Author Topic: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson  (Read 9657 times)

deborah

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Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« on: September 25, 2014, 03:42:45 AM »
I'm currently reading Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson - I thought it was a recommendation by someone here, but I can't find a reference to it.

Anyway, it is about decluttering and reducing/eliminating the waste in your home. It is very readable, and her approach keeps me asking
  • whether I could do some of the things she does,
  • whether there are other ways of achieving what she does
  • whether what she does is reasonable (for instance she goes shopping in a car, because she takes along all these glass jars, so the butcher can put meat in them rather than using plastic bags), and
  • what other things can be done using the same methodology
I would be interested in hearing from anyone else who is reading/has read this, and what their thoughts are about the book.

deborah

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2014, 04:20:24 PM »
When I read the bit to SO about getting the butcher and the grocer to use glass jars rather than packaging, he said that he refused to do anything like that - it would be too embarrassing!

halftimer

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #2 on: January 12, 2015, 09:31:46 PM »
I read this when it came out, and took extensive notes. Bea has so many ideas on how to get to zero waste that anyone can find a few things that they can easily implement. I also liked the focus on 'refusing' first, that has made a huge difference in our family since have historically been such a sucker for freebies of any type that I end up with waaay to many personal care products, pens, notepads, and sample sizes.  I did a big declutter by donating to families in need, and realized there is no reason for me to get these things and then have to dispose of them. Since reading it we have also eliminated paper towels from our home, we have streamlined our personal care products, I now have a capsule wardrobe, and I'm getting better about not bringing home unneeded packaging.

Things I still find useful from my notes
-the A-Z food list of ways to reduce food waste on page 66
-idea of having 'rotational staples' by having one jar dedicated to each food type, and when it is empty refill it with another bulk food of the same type to reduce food boredom. Her jar types were:grain (either rice or couscous, quinoa), pasta, legume (chickpeas, lentils, peas, pintos, etc), cereal, cookies, nuts, sweet snack, savory snack, tea
-A-Z vinegar list
-instructions for papermaking on page 177

RetireBy36

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2015, 04:35:17 PM »
I absolutely loved this book, but there aren't any bulk stores in town that will let you use your own jars or containers. They say it is to do with cross contamination.

In any case, I think the book make me more conscious of how wasteful my life is. A week after finishing the book I was flying overseas and everything comes in its own little packages. She had warned readers of this and I didn't prepare. It didn't encourage me to write a few letter to the airline though to encourage them to do better.

All in all, awesome read.

AlwaysBeenASaver

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #4 on: February 09, 2015, 10:03:41 AM »
I read this book this weekend, after seeing it mentioned here. It was a very quick read. I don't ever plan to go as extreme as her however it has gotten me thinking of some things I can do regarding reducing waste. What I really enjoy about reading books like this is it gets my mind back on track to think about these things. One thing I've been meaning to do but never get around to is get some of the reusable produce bags to use at the grocery store, instead of getting so many of those plastic produce bags that just make the trip home then go right in the recycle bin. I also plan to start using reusable toothpicks (those cocktail ones) when testing baked goods - it just never occurred to me before.

somecobwebs

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2015, 12:48:37 PM »
This was a really good book! I did spend a lot of time while reading it wondering about overlaps/conflicts with Mustachianism. She reports huge savings, but I wonder how much of that was based on her previous spending habits. That being said, it's definitely made me more aware of how much waste is in my life!

I also noted the fact that she drives to grocery stores. I have a grocery store in easy walking distance, but it doesn't sell her definition of bulk (items not in packaging). She even mentions Whole Foods as a place to shop! Have any of you succeeded in that regard and found that your food costs really did diminish?

The vinegar list was brilliant, and I will definitely be having a junk mail cancellation day with some friends.

Tinnu

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2015, 05:28:21 PM »
Totally new to this forum here, but I just happened to finish this book a few weeks ago!  My favorite part of the book was composting, something I've been meaning to do for awhile.  This book, while I didn't find it informative enough to get started composting, pushed me over the edge to go read Composting for Dummies.  Looking forward to it, and to not paying to have yard waste hauled away.

