Two Chicks and a Hoe
We’re gonna dig deep into some really amazing people and topics — cultivating ideas about nature, the environment and conservation — in your backyard and globally. We want to share stories with you where the only intention may be for you to say,“Wow, I didn’t know that!”…and now that you do, maybe you might think about your relationship with it differently, share the information with a friend or get involved.
Two Chicks and a Hoe
Zero Waste. Taking the First Step - it's Not That Hard
Imagine living a life where your yearly trash fits into a single mason jar. Sounds like a tall order? Not to Heather Bedy, our special guest and Zero-waste sage, who joins me to inspire you with the notion that a near-zero waste existence isn't just a pipe dream—it's an attainable reality. We dissect the lifecycle of disposable coffee cups to uncover the significant environmental toll they take and then pivot to the inspiring actions of families who've mastered the art of minimal waste. Heather and I dig into the idea that the choices we make every day, no matter how small, can steer us towards a more sustainable future and drive manufacturers to consider the planet in their production methods.
Have you ever faced the mystery of what to do with your plastic waste? This episode doesn't just skim the surface of our plastic predicament; it provides a treasure map to navigate the jungle of sustainable living. We'll walk you through a world beyond the blue recycling bin, where refusing, reusing, and repairing become your new best friends. Heather and I explore the power of individual habit changes, like carrying a reusable water bottle or shopping in bulk, to mold a lifestyle that's as kind to the Earth as it is rewarding for you. While we acknowledge some adjustments might seem daunting, we're here to assure you that each step, however small, propels us closer to a healthier planet.
Dive into the potential of a circular economy and the transformative recycling programs that are putting a dent in our waste woes. We spotlight trailblazers like Brightmark, who turn plastics into fuel, and Terra Cycle's heroic efforts to recycle the unrecyclable. Sharing my personal 'trash audit' experience, we get real about what we're tossing out and how we can shift our habits for the better. This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a call to action, encouraging you to take the first step—no matter how small—toward a zero-waste lifestyle. It's about being part of a community that values mutual care and respect for our shared environment. So tune in, get inspired, and begin your journey to a cleaner, greener tomorrow.
Recycle Nation
RecycleNation is the the number one technology tool in the United States to improve environmental sustainability and circular economy initiatives and features the world’s largest recycling database
The Trash Punx
Terra Cycle
Recycle the Unrecyclable
Baby Steps Toward a Zero-Waste Home
At Home Trash Audit Steps
Great activity to do as a family!
Interview with: Heather Bedy
Tile Image: John Cameron
Things that make you say "Wow"!
For more episodes and additional information visit the Two Chicks and a Hoe website and our Facebook page.
Big thanks to our Producer, Casey Kennedy.
Hey listeners, I want to read a small part of the 2018 Trash in America moving from destructive consumption to a zero-waste system report. That's a mouthful, but I wanted to share this with you to illustrate what's happening. Every morning, americans across the country stop at a local coffee shop for a cup of coffee, usually served in a disposable cup. We use the cup while we drink our coffee and then toss it in the trash. The time it takes to drink our coffee, though, is just a brief moment in the history of the materials that went into the creation of the cup. To produce coffee cups, trees must be cut down in oil extracted from the ground. Those raw materials must be transported to a factory to make paper and plastic, which are then often transported to another factory to be manufactured into a coffee cup. The coffee cup is packaged up with others, often in more paper and plastic, and shipped, often over long distances, to a distributor and, finally, to a coffee shop. At the coffee shop, somebody purchases the cup with their coffee. After drinking it promptly, they throw the cup away. The cup, which is likely not recyclable or compostable, will then be taken with other trash and burned in an incinerator or dumped in a landfill, where the plastic will break down into smaller and smaller bits, but will persist in one form or another indefinitely. This process repeats 63 million times every day in America, 441 million times each week and 23 billion times every year. Wow, I know this sounds crazy. I wanted to read that to you. That's a brief history of this coffee cup, and it just highlights how absurd this system is, where valuable natural resources, which are formed over years or millennia, are taken from the earth and made into disposable items.
Speaker 1:Well, today we're going to talk about how we maybe don't need to use that disposable coffee cup. We're going to talk about zero waste. Hi everyone, it's Vanessa from Two Chicks and a Hoe, the podcast that hopes you say, wow, I didn't know that, and maybe get you to think and act in different ways. Today's guest is Heather Bedy, a zero waste advocate and part of The Trash Punx, which is a group located in the San Francisco Bay area. Okay, so now, before you say, zero waste, yeah, this is not possible, hang on, hang on.
