trash.
Alright, guys, I know here wego.
Okay, we got our gloves on, andso I have two bins in my house.
I have a bin that I use forwhat I my recycling and then
garbage, and they're right nextto each other.
(41:53):
So I told Heather, I said Idon't wanna dump my garbage out,
because my garbage has coffeegrinds in it and oh my gosh, I
think it has cat poop in it.
And what have you?
And when she's like no, shesays because I'm thinking, no,
no, it's garbage.
I know it's garbage, but shesays that's not what it's about.
Speaker 2 (42:11):
It's not about the garbage itself.
It's about the awareness of theplastic use and identifying
what you can change your habitsto reduce the plastic use on.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Okay, so I gotta dump my garbage out too.
So I'm gonna put the little micdown here and here we go.
All right, I'll do the garbageone.
I'm gonna put in my gloves.
We've got the recycle one, Okay, all right, All right garbage.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
Countdown three two one.
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Oh it's gross, okay it is gross.
Oh my God it is gross.
Okay, that is my garbage.
Okay, do I want me to put therecycle next to it?
Speaker 2 (42:55):
or are we just gonna go through the garbage?
Let's start here.
Speaker 1 (42:57):
Okay, let's do it All right.
A lot of coffee grinds.
Obviously, I drink a lot ofcoffee, okay, okay.
So what we're actuallyphysically doing is we're
digging through my garbage andwe're pulling out plastic.
We're separating things, sowe're pulling out plastic yes,
yep, separating like things withlike things.
Speaker 2 (43:16):
So, if you have plastic with plastic, if you
have organics with organics.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
Okay, I shouldn't have any organics.
By the way, I have an activecompost that if you look at my
garbage right now, you canclearly see that I only use it
sometimes because I have bananapeels in here and I have coffee
grinds and some other greenthings.
Yeah, all right.
(43:46):
Oh, I get it.
Okay, you guys are really doingthis.
Okay, okay, this is like so.
Okay, so this is a plastic andpaper.
Do I put it with the plastic?
Yep, okay, all right.
Okay, oh, my gosh.
(44:08):
Yep, neighbors are building ahouse or something I don't know.
Okay, why are these?
Boy, all right, lots of plastic, you guys.
Paper, what is this?
It's kind of paper.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Oh, that's a good question.
So for the listener, these arethings that come on like new
clothes, the sticky things thatwrap around that say small,
medium, large or what theclothing is.
And because they're sticky I'mgonna say they're not true paper
so I would put plastic.
Speaker 1 (44:43):
Plastic.
Okay, all right.
So I aired my dirty trash withyou, heather, and I continued to
sort through my trash and myrecycle bins and, yes, my wish
recycling showed up.
But Heather kindly showed mewhere items belonged and how I
could do better.
I highly encourage you, give ita try.
Try this at home trash audit.
(45:04):
It helped me feel less shameabout my trash and more
empowered about what I could dobetter.
No more wish recycling.
Let me know if you do an audit,send me some pics.
You know, share your experienceon the two chicks and a whole
website, or not website,facebook site, please.
I'm so grateful to Heather forsharing her knowledge with all
(45:26):
of us.
Little steps are so much betterfor all of us than no steps.
Keep it simple, like Heathersaid, do what's right for you
and your family.
It's different for everybody.
Several little steps are waybetter than no steps and you can
be the model for your children,your neighbors, your friends,
creating that much needed rippleeffect, spreading awareness,
(45:48):
knowledge and love for ourcommunities and planet.
Remember the Rs refuse.
You can always say no, no,thanks.
Reduce, reuse, repair and rot.
The compost part and recycle.
Remember, recycle is actuallythe least desirable of those
items of those options.
(46:10):
I'll have several resources upon the website that can help you
with your zero waste journey.
Thanks for listening, you guys.
I hope you liked this.
It was really different.
I recognize that and I hopeit's not as complicated anymore
for you.
It's not for me.
Share this with your friendsand take care of each other, you
guys.
Bye.
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