The imperfect reality of low-waste living

If you’ve ever tried to reduce the amount of plastic or food waste going in to your bin, if you’ve ever tried to cut back on packaging or unnecessary products in your shopping trolley, or if you’ve ever tried your hand at Plastic Free July and found yourself overwhelmed and frustrated at the lack of realistic low-waste options in your home town – this episode is for you.

Today we meet Amy, who lives in rural northern Maine, where recycling and low-waste resources are limited. Amy has been making progress in lots of different areas of slow living, but now finds herself at somewhat of a frustrating point where the lack of local services is making further progress tough.

She and Brooke talk about the frustrations of living in a system that’s not set up for our success, and the importance of acknowledging when we’re doing the best we can. They chat about the progress Amy has made (which is a great way of reframing the journey so far) and Brooke offers some practical suggestions for a few of Amy’s specific issues – namely, compost.

Brooke is then joined by Tammy Logan of Gippsland Unwrapped – an online community and activism platform that offers community-based and creative solutions to living a lower-waste life in rural areas. Tammy has some fantastic practical suggestions for how Amy could reduce the amount she needs to compost, as well as some solutions for those who might not have a typical compost set-up available, and she also offers some hard-earned insight in to the pros and cons of making green changes in a small town.

This is an episode for anyone looking for realistic low-waste options, as well as inspiration to rethink what low-waste means. In a word, it’s encouraging.

Enjoy!

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