Just by the way, the author didn't come across as anti-medicine to me, I think she said that was an area where they'd just buy it if they need it, choosing the best packaging available?

Really liked this book, have a list of 10-15 ideas from it I'd like to try.

pizzafiend

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2015, 02:24:06 PM »
This was a really good book! I did spend a lot of time while reading it wondering about overlaps/conflicts with Mustachianism. She reports huge savings, but I wonder how much of that was based on her previous spending habits. That being said, it's definitely made me more aware of how much waste is in my life!

I also noted the fact that she drives to grocery stores. I have a grocery store in easy walking distance, but it doesn't sell her definition of bulk (items not in packaging). She even mentions Whole Foods as a place to shop! Have any of you succeeded in that regard and found that your food costs really did diminish?

The vinegar list was brilliant, and I will definitely be having a junk mail cancellation day with some friends.

Hi somecobwebs, I am a bit lukewarm on the idea of food costs diminishing.
I know she mentioned buying cheese in the salad bar, so I gave it a shot. I paid close to $9-10 just for a pound shredded cheddar (in the salad bar). And it went bad after two days. Ugh. Not worth it. Similarly, I buy a lot of grain and lentils from my local Indian store and it is much cheaper by the pound compared to WF. I generally use WF for spices (because I don't need 4 pound bags of turmeric) and for me the savings on spices and only getting the amount I need (in my own glass bottles or little baggies that I reuse) has been far less wasteful and less expensive.  I was trying this out prior to reading MMM because I have been trying to find ways to refuse, reduce, reuse, (repurpose), recycle and rot. Her book was the shove I needed to improve on my habits.  However, I haven't found the perfect solution on trying to be waste free with bulk shopping. It's been a hit or miss for me. 

somecobwebs

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2015, 11:09:30 PM »
Just by the way, the author didn't come across as anti-medicine to me, I think she said that was an area where they'd just buy it if they need it, choosing the best packaging available?

Confirmed! She specifically lists it as an exception to her rule, and one of the only areas where you can find packaging in her home.


Hi somecobwebs, I am a bit lukewarm on the idea of food costs diminishing.
I know she mentioned buying cheese in the salad bar, so I gave it a shot. I paid close to $9-10 just for a pound shredded cheddar (in the salad bar). And it went bad after two days. Ugh. Not worth it. Similarly, I buy a lot of grain and lentils from my local Indian store and it is much cheaper by the pound compared to WF. I generally use WF for spices (because I don't need 4 pound bags of turmeric) and for me the savings on spices and only getting the amount I need (in my own glass bottles or little baggies that I reuse) has been far less wasteful and less expensive.

I was afraid of that! Even so, it's encouraging me to explore other options. I realize that I've never even investigated what food stores/farmers markets are in my area aside from the big convenient grocery stores. Worth poking around for sure!

Carini

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2015, 12:40:58 PM »
Very interested in reading this book. Is the advice/tips practical for someone that lives in a house with 3 young children?? 

somecobwebs

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2015, 11:18:55 PM »
Very interested in reading this book. Is the advice/tips practical for someone that lives in a house with 3 young children?? 

She does have two kids, but I think they were slightly older when she started switching over. She specifically addresses kids, though. For example, her Valentine's Day section is all about ways to convince your kid's teacher to do something other than a store-bought card exchange, and she talks about the importance of explaining to kids how this lifestyle is different and why. So I imagine that there will definitely be some applicable things!

MinimalistMoustache

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2015, 06:19:33 PM »
I enjoyed this book and it came my way in good timing. After becoming aware of how often I cart recycling and trash up and down 4 flights of stairs, I started to consider making some small changes. . .  like refraining from purchasing salad greens in those huge clamshell containers, no matter if they're organic and on sale. :-) Also got some pantry jars out of retirement to store grains now bought in bulk.

Little shifts have made for less trash. 

jengod

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2015, 10:10:15 PM »
Love this book.

She was just on Morgan Spurlock's Inside Man on CNN (Transcript: http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1502/26/inm.01.html) and stated that packaging is 15 percent of food costs. I can only assume that marketing of packaged foods is another hefty percentage.

