Zero Waste Guy

GIVEAWAY ALERT! In an effort to promote #EarthDayEveryDay I will be giving away one National Park Annual Pass courtesy of @ToyotaUSA! This pass is valid at more than 2000 recreational areas across the !!! Here’s how to enter: ... Like this post Follow @zerowasteguy Tag your adventure buddy & mention your favorite park to visit EXTRA ENTRY: Post to your story and tag @zerowasteguy & @ToyotaUSA Giveaway closes on Earth Day, April 22, 2021 @ 5:00PM PDT! Open to US residents. If you are not located in the US you may gift it to someone who is! #ToyotaUSA #Mirai #ToyotaPartner #earthday #earthday2021 #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #optoutside #nationalpark #annualpass #reducereuserecycle @nationalparkservice @ Yosemite National Park

I have relied on Anne-Marie so much over the years with help keeping my poor old sourdough starter alive. She just has a way of breaking down cooking and baking that is super easy to understand. (Perhaps my downfall is not naming mine! ) . I was honored when about 6 months ago Anne-Marie asked for help testing out her recipes. It’s one thing to make something you created, but another altogether to create recipes that the general population (aka ) will make. . As if her... website isn’t comprehensive enough, I am super excited to try out her new recipe book! . Out of curiosity, what’s your favorite @zerowastechef (or zero waste) recipes? . #zerowaste #zerowastechef #recipebook #recipes #foodwaste #kitchenscraps #foodscraps #plasticfree #packagefree See more

Banana nicecream. Have you tried it? It’s super easy to make. Freeze bananas, then purée them in a food processor with just enough water to whip them up. I added mandarin oranges, but the sky is the limit. What’s your favorite kind to make? . #zerowaste #nicecream #nicecreamrecipes #banana #vegan #veganicecream #vegansofinstagram #plasticfree #packagefree

Here's a fun video I did for my day job. If you're interested in learning how to get a job in sustainability, the webinar hosted by Heidi Rose is a good one. GreenEducation.us

If you have Instagram, I will be going live with actress Peyton List tomorrow, Friday, March 12, at 1pm as part of her sustainability series. You can tune in at Instagram.com/zerowasteguy

This year has been tough, but especially the past few weeks. I think my primary love language is physical touch, so distancing myself from people has been especially difficult. . Exercise has been one of the best ways for me to clear my mind and find peace. My run this morning was part of a virtual relay race with my coworkers. Collectively we are running 250 miles (400 km). I also, of course have my @doghausrunningclub family. In addition to running, I’ve been working out w...ith a trainer 2x per week since July. If you can afford a trainer, or find a partner to workout with, I highly recommend it. Even when I don’t feel like running, I still can count on two weekly training sessions to keep me active. . Focusing on climate change, politics and Covid is exhausting. What do you do to find peace? . . . #gorun #optoutside #runnersrunning #mentalhealth #running #zerowaste @ Pasadena, California See more

First run in about 3 weeks. Took a lot to make myself do it, but feel great now that I’m done. Missing @doghausrunningclub #dhrc 4.01 miles 35:35.3 8:53/mile 68F

When I’m stressed or my mind races, I’ve found that spending time with my composting worms are just what I need to relax and feel at peace. . Their scientific name is Eisenia fétida, but most people know them as Red Wigglers. They are one of hundreds if not thousands of species of earthworms. . Red Wigglers are surface dwellers, requiring only 4-6 of depth, making them great for vermicompost bins. ... . These little guys eat all of my food scraps, which reduces the amount of organic material landfilled. Worms are like chickens, in that they have a gizzard but no teeth. They eat little bits of soil with the food waste, which helps it break down as it flows through their bodies. The byproduct is their manure, which is a nitrogen rich soil amendment. We call their manure worm castings because they literally cast it out of their bodies. . Q: Did you know you can compost with earthworms at home? Do you have a worm bin? Are you willing to try? . #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #foodwaste #foodscraps #earthworms #vermicompost #redwigglers #composting @ Pasadena, California See more

