I used to share here a few details about how we have been working slowly to turn our household more sustainable on different levels.
The level that has especially been suffering lately is our waste management:
Due to an expected, yet unexpected change, we have actually been producing a lot more waste than before, with 2 more persons at home with us:
- one grown-up who is strongly motivated to search for eco-friendly lifestyle changes, but who tends to make the wrong choices, and
- a tiny little person who does not give a crap (yet) and produces diaper after diaper without guilt.
For the past 2 weeks we have stopped our sorting and recycling habits, and we have had no real control over our food shopping activities (and therefore our choices for eco-biological, packaging-free food). Lack of time, lack of motivation...well we haven't been able to put our minds and hearts at it.
The impact is obvious: our food-waste bin hasn't been filled at all, while we have used a lot more blue bags* as central waste management option in which we have placed also recyclables, to simplify our daily routines.
We will surely go back to normal in the coming days and weeks, but we also give ourselves time to set our feet back together on the ground.
In the meantime I have intensified the sorting of my clothing items, by pushing my principles harder than ever: I might love some things in my closet, but there is no reason to keep things I do not wear which could also find another, better home. Yes, some still have their label on...but I guess this is literally the price to pay for making the wrong shopping choices over time. I am also looking at my cosmetics, with a few, new items which I have received as presents and which have been un-used. Let's see if I can also find them a new owner for a great pampering experience.
*note for non-Swiss readers: we do not have the right here in Zug, and I believe in Switzerland in general, to dispose of our general waste for free. We have to purchase blue bags of various sizes to proceed and place them in specific containers in the building. A 35L bag costs 2,5 CHF per piece. Abuses can be punished through fines or higher fees from our facilities management company. The other thing you can sort directly at home is food/organic waste, again to be placed into a specific bin. The rest (i.e. recycable waste) has to be brought to authorized recycling stations.