The family
We’re a six person household zeroing in on our choices to try and live more sustainably. We’ve started with efforts to minimise our waste. When I say ‘we’, it’s me (Linda), my husband and our 4 adult or almost-adult children and at this stage, we really are in this together, even if not all to the same depth.
Everyone has made changes, fast fashion purchases are way down, solid shampoo and conditioner is the new go-to product and for some of us, used is the new new.
The why
The two main reasons we are making change are
- Resource conservation – the clock is ticking on our resources, running them down, ruining the associated habitats and impacting ecosystems, which makes no sense for products that are so quickly consigned to disposal.
- Pollution – we’re on this planet for such a short time, and we are making a BIG mess!
There’s a third reason and it’s closer to home. For the past 18 years we’ve been fighting against the construction of a 200,000 tonne incinerator in Cork Harbour, where we live. I’ve been very closely involved. And it’s hard, if not impossible, to campaign against waste management infrastructure without becoming very conscious of our own part in that chain.
More +
I wrote this article about our plastic free July for the Evening Echo this year and it outlines our journey and the challenges presented by making change, the brain-bandwidth overload of finding new solutions and learning new habits, getting bored of not being able to buy everything on the shop shelves, refocusing for plastic free July and finally seeing our efforts come together and get a little easier.
We are a long way from waste-free and our efforts aren’t perfect, but we feel good about the changes we have made and thats a worthy benefit in its own right!
