The Best Beginners

"The world's best reformers are those who commence on themselves" -George Bernard Shaw Asheville, Student, She/Her, Zero Waste since Feb. 8, 2016, Vegan since Jan. 1, 2017

[trashfreecarter]

Some Changes

1. I’m done with the trash jar.

After over a year of attempting it, I realized it doesn’t work for me. And I don’t know if the title “zero waste” does either. As time as gone on, I’ve relaxed some rules for myself (but not many). Like if I order food that comes with a paper liner, I’m done sneaking it into my bag to compost later. And sometimes I splurge on local vegan meat substitutes, or a granola bar. I’m still keeping the lifestyle up, but with less of the stress and guilt. Plus the image of the perfect trash jar creates exclusivity in a way, and I want this movement’s image to be more about connection with new ways of living, with this community, and with the planet. Absolute zero waste for some people should not be the goal, changing our culture in a positive way should be.

2. I think I’m done with blogging for a while.

I have become an extremely busy person doing extremely awesome work that I love. I simply don’t have time that I want to devote to this form of social media for a while--and I’m trying to spend a lot less time on social media anyway. If I were to seriously blog again someday, it probably would not be on Tumblr either. This is probably my last post for a while, but know that I’m having a blast doing amazing things in my community.

3. I’m doing a lot of new things and am feeling good.

I just planted my first very own garden. I’m trying fermenting for the first time, making apple cider vinegar. I just registered for my last semester of college. I have plans to do really cool undergraduate research. I’m going to travel some this summer. I am helping to organize a class series on “sustainable eating on a budget.” I eat a lot of really tasty food. I’m learning a lot.

Thank you.

[trashfreecarter]

Hope in Climate Change

Tonight I had the immense pleasure of attending a talk that my department hosted, by a leading climatologist and co-director of Climate Interactive, Drew Jones. His company works with the largest collection of climate data in the country to create models and simulations to map and predict climate change under various potential conditions. He is also a professor and public speaker who has had many works published.

Right now, he is sharing with different groups a talk titled “10 Reasons for Hope in Climate Change” which is so effective and inspiring. Unfortunately, we didn’t record it, and I have not been able to find any versions of this talk online. But I will embed a similar lecture from a TEDx conference in 2009.

Among these reasons, he cites evidence that humans have already peaked in rates of fossil fuel emissions and potentially coal production. If this is true, the doom and gloom trajectory we have been on may be able to be changed. The talk also dealt a lot with ideas of social progress, and the ways that people have really been catching on to intersectionality. He painted an image of us being on the cusp of finally getting things right environmentally and moving forward in a way that prioritizes the lives of marginalized groups.

The quote that he made sure to hammer home was this: “Hope is not an assessment. It is a choice.”

[trashfreecarter]

First: I am starting to post here a lot less, and do most bits about my daily life on my instagram, @the.best.beginners which you should follow for more consistent content.

Second: right now I am immersed in a lot of really cool work that has everything to do with sustainability and the struggle for justice, so I don’t expect to have much time and energy to devote to this. But I promise it is because I’m working hard on other things!

Third: I think the content I do have time for, might change. Like I said, I’m immersed in a lot of really cool work right now, and I mostly just want to showcase and discuss the really amazing and sometimes revolutionary and sometimes complicated things that I get to be a part of. So less of a “how to reduce your waste” but “here’s what I’m doing, and here are the connections and thoughts I’ve had about it.” Hopefully this will remain interesting.

[trashfreecarter]

Zero Waste-iversary!

February 8th, 2016 was the day I officially started my first attempt at being as close to zero waste as possible. I’ve posted before about the wonderful ways that this journey has changed my life, and that is all still so true.

I am incredibly happy right now, eating amazing food every day, working at a job where I get to influence sustainability on an institution-wide level, and just living very simply.

With all of this being true, I have struggled lately with my commitment to this lifestyle. I live in a town where almost everything can be composted or recycled, and lately that has been enough. I am realizing I am at a point in my journey where I am happy to support good businesses that make eco-friendly products, even if they come in (recyclable) packaging. For me, it should never be about purity, or beautiful, perfect pantries, or 30 piece wardrobes, or whatever. It’s about being better for the world and for yourself.

