No, not a zero waste home. Not now. Probably not ever.

But I'm doing what I can.
Inspired by Zero Waste Home and a longtime nagging feeling that we had to do something, this January, my household began a concerted effort to reduce our footprint on the planet.
I'm intending this blog to be a place to compile ideas I find online--to easily access for current and future use, and to share with friends who are also endeavoring to cut back on what is brought into and put out from their homes.
So.
What now?

I guess I'll start by sharing a few of our current waste-reduction efforts.
The effects of two particular efforts that we've made are, I think, most noticeable to me.
First, we've started composting in earnest. Fortunately, our town makes composting insanely easy! Our green waste bin is now approved for kitchen scraps (including meat!), paper, cardboard, and a variety of other items. For Christmas, Jim gave me this compost bucket, and we keep it on the counter, where it's handily reached whenever we need to dispose of table scraps, veggie cuttings, and unavoidable paper waste. The bucket's great (in spite of the horrible reviews on BB and B; ours hasn't started to rust or break and hopefully won't any time soon!)--it looks nice, is big enough to fit an average day or half-day's worth of compost, and is kept smelling fresh with the carbon filters. I know, I know; buying a compost bucket amounts to acquiring yet another "thing" and all of its packaging and manufacturing, but I do agree with Bea (ZWH's author) that your efforts need to be manageable, and without this bucket, I don't know that I'd be game to compost--running outside with each load of clippings or maintaining a smelly open bowl of compost on the counter (like we did before Christmas) are options that don't appeal to me at all.
Second, we've stopped buying packaged foods almost completely. What we continue to buy in packaging--meat, poultry and fish, cheese, eggs--I'm actively looking to purchase differently. More on those efforts and their outcomes later. Since the beginning of the year, I've mostly weaned myself off of packaged dry goods--cereal, crackers and other snacks, bread, etc. Certain exceptions apply: Trader Joe's Seaweed Snacks are irreplaceable and must be purchased, though I've cut back on my consumption, for sure.



Whenever possible, we're shopping in the bulk food bins for dry goods like flour, cereal, grains, spices and snacks. Bulk purchases, as well as produce, are only put in bags or containers that I bring with me to the store. If I don't have a bag or jar for it, usually I won't buy it--it'll have to wait for my next shopping trip.
It has certainly changed the look of the pantry. (Of course, a "before" shot is suddenly impossible to find, but trust me that there used to be way more boxed and packaged foods in there.)

That's the gist of things. Specifics to follow soon!