I am continually blown away by the kindness of others. A friend of mine made the cutest little block of Roquefort Cheese, by hand, from scratch, out of CASHEWS! She bought the culture, shaped it and rotated it every single day for 2 months to make sure each side of it was exposed to air. And then after all of that, she gave me a slice. The only word I can think of to describe how it tasted was decadent, and I feel like even that is an understatement. . Q: have you experimented with making your own cheese? Which kind is your favorite? @ Pasadena, California

A few minutes of pleasure, an indefinite footprint. No shade on @saltandstraw. This is just the way it is. . Once a product has been sold, the manufacturer or retailer is no longer responsible for it. We are. .... The cost of managing waste is squarely placed on the shoulders of communities and their members. We pay through our taxes to have public trash cans emptied. We pay to have our storm drains cleared of trash. And worse of all, low income communities and marine life bear a disproportionate burden when litter finds its way into our communities and oceans. . But what if we flipped this on it’s head? Rather than putting the burden on us to recycle right, we instead made the manufactures of these disposable materials responsible for their collection and proper disposal? . I have a feeling we’d see much more progress towards reusable alternatives to our disposable culture.

As you all know e-waste is a huge problem. There was a time when most people didn’t have electronic devices. Now we all have several: a personal phone, personal computer, work phone, work computer, tablet, smart watch (or 2)...you get the point. . We as a world probably discard 10s if not 100s of millions of electronics every single year. Some are refurbished, some are recycled, but many are trashed or burned as a quick was to extract the precious metals. . A colleague’s ha...rd drive recently broke on her 3-year old work desktop. Rather than replacing the whole computer, I replaced the dead 3.5 inch disk drive with a faster, much more robust solid state drive. In the first photo you can see just how far technology has come in 3 years. Smaller, faster, and more energy efficient. . The total repair cost $50 and about an hour of my time. . Thank you @youtube for the tutorial! . #zerowaste #ewaste #repair #computerrepair #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers @ Los Angeles, California See more

Eleven Saturdays of waste sorts are in the books! We sort through random samples of trash and recycling for a few reasons: . *to see how well businesses and residents sort their materials . *to see opportunities to expand recycling, organics recycling, and waste reduction projects ... . On a micro level, we can target individual trash routes to work with the customers on those routes to implement programs and provide hands on trainings. . On a macro level, this data is aggregated from the various waste haulers across the entire city so that we can get a picture of the composition of waste and recycling by different neighborhoods and geographical areas. . My team and I only work in this environment when we do this project. We more or less *choose* to work there. . I think it’s important to take a moment to recognize ALL of the people who work in and around our waste. . Yes, driving a trash truck is a dangerous job, but we often overlook the people who work inside these facilities. They are more often than not contract workers who are provided by a staffing company, probably don’t realize what their assignment actually entails until they show up on the first day, don’t have benefits, make (close to) minimum wage, and are typically people of color. . During our sorts we came across a variety of dangerous items: hypodermic needles, broken glass, electronics, and fluorescent lightbulbs (which contain Mercury). . The two most common statements I get when talking about the need to go zero waste are these: . I recycle. . They sort it for me. . When I ask them what happens when their material gets hauled away, they don’t know. When I ask them WHO sorts through their material, they don’t know. . Just something to be mindful of the next time someone tries to tell you that recycling works and we don’t need to work towards #zerowaste. @ Los Angeles, California See more

Most people don’t realize that the overwhelming majority of waste is produced upstream before we even see it. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, for every 1 pound of waste you produce, about 70 pounds (~1/2 kg & 32 kg, respectively) was generated during the extraction, transportation, manufacturing, distribution and retail processes. . Someone, for example, could buy one of these backyard compost bins not realizing that they were made in New Zealand, importe...d via Long Beach, warehoused in Ohio, then shipped back to Los Angeles to be sold...and they were wrapped (at least once) in shrink wrap. . #zerowaste is the future, but we have to make sustainable choices now. . #reducereuserecycle #plasticfree #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers #compostbin See more