For me, right now, that means not stressing about the small things, or trying to be perfectly zero waste. It’s about doing what I can the best I know how, while focusing on changing things on a larger scale, and creating intentional community around me. I spent a lot of this first year being relatively quiet and trying to perfect myself, and I’m realizing that’s not nearly as important as being genuine and focusing that energy on being in the moment with the people around me. Hopefully I can have a different message that can resonate with some.

Also, before I forget. Last week I launched an instagram account to celebrate this milestone! Please go check it out at the.best.beginners, because it’s a platform I really love, and want to share more of my life with you all.

[trashfreecarter]

Zero Waste, Veganism, and Privilege

This post has been a long time coming. I’ve had a lot of conversations with friends on this topic lately, and I realize that these important conversations don’t happen very much in our online communities. There are three main things I’d like to address.

1. Environmentalism absolutely must do a better job of reflecting intersectionality.

I’m a member of the activist community at my school and in North Carolina in general. This means that I do everything I can to show up for black lives, trans lives, Muslim lives, native lives and more. I see intersectionality in everything I do and work hard to educate myself as a white, middle class person. I am part of the Divestment Student Network which cannot divorce these environmental issues from the social issues they impact. Environmental racism is real. The same systems of oppression that are creating environmental catastrophe are also hitting queer people, women, and poc the hardest. This cannot, must not, be forgotten. I believe that it is easy to talk about environmental issues in a way that centralizes narratives about landfills, marine life destruction, facts about carbon footprints, and endangered animals. Often times, the human side of things is left out, and those narratives must be just as important. We all suffer as a result of climate change, and certain populations suffer first and most. Our narratives should strive to be more inclusive.

2. The environmentalism movement absolutely must recognize that it takes enormous privilege to be zero waste, vegan, minimalist, etc.

I had a friend point out to me recently that they admired my lifestyle choices, but felt that certain things were exclusive to them because they lived with disability. They had a perspective that I had never considered and really appreciated hearing. I often see people in this community push back against these statements and argue about the ease of “simple swaps” or “lazy veganism” but this just silences and closes out those voices even more. This seriously needs to change. I love figures like the Vegan Bros because they don’t think purity should ever be the goal of veganism. The goal should be drawing people in to this community as much as possible, and listening to the very real challenges and barriers that people face. For example, buying high-quality, long-lasting clothing plainly is not an option for people of low income, and buying second-hand is nothing new or revolutionary when that’s what you’ve always done to get by. This needs to be acknowledged. Most importantly though, shutting down marginalized people when they express their struggles needs to stop, because we should be trying to draw a wider circle to grow as a movement.

3. I come from a place of privilege, which makes it my responsibility to be better and do everything I can to dismantle systems of oppression.

I am white, middle class, able-bodied, neurotypical and educated. I am “woke” to the deep problems in our current food system, and our fashion industry. I have enough financial independence and autonomy to chose to support better products and businesses. I live in a city where I can recycle and compost almost anything, so there’s no reason I should be sending much at all to the landfill. I have a job that allows me to push my university community to do better, and educate others. Because all of this is true, I choose to be vegan, to be zero waste, and to work for environmental and social justice as much as possible. As a friend of mine keeps reminding me “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” (Desmond Tutu). I firmly believe that complacency is a privilege, and I choose to use my privilege for good whenever and wherever I can.

[trashfreecarter]

In my office, prepping these reusable cups to be given out to students. This is awesome because it shows our campus is making a serious effort to encourage students to reuse. Students who use these cups on campus get drink discounts and can be entered for prizes. But I wonder if there would be a better way to do this than just giving out hundreds of cheap plastic cups. Like enough people already have their own mugs, this would just add to cheap plastic junk. And we also have such an overstock, a lot of these probably won't ever even be used. Either way I'm happy to have a job where I'm faced with these kinds of questions!