Speaker 1:Today we're going to chat about ways we, as individuals can help to change the direction that things are going with our trash, pollution and plastic. So before we started this conversation, I talked to Heather and I said please keep this simple, because I know that it's confusing. It can be complicated, overwhelming and perceived as time consuming, but we're going to talk about small steps instead of no steps. Hang in there, don't tune out. I know it's easy to just throw stuff in the garbage, close the lid and have someone else deal with it, but those days are gone. No one is dealing with it. It's our turn to step up to the plate. I'm going to share with you my own shortcomings about what to do with my household trash. We're going to do a trash audit and we're going to share solutions and alternate ways of thinking and moving through our trash filled world. There are answers and I'm thrilled to have Heather joining us to point us in the right direction. Welcome, heather. Please help us Well.
Speaker 2:thank you, vanessa. I'm so excited to be here and talk with you all about zero waste and what that looks like and how to get started.
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent. So everybody pay attention, because here's the biggest question of all what is zero waste? Please start with that for us.
Speaker 2:Well, zero waste in the big picture is eliminating the idea of waste. How can we, as consumers, not have trash? It's a big question, it's a big concern, it's a big problem.
Speaker 1:It almost seems that I hope. It almost seems impossible.
Speaker 2:And it may very well be Okay, we have to think about plastic. It originated not too long ago, so it's a man made substance. What were people doing before then? Why can't we get back to that? But us as individual consumers? What does that look like and mean for us? What can we take in our homes and reduce or reuse in ways that stop the influx of plastic in our lives? Because when we start to do things, change our habits of the things that we buy, then the manufacturers out there start to notice that their products are no longer being purchased because consumers are starting to change what they require from their manufacturers. So we can make change in a big way.
Speaker 1:So consumer demand really does drive markets.
Speaker 2:I think so.
Speaker 1:I think so as well. I think that's been kind of used and proven now for many, many years, many years. And of course, my famous, my hero, my icon, jane Goodall, has always said too that you as a consumer have the power to change everything.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I mean, and if you, the consumer out there, are willing, you know you have the opportunity to write to these companies and say have you considered changing your plastic to glass or a compostable material or something else?
Speaker 1:That takes some time and people generally take a lot of people behind it too, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. But if you stop spending money on a product because it's not in a form which you want in your home, then numbers speak.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so all right. So zero waste is about no waste, so let's talk a little bit more about that then, okay, so tell me, I guess, tell me even more to tell you the truth. I mean that you know, like I said, it sounds almost impossible. And I did read in. You know, in coming up with this conversation, I did read about a gal and her family I think a family of four, if I read this correctly can walk away with like a mason jar Okay, maybe a big mason jar, but not that big, still a mason jar of trash, that that is their trash for the year.
Speaker 1:I like, wow, so I can see that there's, I see there's obviously possibilities, but you know, I again, again, Small steps instead of no steps. I'm gonna repeat that probably several times, because that kind of came to me earlier today in starting this conversation. Again, I am thinking, oh my gosh, this is so, it seems so overwhelming. But I, I, I know I've had conversations with you before again about Taking steps, not being frozen, going to know I'm not gonna do anything because that doesn't help anything absolutely, and I think overwhelming is a really good word.
Speaker 2:A lot of times we as consumers and individuals say well, what can I do? What does one small thing that I do? What difference does that make? Well, the reality is it makes a huge difference. It is one action turns into a ripple effect and then people see that and then more and more people are doing that. But if you look at it and say I can't take it all on, I can't do it all, you don't have to do it all, just have to do one thing.
Speaker 2:But you have to find that mindset where you actually want to do that one thing. You're ready to take that first step. And what that first step looks for you, looks like for you, vanessa is going to be different than what it looked like for me. Right? We all have to find what that is for us. So if we have animals, maybe it's, you know, finding a plastic. I am that you purchase for your animals and say, okay, we're not gonna go plastic anymore is another option. Or if we love to drink water, it's like are we using plastic water bottles or can we get, are you usable water bottle? So it's gonna look different for everybody and it's about what you can say yes to now and doing that one thing until it becomes habit. And then, when you're good with that and you say, okay, what else can I do?
Speaker 2:But it really starts with that mindset to say, hey, I'm ready to do something. What can I do? What works in my lifestyle? Because that one thing again, you're gonna take it everywhere you go. People are gonna ask you about it and then they're gonna say I never thought it was that easy. I can do that. I can get a reusable water bottle, or I can take an old t-shirt and replace paper towels, or I can Use a container that I got at the grocery store for dishwashing detergent and use it as a compost bin. You can do anything. It's just again changing that mindset and saying what can I do today that works for me and my family? Because every person, every family, is different, their needs are different, so just want to accommodate for that. But there's always something that can be done perfect, perfect.
