“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed”, Antoine de Lavoisier – Choosing a zero waste lifestyle
We are Eléonore and Jacques Dupont, we have been married for three years, and we are the parents of a 10 month old little Ombeline. Eléonore is a medical intern and Jacques is a stay-at-home dad and reserve agent. Eléonore grew up in a family that has always been sensitive to environmental protection (CPN club, recycling, etc.). Our wedding had already been placed under the sign of recovery, since we had created tablecloths from old sheets, collected napkins here and there, made all our decorations from recycled objects and distributed ecocups to our guests.
Our zero-waste approach accelerated two years ago with the recovery of a vermicomposter and registration for a local and organic vegetable basket. Seeing the amount of waste decrease visibly since we were already consuming mainly vegetables, the question quickly arose to go further by reducing this famous trash can as much as possible. We have therefore committed to a “minimum plastic” approach, with zero plastic still seeming difficult to obtain. So we started to turn to bulk via several grocery stores present in our city. We have also registered on a “locavor” in order to regularly order local products (meats, dairy products, herbal teas, vegetables) to supplement the contributions of our basket.
Another aspect of our approach is reuse and recovery. Thus the recovery of “bulky” on the sidewalk has become a regular activity on the days when the “monsters” go out and our basement therefore collects cupboard boards, wooden plates of various sizes, beams, garden armchairs that it just a little tinkering to make them functional again. We are also undertaking this process for the sake of economy; indeed, all that we recover, we do not have to buy it. The money thus saved allows us to visit our families regularly and to consider energy renovation work because that is also zero waste, showing solidarity between humans and with the planet.
The arrival of Ombeline also led us to think about the model we wanted to give it. So we opted for washable nappies most of the time and handmade diaper wipes. The furniture in his room comes from second-hand furniture either recovered from our families or purchased from consignment stores. We also made the choice that she be kept by her dad so that he communicates to her from an early age our values and our taste for nature. Thus she will learn early to take care of the garden, to be patient before the fruits ripen and to respect the weather and the seasons.
What delights us the most since we started our approach is that our friends, at first cautious or even skeptical, have also embarked on this approach, each on a particular steering wheel: some by doing a lot of homemade, others by antiquing in consignments, others by modifying their diet. Some even took part in the marches for the climate! Also for everyone to share their little exploits or discoveries, we have created a Facebook group that we try to regularly feed “Eco at home and in the garden”
We still have a long way to go, for example by doing our own laundry or dishwashing products, but each step in its own time. We believe that for an integral ecology approach to become possible, it must be progressive and non-exclusive from the start, otherwise we are quickly overwhelmed. Share FacebookTwitter
