Year 5, day 1 on one load of trash
This post is about freedom.
Several milestones this week following Year 13, day 1 of daily burpees and My Second Winter Solstice: Over 1.5 Years Unplugged From the Electric Grid (and counting). More freedom than ever.
I once filled about a load of trash every week. I ordered takeout and bought lots of packaged food. I bought things online. I didn’t realize how much it cost me in money and emotional torment, since part of me knew I was hurting people (and wildlife), which conflicted with my values of not hurting people, especially for my comfort, convenience, ignorance, and (there’s no other word for my relationship with doof) addiction.
On Christmas day 2019, I walked down the hall with a full load of trash and poured it down the chute. Since then, I haven’t filled a load of trash. Today begins my fifth year on one load. In that time, I’ve filled a few loads of recycling, but I don’t buy almost nothing in bottles, cans, boxes, or bags, so not much. Mostly it’s paper from junk mail, though less of it too since I email and call places to remove myself from their lists.
You can reduce your waste too, far more than you thought, with practice. It took me years to wean myself from food packaging, and I still buy some, but I had almost no role models (Lauren Singer and Bea Johnson were two). You have me. Again: you can do it. You’ll be glad you did and wish you had sooner.
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