[trashfreecarter]

I'm staying with my non vegan and non zero waste parents and we are low on groceries in general. I was struggling with what to eat for lunch so experimented and made this vegan mac and cheese that I'm very proud of. The sauce used about a half can of pumpkin purée plus about a 1/4 cup warm water, 1/4 flax milk and 1/8 cup flour for a thick, creamy texture. I also added apples and garlic sautéed in olive oil, and seasoned it with rosemary, sea salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. It would have also been good with sage or thyme but we didn't have any. So yummy I'm actually amazed at how well it turned out considering I had no clue what I was doing. Mac and cheese is one of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to veganism so I'm so glad I came up with a recipe I like this much.

[trashfreecarter]

I have a dear friend who has also really gotten into the zero waste lifestyle. Last weekend I had the opportunity to have dinner with her lovely family. Her mom gave me this homemade lotion bar because she is also interested in making more products and giving low waste gifts. This obviously made me super happy and I felt touched that she thought to do this. Also I've been a little too lazy to venture into making my own lotion bars, so this is a product I don't have and will really appreciate!

[trashfreecarter]

What I packed to travel to DC in January. The first two photos are the contents of my bags (you've already seen my food and toiletries in other posts). I have five shirts, two pairs of pants, one pair of fleece leggings, one pair of lounge pants, and a velvet skirt to make different outfits with. For a week long trip, this is all probably more than I actually needed, but I have worn every item here at least once. I also have a container for food, and one for compost, that I've already emptied out once along the way. Along with this I have a cloth napkin, bamboo utensils, my Klean Kanteen, and some of my favorite tea in compostable packaging. In my day bag I also packed a notebook, my pen and pencil, my wallet, and a pouch for like lip balm and nail clippers. I originally packed three books, which was good for a six hour train ride, so I didn't have to read the same thing the whole time. I'm also taking home a book of poems that's been on my list for a long time that I picked up a copy of here. Plus some reading material my friend got for me on recent travels to a Buddhist monastery in Australia. It all fits comfortably on my back (plus the necessary winter coat), and I thought I'd include the outfit I was wearing because obviously the clothes on me did not make it into the photo.

[trashfreecarter]

Some photos of some zero waste stuff on my winter break adventures. The first is pasta with vegan pesto and hemp hearts that I had for lunch on the train. The second is from a dinner at Sweetgreen with a friend who is also working to be zero waste. The fourth is the snowy farmers market after yoga on the extra day I’m here because my train was delayed. I was so impressed with the vendors who braved the cold cold weather today. Ps: I don’t have access to my computer, so a more comprehensive, written post is coming later.

[trashfreecarter]

Tomorrow I'm going on a trip to DC and I'm v excited for many reasons. Like, seeing people I haven't seen in months, and a city I love that I haven't visited in over a year. I'm riding on a train for the first time! Which excites me for carbon footprint reasons and cause airports/planes rly stress me out. I am going to be staying with various lovely hosts, and since I'm 2 days into doing veganism I'm a little worried about eating well. My aunt who I'm staying with the majority of the time is mostly vegan anyway, but I want to be super prepared. So I packed food that is relatively small and easy to transport and super nutrient dense. I have oats mixed with chia and flax seeds, plus blackberry jam to add some sweet fruit flavor in case I can't make it to a market or grocery shop. I also have some bulk dried pasta, plus vegan pesto and hemp seeds, for a savory meal I can make with ingredients that won't spoil in transit, but can pack the protein and flavor. I'm excited to try traveling this way. I had already packed so I didn't get a pic of my luggage. I'll only be on the move for a week, so it all fits comfortably in a medium backpack, plus a shoulder bag for things like my book and wallet and water bottle. It's gonna be light and simple. I'm pumped. And speaking of travel, I have a surprise treat for you all coming soon! Stay tuned.

[trashfreecarter]

In Recognition of a Year Gone By

Today is January first. We all like to joke about how 2016 was pretty awful and weird for the world collectively. For a lot of people, it really, genuinely, entirely sucked. The death of a dear friend and world events shook me to my core far too many times. Still, I really appreciate all the great memories and lessons learned.

