The Ultimate Green Family
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions among my friends this year is to live a greener life. Many of us already recycle what we can and a few of us even have composting bins out back. But despite our good intentions, none of us will come close to living as green as the Strauss family of Longhope, Gloucestershire in the U.K.
This family of three has taken recycling to new heights, managing to discard just one garbage can full of trash in an entire year!
Their efforts to reduce their waste began after reading about the damage plastic bags have on marine life. What started out as a vow to never use plastic bags again grew into a mission to reduce their waste as much as possible.
In order to avoid contributing to the landfill, the Strauss family employs numerous strategies. They not only bring their own reusable bags to the grocery store, they bring their own containers to the butcher and deli counter. They had their names removed from junk-mail address lists, buy only what they need and grow much of their own food.
In addition, the family heats their home with a wood-burner and powers much of it with solar energy.
In 2009, their efforts resulted in a trash output of less than 2 ounces a week. And for 2010, they are upping the ante and aiming for a zero trash count.
Looking for tips on how your own family can live greener in 2010? Check out the Strauss family website, MyZeroWaste. Here they chronicle their own efforts and offer tips and resources for others who want to help make the world a cleaner place.
Photo: PedalFreak/Flickr
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I have so much admiration for this kind of living. As a family, we try to recycle, compost, reuse or buy used, etc., but we’re far (far, far!) from one bag of trash a year! But this will be the second January in a row that my family follows the rules of The Compact (they do it for a year, we do it for a month–the easiest month, really, but it’s better than nothing!): http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/
Their philosophy is so simple and wonderful, but it really made me realize my wastefulness and reliability on fast food (“today’s a Dunkin day”), and honestly, it rubbed off on the other 11 months of the year we weren’t strictly following it:
1) TO GO BEYOND RECYCLING IN TRYING TO COUNTERACT THE NEGATIVE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS OF U.S. CONSUMER CULTURE, TO RESIST GLOBAL CORPORATISM, AND TO SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES, FARMS, ETC;
2) TO REDUCE CLUTTER AND WASTE IN OUR HOMES (AS IN TRASH COMPACT-ER);
3) TO SIMPLIFY OUR LIVES (AS IN CALM-PACT)
Try it for a month–you’ll see that it’s not easy, but it’s extremely eye-opening, and a great way to save some money! Plus, it’s fun to see how creative you an get.
I am curious to see their actual home.
Sandymaple, Thank you for covering our story! It’s great to see so many people reading it and thank you for your kind comments. I’m so glad some of your friends want to have a greener life this year; it’s a wonderful goal to set.
KellyK, you ask about our actual home – what is it you’re interested in? I’m sure people have all sorts of ideas of how it looks inside! We sometimes share photos on our site, so you’re welcome to pop over and take a look and find out more about us or ask specific questions. I think a common misconception is that we have piles of rubbish everywhere
Barb, good luck with your compact challenge, I really admire people who do this, it’s a wonderful concept that helps to separate our wants from our needs.
Warm wishes to all,
Rachelle Strauss (mrs green at myzerowaste.com)
[...] The Ultimate Green Family [...]
There are so many little, easy ways to adapt to a greener lifestyle, most you wouldn’t even notice as they became a daily habit! Check out http://www.mommygoesgreen.com for daily ideas!