There is No Away

      Several years ago I saw a little online cartoon called "The Story of Stuff". It was written and narrated by Annie Leonard, in 2007. Leonard now is the Executive Director of Greenpeace USA and continues her lifelong work to bring awareness to the life cycle of material goods. This 20 minute documentary started my thinking about consumerism, wastefulness and sustainability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-RnnEFWUM4

     Raised in a large family with limited income, we naturally wasted very little. All the food brought into the house was eagerly consumed by hungry mouths, clothes were handed down from the oldest to the youngest, and household products and shampoos were used to the very last drop. We didn't buy prepared foods or mixes of any sort because that was much more expensive than cooking from scratch. 
Sometime in the 70's I fell off the thrift wagon and succumbed to the convenience of self sealing food storage bags and disposable, single use party supplies. 

     Moving to England in the early 80's, imagine my surprise (and delight) when I was served coffee in a real china cup at a train station. There is something about that experience I thought was wonderful and  unique- but in many ways sad. To think the use of disposable cups had become so commonplace in my life I wonder why I hadn't started on my present crusade against disposable products long ago. Forgiving myself for those years of ignorance and maybe a touch of laziness, my intent is to move forward by trying to find ways to reduce waste in my present life, and to share what I am learning with others. 

     The subject of reducing waste and trying to live a more sustainable lifestyle is complicated, confusing, convoluted and confounding. The amount of information on the subject is growing daily, with the awareness of the necessity of addressing the issue of waste expanding exponentially.   My intent with the initiation of this blog is to share information about all the positive action organizations, individuals and businesses are taking to 1. Reduce waste at the source. 2. Reuse everything possible to the end of it's life cycle. 3. Recycle only as a last resort.
     We will explore these ideas as we move forward and add Refuse, Rethink and Rot to the mix- turning the commonly accepted 3 "Rs" into 6 "R's". 

Stay tuned, and if you wish to join the conversation, feel free to comment and let me know how you are eliminating waste in your life. 
Barb