Did I ever mention that I LOVE The New York Times Styles section? This morning, I sat with my coffee (from bulk Harvest beans) and buttered baguette toast that I carried home Parisian-style, in my purse without any paper accouterments. I'm sitting on the floor pawing over the inky pages of the Thursday Styles section when I notice "The Waste-Free Priestess" article. I take a hearty gulp of my cafe ole and read: "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. Nothing." I gulp again. I thought I was doing well because I bought bread without a bag.
I spend the next hour snooping on her blog and I declare Bea my new blogger-BFF. Her blog makes zero-waste living seem cool, sleek, sexy (not a pain-in-the-ass as I recently referred to it). Her home is straight out of Architectural Digest/Donna Karen's Hamptons summer spread-- all white and zen. Her pantry looks like the cover of Real Simple magazine-- canisters of bulk oats, dates, mango slices-- looks more like art than food. Check out her zero-waste Christmas tree-- it's simply sculptural.
I was getting down on getting down with this zero-waste living thing, until Bea. Granted, this woman is clearly the exception to the waste-free rule. However, she put the glitter back in green, and I feel inspired. Thanks, Bea.
Myriah:
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely fascinating find! Bea sounds like the Goddess of Green. (And her sons urinate on the lemon trees. Who knew???) I am following her blog now as well.
Wow!
Kim Anthony
What a great tie-in to our project! After reading the article (my fave tip is the lemon tree!) I still can't really imagine how she does it so I'm going to pick through her blog and find out. Something in her Jan. 28 post about advantages and disadvantages of the zero waste lifestyle tells me this is the just the tip of the iceberg:
ReplyDelete"-having to turn down wine at a party because it is served in a disposable cup (my own fault, I should always remember to bring my collapsible stainless cup)"
Very gutsy lady!
I was struck by two things Bea says. First, is her cardinal rule: "Refuse, refuse, refuse." That's probably the hardest thing about reducing consumption. We're just programmed to accept things the way they are, excess packaging and all. Maybe we should all wear buttons that say "refuse" on them to remind ourselves and intrigue others. Second, she notes that one of the disadvantages to a zero-waste lifestyle is "realizing that people you care about are unwilling to sacrifice the present (change their current habits) for a better future." One thing that hasn't come up to much in the blog posts is the idea of judgment. How do we go about making choices for ourselves, but also being non-judgmental of the people around us who make different choices?
ReplyDelete"Refuse" may be a potent, generative concept for a street art installation.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad this article spoke to a bunch of us.... Ben, I do think that you and Alex should take the lead with your action project and make "Refuse" street art....and if you make pins or bumper-stickers, I'll spot you some $$$ for a few :)
ReplyDelete