Bea Johnson: "Zero Waste Home" | Talks at Google
https://youtu.be/nmfDTtduRh435:49-37:25
“We found also that this lifestyle saves a lot of money. When I embarked on this journey, my husband was a little worried. He said, you know I am starting this startup in the middle of a recession, we cannot afford to be going to the health-food store and the farmer’s market. And I encouraged him to compare our bank statements between our zero-waste lifestyle and our pre-zero-waste lifestyle. And he found that we were saving 40 percent on our overall spending. This is due to the fact that:
“(1) We consume way, way, way less than we did before. Today we are no longer adding things to our inventory, we are only replacing what needs to be replaced: a sneaker that has a hole in it or a T-shirt that is too small. And when we buy the replacement, we buy it secondhand, which by definition is cheaper.
“(2) We buy our food in bulk. One needs to know that when you buy a food in packaging, 15 percent of the price covers the packaging, so when you buy in bulk, you make an automatic 15 percent savings.
“(3) And finally we’ve replaced anything that’s disposable in our house with a reusable alternative, so that means we are no longer investing our money in things that you throw away. We’re no longer investing our money in the landfill. We are no longer basically throwing our money out the window. We’ve invested our money in things we can use over time, reuse over time, and this has translated into huge cumulative savings. Actually, those savings have even allowed us to install solar on our home, which then allows us to save even more. The zero-waste lifestyle is a gift that keeps on giving.”