Speaker 1:I talked about that earlier. When heather showed up to the studio for for the interview, I asked how this listen I'm looking for, so I have, I do compost and I, but I can't put a compost bin on my kitchen counter because it attracts ants, which I have an ant problem. So I was like what do I do? And I don't? I don't want to spend, you know, and buy another product, another croc thing or whatever you know to put on my counter. And I knew that. You know, heather, what do I do? When she came up with a, you know, she told me she says I use one of those containers at the, the dishwashing pods come in.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh, and you know, I never thought of that because I would take that, recycle it, thinking that I'm recycling and doing the right thing. But I think I love this and I just I love this concept. It's not a concept. I love the idea that the whole idea of recycling, but there's a way, more steps that you can take before you ever get to the recycling part, and that I would really like you to address. Because I think recycling, we think we're right on and I thought, I thought I'm gonna recycle this bin and everything, but the whole idea of actually using it for something else that I need instead of buying something else. I love that idea and that made perfect sense to me yeah, absolutely, and I think to again.
Speaker 2:It starts with your choice, right. What works for you, where are you at in your life and what do you want to do? Again, everybody's gonna be in a different place right it's changing that process in making a choice that you want to do something. When you go out to the store, you can refuse to buy things that are plastic.
Speaker 1:Can you? You can, because I mean everything seems to be in plastic it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can choose not to buy it. There's gonna be somewhere where you can purchase it in bulk or at a zero waste shop, more and more showing up everywhere. I was traveling to ireland not too long ago and they had and you go, friendly, zero waste shop and I was so excited. So anywhere you go, there's opportunities available. You just have to look for typically small shops, but even some of the larger brand name ones, like whole foods, they have a bulk section. You can take your containers in there and buy nuts and seeds and I know this sounds ridiculous, that I don't know this but you can take your own containers in there.
Speaker 1:I believe so absolutely. You don't have to use your plastic bag that's hanging there. Think so.
Speaker 2:That's awesome okay, and so there's a lot of a lot of places like that around. So you know you just again, it's Thinking about what you have available to you right, and finding it in a different place. It may not be your local store that you go to all the time.
Speaker 1:I never heard of those zero waste shop. Tell me they're springing up everywhere I hope so.
Speaker 2:I was just super excited when I saw I was walking by, like what is that? Let me go check that out. And you know, we have some locally here and I, you know, I've heard of other ones in different places. So I really recommend that everybody listening, you know, google search, see what's nearby and there may be some that aren't so close to you, but do you happen to go into that area maybe once a month and say, okay, these are things I want to buy, and then, when you Happen to be in that area, stop in your fill up and then you come back home so you're, you know, reducing the carbon footprint of going to, you know, five hundred different places, just because you want to be eco friendly.
Speaker 1:Kind of defeats the purpose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know you're thinking about, how can I still consolidate my Places that I'm going to, the number of locations that I'm going to, especially if you're driving to be a little bit more efficient and effective in terms of gas and in the carbon footprint associated with going to different places? Right, not be in your local area, right. But again, as we think about to not using single use stuff, we have that power. We can choose not to use. It may not be as convenient, but is there something in your house that already exists that you can use instead?
Speaker 1:like my existing dishwasher tub.
Speaker 2:Thing right that I could use for my compost pale. Absolutely, and then when you do go to the store there things you're buying in plastic that you can actually reduce the amount of is it something you and your family actually need?
Speaker 1:Okay. So we're thinking, we're talking about putting some more thought into the things that, like you just said that you had. Do you really need it? So? So, before we go, that, so tell me that. And the five hours, the six hours, that, what is the strategy? That that you know that keeps coming up, which I love, but it's again, it's, it's beyond the recycle part, which we think is the top of everything, but that's actually further down the line, isn't it?
Speaker 2:in terms of Methods to use absolutely, absolutely so, and it's a lot of what we've just been talking about, with recycling being the final piece of the puzzle, where you recycle what it is because you cannot find another purpose I got it, got it okay for it and so some of these things.
Speaker 2:Again, like we just talked about, it's really Thinking how you think about things, the choices you make, refusing things. You go to some event, you get some plastics way or something. You can say no to that. Okay, you can again reduce what you're using already that's in plastic. You can reuse the plastic you already have. You can refurbish things, you can fix them. I know a lot of places are starting to come around with different local laws that are saying you know, repair is important, so we want to make sure that people have the opportunity to repair instead of having to completely replace. And you can also repurpose again, like we've talked about, so you can take something you have and use it for a completely different purpose than what it was originally intended for, similar to the dishwashing pod container that we were talking about for compost, and then, when all else fails, then you can recycle it. But is there another way you can use those things that you get that you already pay for at the store in a different way?
