Zero waste
Yesterday at the office in Lund university I was reading a popular book about zero waste. I've been following the zero waste movement for many years and tried to practise zero waste perfectly myself at different times in my life. These days, I incorporate many zero waste practices in my everyday life, but I'm not living a zero waste lifestyle. I see my lifestyle as a constellation of multiple and imperfect sustainability practices.
Many of my fellow humans in academia say that zero waste pushes responsibility to consumers. I largely agree with them. Businesses and the state need to take responsibility too. But at the same time, I see many benefits of engaging with zero waste practices as an individual, a consumer.
In my practice, zero waste, minimalism and voluntary simplicity go hand in hand. Living with a lot less than what is the norm in our society makes zero waste much easier to practise. In fact, many of the items I live with are the ones that allow me to manifest care towards nature.
Perhaps the greatest value of engaging with zero waste practices is that they often take more time. To some, the fact such practices take more time may sound off-putting. But these practices make me, and many other fellow humans, slow down and contemplate and grow spiritually. Cooking from scratch, walking to the other side of town to get some unpackaged vegetables from a food market, cleaning my home with baking soda and vinegar takes time but is humbling and even therapeutic. I don't see this as a waste of time or a chore. I think about care, growth and service.
During stressful and difficult times, I pay more attention than ever to zero waste practices. I realise that I have everything I need and can let go of everything at any time. Most of those things can be reused by fellow humans or return safely to mother Nature. I don't feel that I need more things or more money to buy even more things.