2016 was the year that I officially went zero waste. This changed my perspective of the world and opened so many opportunities that I didn’t think were possible. In the past I’ve mentioned that this always felt like a tangible “first step” for me, and it’s helped me to take other steps.

2016 was the year that I truly stopped obsessing about my appearance. I actually got rid of my entire makeup collection, and this might not be forever but I’m happy with it now. I also pared down my wardrobe to the essentials, meaning I think much less about things like putting together outfits.

2016 was the year that I measured my worth by the way I spent my time. I learned that I love myself most when I am doing good deeds, having good relationships, and devoting as much time as I can to learning about this world. I’m living my best life as an act of self love.

2016 was the year I learned how to be alone. There were times where I felt very alone in my pain and in my joy. I learned to live daily life on my own, to feed myself, to pay my bills, and to be fully responsible for myself. I learned to be so happy alone.

2016 was the year I learned what community really means. I learned how to ask for help so I would not have to be alone in pain and joy. I had the opportunity to join online communities, and form my own with the people around me. Additionally, I am still learning how to be fully present with my friends and companions, and that this is part of building that community.

2016 was a year of learning so many important and hard and wonderful lessons. If 2016 is characterized by learning for me, I hope that 2017 will be characterized by action, by putting all that I’ve learned into practice. I have a few concrete goals and milestones in store for this new year.

Starting today, I am going to be eating a fully plant-based diet and attempting to live a vegan lifestyle. I will not be as strict as many people, and I don’t know if this will be a permanent change. It has become clear to me that this is an important thing that I really need to try, for real, at least once.

In 2016 I had a goal of reading 30 books without having a clear idea of how many that would be. On December 31st, I completed my 35th book of the year. I know that this year will be a little more hectic, so I do not expect myself to do much more, but I plan on reading at least another 35 books in 2017.

I already mentioned my new job, directing the Student Environmental Center. I’m setting the intention now that I’m going to work hard and do a job that I am proud of.

In December of 2017 I will graduate from college. This is the year that I will do my senior research, and my last opportunity to make my mark on the school that I love so much. I hope to do it well, and to not lose sight of that community that I hold so dear.

I want 2017 to be the year that I put in the work and time to make my goals a reality. I have a goal of traveling more. In two days I will be going to Washington, D.C. and Annapolis to visit some awesome people who I love. It is real because I make it so.

I also really have become aware of my attachment to my phone and social media. I plan to do something about it. Not sure how exactly yet, but it needs to happen, especially when it gets in the way of some of my real life interactions.

Today in church, we talked about community, and intentions for the new year. We sang a hymn called “Just as Long as I Have Breath” and the first verse really spoke to me. It goes “Just as long as I have breath, I must answer ‘Yes’ to life, though with pain I made my way, still with hope I meet each day. If they ask what I did well, tell them I said ‘Yes’ to life.” I’ve heard this hymn many times in my life, but in reflection of my life over the past year, it made more sense than it ever has. It took me twenty years of life to learn, but now I have real words to articulate this time in my life, and hopefully the future.

I acknowledge many privileges that I hold in our society that shape my life and experiences, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunities to learn all that I have. Now is the time to shape the world in return, and hopefully as community.\

PS : If you’re reading this and you want to be a part of this beloved community, I absolutely love to hear about the work that my followers are doing to be more zero waste or minimalist, or read cool books, or travel more, or whatever. Send me messages so we can connect!

[trashfreecarter]

Zero Waste Holidays

In all honesty, I feel like I’ve been slipping in some practices these past couple of weeks. I’m putting up with a lot more waste given to me by restaurants and the like, as long as it can be recycled or composted. Additionally, I gave gifts that were only low-waste instead of zero, and ate a lot food that was very not vegan. While I’m typically not a New Year’s Resolution person, I definitely feel like I need to make some changes as soon as life gets back to a somewhat normal pace. But that’s for another post.

Now, I’d like to talk about some wins for the season. I’ve had an amazing time hanging out in my hometown with my family and friends. Additionally, this was my first Christmas as a zero waster, and my first time staying with my parents for more than a couple of days as a zero waster. So it’s still a learning process.