Speaker 1:So let me kind of repeat that, okay. So, because I, this is a group, there's a great thought. So the idea is refuse. You know, first of all, you be handed crap that you don't really want, but you take because you know, whatever, it's the way we do things a lot of times. I don't want that, so you refuse, you reduce potentially how much you are using in the first place by rethinking about how you potentially use it.
Speaker 1:You reuse stuff, okay, repair things. I love that and you know, and I know that people repair socks and furniture and electronics, their household. You know what do you call them? Dishwashers and washing machines and what have you. And then also the rot it was one of the Rs that I had saw. Of course, that's composting and and then recycle, okay, so I just wanted to get all those kind of an out there again. I love, I love that strategy. It just takes. It takes way more, not way more. It takes a different way of thinking about things, doesn't it? Because we're kind of like encouraged and we've talked about this on other episodes, like cell phone recycling we're encouraged to buy the next biggest, next greatest thing. You know, yeah, and, and we do, and a lot of us do, and instead of recognizing that the current one you have is still good. So it's kind of kind of. This thought process goes a little bit against the grain of consumerism, doesn't it right?
Speaker 1:okay, a lot against the grain of consumerism which is kind of part of the process too, isn't it about? Oh, about rethinking about the things that we use in our life, in our households absolutely, and it goes back to starting.
Speaker 2:Simple. It's like where are you at and what are you willing to do today? You might not be willing to cut up old t-shirts and get rid of paper towels, and that's okay, but you might be willing to use a reusable water bottle instead of buying plastic water bottles at the grocery store so give me some, give me some examples, like you just said, of the water bottle, instead of buying single use plastics.
Speaker 1:You know, okay, I'm going to refill my water, you know my water bottle every day. What else? What else are some really simple ones that people can, you know, can, take on and then go for the bigger stuff, of course sure?
Speaker 2:so again, shopping in bulk at the grocery store is huge, even if you don't have a container or the store doesn't allow a container, think about the overall amount of plastic you're bringing into your home, right? So if you have one of those plastic bags to put your bulk in, versus a big plastic container that it comes in, so you could also reuse that plastic bag exactly several times over.
Speaker 1:Got it so thinking.
Speaker 2:Going back to the dishwashing pod container, it's plastic. We can reuse it, say, as a compost bin. Well, if you don't want to wash out that compost bin, maybe you use those plastic bags to line that compost bin and then put it in your trash and then whatever your municipality does for compost, if they have that option, well then process it through their system.
Speaker 2:Some stores now which is wonderful are actually using compostable bags for their produce bags which I found amazing, and they do have compostable produce bags and trash bags and all kinds of bags out there for you if you want to go there. So yeah, so there's a lot of different, different opportunities there. Ziplock bags we all use them, love them, love them. They make traveling amazing. But they do have opportunities out there for you to buy either silicon bags that are similar oh, I've seen those yes bags. Yes, or um, also food wrapping, like they have. The cloth with the beeswax yes, that you can use yes, so again there's.
Speaker 2:There's a bunch of things and you know, some of some of you out there might be saying that's just not for me and that's okay. Again, we want to come back to going what is simple and what can I do today? So I mean it. Maybe it's a straw. Maybe you're like I use straws a lot.
Speaker 2:Maybe I can get a silicone or metal straw and replace all those other or not use a straw or not use a straw got it so there's there's a ton of options out there and it just really again depends on where you are and what you're willing to do today and then, once you're good with that, then you just build on it one thing at a time. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. You do too many things at once, you get overwhelmed right, right it's.
Speaker 1:It really is about making lifestyle changes, isn't it absolutely? We're programmed to do certain things certain ways. Throw it in the garbage, turn your back and walk away. Yeah, which I know I'm a culprit of. I know this, you guys, I know heather was the one that taught me about wish recycling and you know I I have another friend and I know she's going to listen to this podcast because she is rides me. When she comes down, she lives up in oregon when she comes down, she opens my trash slash recycle bin in the kitchen and says oh, are you kidding me? Do you think you can actually recycle this? And I think I'm thinking, yeah, I thought I could, you know, and and and that's when heather introduced me to the idea of wish recycling. It's like, well, it's plastic, it should be it, it should be recyclable.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to put it in the recycle bin because it's because it should be recyclable it should be, and it makes us feel good about what we're doing, because that's what we've been taught. So what is wish recycling so wish recycling or wish cycling is basically putting an item into the recycle bin because that's where you believe it belongs, whether it actually does or not. And it gets a little bit complicated because every single city, county and state have different recycling requirements.
