My name is Cathrene. I am now in my mid-40’s.
I have always tried to live in an environmentally and planet friendly manner: I have always recycled, bought clothing from fair trade sources, made my own bread, used canvas bags for life (when I remembered them!), all light bulbs were already LED, switched all billing and correspondence from organisations to online access where allowed, I used environmentally friendly cleaning products where possible, used biodegradable poo bags with my dog and shredded paper went into compost… and I was always “contented” with my efforts.
Over the past decade the amount of shocking photos and video footage of plastic in oceans, mountains of rubbish, animals endangered due to human activity… have increased exponentially.
On the 26th of September 2018 I was sorting my recycling and household waste into the correct bins for collection the following day…. It made me sick – ONE person was filling these…. ALONE. Plastic shampoo/ conditioner bottles, plastic milk bottles, cardboard…. The black plastics / thin plastics from food packaging were non-recyclable (CWC), and don’t get me started on amazon parcels and redundant “padding”… The household waste bin was almost full (It should be noted that I work from home).
I was not doing enough. It was NOT enough to conscientiously recycle and avoid plastic bags. I WAS THE SOURCE OF TOO MUCH RUBBISH.
It was time to become part of the solution and not the problem. It was time to take more proactive action.
I started researching alternatives and other sources of household items; I read blogs, posts and articles on how to decrease my household waste – Ideally to ZERO, but realistically (given personal circumstances), by 95%, it was achievable. But only if I started immediately.
On the 1st October 2018, I set the goal of reducing my waste by 85% before the end of the year…. I managed around 80%.
This is NOT an overnight solution – So many products I was already using / had purchased in advance are still in use until they are empty. Many I can up-cycle, others I cannot.
This is my blog of the process and experiences I have encountered along the way.
