저는 요즘 영어공부 한답시고 자막없이 TED 강연을 많이 듣는데요. 저의 관심사에 딱 들어맞는 좋은 주제가 있길래 받아쓰기를 해봤습니다. 총 길이는 13분인데, 받아쓰는데 꼬박 들어간 시간만 2시간 30분이 걸리네요. 하다가 몇번은 그만둘까 하지말까.. 수없는 생각을 거치니 모두 마쳤어요. 팔은 어마어마하게 뻐근하지만, 다 써놓고 나니 이게 뭐라고 완전 뿌듯합니다.
제가 주의깊게 봤던 주제는 "환경"에 대한 거에요. 쓰레기 없이 3년간 살면서 자신의 가치가 실현되는 것을 보고 쓰레기 없이 사는 zero waste 운동을 일으키는데 앞장서고 있는 로렌 싱어(Lauren Singer)라는 사람의 이야기 입니다.
(출처: 구글 이미지)
쓰레기 없이 살기, Zero waste 운동에 대해서
Zero waste는 말 그대로 쓰레기를 만들지 않으면서 사는 삶을 말한다고 합니다. 쓰레기를 만들지 않으니 쓰레기 통해 버릴 일도 없고, 환경 오염을 시키지 않는 삶이죠. 발생하는 쓰레기는 전혀 없습니다.
NYU에서 환경학 공부를 할 때 비닐봉지를 어마어마하게 쓰는 한 여학생을 보고 굉장히 큰 실망을 했다가, 집에 와서 냉장고를 열어보니 자기가 샀던 음식들이 다 비닐봉지에 쌓여 있더라. 큰 충격을 받고 비닐을 쓰지 않기로 결심했다. 이것이 강사가 zero waste를 실천했던 사건이 됐습니다.
그런데 우리가 다 알다시피 비닐이나 플라스틱 제질을 쓰지 않기란 정말 쉽지가 않죠. 우리가 일상생활에서 쓰는 대부분의 것들이 플라스틱으로 이뤄져 있으니까요. 아침에 일어나서 양치를 할때, 칫솔도, 치약이 담겨진 튜브도 모두 플라스틱으로 이뤄져 있는걸 알 수 있습니다. 우리의 로션 통도, 화장품통도 모두? 플라스틱에 담겨져 있어요.
강사는 직접 이런 것들을 만들어 봅니다. 직접 만드는 화장품, 세제, 치약, 칫솔 이런것들을 당연히 잘 몰랐기 때문에 조사를 많이 했고, 하나씩 만들어 보면서 zero waste를 실천하는 삶을 살아보죠.
쓰레기 없이 사는 법, 어떻게 실천할 수 있을까?
몇가지 강사가 실천했던 내용을 요약하자면,
1. 포장된 음식을 사지 않는다. 에코백이나 유리병을 들고 시장에 가서 필요한 과일이나 채소, 고기를 싸오는 방법으로 불필요한 포장과 비닐봉지 사용을 줄였어요.
모든 것은 필요한 만큼, 유리병에 담아서 보관하는 모습
우리집 냉장고하고 비교가 되네요. 정말 비닐이라곤 찾아볼 수 없는 로렌의 냉장고.
2. 필요한 것은 직접 만들어본다. 우리 일상생활에서 흔하게 쓰는 치약, 세제부터 로션, 크림과 같은 화장품까지 어떤 성분이 들어가는지 직접 찾아보고 어떤 향이 좋을지 정하면서 직접 제품을 만들어보는 거죠.
3. 중고품을 사용해서 새로운 포장지를 만들어내지 않는다.
4. 정말로 필요한 것만 가지고, 먹고 쓴다. 물건을 사기 전에 정말 이 물건이 필요한지, 음식을 먹기 전에도 이 음식이 정말 나에게 필요한지를 고민하고 적게 사는 방법입니다. 소비의 규모를 전체적으로 줄이면서 불필요한 지출로 인한 과포장을 막습니다.
쓰레기 없이 살면 뭐가 좋을까?
1. 돈을 아낄 수 있다. 대형마트에서 고르는 물건들은 포장값이 포함되어 있습니다. 시장이나 farmer's market 같은 곳에서 필요한 것을 필요한 만큼 산다면 훨씬 돈을 절약할 수 있겠죠. 새 물건을 사지 않고 중고품을 산다면 지출은 자연스럽게 줄게 됩니다.
2. 좋은 것을 먹게 된다. 계획된 구매, 싱싱한 채소와 과일. 즉석에서 먹을 수 있는 인스턴트 식품을 피하고 이런 건강한 음식을 주로 먹게되니 몸은 더 가벼워지고 건강해지겠죠?
3. 연간 어마어마하게 쏟아붇는 쓰레기를 직접적으로 감소할 수 있다. 강사가 비유로 든 것이 있는데, 미국인 평균 연간 쓰레기 배출양이 가늠해보면 사람 8.5인명 분을 버리는 것과 같다고 해요. 어마어마한 양이죠? 쓰레기를 줄이게 되면 이렇게 엄청난 배출량을 본인이 직접 감소시킬 수 있습니다.