Speaker 2:Some, some places, don't have any recycling at all which I've seen and some do, and so I may work in city a, but when I go to city b it's something completely different and I don't know what I'm doing. So I'm going to do what I do at home, and it may be completely wrong for that city or that county that I'm working in. So it's really challenging for us as the consumer yes to understand. So what we do is we say, oh, it's plastic, it should be recyclable. It goes into the recycling bin that's glass, it should be recyclable.
Speaker 2:It goes into the recycling bin. Well, some places don't take colored glass, but you don't know that unless they have good education around their programs. Ideally now we would have a unified recycling program so everything's consistent across the nation, across the world. So, no matter where we go, we're all doing the same thing, right? We're just not there yet and hopeful one day we can get there.
Speaker 1:Are we getting closer heather? Because I mean so, as we, as we all know this, the I mean there's all obviously a lot of, and I'm glad you know there's big conversations about plastic and it not being recyclable and where it's ending up in the oceans. All the big, the big plastic patch, all of those types of things. I get that and I'm glad that these conversations are being had. But you know the trash in general that's ending up in the landfills and the amount of food waste that goes into the landfills, which I hear is is uh, I'm reading statistics anywhere from like 30 to 40 percent of stuff that goes in the landfill is food waste. So I mean is um, are we, are we changing things? Are we? Uh, I know, I mean I've said this, I know small steps, small steps, I know I know these all add up. I know that's how things work. But are we too?
Speaker 2:late, I I would not say we're too late, okay, I think everybody taking a stand and doing something is going to make a change, and that's where we're at. We need everybody to make change. We need you to say, yes, I'm willing to replace that plastic water bottle with a reusable one. I'm willing to take one thing and make a change for that today, because when we all start doing that, then it becomes an exponential thing. The people around us see it and then they get excited and interested and then they start to change the way that they're doing things. And then, if you bring children into it, you know, then they have healthy habits growing up. So their future children and their grandchildren and generations beyond are already going to have those healthy habits. So we're going to see an exponential change. But all of us right now need to take a stand. We need to do something.
Speaker 1:As small as it is, it may seem like it's small, but it's really quite large just taking that first step to do something because there's a lot of us, there's a lot of right, okay, so if we all do something, that it's a big thing, then absolutely got it got it. So I've been hearing a lot about circular economies. Tell me, tell me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so circular economies are where the manufacturers make a product and they have a complete closed loop system. So when that product is Manufactured it goes to the consumer, it has somewhere to go after its use, its Life has been completed, and then it gets reused back into potentially making that product again or some other product. So every bit of that Item is used or repurposed in a different way.
Speaker 1:So that's an example of the closed loop.
Speaker 2:Let's, for example, say we have there's, there's an organization called bright mark and they're trying to eliminate plastic and and one of the things that they do is they take all of the plastic. Doesn't matter what kind it is. They're like bring it in, we'll take it. They take that plastic and they process it and in the process of doing that, it gets changed into CNG gas and wax.
Speaker 1:And CNG gas we can use, for. I've seen that. I've seen those and I've seen that yeah, so some vehicles use that. That's yes, different things.
Speaker 2:Yes, but so they're taking all of that plastic and it's turning into something else. So the wax can be sold and it can be used to make candles, to make whatever's, to do this or that, and then the gas can be used for, you know, potentially Vehicles and different things like that as well. Another example I'm not sure that that's a great example of closed loop, because they're not actually manufacturing the plastic. But if you think let's just say, for example, you have a metal water bottle and the manufacturer of that metal water bottle says, when this metal water bottle has Reached the end of its life, say it's got dense, it cracked because it fell down a hill on a hike, they will take it back, they will recycle it, and then that material will be used to make either another new metal water bottle or Something else with that material.
Speaker 1:Love it.
Speaker 2:So that's where the manufacturer is saying we want to be part of the solution, we're gonna close the loop. So we're not putting it on the consumer to say, hey, we've created this problem and now we're gonna put it on you to kind of solve that problem.
Speaker 1:So that's circular Economy, yeah, got it, so that that product never kind of loses its life is kind of what it is. It gets Transform, transformed again. Yep, okay, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I love that, and so isn't that kind of what aluminum is all about as well. Yeah, so metals are really good at being Recycled into other things, the glass as well. I mean we've seen glass soda bottles, you know many, many moons ago.
Speaker 1:They're coming back, but that's what I heard.
