Meet Lauren Singer – she lives a zero waste life in New York City of all places. Two transformative moments/events showed up in Lauren’s life. The first was in her senior year of college when one of her professors emphasized the importance of living ones values and it made her think about her own personal commitment to the environment. The second was when she noticed that a fellow environmental studies major would bring lunch to class every week in a single use plastic bag, a disposable water bottle and a takeout container. She would think – we are supposed to be the future of this planet and here we are with our trash – messing it up. Lauren says “Then I learned about this family in California, calling themselves the Zero Waste Home, that was producing little to no garbage, it was this “Aha!” moment for me. I wanted to lessen my impact, so I started my Zero Waste journey. This is when I really decided that I not only needed to claim to love the environment, but actually live like I love the environment.” Take it from there Lauren! And so she did! Lauren shares just what she has done to live like she loves the environment.
SHOW NOTES:
HOW DID YOU GET ON YOUR PATH?
READ: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and Zero Waste Home
WATCHED: Gasland and got inspired to TAKE ACTION!
HER GOAL? Empower and inspire people to make positive environmental changes!
Lauren realized she needed to a change. Plastic was in everything and she couldn’t be protesting against the oil and gas industry and have plastic in everything. She felt hypocritical protesting oil/gas when biggest bi-product is plastic. She dove in and started making her own products. Goodbye Q-tips, hello olive oil? Yep – she shares some easy ways to create less waste!
INSIGHTS!
What is Zero Waste? Explain to people what this means to you. To me, means I don’t send anything to landfills. I don’t dispose of anything useless/unusable/recyclable/non compostable with the intention of it going to a landfill.
Found a composting place in NYC! Learned how to make my own products – one product at a time! Thank you Google. Find the low hanging fruit on her awesome website: Trash is for Tossers
The less you have the better you feel. The things you have are chosen. You make smarter decisions. Your morning routine becomes faster. Your fridge is easier to navigate. It becomes easier when you’re out.
First step, you have to take a moment of self-reflection – take a look at what you are throwing away! For her it was 3 main common things – organic food waste, food packaging, product packaging.
If she has an urge to go shopping it means you have an urge to be creative. Do art. Use a different way of your brain.
Buy natural fibers – they are good for compost!
MRS. GREEN’S WORLD LISTENERS: Get 20% off on Lauren’s organic, vegan laundry detergent that’s safe for your home, your body & the environment! Discount code at Simply Co: mrsgreensworld
SOME RESOURCES FOR MAKING A CHANGE TODAY:
Trash is for Tossers (Lauren’s blog!)
Textile Recycling: there are mail in ones – it’s just about knowing they exist and taking the time to find one!
SMART: Secondary Materials & Recycled Textiles Association
Council for Textile Recycling (CTR)
H&M
Other sustainable online stores
The Simply Co. (use discount code mrsgreensworld to get 20% off)
TerraCycle
Life Without Plastic
Bepakt
Cool things referenced: Zero Waste Grocery Store