A month without garbage: How did I live without plastic?

No trash. Some live like this for 20+ years, 1 others decide to give it a try and persuade their friends to join.

...I was the second and together with several friends we tried to live without garbage for a month. Without discarded plastic, paper, glass, metal.

how did it go Better than we expected. However, let me start with the question "No garbage?" and the more important question: "Oh my God, why?".

This 22+ thousand members having FB groups "Zero waste Lithuania" the cover. Having discovered this group, when it had only a few hundred members, I watched it silently for about half a year... Until I finally realized that I could try it myself.

"Litter free" means:

1. Don't buy what you don't need. 2 The word "tau" is also important here, because - as well In the challenge of minimalism - it's personal.
2. Use tools more than once and, if necessary, fix yourself. 3
3. What cannot be used - sort it out and compost.

I think the most interesting part of these rules is how you describe "tools". Because when you think about it, a lot of things can be used more than once, but we don't. These are books, clothes, a bicycle that you have ridden twice, children's toys, old phones or, say, plastic bags...

Before starting this month's experiment, I walked down to my trash can and checked what I had thrown away the most in the last few weeks.

• I saw food packaging,
• clothing packaging,
• packaging from Ikea furniture,
• enough plastic bags to glue a parachute together...

Also food waste, which I could otherwise throw in the compost bin - after all, it's in the yard... 4

"No Garbage" – means not to throw away what can be reused, but what you throw away, put it in recycling containers. Also, don't buy anything that isn't recyclable.

Really good idea, isn't it?

B. "Oh my God, why?"

Trash people 5 strives to ensure that our society's resources are not wasted. Natural, unnatural, human, temporal - all of them.

The less electricity, oil, wood (and so on) wasted, the more can be used for better purposes. For example, for your comfortable life.

1. Because every bag that ends up in the trash is part of the salary you could get. After all, the state has to pay garbage collectors later, to pay for garbage processing, transportation, storage, composting, maintenance of landfills... This is a very small part, but when such bags, packages, and clothes are thrown away in tons every day, it adds up.
2. Because right now our food is full of waste. And littering only increases it. microplastics, 6 macroplastics, 7 various glass, 8 and metal.
3. And the problem is that the climate is changing. And your consumption encourages it too. It's hot, it's cold, what's the difference - climate change is a fact, and the mountains of garbage in the oceans and forests of Lithuania are no secret. Are you doing your part? Don't think you should blame your neighbors and pretend to be a holy cow yourself.

...So I set myself a no-trash month challenge to test myself. How much trash do I create now? And what could I do to create less waste? However, I don't want to be the cause of the world's troubles.

And this is what happened... 🌍💚♻️

Here, the day before the start of the challenge, I was interviewed by Bertas Ulozevičius. 9 I had a lot of energy, but no idea what I was going to do here. Anyway, a perfect set for an adventure.

Behold...

...As soon as I started the challenge, I ran into a bug. Such a little trouble. It's just, really, you're bluffing... I couldn't find anything to eat.

Because there is one material that is practically impossible to recycle. It doesn't get too dirty, doesn't melt, doesn't split, doesn't stick. Its "recycling" is to simply drive it into, say, concrete instead of gravel. It is not fully recyclable like glass or metal. It uses petroleum products, which, as you know, are not the cleanest. You probably already know what I'm talking about. 

...WHY IS EVERYTHING PACKAGED IN PLASTIC???????

Look:

Is it REALLY necessary to put each bread in a separate package? Why is all the spinach in plastic? ...AND WHY is there a plastic box in every package of pasta!? Is it here to keep the noodles from getting bored and have something to look at???

These thoughts were running through my mind while I was trying on the malls 10 find something that isn't wrapped in plastic.

Because if plastic isn't recycled, and it is, then I can't buy it!

A shopping bag, of course, I had my own, a cloth one, but what to put in it? Finally, I bought fresh vegetables in plastic bags and bread in Rimi paper packaging. A complicated life.

But later I found solutions.

I discovered that there is nothing wrong with bringing the plastic bag again and packing the vegetables, 11 and move part of the shopping to Kaunas "Urmo base", where the approach to packaging is much more flexible. I heard that there are also markets, but I don't visit them much.

Since I managed to change my life to semi-vegan anyway, 12 it wasn't hard for me not to be interested in meat wrapped in plastic. I just ate fresh vegetables like a king!

I didn't have to change much - just open my eyes to the possibilities:

1. I replaced the paper towel in the kitchen with a cloth one, because I still only wiped my hands with it, and in Lithuania paper is more valuable than water.
2. I started using paper more often for fuel, because I heat my house with a solid fuel stove. 13
3. I started taking the uneaten vegetables to the compost bin in the yard, because anyway, hey, if I've got a chance, I might as well take it.
4. I started to think, maybe buy a hard "Solid"cosmetics, which is as usual, but without water inside, so it is packed and transported in a more ecological way.
5. I started looking at reusable bags, how, what are they creating "Green Message".
6. I started taking my cup/thermos to cafes, when I buy takeaway coffee. Because, anyway, it's even more convenient.
7. And I watched my choices in shopping and living. Inspiring podcast "Unpacked” and hundreds+++ Lithuanian Instagramers, all of which I would not even list here. Believe me, you will find good ideas too.

I still don't see how I can live a completely garbage-free life, but at least I'm moving towards it. Will I continue to be interested in a litter-free life? Of course yes. It was fun and I want to continue!

...True, keep in mind that my experiences are not the same as those of everyone who lives a trash-free life. I spend my days without children, in the city. Maybe your steps will be easier or harder. Therefore, you have to try.

My friend also tried Inga Mēnulietė:

• First week: "I can't find anything to eat";
• Second week: "I'm already finding freedom";
• Weeks Three and Four: "I will try in the future".

Inga seems to be in a similar mood - she also failed the challenge with 100%, but feels optimistic because 50% is also much better than zero.

...Well, how about you? Will you join to try? If you want, just join our facebook groups! There are plenty of easy ideas for cleaner living out there anyway, completely free. ♻️

I invite you - let's try together! 💚