Why, Oh Why

Here I go again, so to speak. I have tried blogging before, but only for family updates and such, but this time around I and trying to serve a purpose. For about a year now I have been trying to transition our home into a "zero waste" home, and have had some success in the transition, but still have a long way to go.

In the process I have had several friends ask me about it, and decided that it was time to share our zero waste adventure with the world of bloggers, and hopefully I can get feedback and helpful hints from others about what works for them, and maybe inspire someone along the way.

For the last couple of years I have been following a zero waste blog about a family that has done a great job of cutting all waste in their lives. I was totally inspired by this, but I was just not sure if I could actually live the way that they do. I decided to try, and guess what? I came close, but didn't make it all the way to my goal, but I decided that way okay. I came to the self realization that zero waste is a process, and as long as I continually worked at it, I will accomplish my goal.

Now, here is the tricky part. The whole family has to be on the same page. I will just say up front that this is not the case so far for our family. My husband is a great provider and a hard worker, but he has no interest in this lifestyle, and pokes constant fun at me. I can take it, I have 3 brothers. Bring your weak game mister. I also have two boys, 19 and 15. The younger is the only one a home right now, and he doesn't give me as much of a headache as his father, but I'm still trying to get him on board.

I decided to try zero waste when we made our last move,being a military family we have made a few. This last time we bought a home, and the cost that goes into home ownership needed to be made up somewhere, so I originally started for financial reasons. After I started though I found the lifestyle exciting, and challenging. I have started thinking about everything that we put in our trash can and thinking that we are being pretty minimal, but when I drive up our street I see everyone else's trash cans out on trash day, and they are overflowing. That trash has to go somewhere, and that somewhere is filling up fast. I decided that I want to do my part to reduce the amount of waste that is going into the land fills.

I am hoping that this blog will inspire some of you to do the same. So enjoy the tricks and tips, and take the ride with our family.


- Monica