3년동안 zero waste로 살면서 로렌이 버린 쓰레기.
강의를 보다보니 저도 자극을 받았어요. 당장 제가 실천할 수 있는 일로 에코백 가지고 다니기!. 저는 주로 프놈펜에 있는 럭키마트와 같은 대형마트에서 먹거리를 많이 사는데, 에코백을 들고 다니면서 시장에서 사기로 했어요. 캄보디아는 비닐봉지를 어마어마하게 씁니다. 에코백을 가지고 다녀보니 실제적으로 비닐봉지를 많이 안쓰게 되더라구요. 제품을 만들거나 아직 그렇게까지는 실천하기 어렵겠지만, 에코백과 물통 가지고 다니기. 가벼운 정도로 시작을 해야겠어요.
더 많은 궁금증은 로렌의 블로그를 통해서 확인하세요! http://www.trashisfortossers.com/
This is the all of the trash I've produced in the three years. When I say that, people think that I'm crazy, or that I'm lying, or they'll ask me questions like, "Hey, so how do you wipe your butt?" I live a zero waste lifestyle, and I have for the past three years. Zero waste, that's a pretty big idea, right? So let me define it for you. To me, living zero waste means that I don't make any trash. So no sending anything to landfill, no sending anything in a garbage can, no spitting gum on the ground and walking away. No trash.
This is a big concept, and this all started when I was environmental study student at NYU. My senior year I was taking a course called; the Environmental Studies Capstone course" which is essentially the culminating course that all environmental study students need to take in order to go out into the world and make it a more sustainable place. Well, there was a girl on this class, and every class she would have this big plastic bag with a plastic clamshell full of food, a plastic fork and knife, a plastic water bottle, and a plastic bag of chips. And she would eat all of this, and then class after class, would just throw it in the trash. This is really frustrating. Because here we were these environmental study students trying to make the world a better place. And there she was, throwing all this stuff into the garbage.
One day, after class, feeling still particularly upset, about watching her throwing everything away, I went home to make dinner. And I opened my fridge and noticed something that I'd never seen before. Every single thing in my fridge was in one way or another packaged in plastic. And I couldn't believe it. You know, I was getting so mad at this girl for making so much plastic trash, and it turns out that I was just as bad. I was that girl.
So I made a decision in that moment; I was going to stop using plastic. Well, quitting plastic. Not so easy of a thing, right? When you think about your everyday life, when you wake up in the morning, you go into the bathroom and you brush your teeth. What is the toothbrush made out of? Plastic. What is your toothpaste probably packaged in? Plastic. Your face wash, your moisturizer, your contact solutions, so many things that are in our everyday life come packaged in plastic. So I realized that if I was going to move away from plastic, the only way that I was going to be able to do that was to learn how to make my products myself. Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly that didn't know how to make deodorant, and didn't have the recipe just hanging out in my back pocket.
And so I realized that I had to do some research, and while I was doing research online, I cam across the blog called, 'the Zero Waste Home', started by woman named, Bae Johnson, who is a wife and mother of two kids in Mill Vally California. And the four of them live a completely zero waste life. When I learned about Bae, and her family, my mind was completely blown. I thought that I was doing the best thing that I could for the planet by not using any plastic. But the idea that I didn't have to produce any trash, was so empowering and so inspiring. And it made perfect sense, right? Because I was this Environmental Studies students, I cared about the environment, studied sustainability, talked about sustainability, protested for sustainability. But I realized that I wasn't actually implementing any of those values into my day to day life, and so I mode the decision to go zero waste.
Let me break it down for you, and tell you some of the things that I did in order to make this transition a little easier. The first thing that I did was I stopped buying packaged food. So instead of going to the stores and buying things packaged in paper and glass and plastic, I started bringing my own jars and bags to the stores to fill with bulk or package free items. I also started buying my fruit and vegetables from the farmer's market. So, package-free.
The second thing that I started doing was I started making all of my own products. Before I started living this life style, my boy friend at the time used to brush his teeth using baking soda. And I thought he was probably the grossest person in the entire world. There's no way that you can possibly get your teeth clean using something like baking soda. It's gross! Well, fast-forward and it turns out that the first product that I made was toothpaste made with baking soda. So overtime I started making all of my own products. When I would run out of something, instead of going to the store and buying a new one, I would learn how to make it myself. So when I would run out of lotion, I learned how to make it myself. Run out of deodorant, learned how to make it myself. Over time, all of the things that I had previously purchased, were how once that I made myself.
The third thing that I started doing, was shopping second-hand. So instead of buying new clothing, and putting new waste into the waste cycle, I would buy things that totally recycled, second-hand. So not making any new trash.