Speaker 2:Just being. You know, brie used in different forms. You know they're able to take it, they break it down, they heat it up, they put it into a new form and then it's holding some other substance which is amazing got it. If everything was like that and we were stopping to use all of the plastic, then we wouldn't, you know, have a lot less Pollution plastic pollution in the world, because now we're talking about micro plastics and that's pretty scary right.
Speaker 2:But all of the plastic that we're putting in the landfill is decomposing into those micro plastics which then contaminate the earth, right, but then they get so small then they're carried in the air so we're breathing it in as well, and then it gets into the waterways and then our food sources. You know, all of this stuff it just kind of endless scary streams. Yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a vicious cycle.
Speaker 2:So if we can reduce some of those pollutants, those plastic pollutants in the world, people are going to be healthier, the environment is going to be healthier, the food we eat is going to be healthier and I, you know I would. I look forward to that day.
Speaker 1:So so tell me, heather, I mean so. So Heather has turned me on to an Organization called Terra cycle, which I I still don't totally grasp. I'll be honest with you again. See, I'm as overwhelmed as you guys are. Okay, but the idea. So so Tell me, because I've given you bagfuls of stuff, and tell me, tell us more about this particular program, because this is really different, because this, to me, this is about recycling things that you're like you hold up a toothbrush and go what am I supposed to do with this?
Speaker 2:Sure, what am I supposed to?
Speaker 1:do with this.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and so Terra cycles, an amazing organization, and their whole mission is to eliminate the idea of waste, and what they have decided to do is take all of those hard to recycle plastics and Offer the consumer an option to recycle them.
Speaker 1:Hmm.
Speaker 2:So they have different sponsors that make products that haven't quite yet created their own closed loop systems. So they pay Terra cycle to collect their materials and recycle them for them. Oh, and that's free to consumers like you and I. They also have other Programs where they work with municipalities. For example, they will put up containers in different cities where folks can put their cigarette butts in there and they recycle cigarette. Wow yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 2:And then they also have paid for service, where you can buy a box that's called a zero waste box and put everything in it, ship it to them and they'll recycle it for you.
Speaker 1:And how much is that?
Speaker 2:What's? How much is that expensive? They vary that. The zero waste boxes can be 50 to $150, depending on how much of the sorting you're gonna do yourself.
Speaker 1:Okay, so in a zero-waste bar, in a in Terra cycle zero-waste box, I can put my toothbrush Sure. How about old razor blades?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. They have a bunch of different options. They have a catch-all you can put anything in that box. No, or they have a box that's like oh, you have a coffee room or a coffee break room in your office, let's have one that's focused on those materials really so again, it just depends on those little cogs things, on how much of the different things you're willing to kind of Segregate out into the different work streams that their pot or their boxes are made of you love it, All right.
Speaker 1:So it's tell me the. Do you know the website off top of your head? Is it Terra cycle org?
Speaker 2:I believe it's Terra cycle calm Okay.
Speaker 1:Listeners will find that out. It'll be on the resource page. You know, for this particular episode, we're gonna provide you with as many resources as possible because you know, again, small steps instead of no steps. You know so and you know, and and for some people I understand that Buying a box to recycle your own stuff is not doable. That's no problem.
Speaker 1:But there are other people, like Heather, that is interested in doing something like that and I have given her stuff for her box because you know she's as part of the trash punks the group here in the Bay Area. She's asked us hey, give me your stuff so I can fill my box and and get it sent off. So I mean that's that's quite a blessing for all of us to be able to do that. So thank you for that. But there are companies out there that are recycling stuff.
Speaker 1:Heather asked the other day Give us, give me your old socks that have holes in them, or, you know, your old crappy socks that you don't want anymore. And I'm thinking, yeah, you know I didn't realize this because I was actually just online that earlier that day thinking I need some new socks and After the call went out, I emptied my sock drawer and I was like oh my god Holy moly, I have a lot of socks and I gave Heather a big bag full of socks that that had holes in them and then I just kept shuffling back in the back of the drawer thinking I need socks.
Speaker 1:So what happened to those socks? Because you put out a call and you got a lot of socks.
Speaker 2:I did I did so. Thank you for contributing to that yeah, so this is absolutely. This is part of the terror cycle. Free event are the free option that they have for you, and the benefit to that is one Using a larger box that you already have, so you buy something in amazon you got a box where you gonna put in a new, recycle it.
Speaker 2:While you put your stuff in one of those boxes, when it's full, you send it in. The bonus here is when you send it in, they give you points, and what those points do is they turn into cash for your favorite charity or school.
Speaker 1:So you get a free donation recycling stuff so that's a free process. That's the free process.