I’ve learned so much about textile waste from @zerowastedaniel and @ellerali, and am just now learning about colonization in fashion from @aditimayer. It kills me to see so much #textile waste from products made right here in LA. Oftentimes textiles travel the globe to go from raw materials to fabric to finished product. The clothes we wear have a huge #carbonfootprint. I know there are other options for this waste, but it’s hard when we look at the trash can as the default... option. There are always better options that follow the hierarchy of highest and best use, but they only work **if** we chose to participate in them. What if instead we made doing the right thing the default and the landfill was the option of last resort? We’d for sure have cleaner air and water, and more equitable supply chains. . #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers #wastesorting @ Los Angeles, California See more

My book reading hierarchy goes something like this: . 1. Borrow from the library (or a friend) . 2. Buy used... . 3. Buy new . (Usually if I can only find a book new I add it to my library wait list and exercise self restraint!) . I was so grateful when my local library opened back up for curbside pickup. It’s a little clunky, but does the trick. . It’s always a good practice to wash your hands after handling a book, so I didn’t really understand why the libraries closed. I do recognize that we don’t want to have people hanging out for hours in libraries, so curbside pickup is a good compromise. . There has been a huge push to support black owned businesses and I don’t see why that shouldn’t extend extend to include authors too! . I didn’t realize how white my reading list was until I started to specifically seek out books written by the BIPOC community. It has been fascinating to read books like this one, and others. Sure, this is fiction, but it’s rooted in truth and lived experiences. . #thenickelboys #colsonwhitehead #blackauthors #blackauthorsmatter #readbooks #reducereuserecycle #zerowaste #librarybooks #library #bookexchange #bookclub See more

This morning I stumbled across this food waste bin. I’m sure you, like me, have a lot of questions. . Upon inspection, there was some food in the bags, but there was also a lot of cardboard, food soiled paper, nitrile gloves and misc plastic. . If I had all day (which I didn’t) I would have waited for the trash truck to come to see if it commingled this food waste bin with regular trash (I have a feeling it did/will). ... . In order for food waste to be properly composted or digested, it needs to be clean and free of contaminants (like gloves and plastic). It’s even debatable whether or not the food soiled paper will be processed or screened out and trashed. Most cities will say, don’t worry, they compost it, without even knowing if that’s true or not. I always challenge people to find a compost facility that actually composts non-food items. Those facilities sell their finished products to farmers for as much profit as possible, so they do not want to risk that food soiled paper being lined with plastic, or that compostable plastic to actually be oil-based plastic. . We have come so far, and yet have so much farther to go. . #foodwaste #foodscraps #zerowaste #trashisfortossers #goingzerowaste #reducereuserecycle @ Pasadena, California See more

I think I’m finally over the, I don’t know what the heck I’m doing phase of making sourdough bread. And if I’m being honest, I’m actually pretty lazy with my sourdough routine! . I totally get that not everyone has the time, patience, or energy to make sourdough, and am grateful for the ability to work from home most of the time (presently). ... . Since learning how to make bread about 2 years ago, I haven’t purchased a single loaf! . Taking the time to learn how to make break will pay back dividends in money saved and plastic reduced! It’s also a fun way to spend time with friends and family who will definitely be impressed. . #sourdoughbread #sourdoughstarter #sourdough #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers #plasticfree #plastic #packagefree

Consider the implications of a throwaway society where convenience and low cost are the two driving factors in decision making. . I’ve been working on a waste composition study for a client where we take random samples of materials in waste and recycling loads, sort them by type, then track and analyze the results. ... . This load presumably came from a wholesale produce distributor. It was filled with uneaten food, waxy cardboard boxes, shrink wrap, wood pallet scraps, and plastic pallet straps. . It is hard to comprehend how many resources are lost in order to get food and products to us. This picture here is just one tiny snapshot of the massive amounts of resources that are buried, burned or otherwise wasted in the or as a result of the process. . For all your friends and family who can’t understand why you are #zerowaste, please show them this picture. . #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers #dumpsterdiving #losangeles #foodwaste #plasticpollution

