This Way To A Waste-Free Mind

Eliminating waste is something every household strives for. But, says Anita Vandkye in this extract from her new book A Zero Waste Family in Thirty Days, the beginning of your overhaul should start with self-care.

- Anita Vandkye

The first step in this journey is an acceptance that we should aim for effort, not perfection. Let’s begin by loosening our grip on the ‘perfect’ way to live a zero-waste life and accept that making an effort in everything that we do all adds up to a big cumulative difference. This might mean one night you’re too tired to cook so you order home delivery, but it might also mean you wash all the plastic packaging from the delivery and reuse it for your next freezer meals. Every effort made should be congratulated.

Begin by writing a short manifesto on how to be a gentle activist. A gentle activist is one who is kind towards others and themselves about how much they can do and what they expect of others. You can return to this manifesto whenever everything seems too overwhelming or when you feel as if you’re not doing enough.

Take three deep breaths. Here are some writing prompts:

Minimise your distractions

We live in a world with a 24-hour news cycle, and advertising and social media constantly vying for our attention. This added noise makes us more anxious, angrier and more fearful. Climate change is the most important issue the world faces. However, watching the news with a feverish obsession, or mindlessly scrolling through social media isn’t going to change anything. We need to have practical steps to break away from the noise so that we can get to work. Today is the day to let go of these fears and become fearless. We need to be aware, but not scared. We need to educate our children, but not shock them. We need to be firm but gentle in our approach. Here are my self-care tips to ensure you’re fearless, not overwhelmed: