several minimalist living pages which really spoke to me. This is more in line with how I want to live - with less stuff and less commitments, not more. I continue to want to purge and remove more things from my life to make room for more experiences in my life.

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As I continued to delve into what this minimalist type of lifestyle means, I came across many posts about Zero Waste living. While I do look at how various products were made, I have not paid attention to all of the packaging the stuff comes in.  The hunk of cheese, wrapped in a piece of plastic with a sticker on top; the coffee beans, sealed in a vacuum-packed bag; the toilet paper, packaged in plastic in groups of four and then packaged again into one large plastic pack.  Wow!

 

Up until now I have not been very mindful of how much trash I truly make. I have always recycled cans, bottles, and paper products since I was a little kid. And I've been composting for about 7 years now, so the amount of stuff in my trash can has gone down by quite a bit. I thought I was more progressive than lots of folks out there. 

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But it turns out that is far from the truth.

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Some of these folks practicing zero waste can fit a years' worth of trash into a single mason jar - a single jar, people! I could fill up a case of jars with the packaging I remove from products after grocery shopping.

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That got my attention. 

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And it got me motivated.

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For the next few days I devoured everything I could find about the Zero Waste philosophy. I was up until late in the night reading, pinning, bookmarking and noting various tips and tricks of this fascinating trend. I poured through the blogs of those that have already taken this journey to learn how they have made it a reality.

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So my friends, I have decided to take a stab at this Zero Waste thing and write about it as I do. I'm not sure how it will turn out - I may enjoy it and be successful at it and make it a permanent lifestyle change; or I may not enjoy it at all, or it may be too pricey or time-consuming or who knows what, and I will choose not to continue. But whatever the outcome, I want to give it a try.

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Come along with me and read about my journey first hand. I'll be open and honest about my experience, sharing the positive and the not-so-positive highlights. Who knows, maybe it will spark something inside of you to try it out too.