Before we became vegans and minimalists, we used to throw things away without thinking twice about it. But what we never considered is, where exactly is away? What we’ve come to realise now is that there’s really no such thing. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Well someone somewhere has to deal with it and work out what to do with it. It’s not sent off in a spaceship nor does it magically disappear.
In this podcast episode, we discuss the issue of plastic—in particular, single-use plastic, what our waste-free journey has been like, the shocking truth of how destructive waste can be, how you can shift your mindset around waste, and what you can do about it today.
This is one of our more practical chats and we want to give you the opportunity to connect with it and feel like making a change for the better. Know that it’s not too hard and feel good about doing your bit for the planet.
“What is actually inside your bin? Have a look and see if you could have disposed of that waste more appropriately.”
Listen to the episode
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Things mentioned in this episode
- Julia “Butterfly” Hill
- Where is Away? The Epidemic of Plastic
- What’s Your Vegan Origin Story? – Episode 002
- A Plastic Ocean
- Our Book – The Minimalist Vegan
- Minimal-Waste Kitchen Course
- A Beginners Guide To A Zero-Waste Kitchen
- A Minimalists Approach To Creating a Zero Waste Home
- The Life Cycle of a Product
- Finding The Balance Between Zero Waste And Minimalism
- The Journey of Reducing Our Landfill Waste
- Cowspiracy
2 thoughts on “Let’s Talk About Waste – Episode 017”
Hi guys,
I am a relatively new listener to your podcast and wanted to say that I have listened to quite a bit of content so far and really enjoy listening to and learning about what you both have to share. Many of your podcasts resonate with where I am at in my life journey at this time and I am continuously striving to live a fully vegan, minimalist, and zero waste lifestyle. After listening to this episode I thought I could share my story with the both of you as I heard many things mentioned that resonated with my story..
I am a 26 year old female, living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. My partner and I spent the last 2 years in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, which is about 13 hours Northeast of Vancouver. I found employment with the Ministry of Children and Family Development as a social worker assistant and they moved us up there, as it is a hard to recruit area. I found a job with top pay in what my education would allow, government job, Monday to Friday, and thought I had it made. I am super proud of my accomplishment as this is what I had worked towards in my short life. However, I was not very happy, we lived in a very remote northern town and I felt quite isolated. Recently, I decided to quit my job, and my partner and I moved back to the lower mainland where we had originally moved from. I have had a short time off of work and have had the time to really tune in to the things I am interested in – living a vegan lifestyle, creating an as close to zero-waste home as possible, studying astrology, crafting projects, reading, taking care of our rescued babies (Luna – our Russian Blue kitty, and Margo – our Rottweiler/Lab puppy) as well as many other things.
Some of the things that I have adopted in the last few years/recently I’m my aim to live a minimal waste lifestyle are washing/reusing plastic food baggies (which were already purchased when we had moved into our small basement suite), taking proper care to wash (vinegar) and store our produce properly for longer life, making many meals from scratch, repairing or upcycling things around the home rather than throwing away and buying new, using hankies etc.
Fortunately, my partner has a good job and makes enough money that at this point I do not need to find a job that will pay top dollar and keep me out of the home all of the time (we have one vehicle, which he takes to work each day, so our hope was for myself to find employment close to home so I would be able to bus home or bike from work to let our baby outside). Yesterday, I received a job offer from our local Whole Foods market (you probably are aware of the store, but I can’t be sure, haha) which provides many vegan options, local, organic, and more “humane” meat and dairy options. I am excited to have found a job that is in line with my interests in health and sustainability and at this point feel very free that I will now have more time and energy to invest in the things that I am passionate about. Not to say that I wasn’t passionate in my job in social work, but, as you can imagine, the burnout rates are extremely high, and it left me with little energy for much else.
When I heard about the gentleman’s story mentioned (I think in this episode?) leaving his “cushy” government job to go work in a grocery store, I thought, “hey, that’s me!”
Anyways, thank you for taking the time to read a bit of my story and I very much enjoy listening to what you guys have to share about yours!
I am not sure where to rate for stars? So I am giving a rating of 5 stars here and now, haha.
Thanks again.
Jade
Hi Jade,
It’s so lovely to hear from you.
I love, love, love the level of intentionality you’re applying to your life. It takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to downsize your life so you can live more in-line with your values.
Maša and I feel inspired after reading your email. It’s comforting to know that there are people like you and your partner who think and act in the way you do.
Thanks for reaching out, and all the best with your new job!