Video: http://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/01/28/ms-im-garbage-ron-1.cnn

As such, Mustachians may want to look at her package-free ideals for possible cost savings.

We are lucky to have a Sprouts Market near us that is terrific for bulk, and Whole Foods in near distance as well.

I've been using fabric bags for bulk purchases of grains, legumes, baking supplies and produce, as well as only buying in glass bottles. We've noticeably reduced our trash production, even though we still have two messy kids, one of whom is in disposable diapers.

I also love her general nudge toward de-plastic-ing your house. I read Beth Terry's book afterward and that's definitely become a new value for our home.

I felt such a sense of accomplishment today after we used up two plastic food-coloring squeezers while dying Easter eggs.

I've also noticed that Bea's principles in general, and de-plastic-ing in particular, have done wonders to minimize our clutter and increase the overall character and charm of our home.

ash7962

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #13 on: March 31, 2015, 09:10:02 AM »
I'm in the middle of the book and its helped me out in a few ways:
1. package free has the benefit of less resources used in getting a product to our homes which I feel is pretty mustachian.
2. de-plasticing parts had the biggest influence on me.  Every time I shop I try to find something with minimal plastic and it has helped curb my purchases even more.  So many things are made with plastic, and I feel like some plastic things are just not as durable and so not worth my money.  It sucks to have a whole item unusable because the 1 plastic part failed.  This does mean I spend more on the things I do buy, but overall I think its been a money saver.
3.  It has completely helped me with clutter.  Since I've got less stuff coming into my house the decluttering process has been much more effective.  I've also been evaluating things differently since I'm less likely to continue using something made of cheap plastic.  The downside is that I sometimes keep things that I think I might reuse and they sit around for a while until I can actually figure out how to reuse them.

big_slacker

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2015, 11:03:15 PM »
A bit late reading this, but I read this book a month or two back. How she lives is admirable but would require some serious work. With that said, there are lots of options to pick and choose from that you can do immediately in your own life to whatever degree you choose and I loved the non-judgmental tone.

Mainly what I got from the book was an awareness of waste and how it affects our world. Removing a bit of the 'out of sight, out of mind' and taking that extra few seconds to get everything in the right container, or buy the right thing at the store.

We were doing a lot of the major things in the book already, but we've gotten it down to where we barely put anything into the landfill can.

aceyou

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #15 on: June 10, 2015, 07:57:30 PM »
Just picked it up from the library yesterday. 

Last night it inspired me to clean out my kitchen drawers/cabinets and start a giveaway box.  We apparently had 15 serving/stirring spoons in various locations, I had no idea!!!  It was crazy how many duplicate items we had simply because people buy you things for christmas, birthdays, or you get a freebee from somewhere. 

Next on the to-do list:
- make my own flour tortillas.  This should be a little bit of a money saver, as they are one of the few processed foods I buy. 
- bring reusable bags so I don't need to put things like cilantro into plastic bags when I shop. 
- compost?  I want to be a composter, I just have to get myself through the learning curve.

In regards to her lifestyle being a money saver, I'm not expecting much there.  I think that this community is probably already near her levels when it comes to cost-cutting, it's more the intentionality towards the environment where she's really out in front (minus car travel of course, which is a huge deal).  Actually though, I think they are a one car family, so even in that regard they are pretty darn badass. 

Great read so far, looking forward to finishing it!!!

Choices

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Re: Zero Waste Home - Bea Johnson
« Reply #16 on: June 01, 2016, 02:54:44 PM »
I loved some of her ideas. It's always better to use what you have and refuse things you don't want or need. Some suggestions are not super-realistic here, as I'm not sure what the health codes are on having a deli use your own containers.

It's amazing that our neighbors fill an entire huge trash AND recycling can weekly while we only fill our recycling bin every few months and could probably go ages without putting out our trash can.

It piggybacks on Marie Kondo's decluttering suggestions too. It's all good for us and for our planet. http://www.choosebetterlife.com/guide-cure-clutter/

 

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