As any clickbait article will tell you, Millennials are a generation defined by a delayed adulthood. We were raised on the idea that youth is God’s greatest gift. A lot of us turn 18 without knowing how to cook, do laundry, sew, or change our car’s oil unless we were lucky enough to have parents who taught us. My only home-ec class was called “Family Consumer Science” and all we learned how to do was how to write a check and purchase a car. That’s not a joke or even a metaphor. It’s literally what I learned in that class.
Even a look at our parents reveals how many of the life skills we were expected to have in the past have faded into hipsterdom: canning, growing your own food, cooking from scratch. The result? Best case: we buy cans of vegetables and packages of ingredients to cook our own food; worst case: we eat out, falling on the fast food backbone of American cuisine. Both of these habits make a lot of waste, even if you’re able to recycle the packaging.
Don’t get me wrong: streamlining the homesteading process liberated women from the kitchen. But now that these tasks aren’t set upon a single gender, it’s time for everyone to chip in and grow up.
In hindsight, it’s surprising that I didn’t realize zero waste would help me grow up. I was just trying to contribute less trash to landfills and oceans. Now, I understand that any lifestyle effort takes a certain amount of maturity.
Out of all the little changes I’ve made in my life, cooking has proven to be the most transforming. I’ve stopped eating fast food and have cut back on eating out in favor of cooking meals at home, but everything I try to grow dies and canning is still a distant, intimidating item on my zero waste bucket list. Adulthood doesn’t happen overnight, no matter how many coming of age movies insist that it does.
Still, I look back on the blog I wrote last year and smile. Cooking terrified me. It stressed me out. I’m happy to say that’s not the case anymore. While I may still get frustrated when a new recipe doesn’t work out, cooking in general is just a part of my daily adult routine.
Healthier Eating
Let’s start with the most obvious adulthood lesson: instant gratification isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For example, here’s a look at what I ate during a normal week pre-zero waste:
- 3 for $1 bean and cheese burritos (frozen) with ketchup
- Campbell’s chicken noodle or tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
- Progresso split pea soup with ham
- BLTs (Yes, lettuce and tomato (…and bacon))
- Fried eggs and toast
- Pretzels, sometimes the kind stuffed with peanut butter
- Banana and peanut butter sandwiches
- Turkey and mayonnaise sandwiches
- Spaghetti with Huntz’s tomato sauce
- Reese’s Puffs (if I felt like splurging)
- 2 egg omelettes with tomatoes and green peppers (See? More stuff that grows in the ground!)
- Frozen pizza
- Lots and lots of soda
- Lots and lots of fast food
- Booze
In short, a lot of processed, fatty, and salty foods that were cheap and required little-to-no cooking whatsoever. Looking back, it’s no wonder that I had to pound Pepto Bismol on the regular. Now, a year into my shift into zero waste-hood, my average week of eating looks a little different:
- Oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon
- Bananas
- Hard boiled eggs
- Spaghetti with homemade red sauce or white sauce
- Pasta salad with romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and oil and vinegar dressing
- Red potato salad with spinach and capers
- Black coffee and tea
- Homemade vegetable soups (corn chowder, minestrone, butternut squash, etc.)
- Rice and beans
- Black bean burgers with fried eggs
- Chocolate covered pretzels or nuts
- Fresh berries
- Booze
The main difference between them? My zero waste diet is mostly whole foods and I am in complete control of the amount of added sugar and sodium I consume (except the booze…but we all need an indulgence every now and then, right?). A year ago today, my diet made me lethargic, moody, and, oh yeah, hungry. My bod burned through those simple carbs too quickly for me to use that energy towards fun or productive ends. Now that I’m giving my body real sustenance, I have the energy to be a real adult.
Money Sense
When I moved into my first apartment after college, rent and bills took up the majority of my paycheck. Three years later, I find myself in the same situation. Living paycheck to paycheck is stressful (I even have dreams about money), but I know it’d be worse if I wasn’t zero waste. The difference? I’m healthier (see above) and I’m spending less money on food than that first year out of college.
While zero waste doesn’t guarantee saving money (a lot of it is a trade off between paying for convenience and paying for organic/sustainably made products), you get a lot smarter about the money you spend on food. Less impulse buying, bulk foods without brand names, and not paying for excessive packaging all adds up to having more money to spend on food that’s better for you. And that means less money spent on doctor bills and medication in the long run.
Planning & Organization
Whenever I get into a more-than-surface-level conversation about reducing my waste, people always comment on the amount of planning it must take. And they’re right. One simple fact becomes very clear when you’re zero waste on a budget: if you don’t cook, you don’t eat. Figuring out what I’m going to eat for the week and how I’m going to get it takes more collective time than any other zero waste activity.
In fact, the amount of effort that goes into eating zero waste is the number one reason I’ve heard for not wanting to adopt the lifestyle. However, when you put forth the effort other things start to fall into place. We are creatures of habit, and when I got in the habit of planning ahead, I found I had more time to spend doing what I like doing. Hanging with friends, watching TV, taking long walks, you name it. Plus, in a world of chaos and unknowns, having control over your spare time is no small feat.
So what about you? How has zero waste helped you take steps towards becoming a more responsible adult?