Living Without Waste

In the next few months, I would like to share my zero-waste journey with you. I decided to change my habits and lifestyle, so that I produce as little waste as possible (and I'm certainly not the first one to do that. Check out this impressive list of blogs compiled by fellow blogger Shia for more stories about zero-waste lifestyle).

How it all started

Actually, I didn't decide to do this from one day to the next. It was a rather slow process and it all started out with paper cups. I had been an eco-conscious person for some time and was pretty keen on recycling, wearing used clothes, repairing stuff instead of throwing it away and some more typical things, you would expect from your green-minded hippie friend.

No wonder, I just couldn't understand why one would choose to drink coffee from a paper cup with a plastic lid when it would be possible to have a real cup. And I still don't get those people who choose to sit in a nice Café and sip their coffee out of paper cups which were actually meant to be used by those who don't have time to sit down... While I can relate to those who are running late or want to enjoy their hot beverage in the park and therefore need some sort of container to take their coffee with them.

When I learned, as part of my studies, about the huge amounts of  unnecessary waste, we produce everyday, I had to think of those "To Go" cups immediately. So, I wanted to see how difficult it could be for me to avoid those disposable cups.
Instead of accepting the fact that I could no longer drink coffee from the coffee machine at our institute, I just brought my porcelain cup from home and put it in the machine. And, even to my own suprise, it worked!

From Coffee Cups to Vegetables

This first little success made me wonder how hard it could be to avoid other kinds of waste like the plastic packaging of vegetables and fruit, you often find in supermarkets. Luckily, I was still living in Graz at that time, a very nice city in the Southeast of Austria where you can buy fresh fruit and veggies at different farmers' markets all week through. Therefore, it wasn't too hard to quit packaged vegetables then, even if I had to adapt my diet a little: you usually wouldn't find cucumbers or egg plants at those markets but rather cabbage and potatoes since the farmers were selling seasonal produce instead of using greenhouses. So, the second step towards a lifestyle with less waste was done.

Yet, I wasn't too consistent with those changes sometimes. For example, I often didn't dare to argue with the farmer at the market when she insisted on putting my lambs lettuce in a plastic bag, so it would stay fresh. Also, I didn't yet seriously start to prepare for going zero waste because I would only stay in Graz for a limited period of time. That's also why I only dropped by occasionally in Das Gramm, the zero packaging store that recently opened in Neutorgasse 7 in Graz.

Fresh Start in Leipzig

When I moved to Leipzig in February 2017, I wanted to use this change of scenery as the real starting point for my zero waste journey. I had learned in Graz before that I wouldn't be able to avoid packaged groceries just like that and that I would have to prepare for the changes I was and still am eager to make. I also learned that I couldn't be too hard on myself when I would fall back into my old habits (I'm pretty convinced that I would give up the whole plan very quickly if I'd ponder about all the times, I couldn't live up to my own expectations and bought some plastic wrapped chocolate).

One of the first items on my preparations list was to subscribe for a vegetables and fruit delivery service. This is a rather common thing in German cities where you pay for a certain kind of "Gemüsekiste" (= vegetables box) delivered to your doorstep once a week. I thought that the eco-friendly people who arrange those boxes wouldn't use any other packaging than the hard plastic box, one returns to them after the delivery. Guess what, I was wrong. All the veggies and fruits came in different sizes of plastic bags. After all, I quit the subscription for the box.

What now?

As for now, I found a solution to the vegetable problem but I'm still in the preparations phase of living without waste. I've managed to make some changes already but couldn't go through with other steps yet. In my next posts, I'd like to share with you what my preparations look like and what I'm struggling with.

Want to know what these glasses have to do with my zero waste journey? Stay tuned for more info about my preparations, first success stories as well as disappointments with my transition to an alternative lifestyle.


Finally, I'd like to say THANK YOU for reading my very first post here at the Sustainery! Please don't hesitate to comment if you have any questions or feedback.

So looking forward to read from you.... :)
Hanna