For the first time ever, it was reasonable and efficient for me to bring my entire wardrobe, which fit in two small/medium boxes and just a couple of hangers. I did purchase two clothing items while here, and got a pair of socks for Christmas, but I am very happy with these additions.

I already posted about it, but I was able to be part of amazing festivities without stress about giving or receiving many gifts. I only exchanged with my parents, and I got them experience gifts, focusing on local businesses that we all love to support.

Because I can be a procrastinator, I spent much time in coffee shops working on my chapter for the Zero Waste Traveler’s Companion to get it done by the end of the year. At all three locations I visited, I was able to get delicious vegan drinks either in ceramic mugs or my own.

I genuinely feel like I had opportunities to reconnect with some really important people in my life and this is such a nice thing. I’ve been trying harder to tune into the present moment, and this has made me understand the value of these experiences more. If you’re a family member or old friend who I’ve seen in the past few weeks and you’re reading this, know how much I love and appreciate you.

This is not a blog where I post much about religion, but when talking about my Harvard experience, I may have mentioned that my dream is to become a minister. While home recently, I had the opportunity to help lead a Christmas Eve service at my home church. This experience combined the time to be more reflective than usual has helped me to remember why I am so committed to serving and co-creating religious community in all shapes and forms. In my chapter for the travel guide I also found myself repeatedly turning to the theme of living in and building community in Asheville, which has become my home. In many ways, I firmly believe that community is what life is really all about, and that we need to remember this when going through difficult times. Sometimes it is difficult to feel the deep connections that are there in our cities, schools, families, and in human society as a whole. This has been my main lesson this holiday season, and it feels auspicious to be going through a transitory time period feeling this way. Community is my reason to continue to hope and to love, in all circumstances.

[trashfreecarter]

I just watched new film “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things” and I highly recommend it. It’s beautifully made and can be found on Netflix and showcases people that speak about these issues much more eloquently than I can.

[trashfreecarter]

When I was a child, my family Christmases were fairly elaborate and for my young mind, presents were the main event. The tradition was that all of the “kids” (defined as anyone not yet married or graduated from college) got a gift from each nuclear family, and all of the adults participated in a Secret Santa exchange. So I would always go home with five or six exciting new toys, and multiple bags of wrapping paper would be collected over the course of the gift exchange.

In recent years, family dynamics have changed, and financial strain has been somewhat of an issue, and this has changed. Coincidentally, this change in tradition has happened exactly as I’ve adopted a minimalist and zero waste lifestyle. Last year we cut down to just the “kids” doing a Secret Santa exchange, getting just one gift apiece. This year, we did no formal gift exchange at all. My grandmother has been the one person to really resist this, and continues to get a gift for each of her children and their spouses, and for all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Even with this, she embodied so many principles I appreciated. She wrapped all of her gifts in reused paper grocery bags and newspaper. She mostly re-gifted items she already owned. She hand-knitted reusable dishcloths for everyone.

I can say that I have really been a part of none of the conversations that made this a reality. As a result, it is all a very pleasant change that could show a changing attitude across generations when it comes to the materialism that we used to embody so wholeheartedly. This year home-cooked food was the main event, and we bonded over group games instead of presents. It was an incredibly fun time, and this zero-waster really appreciated it.

[trashfreecarter]

What I’ve Been Up To Part 2

School: It’s finals week and this semester is almost over. As of today, I have one exam to take and two big papers to write. It’s really fairly manageable, and it’s subject matter that I enjoy. In late January I’ll officially start my senior year of college which is kinda mind blowing. I’m particularly excited that I’ll finally get to take a couple of Environmental Studies classes, including a special topics course on Sustainable Food Systems. So cool! And I’ll be taking my first steps into doing research for my undergraduate thesis, which is something I’ve definitely been looking forward to. If things go as planned, there will definitely be links between that and this blog, so I’ll be sure to keep things updated here.