A photo of the utensil drawer in my office. I don’t blame anyone for all this disposable plastic cutlery. In this particular pandemic, we often find ourselves ordering food for takeout or delivery. Unfortunately @doordash and @grubhub don’t have a way to opt out of receiving utensils. And even though @ubereats and @postmates make utensils available by request, shops routinely toss them in anyway. . When delivering to a home or business, it doesn’t really make sense to provid...e utensils, but I know it’s a habit more than anything. . If you find yourself using any apps for takeout or delivery, be sure to tag them in posts urging them to #CutOutCutlery. . #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #fooddelivery #plasticfree #disposable

I had a great time talking #zerowaste and why the status quo of recycle culture doesn’t work. Check out the @climergencypod with whatever app you use to tune in. #Repost @climergencypod with @make_repost So excited to share today’s episode with @zerowasteguy We talk about his supply chain background, the importance of shopping local, worm farming & more! It’s a good one - link in bio #goingzerowaste #shoplocal #wormfarming @ Los Angeles, California

What she said. . #Repost @zerowastechef with @make_repost The plastics and fossil fuel industriesand their lobbyistswant the public to believe that choosing reusables during Covid will kill us all. But the science says otherwisereusables are safe. Look for industry to deploy its usual tacticssowing the seeds of doubt regarding facts, questioning the science, paying for its own studies that magically show how plastic is great stuff that we should create more of, not l...ess. . More than 100 scientists, including epidemiologists, chemists, microbiologists and doctors have addressed the safety of reusables during Covid. They’ve signed a statement that includes the following: . Based on the best available science and guidance from public health professionals, it is clear that reusable systems can be used safely by employing basic hygiene. . (Source: https://storage.googleapis.com//26618dd6-health-expert-sta) . I’m excited to host a virtual screening of @storyofstuff’s film, The Story of Plastic, the story that Big Oil and Big Plastic do not want us to know about. We’ll each watch on our own the weekend of July 18th and reconvene on Zoom on the 20th at 4pm PT to discuss the film. @zerowastefarmer and @zerowasteguy will join us. Tickets are still available but they are going fast! Please go to the link in my profile to register. See more

It’s Plastic Free July! #covid19 has made going plastic free difficult in some ways, but easier in others. The one thing that makes shopping #plasticfree easier, is you are limited in what you can buy. Most frozen and processed foods are immediately off the table. Meats too. . I totally recognize that not everyone has the means or access to #packagefree shopping. If you live in an area where a liquor store, dollar store, or no stores are located, don’t feel guilty if you nee...d to buy produce in packages. Do the best you can with the options that are within your budget. . At some point #zerowaste became perverted into a mason jar lifestyle that is not realistically obtainable for 99.99% of all humans. It is a great marketing tool, but can make people think that zero waste is all about image rather than it’s true meaning: creating a circular economy that mimics nature. . For this Plastic Free July, focus on reducing plastic (and other packaging) where you can, but don’t beat yourself up over it. . I am grateful and fortunate to have easy access to package free foods and the means to afford them. This smoothie, for example, has a beet (with greens), tons of fruits, T of flax meal and homemade peanut butter. . PS: an indirect benefit of going package free is I eat way less processed, fried and greasy foods which helps me feel better and run faster and for longer distances! How are all my Zero Waste Friends doing? Miss you! #plasticfreejuly #zerowaste #goingzerowaste #trashisfortossers #greendrink

I had a nice time being interviewed with Sara of Let That Shit Go. Sara helps people de-clutter their homes. I think we could all use a little help with that! #zerowaste #declutter #keepitsimple https://letthatshitgo.ca/keep-life-simple/