31 Days of Attempting to Live Zero Waste (Creating no Trash)

   Welcome to the official beginning to my 31 days of Attempting to Live Zero Waste! I did actually share a post yesterday that explained some of my thought process going into this challenge and you might like to go check that out. But since today is October 1st (and my husband's 40th birthday by the way!) this is the official beginning to this series. 

   I have long been someone that really dislikes wasting things. Even as a child I was taught not to be wasteful of food or really anything that we had. I learned to take care of things, to fix something when it was broken if possible, to make something new out of things that were worn out (such as making rag rugs and quilts). I also have for as long as I can remember read and enjoyed books such as the Little House series where the normal thing to do was to make good use of what you had and not to be wasteful. I have fully enjoyed reading about experiences of "making do" during The Great Depression. They didn't let anything go to waste if they could help it but put it all to good use and used things until they were truly worn out.

The saying in the picture above: "Use it up, wear it out, Make it do or do without." has long been a favorite of mine. I wrote it out and have it hanging on the bulletin board in my office. "Waste Not, Want Not" is another saying that makes sense to me.

   There is a Zero Waste movement going on. I don't know how large it is but you can find a fair amount of interest in it when searching online. I like many of the concepts from it:

• Be intentional about what you purchase.
• Try not to be wasteful of either energy or resources.
• Try to avoid things that will soon end up in a landfill.

The mantra of the zero wasters is to:

• Refuse (What you do not need)
• Reduce (What you do need)
• Reuse (What you consume)
• Recycle (What you cannot refuse)
• Rot (/Compost the rest)

I would also add: Repurpose - turn things that you no longer need or not longer serve your purpose into something that you can use again.

That is what I am going to be attempting this month. Lord willing I will be able to share lots of posts about things I have been doing that cause us to live in a way where we are not creating so much waste. But with most of these things not only do I create less waste but I am often saving money and doing things in a more healthy manner. Also the projects involved can be really fun. Some of the things that I share will be things we have done for years but many will also be new experiments because though I have majorly reduced our amount of waste created over the years this month we are hoping to push that a lot farther and truly reduce our waste even more dramatically.

  As far as the Zero Waste movement goes I think I may be a little bit abnormal being a liberty loving Constitutionalist, a social and fiscal conservative, an avid crafter and a homesteader who likes to live a little old fashioned. But even though I may not fit into any normal mold it works for me and I hope to be able to inspire and encourage all of you even though I would imagine your journey is different from mine in many ways. You may have no interest in going Zero Waste but you might like to save money or maybe you really just enjoy DIY. Whatever brings you here - Welcome! I hope we can learn from each other! I welcome your comments!

October 2 - Gleaning Potatoes

October 3 - Making a Quilt and Wrapping Presents

October 4 - Deodorant and Toothpaste

October 5 - Zero Waste Shopping

October 6 - Repurposing a Milk Jug

October 7 - Zero Waste Honey

October 8 - Homemade Pizza

October 9 - Trying to Avoid Trash

October 10 - Zero Waste "Chips" and Salsa

October 11 - A Broiler Pen

October 12 - Homemade Egg Rolls

October 13 - A Rag Rug

October 14 - My Woodland Nymph

I am linking up to Write 31 Days