Zero Waste Lifestyle

It’s been a couple of weeks that I’ve been thinking about starting a zero-waste lifestyle. I already compost, recycle and I’ve started buying only second-hand clothes but there’s still a lot of things that I’m doing wrong. I’ve stumble across a great article about a girl that didn’t produce trash in 2 years!! This finally made me realise that it’s possible to do so and that I should match my actions with my ideologies. The main reason that I’m doing this is that trash is synonym of disposing which means to get rid of or to give to someone else, and that someone else is the earth. It takes 450-1000 years for plastic to decompose and surprisingly, the most dangerous of all waste is organic waste: when food is thrown down in landfills, it becomes compacted and covered, which prevents the oxygen to reach it and thus produces methane. EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) states that ”the comparative impact of CH₄ (methane) on climate change is 25 times greater than CO₂ over a 100-year period”. Global warming is not the only consequence of our societies’ overconsumption rage: plastic is taking over our oceans, threatening marine life and we humans who consumes it, hazardous waste can affect the health of people living near landfills by polluting the air the groundwater and the soil. So starting now, I will try my best to:

• Start buying my meat, eggs and vegetables at an organic farmers market in Ottawa
• Buy in bulk
• Stop purchasing anything with a package (that’s a lot of things!)
• Bring my own plates/containers/utensils everywhere
• Say NO to things like straws, napkins, paper cups

During this process, I will post pictures and articles about my experience and I hope it will inspire some to do the same!

Interesting blog: http://www.trashisfortossers.com/2013/08/zero-waste-alternatives-ultimate-list.html

Vancouver: the role model for every city in Canada

Vancouver recently became the latest city to commit to running on 100% renewable energy. Some say the goal is unrealistic, but it’s the other way around and we have to face it: our way of life is unsustainable. ”The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is inevitable. It will happen whether we take action or not. Fossil fuels are—by definition–finite. They are a one-time gift to humanity” (Global 100% RE Alliance). The only way that change will truly happen is if our cities show leadership by taking such drastic measures. Read the article here: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/10/vancouver-commits-to-run-on-100-renewable-energy

Tiny home, Huge impact

A strange illness has taken over the human race and I might have been a victim of it at some point but I will now fight the urge: mass consumption. Did you ever go to Costco? The first time I visited the King of mass consumption, I almost started to cry. I could imagine the scene of an apocalypse movie, with the elephant size boxes falling on the consumers, too indulged in the pleasure of cheap-bulk-probably-made-by-kids-in-third-world-country products to even notice the chaos.

The only thing missing, I thought, was a slaughter house in the back, because ”where did all this meat come from”?

Or has it ever happened to you, the moment you look at your banana and you don’t understand how the hell it ended up on your plate? Like not how your mom went and picked it up at Loblaws, but how it appeared in Canada. My 5 year old self didn’t remember ever seeing a banana tree growing near my house…

Or when you realised that when you through stuff in the garbage bag, and the garbage truck comes and picks it up, they actually bring it somewhere… so then it stays somewhere… but what will happen when that somewhere is covered with trash… then they will need to find another somewhere… but where? Global solid waste was counted  at 3.5 million tonnes per day in 2010 (that’s approximately 350 Eiffel towers!!!) and is predicted to rise to more than 6 million tonnes per day by 2025 (The World Bank).

I don’t know for you guys, but I don’t want to end up walking on a pile of dump, so here’s my solution: tiny homes! Sun kissed at dusk, covered by a blanket of leaves at noon, spectator of the universe lights at midnight… I always dreamed of living in a tree house. Tiny homes aren’t really tree house (although it could work out…), but they’re pretty much the same: they don’t take much space, it’s super comfy, it’s sustainable, uses a minimum of resources, is affordable, is AWESOME! Plus it’s soooo cute! And it’s so small that you have all the rest of your land to grow food and enjoy the nature 🙂

Click on these to be inspired:
http://distractify.com/culture/arts/hold-me-close-now-tiny-houses/
http://tinyhousebuild.com/
http://www.countryliving.com/home-design/g1887/tiny-house/