I really enjoyed this book, both for the wealth of ideas for waste-free shopping and for the unique quirkiness of the author. I think you have to be a little quirky to successfully attain what she has: near zero waste. (Wow!) I am impressed and inspired with her success.

My favorite shopping tip was to get shredded cheese (usually sold in a plastic bag, ugh!) at the salad bar. I was successful; the salad bar at our local independent grocery store had a beautiful mountain of freshly grated cheese as well as compostable salad containers to put it in. No plastic involved and I was able to buy what I needed. Excellent! My next step would be to bring to the store my own container to keep it in. (Next time.)

The trick is to use your creativity to find new solutions. I love this tactic. It is also important to look around and discover new things that you can use, that you may not have considered before. Talk to people and find out what they are doing. Spread the word of your success.

Planning ahead is crucial. It is the thing I have the most difficulty with. I’ve addressed that with vigorous planning tricks: Reminders lists, Date-specific To Do items on my calendar, Weekly menus, and many reminder alarms set on my phone so I remember to get places on time. Clearing out unnecessary stuff has been extremely helpful.

Teaching the kids to adopt zero waste practices has been easier than I imagined. They see it as a game and are eager to play. They understand the reasons (environmental impacts, etc) and they get it.