My Low Waste Journey - Upbringings

To explain my low waste journey a bit, I have to start early and first add that I was born and raised in Germany until my mid-twenties. My first experiences are specific to the country and region. My entire family is German, and our lifestyle revolved around many low waste rules and regulations. There wasn’t much thought around the work it required, it was just how we lived.  I now live in the U.S., however, visit as often as possible, and most habits and programs described below are still in place to this date.  Below are some of the day-to-day low waste habits I experienced for a good 25 years.

Farmers markets, and stands directly at the local farms, were always part of the weekly shop.  Fresh produce was displayed in big crates and came right from the orchards and fields in the region. Everyone was able to buy what was in season and local. I vividly remember my mom with a basket on her arm walking the farm stands. Treasured memories. That’s what made meals so much fun. I always looked forward to white asparagus and strawberry season. Many homes also had vegetable and fruit gardens, and towns and cities offered community garden plots you could rent to grow your own produce. Everyone with a food garden also had a compost somewhere. Almost every town also had a pick your own option for berries and flowers.  We brought a basket or bowl and picked our hearts out. In addition, we could forage all around us. Many areas had wild berries growing along the field walkways, and plenty of places allowed for the collection of fallen walnuts, or the picking of hazelnuts from bushes.   There was no waste involved for many of these options and eating seasonally has so many other benefits as well. To be honest, I always thought it was kind of magical.

Bread and pastries were almost always purchased at the local bakeries. Everything was displayed openly, not packaged in plastic, and you would get the buns, bread, and pastries you needed in paper bags or on cardboard trays to take home. A specialty store really allows for great variety and a clean transfer of the baked goods to the customer. Grocery store shelves also had many options; however, they were wrapped in plastic to display the items and to keep everything sanitary. I am glad many preferred the local bakeries over the prepackaged items. Cost was pretty compatible back in the day.

For purchases such as water, beer, soda, and more, we would always head to a special store that sold just that. You would get the bottles individually, or in 12 to 24 bottle cases. The best part however was that all cases, and the bottles, required a deposit, which you get back when you return the empty ones. Most people simply rotated the deposit for years. Drop a case with bottles off and get a new one, or two or three. You get the point. The bottles got returned to the manufacturer, thoroughly cleaned and refilled. This was and still is a great system.

For the other glass bottles and containers, such as pickle or jam jars, there was a system in place as well. We always cleaned them and collected them in a basket in our shoe closet at home. Once full, we would take our bicycles, or sometimes the car, and bring them to a recycle drop off station. Cities and towns had them placed in various locations. Three large containers, for clear, brown, and green glass. Everyone sorted them properly into the specific slots. The glass then got picked up, cleaned, melted and reused.

At home, we had four trash cans sitting outside of our house. Two large, and two smaller cans. They come in different sizes, it really all depends on the household size and the community waste collection options.  Each one had a different purpose. The largest trash cans, back then in yellow and green, were used for paper and plastic waste. The smaller brown one was used for compostable kitchen and yard waste, and the black can was for all of the remaining waste. Sorting everything was almost a sport for many. Removing lids, labels, separating packaging into components for each can, it was all a very serious job, at least in my family and friend circles. 

All batteries were collected at home and then dropped off at a collection center or station. Most grocery stores now have collection boxes setup as well. It really was super easy to drop the used ones off, which was necessary, because rechargeable ones weren’t really a thing back then. 

My parents and many other families around would use Tupperware containers to preserve leftovers. It was the thing you had in your household. Very few sandwich bags were used, and if so, they would get washed over and over. They lasted a long while that way.

It might also be interesting to mention that you would always turn the water off when soaping up your hands in the sink or your body and hair in the shower. Rinse, stop the water, soap, rinse, done. Does it get a bit cold in the shower that way while soaping, yes sure, but I can’t ever remember complaining. It was simply what we did in our household. 

There are so many more details to the lower waste and environmentally conscious upbringing I had, but this is a good start to explain my background. Thinking in a way that reduces waste has been a way of living since childhood. I am glad there are more and more options out there these days that allow us to live a more sustainable life. Our planet needs it and many of them can be good to our wallet as well.