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The average American produces 4.3 pounds of trash a day. That's almost 1600 pounds a year, but if we took some simple steps, we could go off the trash grid and minimize thousands of pounds of waste into just a single jar.
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So this is my trash jar.
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- Two years of trash in this tiny little jar? - Yep.
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That's crazy. I mean I probably produce 20 times this much in a day.
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Yeah, this is everything basically that I couldn't compost, or couldn't recycle, or couldn't figure out what to do with.
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Where did you get this idea to become zero waste?
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It kind of all started when I was a senior at NYU studying environmental studies.
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And one day after class, I went home to make dinner, and I opened my fridge, and I saw that everything in there was packaged in plastic, and I felt like such a hypocrite.
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We're supposed to be saving the planet, and here you are making all of this trash.
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I feel like it's really important to live your values, and my values are having a really low environmental impact. I have to live like I want that, and so that's why I decided to change my lifestyle.
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What was the easiest part about reducing your waste?
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I think it was just like seeing that I didn't have to do that much to produce very little waste, and by composting and buying in bulk, I essentially eliminated 80% of my waste.
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Buying package free means needing to have containers to buy things that you can't hold with your hands, for instance, like I buy bulk olive oil, so I bring a Mason jar to fill it up; I'll pick up some beer from a local shop that sells it in growlers that are actually reusable, so that's like a totally waste free way to drink.
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- I imagine you get asked a lot of questions about how do you do this. I've been curious about a few things, so I'm gonna throw out a few questions too. - Sure.
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- Plastic toothbrushes? - I use a compostable bamboo toothbrush.
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- Sponges? - I use a compostable dish brush.
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- Paper towels? - Cotton napkins.
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- Plastic cookware? - Wood or stainless steel utensils.
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- Cotton balls? - Reusable cotton rounds.
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- Dryer sheets? - Dryer balls that I make myself.
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- What about shampoo? - Bulk castile soap.
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- Makeup? - Organic vegan makeup in recyclable packaging.
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- Feminine products? - Menstrual cup.
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- Gift wrap? - Why?
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- Okay, so you are going to teach me how to make toothpaste. - Yes.
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What do I do?
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So we're gonna mix two tablespoons of organic coconut oil, and then a tablespoon of baking soda, and then about 20 drops of the organic peppermint oil.
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- So this is how you make your toothpaste. - Mm-hmm.
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- Let me see your teeth. They look very nice. - Yeah.
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What does your dentist think about this?
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They haven't gotten mad at me yet.
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So I'll just take this spoon and scoop it onto my toothbrush.
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It's not bad. It's actually kind of salty.
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Yeah, that's the baking soda.
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Yeah, my teeth really do feel cleaner so, thank you.
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So do you have any garbage cans in your home here?
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No, I don't have any garbage cans in my home.
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- Because you don't have any garbage. - Exactly.
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It really does compel me to wanna try to reduce my waste, so what tips can you give me or somebody else that wants to do that as well?
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Yeah, I would suggest, you know, look in your garbage can and see what your garbage is, and until you do that you don't really know what you're reducing, right?
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Step two, using a reusable bag instead of a plastic or paper bag. Just like easy one time changes.
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I mean, and then the last one would be to actually make your products yourself, so learn how to make toothpaste, learn how to make deodorant. It's a really fun thing to do.
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What is your ultimate goal?
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Before I lived my lifestyle, I wonder, you know, why is there all this trash and why is that okay? And we have to find solutions before it gets out of control.
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I've never told anyone, oh, you should live this lifestyle or you have to live this way. I kind of just live my lifestyle, put it out there, and see what happens.
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Be sure to check out another episode of "Going Off Grid" with Mike Basich and his 225 square foot tiny home.
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I like to think of it as getting back to the basics of humanity. I like feeling connected to the Earth.
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This episode is a part of "Seeker Stories".
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We're trying to bring you cool stories from around the world, but in order to do that, you need to subscribe. So please click on that button, and thanks for watching.