Low Waste Living

A calendar I made for 2017. Made out of single-side printed paper I found in the recycling bin at my office.

I majored in Environmental Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.  Everything that I learned in the introductory courses and onwards stuck with me in ways both good and bad.  Obviously the good was the knowledge I gained on this subject of profound importance that challenged me to make a difference in the world.  However, the bad was that I was immediately was made aware of how disrespectful and shameful humans can truly be; after all, most every major environmental issue that we are faced with today is caused by human existence.  For example, the impact of agriculture on the environment can lead to issues surrounding climate change and polluted soil and water.  Extracting and processing petroleum-based resources bring forth matters regarding air and water pollution, as well as the toxic impact it has on all life forms.  

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The lessons from courses such as Environmental Ethics and Biodiversity Perspectives would resonate with me after each class, and fill my head with the negative aspects of anthropogenic developments.  It wasn’t until the beginning of 2016 that I decided to make changes to my lifestyle in order to transition to a cleaner and greener alternative way of life.  To begin figuring out how I could be more sustainable, I decided to cut out purchasing commodities packaged in plastic or any material that couldn’t be recycled.  This meant I couldn’t buy things like toothpaste and granola bars, and couldn’t eat at places that used single use plastic products.  My new change challenged me to think of ways that I could avoid products packaged in unsustainable materials. ​

This is what you can expect an average grocery run to look like for me. With the number of grocery stores that have a bulk option, it's easy to get all the food you need without the unsustainable packing that comes with it.

The beginning of this transition was overwhelming; I had not realized how many food items, toiletries, and tangible goods that I purchased regularly did not adhere to my newly established values.  Finding a way to ween myself off of these products and develop an alternative way of life that catered to a more sustainable future seemed grim.  However, as I began to do some research, I discovered that many people had taken the same approach as I did to put their foot down in the path of unsustainable packaging to reduce landfill waste.  In fact, I stumbled upon websites that offered recipes for soaps, shampoos, and cleaning supplies that were all biodegradable, and that I could make without purchasing a single item that did not fit into my new way of life.
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Many plastic materials commonly used in the average household can take hundreds of years or more to break down.  The astonishing thing about this is that most people know this, yet not many actually do something about it.  Nearly everything these days is packaged in something that is not biodegradable therefore making the eradication of these commodities very complex.  Yes, we are lucky enough to have recycling for some containers and materials, though in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter that we recycle these products, they are still going to take an absurd amount of time to break down after they can no longer be used.  I like to think that my lifestyle change is taking a more preventative measure to confront the issue of pollution which does not biodegrade, or takes 500 or more years to biodegrade.  I feel that stripping myself of such products and packaging helps me be more conscious about the impact I have on the environment in the long run, rather than increasing waste volume regardless of its possibility of being recycled.

I present to you homeade tea tree oil/lemon verbena laundry pods!

After graduating, I received great news from an environmental conservation organization that I had applied to through AmeriCorps--I had been hired as their Clean Communities Coordinator.  I was ecstatic about my new position, and looked forward to spearheading many projects involving trash reduction in western North Carolina.  In this position I began to do work to raise awareness of point and non-point source pollutants, instill conservation education involving water quality, and increase the public’s access to volunteer opportunities surrounding water quality.  My time has often been spent with volunteer groups doing river and roadside clean-ups, and though it may seem menial, it is in times like these that I am directly exposed to an issue that I feel can be conquered before it arises.  The rivers and roadsides of Buncombe County are decorated with styrofoam beads that have been broken down from their original form.  Plastic bottles are lodged into the sides of banks because they’ve been there for decades.  I often unearth plastic bags that have become intertwined in tree roots.  Seeing this regularly while participating in projects torments me, and makes me want to help others see that humanity can be so much better to our environment than we have been.

Homeade lavender mint lip balm that I poured into old make-up containers.

Purging my life of wasteful materials was not a pretty process.  Through trial and error, I learned that buying shampoo in bulk was better than trying to make shampoo out of apple cider vinegar, resulting in a residual stench that haunted my pillows and hair-ties for weeks.  By choosing to not put produce in a plastic bag at Harris Teeter I received a fair amount of strange looks, and even the occasional “you better wash this before you eat it” speil.  Or perhaps the time I nearly ruined a load of laundry from incorrectly making my own detergent.  The vigorous effort I have put into having a waste-free lifestyle has helped me be more aware and controlled with what I do that could have any sort of negative impact on the environment.  I want to continue moving my energy for this topic forward in a direction that helps people learn and get involved in a reduced waste lifestyle.  The adjustments that I have made to my lifestyle are small, but are just the beginning steps in a lifelong process.    

Homeade lavender dish soap! Remember-suds aren't what makes dishes clean, it's what goes in the soap that gets the job done.

Lillian Lovingood is the Clean Communities Coordinator and AmeriCorps Project Conserve member at Asheville GreenWorks. For questions or comments feel free to email her at [email protected]