Speaker 2:So anybody and I can sign up and look at all of the various things that they're willing to recycle for you. And then you start collecting them. We get a full box, you send it in and you start earning points, and then your kids school. Could, you know, get a bonus donation this year? Gosh, you hear that people.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, so it's so. May ask you then to use either I read it or you told me, because I know that oh my gosh, clothing textiles. Textiles are a huge, also a huge contributor to land landfills, to the way stream, and I read I have been watching too much stuff. You know I'm learning so much awesome, but you know the whole fast fashion, which was like a new term for me, you know, cuz I'm not a fashionista. If you know me, you know the whole idea that you can buy something super cheap online, have it sent to your door and and it doesn't fit, doesn't matter, cuz it was only a couple bucks kind of a thing, and then it's get thrown away. And then they have ultra fashion, which is, I guess, even cheaper and faster and crappier and same kind of thing. These are products that don't have any real, they're not quality, so it, you know. So people like it doesn't matter and they kind of toss it away. But textiles are huge problem, aren't they?
Speaker 2:absolutely, absolutely. So we all probably have more clothes than than we all wear, right? So as we think about the clothes and what, those jeans are never gonna fit again.
Speaker 1:Sorry, I gotta tell you that now.
Speaker 2:And as we think about the jeans that may never fit again, or, you know, the fancy outfit that you wore to this one, you know, premier event, that you may never wear again. There's a place for that. But those clothes last, because they were made well right when you have something that's not made well.
Speaker 2:You know you wear it once, it gets a tear and so you throw it away. But what are you willing to pay more to get some quality, some key quality clothes? I think the majority of us and I'm guilty of it too I have a lot of clothes. However, if we're able to spend a little bit more on quality key staple items that are interchangeable and you can use a lot of different outfits are, create a lot of different outfits with it. You can also find yourself on that zero waste journey because you're reducing the amount that you're taking in even though you're spending a little bit more on the front end. It's gonna last you significantly longer.
Speaker 1:So it's actually the terms, it's actually money savings it can be absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2:And then there's a lot of things happening and many, many communities where there are clothing swaps I guess I'm in. So people bring clothes they no longer use to these clothing swaps and then they get some fresh new stuff that's still in really good shape Fill the wardrobe. I mean, we hear about mom to mom events for kids clothes because they grow so fast and, whether there's a stain or not, some other little kids not gonna know the difference, right. So we're so clothing swaps, mom to mom swaps. And then let's just make that one step larger.
Speaker 1:Let's have free markets yes, yes, heather, tell us about free markets. So yeah, wait, wait. I have to tell the listeners because heather heather was, as I mentioned, as you know how this part of the trash punks, but heather brought the idea free market to the trash punks and it has been a huge success. Well, thank you, huge success, thank you yeah, so the idea.
Speaker 2:Free markets are similar to it, say a garage sale or a flea market. We're all familiar with those. We have stuff we want to get rid of it. Right, let's try make a few extra bucks if we can, but we all know some things are worth a lot more than what we let them go for. What if we let them go for free? What if we have gatherings where we have stuff that we no longer need? We bring them to an event and then we invite the community, our local community, to come in and take whatever they need free of charge.
Speaker 2:Work extending the life of these products love this engaging our communities were helping support those that are underserved with, potentially, things that they may never be able to get, and the community and it's going back into the community so it's, it's again. It's a different cycle, but we're just reusing and extending the life of things and getting them into the hands of people that can use them.
Speaker 1:Love it. I think it's such a great idea, you know, and it's so funny. It's such a gosh. I it's such a foreign concept because when we have these free market events, you'd be surprised how many people walk up and go. How much free, yeah, I know, okay, but how much? How much do you want for that? No, it's free, please take it, it's for you and it's the it's kind of the way that washes over them. You can see that whole Wow and then the gratitude, and then then it's a mutual gratitude. Then the person is thrilled to be able to get the thing that they needed, or they can never afford or that, you know, whatever that is that they were looking for, and we're thrilled to be able to not get in the landfill, to be able to pass it on and help somebody else. So great thing for community.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. This is also known as the gifting economy in case you hear that term out there and it really does it can bring your community together and, I imagine, back in the depression this was probably very common. You know people helping people with the things that they have that they're not using. We just got really used to being able to go out and buy everything. I use it once and then it sits in the shelf in the garage and then we all have a lot of things we don't use anymore.
Speaker 2:Right so why don't we have more free markets or more library ask type Operations where, if you need to go run a tool, you go run a tool instead of buying it for a single project?
Speaker 1:love it?
Speaker 2:are there places like that?
