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This One, I Gotta Try

Posted February 25, 2010 by Matthew Denton

A blogger sends an important message about waste-free living

Thank heavens for Michelle Slatalla in her New York Times article. The woman featured her friend Bea who runs a very young eco-friendly blog entitled The Zero Waste Home . It’s absolutely one environmentalist’s sanctuary. Bea, who doesn’t reveal her family name, spreads the word on reducing our garbage extremely. And where else could she begin but at home.

The crusader from Mill Valley, California is on a mission to teach everyone a lesson or two about “Refuse, Refuse, Refuse Then Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”. The tips are just beginning to grow but as of this writing, I feel guilty about some of the things that she’s begging us to do. From the simple task of “refusing the extra school papers that come home” (obviously, there’d be less stacks of paper in your house) to “using castile soap when cleaning your floor, kitchen sink, dishes, etc.” this woman is not your ordinary eco-warrior.

What got me into checking her blog is how the NYT article described her home: “It’s like some kind of amazing magic trick. Bea has a husband, two sons (ages 10 and 8) and a dog, and yet her household generates no empty containers, no food scraps, no dirty paper towels, no broken toys, no crumpled wrapping paper, no empty ketchup packets from fast-food restaurants, no orphan socks with holes in the toes… At Bea’s house, every room and all the floors are painted a soft white (Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee). There is barely any furniture — in the living room, a sectional; in the dining room, a table and chairs; and in the kitchen, a white wall clock, with no hands. Walking around in there was kind of like what I imagine it would feel like to be inside an eggshell, sort of pearly but less fragile than you would expect.”

It may be impossible to duplicate her lifestyle (I’ll be the first one to confess I can’t match even half of what she’s doing), but there’s certainly a good point that she’s driving at. In our homes, de-cluttering takes a big chunk of our schedule, energy and finances so the best way to minimize this is by simply taking baby steps the best way we can do. Never mind if you can’t transform your home with a minimalist look - one that has barely any furniture around.

I’ll take it from the waste-free lady herself.

Now excuse me as I collect water in a bucket while my shower heats up.

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