Work: So last week I quit the restaurant job for a few reasons I won’t go into. While I enjoyed the physicality of it and my awesome coworkers, I definitely will not miss the huge amounts of food waste and just unsustainable food practices I had to be a part of. So a while ago when I decided I should quit, I found out that our Student Environmental Center was hiring for a couple of different positions. So I applied to be project coordinator, only to be told by a friend already in the SEC that there was someone on the inside already lined up for that position. She encouraged me to apply to be co-director which definitely sounded intimidating. So, I recently found out that I got the job, only some weird stuff happened in the hiring process so I won’t have a co-director next semester, but will have someone take on extra hours to assist me. I am definitely excited about this, and appreciate the aspect of life taking some unexpected turns. I can’t wait for everything I am going to learn and the ability to make some good impact on my campus.

Zero Waste: Not much has changed on this front, only I am beginning to relax about some things. I will be sure to add posts explaining these as I am able. Also, I have been able to collaborate on the second edition of the Zero Waste Traveler's Guide! I will be writing a city profile of Asheville and all the things a zero waster would need to know when visiting here. I haven’t done much work on it yet, but this is going to be my main project when I go home for a couple of weeks over the holidays.

Environmental Projects: This semester I’ve been involved in organizations and campus wide conversations about getting our school to spend our money in more conscious ways. For over two years now, our Divestment Coalition has been working with other schools in our UNC system to divest our endowment funds from fossil fuels. We seem to be gearing up for a hot semester in regards to this and I am excited for it. I’m even more excited for the Real Food Challenge. Essentially, university dining services across the country are supposed to pledge to spend 20% of their food budget on Real Food (organic, or local, or fair trade, etc). We have definitely met some resistance in the administration, but it is clear that they are willing to make positive changes, whether or not that means signing the pledge. I am excited that I will be in a position in the Student Environmental Center where I can finally devote more time and energy to these efforts, and I hope to see at least some changes in my last year at this school that I love so much.

The Future: Right now a lot of things are up in the air. Like, what I will do this summer, where I will live when my lease is up in August, what I will do after I graduate (seriously only one year from now), all the details of grad school and a career. For all of these I have a lot of ideas, so we’ll see.

[trashfreecarter]

Zero Waste Vision

Honestly, I should come up with a better term for it, but “zero waste vision” is the vocab I have for now. I use it to explain that when you change your lifestyle, you also change the way you see the world around you. Obviously this can apply to so many things, but going zero waste was the start of it for me.

A simple example: you’re walking through a grocery store and you see an aisle with bags of chips. Most people would just see the chips, and probably the price and based on that information they may decide whether or not to purchase any. Now when I see that same aisle, I see the overproduction and misuse of plastic packaging, and the empty chip bag our planet will be left with once the chips are gone. I see them piling up in landfills and floating through our waterways. If I were a strict vegan I might see the animal products within those chips and the abuses of animals that helped make those chips possible. I honestly don’t know if chips typically contain palm oil, but if they did I might see the destruction of wildlife caused by the palm oil industry.

Because of zero waste vision, there’s much more that naturally into my decision of whether or not to buy those chips. I can’t turn it on and off for my convenience either. This doesn’t mean I’ll never eat any chips again, just that chips are not a regular part of my diet, or something I necessarily seek out on my own (Bonus: reducing intake of processed food is good for health).

A complex example: I really don’t want to shame people who eat processed food because I’m no saint in that area. But, it’s hard to ignore the larger picture. All around me I see people, like my strangers or my peers who eat processed, environmentally destructive food on a daily basis. They plan their schedules around watching TV and playing video games, and work towards careers that won’t be too hard or will pay a certain amount. They say they aren’t interested in politics or religion and don’t feel personally impacted by big events in the world around them. When I see people with these careless attitudes, I feel sadness that so many people in our society are so disconnected from this human community. If they appeared happier, I might see it differently. In many ways, I am still working hard to move past this kind of mindless existence. I still spend way too much time on Netflix and social media, and am far from perfect in diet or community involvement.

Still, this is the world I have begun to see. So I make intentions to stop perpetuating such a self-centered lifestyle and support individuals and businesses that promote my values. I hope going forward for humility and strength to build a more conscious world where people can feel that interconnectedness all around.