Speaker 1:yes, there is where you can rent tools. Yes, love it, love it. I've read, actually, an article recently where you could rent a christmas tree Wonderful. I have to tell you, I absolutely love that idea. And not a real live one, you know, and it stays in the bucket and take care of it, you do your thing with it at christmas time and then you bring it back to the nursery, you know, and for rental fee, and I'm like I love that absolutely. That's great. Love, all these ideas. I think there's some really amazing stuff going on in our world absolutely.
Speaker 2:there's a lot of innovation and, like you said early on, it can be overwhelming, and to jump into any one of these can be a big undertaking. Yes, yes, when you just do one thing, yes, I love, you make a difference and that's where you start, and then, before you know it, you're adding another thing and then another thing in your wall, in your ways, your way to a zero waste journey love it.
Speaker 1:So I hope I hope listeners, I hope you gleam something from this conversation, some ideas, some, you know. You know I ran a tree, you know, go to come on the free market events or start a free market event. But I would like now for heather to look through my trash. You know, I have to tell you, like I mentioned earlier, I've been not dreading it because I, you know, I recognize that I don't do it well, but I need to do it well. I wanna do better.
Speaker 1:I think I met the part in my life or I'm willing to take the extra time, take the extra steps it takes to do it right, and recognize that that you know the wish cycling doesn't work and I am happy to share my lessons with you guys. So let's go look at my trash. Alright, guys, I know here we go. Okay, we got our gloves on, and so I have two bins in my house. I have a bin that I use for what I my recycling and then garbage, and they're right next to each other. So I told Heather, I said I don't wanna dump my garbage out, because my garbage has coffee grinds in it and oh my gosh, I think it has cat poop in it. And what have you? And when she's like no, she says because I'm thinking, no, no, it's garbage. I know it's garbage, but she says that's not what it's about.
Speaker 2:It's not about the garbage itself. It's about the awareness of the plastic use and identifying what you can change your habits to reduce the plastic use on.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I gotta dump my garbage out too. So I'm gonna put the little mic down here and here we go. All right, I'll do the garbage one. I'm gonna put in my gloves. We've got the recycle one, Okay, all right, All right garbage.
Speaker 2:Countdown three two one.
Speaker 1:Oh it's gross, okay it is gross. Oh my God it is gross. Okay, that is my garbage. Okay, do I want me to put the recycle next to it?
Speaker 2:or are we just gonna go through the garbage? Let's start here.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's do it All right. A lot of coffee grinds. Obviously, I drink a lot of coffee, okay, okay. So what we're actually physically doing is we're digging through my garbage and we're pulling out plastic. We're separating things, so we're pulling out plastic yes, yep, separating like things with like things.
Speaker 2:So, if you have plastic with plastic, if you have organics with organics.
Speaker 1:Okay, I shouldn't have any organics. By the way, I have an active compost that if you look at my garbage right now, you can clearly see that I only use it sometimes because I have banana peels in here and I have coffee grinds and some other green things. Yeah, all right. Oh, I get it. Okay, you guys are really doing this. Okay, okay, this is like so. Okay, so this is a plastic and paper. Do I put it with the plastic? Yep, okay, all right. Okay, oh, my gosh. Yep, neighbors are building a house or something I don't know. Okay, why are these? Boy, all right, lots of plastic, you guys. Paper, what is this? It's kind of paper.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good question. So for the listener, these are things that come on like new clothes, the sticky things that wrap around that say small, medium, large or what the clothing is. And because they're sticky I'm gonna say they're not true paper so I would put plastic.
Speaker 1:Plastic. Okay, all right. So I aired my dirty trash with you, heather, and I continued to sort through my trash and my recycle bins and, yes, my wish recycling showed up. But Heather kindly showed me where items belonged and how I could do better. I highly encourage you, give it a try. Try this at home trash audit. It helped me feel less shame about my trash and more empowered about what I could do better. No more wish recycling. Let me know if you do an audit, send me some pics. You know, share your experience on the two chicks and a whole website, or not website, facebook site, please. I'm so grateful to Heather for sharing her knowledge with all of us.
Speaker 1:Little steps are so much better for all of us than no steps. Keep it simple, like Heather said, do what's right for you and your family. It's different for everybody. Several little steps are way better than no steps and you can be the model for your children, your neighbors, your friends, creating that much needed ripple effect, spreading awareness, knowledge and love for our communities and planet. Remember the Rs refuse. You can always say no, no, thanks. Reduce, reuse, repair and rot. The compost part and recycle. Remember, recycle is actually the least desirable of those items of those options. I'll have several resources up on the website that can help you with your zero waste journey. Thanks for listening, you guys. I hope you liked this. It was really different. I recognize that and I hope it's not as complicated anymore for you. It's not for me. Share this with your friends and take care of each other, you guys. Bye.