Zero Waste Challenge — Week 29: A Bit Extra
Thinking about what we buy
This week has seen an increased amount of recycling, which was tied to some necessary upgrades to lifestyle for our dog (he’s old and needs a ramp to more safely go down our backyard stairs).
We debated a bit about whether to find a used one (a quick search didn’t show any), make one (expensive and time-consuming) and settled on a new telescoping ramp that would make our efforts faster.
My wife and I go back and forth a lot when considering purchases, especially when they’re singularly focused or extremely specific purchases. We don’t want to make frivolous choices and we prefer to think long-term and ensure something will get used again.
The ramp in this case checks those boxes as we’ll use it for as long as we still have our dog, and likely again for any other dogs we may own in our lives.
And after that, we’ll donate or sell to another family.
This type of forward-thinking is really becoming a transformative process for us, it is the biggest piece of the reduce puzzle. Is the thing we’re thinking of absolutely necessary? Can we repurpose something else first? Can we buy used? Our hope is that the Zero Waste Challenge has forever shifted our approach to how we choose to live.
I believe it has.
Here are our totals for the week, rounded up to the nearest 25%.
Trash: 50%
Organics: 50%
Recycling 1: 100%
Recycling 2: 100%
Extra: Additional recycling (cardboard boxes)