The fourth thing that I did was I downsized. So I focused on having only the things that were truly necessary and that I really needed. Well, this was really, really hard. Because I'm the kind of person who is really sentimental, and I can tell you as to why a toothpick needs to be in my life. But after I really got through that process, and I completely downsized, I realized that I had so many fewer things in my life. My home was less cluttered and everything was easier to clean, and when you have fewer things, you realized that you take better care of them. So when you take better care of your things, you don't have this mentality like: "Oh if I don't want this any more I'll just throw it out and get a new thing later." No, I only had a few things and so I took care of them, and wasn't sending anything to the landfill.
All these must sound, pretty difficult, Right? I assure you, it's not that hard. I'm just an average, lazy person. I wouldn't lived this lifestyle, if it was difficult. In fact, the benefits of living this lifestyle far outweigh any of the negatives that you can imagine. The first benefits is that I save money. So I save money when I buy my food and the products, and when I make my own products, because I'm not paying for the embedded cost a packaging. So things are cheaper. I'm also saving money by shopping completely second-hand, because second-hand clothing is usually less expensive than new clothing. I'm also saving money because I've downsized. So I don't go shopping all the time now and you know, just buy things on impulse. I only have what I really need.
The second benefits is that I eat better. When I go shopping now, I don't have the option to buy processed food products, packaged-free. So now my diet consists of things like fresh fruit and vegetables or bulk greens, nuts that I buy with my jars and my bags. So when you eat better, you feel batter. I've noticed that over these past few years, my weight has stabilized, I have more energy, I need less sleep, and when you're eating better, and you feel better and you save money, you're happier.
But besides those things, I'm happier because for the first time in my life, I'm living in direct alignment with my values, and why this is important? Waste. Well, waste is a really big problem. In fact the average American person produces approximately 4.4 pounds of trash per person per day. Over the course of a year, that's like taking 8.5 of your best friends and throwing them in the trash. Don't do that. It's now nice. So if you care about your friends, and you don't want to throw them away, and you thing that it's possible for you to possibly reduce how much trash you producing. I have three simple steps for you.
The first step is to actually look at your trash and understands what it is. Because you can't solve the problem of having a lot of waste until you know what it is. So when I did this exercise, I realized that I had three main sources of trash. The first was food packaging. So I learned now to shop in bulk or package-free.The second was product packaging, so I learned how to make all of my own products. And the third was organic food waste, so I learned how to compost and just by identifying those three sources of way and eliminating them, I have reduced my trash by about 90%.
The second thing that I'd like to suggest is picking at the low hanging fruit. So doing little things one-time changes in your everyday life that have a large-scale and long-term positive impact. This includes things like using a reusable bag instead of a plastic or paper bag, or using a stainless steel or glass water bottle, instead of buying plastic water bottles. Over the course of however long, you realize that these little changes actually add up and make a big difference.
The third thing that I'd like to suggest is the DIY or actually learning how to make your products yourself. Now, I absolutely love doing this, because when you go to a store, and you have to buy products. You kind of have to settle, and accept them as they are. If you don't like the way they smell, too bad! If you don't like the way they feel, sorry! If you don't like what they're packaged in, you don't have a choice. But for me, since I make all my own products, if I don't like the way they small, I changed the scent. If I don't like the ingredients in them, I changed it. If I don't like the packaging, it's my choice. And so by making my own products, I have complete control over what I'm putting in my body.
Now I started living this life style, while I was still in collage. And when I graduated I had a real job, a real person job in sustainability, which is exactly what you'd think I'd want to be doing. Well, at the same time, I was still running my blog, "Trash is for tossers." And I notice that I was getting a recurring questions, and it went something like this: Dear Lauren, I absolutely love the product that you're making and I too want truly natural products. But because of life, family, friends, bla bla bla.. I just don't have time to make them myself. Do you have any product that I can buy that are equivalent?
So I went to stores, and I started looking at products, and while I found that they were beauty products that were reminiscent of the ones that I was making myself. I didn't notice the same trend for cleaning products. When I looked at the ingredients cleaning products, even that "natural" cleaning products contained ingredient that were really harmful. Things that were carcinogenic, endocrine-disruptive. When I looked into it further, I learned that cleaning product manufacturers aren't even legally required to disclose the ingredients of their products on the product packaging, and so when we go to buy a product, we are the complete mercy of the company, hoping that they have our best interest in mind. I feel that we as consumers, have a right to products that are transparent and that aren't bad for us. So I started thinking about my own products, the ones that I've been making for years, that are safe, and effective, and have ingredients that I used to do things like brush my teeth, or make salad dressing. And I realized that I had an opportunity so I quit my job and started the company, because I feel like we as human being have a right to product that are safe for our homes, and our bodies, and the environment.
I get commands all the time, that I'm doing this for attention. But I live this lifestyle for myself. I would never tell anyone how to live, or how much trash they should produce. I just want to provide tools through my blog and my business for people, who like me, want to reduce how much trash they are producing. I live a zero waste lifestyle because to me, it's the best way I know how to live a life that aligns with everything that I believe in. And what's the point? I'm just one person. What difference can I make? The point is simple: I want to be remembered for the things that I did on this planet, and not for the trash that I left behind. Thank you.
